The glowing eyes of the golden retriever gracing the cover of the Golden Dogs' long-awaited third record suggest that something dark and sinister is lurking in their music, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Four long years since the Toronto, ON-based quintet dropped their excellent sophomore disc, Big Eye Little Eye, comes Coat of Arms. Produced with the help of Zeus's Carlin Nicholson and Mike O'Brien, the record trades the breakneck indie rock of the band's past for retro-'60s R&B. Driven by a mid-tempo piano riff, "Dear Francis" opens the album, while Bahamas' Alfie Jurvanen lends a hand on "As Long as You Like," with its start-stop rhythm. But Coat of Arms doesn't find its groove until fourth track "Weapon." From there, the album begins to pick up steam, culminating with "Permanent Record," the best summation of the band's new emphasis on rhythm. Though a bit uneven, Coat of Arms shows the Golden Dogs unwilling to rest on their laurels, continuing to evolve as a band. It's certainly their most ambitious album and it houses some fantastic slabs of retro indie rock. (Nevado)
Budos Band -
The cobra that's poised to attack on the front cover of The Budos Band III isn't just aesthetically cool; it's an apt metaphor for the Staten Island, NY-bred ten-piece thus far. The underrated Budos Band's tough, instrumental fusion of Afrobeat and vintage American funk and jazz (self-dubbed...
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Weezer. For her.
A prolific, popular group for 16 years, Weezer must be aware that fans cite their 1994 self-titled debut and its 1996 follow-up, Pinkerton, as their best works....
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Kick-Ass 3292 (Matthew Vaughn) Kick-Ass — an intense superhero movie based on an indie book by comics vet Mark Millar — doesn't just want to play in the big boys' sandbox; it wants to piss in it and run away giggling. Reasoning that if people want to be Paris Hilton, why can't they want to be Spider-Man, high school nerd...Full Review
The cobra that's poised to attack on the front cover of The Budos Band III isn't just aesthetically cool; it's an apt metaphor for the Staten Island, NY-bred ten-piece thus far. The underrated Budos Band's tough, instrumental fusion of Afrobeat and vintage American funk and jazz (self-dubbed...
A prolific, popular group for 16 years, Weezer must be aware that fans cite their 1994 self-titled debut and its 1996 follow-up, Pinkerton, as their best works....
Kick-Ass — an intense superhero movie based on an indie book by comics vet Mark Millar — doesn't just want to play in the big boys' sandbox; it wants to piss in it and run away giggling. Reasoning that if people want to be Paris Hilton, why can't they want to be Spider-Man, high school nerd...
