Ethan Maffey

The year 1978 was filled with notable milestones. Among them, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation allowing home brewing in the United States, Pete Rose tallied his 3,000th hit, and Mike Ness formed the iconic California punk rock band Social Distortion.
It was also a time of palpable social angst. High gas prices, poor economic growth and foreign affair debacles dominated the headlines and when Americans turned to music during those hard times, and specifically punk rock, it was Mike Ness' Social Distortion that was there to meet them.

Every now and then an artist comes along who reminds us to look beyond our surroundings and consider what's going on in this world. For years now, folk singer Todd Snider has been one of those artists. If you haven't yet answered his knock, perhaps the release of his latest album, Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables, will be a rap at the door too inspiring to ignore.
On Agnostic Hymns, Snider wades neck deep into the fray between America's rich and poor – the thoughtful and hilarious singer/songwriter said he merely wanted to paint a picture from his vantage point.

1. Youth Lagoon, The Year Of Hibernation: Ambient lo-fi backdrops with flowing pop drum beats and honest storytelling fill out the debut album from this Boise band.
2. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues: Still soul searching, this Portland/Seattle act offers up another folk opus with echoing vocals that beg for
self-discovery.
3. Shabazz Palaces, Black Up: Dark experimental hip-hop from Seattle, dipped in electro-beats and wicked flowing verse.
4. The Cave Singers, No Witch: Rousing simplicity and deep harmonies ride crisp violin and guitar strings with occasional blues tributes on this open road soundtrack.

The sophomore album from New Jersey lo-fi pop group Real Estate continues creating the iridescent analog landscapes of the band's self-titled debut release, but much of the haze that kept the first album feeling a little stuffy is replaced with a sunny, hot-air-balloon-ride sound. The beach-influenced guitars of members Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile remain, though this time crisper, filling each song with poppy melodies.

The self-titled debut LP from Portland band Ravishers, is seriously… cool. Not cool without merit, like that guy in high school who was only popular because his parents had money, but cool like Arthur Fonzarelli. You know, naturally cool.
Ravishers (formerly known as Dominic Castillo & The Rock Savants), have spent the last few years putting together this album and the attention to detail on each song is proof. The shifts from down to up-tempo beats within each song are subtly constructed and perfectly timed. You're going to hear some exceptionally stoic vocals on most every track (think The Cure or The National), but they're often rolled in with such sugary piano, horns, drum beat, and even hand claps that Dominic's smooth singing becomes more indie-pop sounding than anything else. This is especially evident on “Keep You Around,” (a track from the Savant days) that with the harmonized vocals of Kelly Masigat becomes an open road kind of summertime song.

The Besnard Lakes
The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night Jagjaguwar Records

The Besnard Lakes, the Montreal rock act with a constantly growing appeal, gave their record an apt title, because this album is essentially a 46-minute roar.
The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, is a record dripping in shoegaze sweetness and songs that build anticipation. Montreal couple Jake Lasek and Olga Goreas, like to spread themselves all over the musical landscape and use their third album to do just that. The first track (really just an intro for the first song) “Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean,” is in itself, a sea of sound, featuring long shaky guitar notes layered with ambient synth noise that lead us into the inner sanctuary of the continued movement on “Pt 2: The Innocent” and continues for the rest of the album. “Albatross,” a love song just as flowing as the first track, is laced with a smile by The Besnard Lakes as they introduce some rhythmic drumbeats and guitar melodies.