SOUND BITES

For their fifth album, Wolf Parade are a trio once again, and paring back the personnel immediately lends a somewhat sparser sound to the proceedings in comparison to their more recent output. This has inevitably resulted in some "throwback" talk, some of which is warranted. To be sure, there are moments on Thin Mind that will remind listeners of what made Wolf Parade one of Canada's most overlooked indie bands during the big Arcade Fire blow-up that occurred around the time Wolf Parade released their excellent debut Apologies to the Queen Mary . Early single Julia Take Your Man Home sparkles with a similar excitement to that first record, albeit with a more shimmering, synth-propelled flair. Lead track Under Glass , meanwhile, is a more out-and-out rock song, and a strong start to the album with its sticky "nobody knows what they want anymore" chorus. As the album progresses, synth begins to play a more important role, such as on the lead melody of For...

Pearl Jam has been my favourite band for over twenty-five years. Anyone who halfway knows me knows this, and I don't need to trot out my credentials and prove my fandom to anyone. That said, I own every album on CD and vinyl, in addition to a good handful of official live bootleg CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, posters and books. I even own a promotional mobile that came out to promote Vitalogy in 1994. I hitchhiked an hour's drive to buy that CD just over 25 years ago, and nearly froze to death on the long, dark walk/drive back, but that's a long story for another time. Anyway, suffice it to say that I was beyond excited to hear the first taste of their upcoming 11th studio album, Dance of the Clairvoyants , when it premiered last night. I stayed up despite having to work early this morning so I could dive into the new tune the moment it dropped. When it did arrive, I played it six times consecutively to be sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing. What I was hearing was...

In five short years, Algiers (based officially in Atlanta, with members who also call New York City and London home) have positioned themselves at the forefront of indie rock, with a pair of powerhouse records and a snarling, punk-inspired outlook that inspire thought and action. Their third record brings with it heightened stakes and expectations, as legions of fans and critics alike were curious to discover how far the promising young group were willing to push their sound and their message. At first blush, there are some rather noticeable differences to be heard on There Is No Year , and they can be a little difficult to digest for fans of the jagged guitars and fiery revolutionary soul that highlighted their 2015 self-titled debut and 2017's true critical breakthrough The Underside of Power . While the heart of the music is more or less intact, synths are playing a much larger role here, from the opening stabbing notes of the title track and throughout the album; likewise,...

The last time ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead released a new album feels like an eternity ago; after releasing four albums over a five year span (from 2009's The Century of Self to late 2014's IX ), Conrad Keely left home for Cambodia, where he spent most of the back half of the decade before coming back to Austin and reconvening with his band mates. If the wait between IX and X feels long, consider that 2020 marks the group's 25th anniversary and that we're also closing in on two decades since they famously burst into relevance with the undisputed classic Source Tags & Codes . Indeed, the time that has passed since that infamous 10.0 Pitchfork review has seen the sparkle of excitement around ToD dull considerably. That's no one's fault, really; people tend to move on from bands, and bands tend to produce diminishing returns whether they intend to or not. The six albums that came after Source Tags & Codes weren't leagues worse th...

So, here we are again. Another year (damn, another decade) is here, and once again I'm writing out an "I've been bad at this" post. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume that my heart just wasn't into this thing anymore and be using this space to announce the closure of Sound Bites. To be honest, that's something I've seriously considered over the past year and change, as it always seems like I've been unable to keep up with things around here for one reason or another (and, if I'm being totally honest with myself, most of those reasons = laziness). One thing leads to another and, before I know it, I'm behind by 30-50 reviews and the only way to chip away at the backlog is to summarize albums that talented people put a lot of time, care and hard work into with a haiku. While I did receive some positive reinforcement for doing that, something about it just doesn't feel right to me. Therein lies my dilemma; I want ...