Y3K by Younger Amid the magic of Day Party, the latest evolution of Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival held April 25, Iowa City rock band Younger debuted much of their latest album, Y3K. Inside the warm embrace of Trumpet Blossom Cafe, the audience hung on every quivering drumbeat, grizzled guitar shred and endlessly catchy hook […]
Album Reviews
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Mark Haugen — ‘Maybe Next Year’
Maybe Next Year by Mark Haugen “There are anchors and balloons, tell me which one are you?” This was the first lyric to spring from Mark Haugen’s latest album cycle. Releasing “Anchors and Balloons” as the lead single of Maybe Next Year was a thoughtful choice; the song’s lyrics tease the world of the full […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Jacob Lampman — ‘Jacob Lampman’s Ego Death’
Jacob Lampman's Ego Death by Jacob Lampman When singer-songwriter Jacob Lampman and his cohort take the stage and you spot the upright bass, flute, mandolin, electric and acoustic guitars, you may ask yourself, “What kind of music am I about to hear?” The instrumentation conjures up bluegrass or folk, but the sounds that emanate from […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: OHYUNG — ‘IOWA’
IOWA by OHYUNG My first recollection of meeting Lia Ouyang Rusli was at a Feed Me Weird Things show she performed at as OHYUNG. I had been asked to provide lights and haze. I didn’t completely know what to expect outside of a request for strobes. If you want strobe lights, you’re already after my […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Hambone and the Maple Babies — ‘Hootenanny’
Have you heard of “word painting”? It’s the musical technique in which instrumental choices illustrate the lyrical ones — and vice versa — in a positive feedback loop. Synergy at its finest. Skilled word-painters create something unique, something a purist musician or lyricist couldn’t create when exclusively focusing on one or the other. Iowa City’s […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops — ‘Slimephone Surveillance’
Smartphones are everywhere, and you can still catch a glimpse of a flip phone now and then, courtesy of the “dumphone” resurgence. But have you considered the slimephone?
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Doc Bullfrog — ‘Like We’re Supposed To’
Like We're Supposed To by Doc Bullfrog If surf music can exist in the landlocked, agricultural haven that is the Midwest, then Doc Bullfrog is the embodiment of Midwest surf. It’s evident that the Iowa City band knows a thing or two about bouncy beats, clean guitar tones and spring reverb, creating their own indie […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Jinnouchi Power — ‘Home’
It can be difficult finding a sturdy, writerly hook for the idea of “home.” What new things can be said about finding your place in this world? Well, as it turns out, there’s still plenty that you can *sing* about home.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Weary Ramblers — ‘Driftwood’
Driftwood by Weary Ramblers For Iowa duo Weary Ramblers, music isn’t just what they do — it’s how they stay connected in a world that often demands too much from body and spirit. Their new studio album, Driftwood, released October of last year, is a portrait of two artists who have found sanctuary in their […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: The DZ Combo — ‘It’s Just Your Turn’
It's Just Your Turn by The DZ Combo Have you ever been served dinner by a friend with a passion for food? Every course is presented with love and a desire to open your mind and heart to new and exciting experiences. The album It’s Just Your Turn by Dubuque-based quartet the DZ Combo is […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Kinji — ‘Thunderhead’
In the same way nature’s counterpart forewarns of dreariness and thunderous disruption, indie musician Kinji’s newest EP Thunderhead starts as the calm before the storm, only to break open, laid bare to the elements, oozing out luscious, melancholic aural landscapes.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Strange News — ‘Liar’s Curse’
Liar's Curse by Strange News It is reasonable in an increasingly unreasonable world to crave nostalgia. As AI and surveillance technologies continue to invade our lives and each day’s news cycle is more absurd than the last, sometimes you have to sit back and pretend it’s 1974, when tech billionaires were mere fantasy and people […]
