IT STARTED WITH nothing at all,” says Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold, of the origins of his dark synth-pop group. It sounds simple enough, but the former American Nightmare and Some Girls vocalist/screamer has since piled on thick layers of dreamy melodies, crushing noise and lyrics about death and dying. Read more Read it in print

THE BAND REAL ESTATE isn’t named after anything particular, certainly not after the type of job that guitarist/singer/primary songwriter Martin Courtney has. Or maybe it is. “I work in a real estate office actually,” says Courtney. “I have a real estate license.” Read more Read it in print

WHO SAYS YOU need an entire group of musicians to write infectious garage rock? Kristin Gundred writes and records under the name Dum Dum Girls and uses the stage name Dee Dee, which makes the entire project that much more confusing, as the band consists of mainly just Gundred. Read more Read it in print

“I LIKE BIG EXPLOSIONS of sounds contrasting with quiet moments,” explains Cymbals Eat Guitars singer/guitarist Joseph Ferocious from a wool shop in Iowa, where the band is between shows on a tour with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. “The goal is to make music that gives me goosebumps.” Read more Read it in print

“We are these geeks who have developed our own language,” says Dan Hoerner, guitarist of the recently reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, as he attempts to explain the seemingly nonsensical lyrics and song titles on the recently reissued LP2. “There’s a lexicon to our weird reality.” Read more

ANYONE LISTENING TO Kurt Viles music might think he can pin down Viles main influences right away. Sometimes he has the drugged-out fuzz of Spacemen 3, while other times he seems to have the drugged-out straightforward folk guitar of Neil Young.The problem is, from song to song, it gives the listener a different sense of who Vile is. Read more Read it in print

THE FIRST TIME I listened to Mannequin Men, I regretted taking this assignment.The Chicago-based band is on that someone like myself (read: jaded) will dismiss as another angular-sounding rock group with a sassy, snarling singer. The hooks all sounded the same, the production was familiarly noisy and singer Kevin Richard’s sneer reminded me of too much of Brainiac or The Jesus Lizard. With repeated listens and some research, though, something unexpected happened: the band grew on me. Read more Read it in print

What was once the showcase for upcoming and legendary noise acts, the five-year-old No Fun Fest has evolved—or devolved, if you aren’t into melody—into a different kind of beast. It’s still three days long and filled with many noise bands, and the Music Hall of Williamsburg will definitely be crammed with sweaty dudes in tight jeans on May 15, 16 and 17, but there are a few subtle differences this year, one being—gasp!— rock and pop bands. Read more Read it in print

Condo Fucks, as everyone knows by now, is really Hoboken, NJ-based trio Yo La Tengo. Fuckbook, an obvious play on their 1990 covers-driven record Fakebook, is a foray into Nuggets-style garage rock, proto-punk and surfy pop, one that Yo La Tengo has made before in concert and on a number of marathon WFMU pledge drives. Read more

If we are to truly listen to the words of our leaders, then Bishop Allen’s third full-length record has no place in our new world. It’s not that the Brooklyn indie-pop duo’s interesting new disc, Grrr…, is a bad or boring record; it’s actually quite the contrary. Read more Read it in print