Evangelicals
The Evening Descends
(Dead Oceans)
Wide eyes stare from the jacket of Evangelicals sophomore effort The Evening Descends. The jacket even folds out into a poster, complete with handwritten lyrics (for those of you into that sort of thing).  If the postered eyes are staring in fear, or drug induced euphoria, it is hard to tell since [...]

THE ALARMISTS (CALM DOWN)
Deep Shivers Run For My Daughter
(Self-released)
Upon the first fifteen seconds of listening to The Alarmists (Calm Down) newly released EP, Deep Shivers Run For My Daughter, my ears perked at the opening bass lick. My heart quickened with eager anticipation of what was to come in the next twenty-odd minutes. [...]

THROW ME THE STATUE
Moonbeams
(Baskerville Hill/ Secretly Canadian)
Twenty years after grunge– the oftentimes over-hyped Seattle sound –the city turns-out a melodious effort.
TMTS’s [Throw Me the Statue] debut, Moonbeams, is a synthesizer and rhythm peppered work. The guitars bounce unlike the band’s Pacific Northwestern forebears. Yet, TMTS does use some distortion in its compositions. [...]

PLAY-SPACE
The Player’s Pub
424 South Walnut
It is the night of the first snow flurries in Bloomington; the Wednesday of IU finals week, and a friend and I go to The Player’s Pub.
The band enjoys a break between sets. They casually speak amongst themselves in front of a fair sized dance floor. A number of [...]

No, seriously—shut down your MP3 players. Get out your copies of Bishop Allen & The Broken String (Dead Oceans, 2007) and open the jewel case to the liner notes. Notice that aside from the new ink smell and accompanying lyrics, band mate Darbie Nowatka has illuminated each song with a picture. This is an [...]