Nada Surf, 'Lucky' (Barsuk)
Soothing songs for stressed-out thirtysomething indie parents.
By MacKenzie Wilson 02.12.08 9:47 PM
On 2005's The Weight Is a Gift, this Brooklyn-based trio -- best known for their smart-alecky '96 alt-rock fluke "Popular" -- searched for big answers with mature introspective songcraft (produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla).
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British Sea Power, 'Do You Like Rock Music?' (Rough Trade/World's Fair)
Armed with passionate anthems, brainy Brits rise up and shout.
By MacKenzie Wilson 02.04.08 11:36 AM
Since their 2003 debut LP, these Brighton-based lads have developed their own eccentric rock curriculum, and here they touch on the topics of Nobel-winning physicist Niels Bohr, the great skua seabird, Kevlar, and the flooding of an island in the River Thames.
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Nicole Atkins & the Sea Perform 'War Torn,' Chat 'Neptune City'
VIDEO: The New Jersey-bred songstress and crew hit Spin HQ for a performance of "War Torn."
By MacKenzie Wilson 01.23.08 3:03 AM
Before the rush of the holiday season set in and New Year's resolutions were casually put in place, Nicole Atkins & the Sea stopped by the Spin offices to churn out a blissful rendition of "War Torn," one of the
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Siouxsie, 'Mantaray' (Decca)
The Ice Queen's solo debut throbs with hypnotic style.
By MacKenzie Wilson 11.20.07 4:00 AM
After reigning over the Banshees and the Creatures for three decades, punk's newly divorced, 50-year-old leading lady goes it alone, exclaiming, "I feel a force I've never felt before" on the swaggering dance-club slayer "Into a Swan." She never lets up, turning Mantaray's vibrant emotional current of noirish cabaret slinkiness ("Drone Zone"), industrial-tinged languor ("Loveless"), and
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O'Death, 'Head Home' (Ernest Jenning)
Raucous urban hayseeds recharge down-home sounds.
By MacKenzie Wilson 08.10.07 3:00 AM
This Brooklyn-based quintet's punk-rock hoedown may sound like a kitschy joke.
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Go 'Sleepwalking' with Jeff Klein
Exclusive! Download the smoldering beauty "Sleepwalking" from Jeff Klein's forthcoming EP, I Sing the Body Electric.
By MacKenzie Wilson 08.03.07 3:00 AM
Before he became a regular member of Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers, Austin-based crooner Jeff Klein was busy cultivating his Hustler ways -- his third solo LP, 2005's The Hustler, that is, a rich songbook heart-drenched in burning guitar riffs and twisted personal reflections a la Ed Harcourt and Son Volt's Jay Farrar.
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