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Clifffs :: Panic Attack

Edgy and propulsive in a way that fills songs with multitudes of hooks and excitements, alive with nervy energy and unafraid to fit it all in under two minutes.

Dan Deacon :: Mystic Familiar

If you grew up on videogames, the frenetic multilayered synths will sound like the final moments of a big boss battle. If not, it sounds like a bunch of live Casio keyboards being sent down the garbage disposal. In a good way.

Black Lips :: Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart

The Black Lips are like looking outside the bar window and seeing country and punk having an argument then a fistfight.

The Just Joans :: The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of The Just Joans

The Just Joans are the sonic equivalent of tartan… between the girl group influences, the pitch-perfect pastoral pop, and a sense of humor as black and bitter as truck stop coffee, they could not be more Scottish.

Double Date with Death :: L’Au-Delà

Excellent garage psychedelia from Quebec that transcends any language barrier with its insistent guitars, lush textures, and thundering drums.

Juliana Hatfield :: Sings The Police

The source material is brilliant, but the interpretations are so uneven that it’s more like “Juliana Hatfield’s Wax Museum of Songs by The Police”.

Sean Henry :: A Jump from the High Dive

Another solo pop genius wunderkind, blasting it out of the water with a summery mix of rock and psychedelia.

Omni :: Networker

A strange confluence of influences, with a lot of dynamic arrangements and plenty of weird hooks that shouldn’t work but are lethally effective.