A new Radiohead album is an event, a holiday for my depression, a time when my melancholy is paid the respect it is owed. Radiohead's eighth full-length, however, starts off emotionless and weak. "Bloom" is …
April 2, 2011
Articles by Rollo Cabeza
Radiohead's The King of Limbs
Yuck by Yuck
London’s Yuck is one of several new acts to lean on the ’90s indie-rock formula of distorted, busy guitar hooks, simple bass lines, and literate lyrics. But on their s/t debut, Yuck accomplishes something that …
February 20, 2011
The Wonder Show of the World
Bonnie “Prince” Billy's latest pairs Will Oldham's backwoods bark and Cairo Gang frontman Emmet Kelly's streaming folk and blues guitar. The result is stripped-down folk songs with flourishes of classic-country melodies and gospel harmonies. Oldham's …
May 16, 2010
The Brutalist Bricks
"When the café doors exploded, I reacted to...reacted to you," sings Ted Leo in his nasal-core croon over James Canty's distorted guitar strum before the drums, a loping bass line, and Leo's triple guitar strum …
April 21, 2010
Volume Two
Actress Zooey Deschanel has nailed a role that legitimizes her as a singer-songwriter, not just some hipster starlet testing her cred. Backed by songsmith M. Ward, She & Him's new LP is loaded with stripped …
April 11, 2010
Broken Bells
Certain things just don't mix: oil and water, laxatives and sleeping pills, indie rock and electronica. The latter is apparent on the debut album from Broken Bells, which features James Mercer, front man for indie …
March 20, 2010
Cutting Teeth
It's St. Patrick's Day, a few dozen people crowd Whistle Stop's bar trying to find a pint on the other side of the rainbow. While they clamor, 30 others surround San Diego mellowcore band Little …
March 18, 2010
Folk This
The Cave Singers’ Derek Fudesco grabbed his sunburst Gibson hollow-body and took a seat on a stool. Singer Pete Quirk stood at the mic and peered out from under a trucker hat, his face shrouded …
March 14, 2010
We All Got Out of the Army
For his tenth release since Guided by Voices disbanded, singer-songwriter Robert Pollard stays with the formula that made him an indie icon, penning obtuse, albeit infectious lyrics to British invasion-influenced melodies in stripped-down, simple guitar …
March 6, 2010