Negativland in 2026
Many years ago, in a record store in Allentown, Pennsylvania, I bought a cassette tape that came bundled with a bag of twigs. It was A Big 10-8 Place.
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Los Angeles Police Department - Eponymous Record
I'm curious. Has Ryan Pollie had any feedback from the actual Los Angeles Police Department? A few years ago, Pitchfork reviewed their first disc and keenly noted the spate of indie bands obsessed with "un-googleable" names. This 10 song followup will be likened to many leaves on the Beach Boys limb of the rock-n-roll family tree. It's definitely not on the Beatles branch. Despite the fact that the singer is from Philadelphia, it is a classically southern California sound. At times, it feels like Washed Out (also not from SoCal). The difference with Mr. Pollie is that he's more than willing to add more doses of rock opera and synth pop syncopation to his material. It's a…
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Adam Granduciel and his bandmates haven’t just hit a home run with Lost In The Dream, they’ve undoubtedly released one of the best albums of the year. Produced over a two-year period and inspired by Granduciel’s own battles with depression, there is undoubtedly a slight sense of uneasiness that lingers here, but the refashioning of classic and, in particular, 80’s rock, is inspired. No doubt some of the album owes a debt to a certain gent by the name of Bruce Springsteen (‘Burning’ would slot into the track listing of Born in the U.S.A with ease), but you can also…