La Dispute plays Metro Sunday
Grand Rapids, Michigan-based La Dispute sometimes gets described as “post hardcore,” which means it sounds like At the Drive-In. These guys definitely have something to say. The almost 7-minute song, King Park, on last year’s Wildlife, screams about the senselessness of a drive-by shooting.
La Dispute headlines an all-ages show at Metro Sunday.
Best of 2012: The Men, Nada Surf
As new releases pour out, I’ll highlight the best albums of 2012. So, to elaborate on a post last month, here are a couple more recommendations for new albums.
I’m a little late to the party in discovering The Men. But now that I’ve spent some time with the band’s Open Your Heart, I’m a big fan. The Men made possibly the best rock album of the year and it’s an early contender for my top release of 2012. The Men play punk, post-punk and whatever other genre you want to throw in. When I listen to Open Your Heart, I’m reminded of so many different bands that it’s hard to zero in on just one. You really have to give it a try. The Men play Pitchfork fest in July.
If you love power pop, check out Nada Surf’s The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy. The album is the first release of new music for the band in four years but Nada Surf picks up where it left off with really great songs. The music should appeal to fans of Rogue Wave, Fountains of Wayne and similar bands. Nada Surf plays Metro Monday night (April 2). An Horse opens.
Waiting For Something – Nada Surf
Daniel Johnston: Produced?
Are you ready for a Daniel Johnston album produced and backed by musicians? Well, it happened and an October release is planned.
Need proof? Johnston, who recently played Metro, released a new song off the album, “Is And Always Was.”
The album, the first new one for Johnston in six years, “is a decided step away from the lo-fi homemade recordings for which Johnston is famous,” a press release says.
Download: Freedom – Daniel Johnston
Also, check out this SXSW video for his song, “True Love Will Find You In the End.”
Daniel Johnston fights off demons to play Metro
The legend of Daniel Johnston has been growing for 2 1/2 decades and yet his music still has this incredible innocence and truth about it.
Johnston’s mental illness has been the subject of countless articles, a movie and all the buzz that surrounded this guy ever since he started handing out homemade cassette tapes on the street in Texas in the 1980s.
He plays the Metro on Saturday, which should be a really extraordinary show.
