Haiku
sunshine love and fun
guitar powered poetry
fuzzy poppy rock

Mikal Cronin-MCII
RIYL: Ty Segall, Jay Reatard, Black Lips, Kurt Vile
Pseudo Genre: Garage Pop Rock
Intended for: Stairwell Babies

Mikal Cronin was one of the acts that most impressed us at SXSW 2012. We have been waiting over a year for a new album from the guitar virtuoso since. MCII does not disappoint. Cronin has created an album full of catchy rock music. When rock songs converge with pop tunes it often results in bland schmaltz. The sentimentality never feels false despite the fact that MCII is full of songs about love, introspection, and emotions. There are acoustic tracks mixed in among fuzzy rock songs to create an album that manages to feel both too short and just right at 37 minutes.

MCII is barely over a half an hour long, and seems even shorter when you are listening to it. Cronin has created one of our favorite albums of 2013 and we hope all our readers listen to it. If you want to see if Mikal is your cup of tea you should listen to “Shout It Out”, a track that manages to blur the line between pop and rock and get stuck in your head. You can also listen to Cronin as a vulnerable crooner accompanied only by his guitar on “Don’t Let Me Go”.

Video/music stream links:
You can and listen to “Shout It Out” here:

Here is “Don’t Let Me Go”

You can stream the whole album for free on a Mac or PC with an ad supported Spotify account:

Haiku
Ritzy not Glam Rock
arena sound for the clubs
in your face and ears

The Joy Formidable-Wolf’s Law
RIYL: White Stripes, Frightened Rabbit, Sleater-Kinney, Sleigh Bells
Pseudo Genre: Indie Rock
Intended for: Stairwell Babies

Prior to attending a recent concert by The Joy Formidable, we had only listened to a handful of songs by the band. We had heard of their blistering live shows, and wanted to experience one ourselves. After almost 2 hours of high energy and tightly played rock, Ritzy and the boys had won us over. Wolf’s Law is an album full of the type of rock tunes that 40 year olds claim are no longer being made. Instead of merely stealing from the past, The Joy Formidable build a truly modern rock sound that is lacking from commercial radio. It is surprising to discover that the album is composed by a three piece band. Even live, you find yourself looking around for other two members that just HAVE to be there filling in all that sound.

The starting album track “This Ladder is Ours” is a great introduction to the Joy Formidable sound, and one of the songs we caught live and posted on our website. We are always a fan of tempo changes and “Silent Treatment” is the track that provides a tempo change from the rest of the album. The simple song structure and sparse production provide a perfect interlude in the middle of an otherwise rocking album. The “Maw Maw Song” contains multiple tempo shifts within the track, and is a track memorable for a chorus that is as much guitar as it is words. From start to finish, Wolf’s Law will not disappoint fans of rock music.

Video/music stream links:
You can see the video we shot and listen to “This Ladder is Ours”:

Here is a live performance of “Silent Treatment”

Via Spotify you can listen to the “Maw Maw Song”:

Below are a few pictures from the show we went to: