"Within the past month and a half, two songs from Chicago electro-pop duo Walter Meego's full-length debut, Voyager, have appeared on the hit ABC dramedy 'Ugly Betty.' The show's title protagonist is young and unprepossessing, but gains confidence and command as her story unfolds. However unwittingly, Voyager mimics this evolution, initially presenting a pair of facile, derivative popsmiths who seem to perceptibly mature into dynamic artists in the short space between the record's beginning and end." 6.8/10 - Pitchfork
"Load Walter Meego's Voyager into iTunes and the genre that appears is simply 'pop.' And despite the fact that the Chicago duo's material is built around a dance format, this is a truly apt description. On their debut, the band looks to spit-shine the work of current favorites Hot Chip and Cut Copy... Voyager's production is black-toast crisp and its songs retain an almost Beatles-like dedication to melodic precision." - XLR8R
Walter Morciglio is an uber-talented singer-songwriters that will knock your socks off. Amazing stuff. For fans of Jose Gonzalez!
The Queen of Rockabilly... Wanda Jackson is an legendary icon and an important influence on both rock and country. ... credentials? She recently was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame!
"An atomic bomb in lipstick... The Queen of Rockabilly..." - Bob Dylan
"After a career that spans six different decades, you would think Wanda Jackson, a spry 65, would be content to rest on her laurels as a pioneering country and rockabilly chick. But no.... her gritty growl still sounds like she means it, and we'll be danged if we can find any other grandmother who rocks this hard." - Harp Magazine
"the queen mum of rockabilly"4 stars - Mojo
"Heart Trouble is Wanda's first studio album in 15 years .... tackling country, R&B, and rockabilly with equal authority." - CMJ New Music Monthly
"Wanda Jackson has left an indelible mark on rock 'n' roll." - No Depression
A weird concoction of reggae, funk, melodic punk and Celtic rock.... The Warsaw Poland Brothers are awesome!
"Incredible...There’s something about their energy and the quality of their playing that makes believers out of the harshest skeptics... These guys are destined for something big!" - Rolling Stone
"If Shane McGowan could sober up for a minute, he might learn a new trick or two from these young Eastern blockheads." - Metroactive Weekly
"Warsaw Poland Brothers... Bad Religon meet the Pogues with a Jamaican twist." - Honolulu Weekly
"Melody-enriched post-punk, danceable guitar rock, whatever you want to call them, We Are Scientists are remarkable for a peculiar fusion...of brainy beat structures and heartfelt pop... Rooted in the same intense song-smithery of eighties indie." - The Raft (UK)
"Point is, when there are bands as quirky, interesting and damn fun as We Are Scientists, the rest is all elementary... Oddball pop music, danceable guitar rock, whatever you want to call them, they're all about the fun. And luckily they have enough talent and great songs to take things up to the next level." - New Noise
"intrepid rhythm arrangements, clever lyrics... booty shaking" - Time Out New York
"We Are Scientists...insanely catchy pop songs." - Village Voice
Having opened for The International Noise Conspiracy and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, We Are Wolves will strike a chord with fans of art-punk/no-wave bands like the Slits, Les Georges Leningrad, the Liars, Animal Collective and the Fall at Mark E. Smith's crazier moments.
A "three-piece forming the same spastic tech-rhythms, dark-masked vocals and angular shout-punk of bands like Clinic and Les Georges Leningrad, We are Wolves are proponents of the choleric life in white noise. They pummel disco and electro beats into great distorted blocks of static and noise, chanting and shouting their vocals back and forth, like a call and response drag race in broken-down strips, tail-lighting the dawn." - Stylus
"For the last few years, local trio We Are Wolves have been tearing up the stage with their electrifying guitar/drum/analog synth attack. With herky-jerky, shouted/sung vocals that sometimes bring to mind fellow electro-punks Les Georges Leningrad, ... a crunchy, distorted, overdriven mess. And what a beautiful mess it is!... A solid debut from a great live act." 7.5/10 - Montreal Mirror
"We Ragazzi buzzed into Chicago's crowded indie-rock territory in late 1997, spicing up the scene with their brash mix of bluesy garage rock, and sassy new wave." - All Music Guide
The group toured extensively for the last year, supporting Les Savy Fav, Detachment Kit, the Apes, Scene Creamers, 90 Day Men, Denali, Minus the Bear, Blood Thirsty Lovers & Explosions in the Sky. This band is on the rise .... Think Le Tigre meets John Spencer.
