The Useless Critic 2.0

So far into listening "Peace or Love," I'm not as swept away with the album as I have been with prior Kings of Convenience efforts. However, it works as a lovely not-departure from their distinctive acoustic sound that has been well crafted over the years. It's a brief and gorgeous listen, but most songs blend into each other, so it's difficult to pick out any real standout tracks aside from the singles, "Comb My Hair," and their collaborations with Feist - which are as beautiful as ever, when they first joined forces in the early 2000s. And of these collaborations, the one that stands the strongest is "Love is a Lonely Thing," which is a haunting and lovelorn lullaby of sorts. The rest of the album is not really unremarkable - it's just hard to determine where one song on "Peace or Love" starts and one song ends. I wouldn't call it a standout work of the year, but I would say it's a welcome return from some of the most lu...

Unexpected but nonetheless great, extremely underrated synthpop musician Class Actress has been gradually releasing music off her EP, "Sense Memory," this year. First came some pretty solid covers - The Smiths, Mazzy Star, and her EXCELLENT reimagining of "The Hills" by The Weeknd - and then some original songs followed.  "Airwaves" was an interesting, atmospheric, trippy track - not super similar to past efforts, but close enough that it wasn't a total detour from her earlier discography - but "Saint Patrick," her latest, is the desperate, frantic, sexy  longing I've come to love in a Class Actress song.  Take some time before the weekend completely disappears to check out this specific song: Also, I would like to call out how on point Elizabeth Harper's vocals are in "Saint Patrick." Her voice has only improved in the past decade. I'm not sure what Class Actress's future music plans are as of this moment, but I hop...

  Sharing kind of a fun, smart, garage rock-pop song today, "Call Me When You Get There" by LA-based, New England-bred band The Rare Occasions. The band has earned comparisons to Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, and they are definitely palpable in the band's sound. I also heard hints of Two Door Cinema Club, Everything Everything, We Are Scientists, and alt-j.  The band's sophomore album, "Big Whoop," is due out on June 18th. They most recently shared the catchy single "Origami," which you can check out below. This song feels like a throwback to the era of polished, delicious powerpop: About this particular track, the band's lead vocalist/guitarist Brian McLaughlin shared, "This past year has felt claustrophobic in every sense, with life seemingly folding in on itself time and time again. Whenever I feel crowded out by my own thoughts, I find the outdoors at night to be a welcoming escape, moving through the dark after the world has gone to...

Phoenix-based Paper Foxes are back with a red-hot single that is reminiscent of the best of The Killers in moments, The Midnight in others. The new wave/synth sounds of their latest track "Crystal Ball" feel hopeful even if the lyrics seem to tell a different story.  The Bob Hoag-produced song is an extremely energetic and catchy return to form for the band, who released their fantastic debut album "Popular Confessions" in 2019. Hear the title track off the album below: The new single kicks off some exciting news for the band - they'll be playing a few live shows this summer, first in Tucson (Club Congress @ June 30th) and then in Phoenix (Rebel Lounge @ July 2nd). Hopefully that also means more new music is on the way from the group - who were named "The Best Unsigned Band in Arizona" by  the Alternative Press in 2020.

My favorite album of Beck's has long been "Sea Change," for approximately the 20 or so years it's been out. I would probably regard it as one of my personal favorite records, for its wistfulness and its beauty. When I heard about Zoon (aka Zoongide’ewin) - the musical project of Daniel Monkman - covering the "Sea Change" track "Round the Bend," I was somewhat skeptical simply because the album holds such a place in my heart. Now, prior to hearing about this cover, I wasn't so familiar with the work of Zoon. And now, I've got to say, in my best Owen Wilson - Wow.  Apparently we both hold the 2003 Beck album in high esteem. Said Daniel about "Sea Change," "After my first listen I was so moved and at the time I was going through a pretty bad break up and this album helped me process my depression. Throughout my time away from music I’d always have a copy beside me; it kept inspiring me that I could try any kind of music style. I...

If you're even vaguely familiar with the Phoenix music scene to any extent, you probably knew Andy Warpigs. I saw them a few times at Yucca/Time Out Lounge when I was frequenting both spots a few years ago. Andy Warpigs was one of the most ubiquitous names you could come across, and with good reason - they were an incredibly prolific and talented artist, basically a Phoenix legend.  Unfortunately, over the weekend Andy Warpigs passed away - an extremely tragic loss. If you can possibly donate to the GoFundMe to help Andy's mom with funeral expenses , please do so.  Take care, Britt