Andy Klingenberger

On its third album, 2014’s excellent “Lost in the Dream,” The War on Drugs toe the ever-blurring line between pleasingly retro and mawkishly nostalgic with particular aplomb, sounding as if the sextet has mainlined the American rock triumvirate of Dylan, Springsteen, and Petty, right down to the feeling of wanderlust. But unlike his heartland rock […]

On the heels of a brief tour with Central New York sweethearts Ra Ra Riot, Cleveland-based band The Lighthouse and The Whaler bring its melodic folk-rock, replete with glockenspiel and strings, to town. The outfit has released two albums and an EP over the course of its five-year existence, each showcasing enough catchy sing-along choruses […]

The founding members of They Might Be Giants have been creating and playing music together for 30 years. While the line-up of the rest of the band has changed since the move to a full band in the early 90’s, John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been the linchpins, overseeing the group’s sound and direction. […]

A look at Eternal Summers’ Bandcamp page to see how the band describes its own music is revealing. Between “face melt” and “future punk” you get the sense of what’s in store when the newly minted trio takes the stage, having honed its live show opening for the likes of Nada Surf. The Roanoke, Virginia, […]

Ringo Deathstarr can’t be pinned down to a single influence. When you listen to the band, you’ll hear them all, ranging from The Smiths to My Bloody Valentine. The resulting sound is an amalgam that puts the Austin, Texas band right in line with the New Wave of shoegaze that’s been en vogue for the […]

Baltimore duo Wye Oak takes its moniker from the honorary state tree of Maryland, a 460-year-old white oak that was destroyed in a thunderstorm in 2002. The pair’s melodic noise pop might not share that namesake’s longevity, but the band emulates its constant growth with each subsequent release; the most recent album, last year’s “Civilian,” […]

Jukebox the Ghost’s most recent album, “Safe Travels,” is the band’s third, and it showcases the outfit’s penchant for quirky pop that falls somewhere in the Ben Folds spectrum. That might be an easy comparison, but the album is replete with enough piano riffs and sing-along hooks to sate even the most jaded consumers of […]