"We Were Promised Jetpacks have... perfected a sound that sits between post-punk and pop, soaring choruses saved from over-sentimentality by stark, even bleak verses." - The Independent
"Blistering post-punk anthems of the highest pedigree: powerful and tuneful in just the right measures." - Q Magazine
"if you like stuff like Pavement and The Elected? You should check out Weapons Of Mass Destruction!" - Daredevil
"Beneath Portland, Ore.'s nationally-recognized layer of musical talent lies a bedrock of more than one thousand working bands throughout the metropolitan area. Among these up-and-coming acts, Weinland stands out as one of the most promising." - Paste
"Weinland... puts forth fragile, folky songs that at times evoke elements of Neil Young. (Not all evokers of Neil Young are worth spending time with, but this act is.) - USA Today
"The Portland five-piece's frontman, Adam Shearer, channels Elliot Smith's frail whisper - and like Smith's, his voice can stand steadfastly alone over a single guitar or piano note." - SF Guardian
"Weinland's latest... La Lamentor (is) an amazing and intimate collection of hauntingly beautiful folk lullabies... the kind of music that gives you goose bumps (in that good sort of way)." 4 stars - The Portland Mercury
"Wendy Ohlwiler = Joni Mitchell + Jefferson Airplane + Loretta Lynn... more portishead than Janis Joplin." - Slug
"Ohlwiler... a cross between Gillian Welch, Ma Rainey and trip-hop." - Salt Lake Weekly
West is generating a lot of buzz in town... both literally and metaphorically. Their live set is quite moving... again both literally and metaphorically... We expect to hear quite a bit more from these guys!
"What Laura Says Thinks and Feels'... music is very eclectic sounding and gives plenty of hints that those responsible for the pieces recorded are listening to all sorts of types of music... probably anything besides radio hits. Folk, blues and world music can all be heard, blending with beautiful vocal harmonization and often playful melodies." - Phoenix Art
"Whiskey Bitch...plays straight-up, punk-flavored bar rock influenced by the likes of Aerosmith, Nashville Pussy and the Ramones. Known mostly for its live performances, it plays up the naughty grandeur associated with AC/DC, while teetering on the brink of booze-fueled collapse a la the New York Dolls." - Las Vegas Mercury
"Sounds like a hillbilly domestic violence episode with a soundtrack by Motorhead." - Sleezegrinder
"If you like Pantera (RIP Dimebag), or rockabilly, or Slayer, or good raw punk music, you will definitely like this thrash metal band." - AZ Night Buzz
"White Rabbits have been Spoon-fed: The Missouri-cum-Brooklyn band enlisted Spoon’s frontman, Britt Daniel, to produce its second record and, in doing so, avoided a sophomore slump - and then some. Building upon the Walkmen-like grittiness of the Rabbits’ debut, Fort Nightly, Daniel introduced a healthy dose of pop sheen to the sextet’s sound on It’s Frightening... The success lies in the Spector-style layering and reverberation of the big, intertwining beats and basslines kicked up by two drum sets, two guitars, piano and bass... The result is congruous, real rock & roll. And for the record, it all sounds right." 5 stars - Time Out New York
"Frightening often sounds spooked, but the guys are still as cocksure as prizefighters, most of their arrangements packing enough polyrhythms for three regular songs." 7.4/10 - Pitchfork
"It’s Frightening builds upon White Rabbits’ established aesthetic and at the same time sharpens the band’s shambling attack... It’s Frightening proves White Rabbits are worth the attention..." - 7.5/10 - Prefix
"Daniel justly brings the band’s best attributes to the foreground and It’s Frightening ends up being a tight and concise album." - Delusions of Adequacy
"It's Frightening makes use of the band's man power... It seems that Daniel's production finesse has given the Rabbit's new effort a thin layer of sonic gloss that has morphed the group's energy into a more scaled-back and recognizable sound." 7.5/10 - Paste
