The View, 'Hats Off to the Buskers' (1965/ Columbia)
Searching for hope - or at least booze and chicks - in a dead-end town.
By David Peisner 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Like the Jam before them, the Libertines were a phenomenon in Britain that never clicked on this side of the pond. The View descend directly from that pissed-off, working-class punk-pop tradition -- in fact, their debut owes such a debt to the Libertines, it's tempting to dismiss them as imitators.
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Peter Bjorn and John, 'Writer's Block' (Almost Gold)
Yes, they are the indie-blog equivalent of ABBA.
By Barry Walters 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Swedes do everything with stickier melodies. On their third album and U.S. debut, this Stockholm trio evoke shoegazing Brits ("Objects of My Affection"), New Zealand cult rockers ("The Chills"), and folky Beatles ("Let's Call It Off").
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Breaking Out: Amy Winehouse
Tattooed U.K. soul sensation refuses to clean up her act.
By Craig McLean 12.13.07 1:53 AM
Heckling Bono as he gave a speech in London. Wobbling through a cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" on a British television show. Smacking a fan for bad-mouthing her after a gig. In the U.K., soul singer Amy Winehouse, well known for public displays of drunkenness, has been accused of all of these things. But when her former manager
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Alkaline Trio, 'Remains' (Vagrant)
Chicago emo elders turn a dark eye to the past.
By Jason Buhrmester 04.02.07 3:00 AM
Alkaline Trio began combining goth and punk back when My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way could barely see over the comic-book counter. Remains gathers tracks from various compilations, split releases, and soundtracks, and the diversity on display proves there has always been a daring band under the eyeliner.
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Willy Mason, 'If the Ocean Gets Rough' (Astralwerks)
Wise-beyond-his-years troubadour rocks with sincerity.
By Rob O'Connor 04.01.07 3:00 AM
Mason is a 22-year-old rustic singer/songwriter who's added his Martha's Vineyard musical gang for a second album heavier on texture (hello, cello!) and sweeter on harmonies (courtesy of his mom, Jemimah James).
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RTX, 'Western Xterminator' (Drag City)
Ex-Royal Trux singer sheds her junkie scumminess.
By J. Niimi 04.01.07 3:00 AM
Jennifer Herrema formed the trio RTX in 2004 after her musical and matrimonial split from Royal Trux partner-in-grime Neil Michael Hagerty.
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