_Last Year’s Men has a moniker derived from a Leonard Cohen song and suggests a group of older, world-weary men.
The Raveonettes has never faltered in sound and concept. The band is guilty of employing gimmicks like composing all of debut Whip It On in B-flat minor with only three chords, and sophomore effort Chain Gang of Love in B-major.
Carrboro fixtures The Huguenots has been rocking the Triangle since about 2008, spreading its brand of sunny, vintage-sounding pop and developing a reputation for its live shows.
There’s never been a doubt about the Triangle’s place in the development and celebration of music. We’ve praised the bands, the labels and the festivals. But there’s a group of local innovators that is poised to blast the area with new sounds.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart broke out in 2009, its first album wrapped in fuzzy guitar with lyrics that signaled a teenage-centric, heartbreak-soaked foray into the world of indie pop. On its second full-length album, the band tightens up on songcraft and production, which helps cure the reverb-induced redundancy that afflicted its last record. Frontman Kip Berman is still preoccupied with love, loneliness and self-doubt.
Luckily for Chapel Hill’s Mipso Trio, the band’s debut EP is rooted in both instrumentation as well as deceptively mature songwriting. Yes, Mipso Trio has interesting acoustic instruments like a mandolin, and the band actually wants to do something with it.
OFF! may be a relatively new band, but the members have all had plenty of legitimate experience in the hardcore and alternative rock scenes. _Vocalist Keith Morris hails from Black Flag and Circle Jerks, guitarist Dimitri Coats comes from Burning Brides, bassist Steven McDonald started with Redd Kross and drummer Mario Rubalcaba played with Earthless and Hot Snakes.
Dive’s got some tips on how to maximize your break, be it the best traveling records or easy day-trip or weekend destinations. So don’t be blue if there are no exotic beaches in your future. Even Chapel Hill can feel tropical when there aren’t midterms clouding your outlook.
Beatlemania will always conjure images of hysterical girls and The Fab Four’s shaggy haircuts and skinny suits.
Chaz Bundick released his freshman debut Causers of This as Toro y Moi last year, a few steps behind artists like Neon Indian and Washed Out. Bundick differentiated himself from his fellow participants in the aptly titled “chillwave” genre by focusing on blending R&B groves with vintage-sounding beats to make slicker, multi-layered songs. With Underneath the Pine, Toro y Moi isn’t so much taking a step forward as it is taking a step sideways.