"Much in the way that 'All the Young Dudes' tethered Mott the Hoople to Bowie’s legacy, Britt Daniel’s production involvement on It’s Frightening will be a central point for White Rabbits as they continue to grow in reputation. The connection, in this case, is entirely warranted; though a fine, muscular rock album, It’s Frightening sounds so much like a lost Spoon session... White Rabbits have made a limber, urgent record, one that feels organic and unfettered." 3.5/5 - Tiny Mix Tapes
The newest addition to the uber-fantastico Merge Label is White Whale. How do they sound? Think a prog-rock influenced Big Star or Kinks punctuated with hints of Black Sabbath. White Whale will also resonate with fans of Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Quasi, Okkervil River, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill.
"Matt Suggs has been in the indie rock game for a long time. Starting with Butterglory in the mid-'90s, then moving on with a couple of fine, understated solo albums in the early 2000s, he has turned out nothing but high-quality product. His new group, White Whale, continues the run of excellent releases. Teaming with ex-Get Up Kid Robert Pope and three members of the Higher Burning Fire, Suggs leaves understatement behind on WWI. The album is a larger-than-indie record that blends elements of folk, prog, post-rock, electronica, and chamber pop together, throws them mixed up on the big screen, and comes up sounding (mostly) like no one other than White Whale." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"To be certain, there are elements of those earlier groups incorporated (Butterglory, Get Up Kids and Higher Burning Fire), but they are largely subsumed by a more aggressive and somewhat progressive rock quality." 4/5 - Tiny Mix Tapes
"There's also a generous hint of glam, courtesy of former Butterglory member Matt Suggs' breathily dramatic delivery and impressively constructed, elliptical lyrics, which are so full of effortless alliteration and internal rhymes that, as like on David Bowie's 'The Bewlay Brothers', it takes a while to realize that he isn't saying a damn thing... White Whale's roots may be in classic rock, but the band still has the good sense to embellish its music with less expected accents too." - Pitchfork Media
"White Whale's debut relese, WWI... blends psychedelic rock with hints of the Kinks and Black Sabbath." - NPR
"But what is most remarkable about WWI is that despite being somewhat led by the shadows that have been here before, it shows you can still view White Whale in their own light. Listen to them while in the flickering triumph of Arcade Fire and they stand up just as well. White Whale would be happy to carry the trophy home to their own mantles, but they'll also be content for having ventured and tried." 8/10 - Kevchino
"Through and through, White Whale creates music as enormous as their Biblical and literary namesake, though without the horrific implications. " - Treble
Tucson's own Whole Lotta Zep: Tucson veteran rockers Pete Fine- guitar, Ray Buckwich- vocals, Brian Gunning-drums, and Stefin Gordon-bass... The closest you'll get to seeing Led Zeppelin unless you got tickets to that re-union show in London (hint: nearly impossible unless you are really famous and/or insanely rich)!
"With no idea what this band would sound like from the sparse artwork consisting of just their name - Wild Thing, the first song got off to a great-bad start. What I mean is that it took three tries of “1-2-3-4!” to get the band to whip the noise into something coherent. It’s basic, early, no-fucking-frills catchy punk, barely held together, the sort that could at any minute spiral off into a discordant mess." - Razor Cake
"Wild Thing is no joke. While far, far too many bands are heading off in some kind of bullshit '90s indie rock revival or something, Wild Thing keeps it real." - Maximum Rock and Roll