Fast paced, progressive and a little punk rock, Brooklyn’s Old Monk is a sweet reminder of what indie rock should be. Josh Carrafa’s lyrics and guitar work are reminiscent of Julian Casablancas, minus the major record label drama. They do however have the potential to cross over to an enormous audience thanks to their organic infusion of progressive time changes and transitions. Ian Burns holds down the rhythm section with mathematic precision, making their tunes tighter than your jeans from way back in 1999. Old Monk has the fantastic ability to make you want to cry and thrash around the mosh pit at the same time — make sure to check them out live, they'll have a record release in mid January and a Cake Shop residency in February. - Ed Guardaro
We've always been big fans of Luke Temple, and it's good to see that, together with the Here We Go Magic crew, the man is keeping at it with increasingly beautiful records and videos. The band's new album "A Different Ship" (stream it here) will be out on May 8, and betrays at least a partial return to Luke Temple's more intimate and melodic sound from his solo repertoire - in this regard, lend a ear to "Hard to Be Close," "Alone but Moving" and "Over the Ocean". This is welcome news for fans like us who always thought that in most HWGM material Luke's noteworthy songwriting skills seemed a little sacrificed on the altar of textural experimentation. This doesn't mean that the band's signature hypnotic, impressionistic sound is lost - it's just that these two elements work together better than they did in past records, and this is what makes this album one of the NYC highlights of the year so far. Indeed, this collection also features songs more in line with the band's past releases ("Make Up your Mind", "I Believe in Action"), which follow on the steps of brainy-pop icons like Brian Eno and The Feelies, but there's definitely a balance here, also betrayed by the almost perfect alternation of melodic songs and less traditional ones.The just released video of "How Do I Know," telling the story of a rejected dancing robot that ends up revitalizing an older man's appreciation for life, seems to reflect on this brain/heart, mechanic/organic dichotomies and somehow bring them to unity. - PDG
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