Reviews
Harry Styles’ Harry’s House Is a Beguiling Homage to ‘80s Pop Full of Romance and Regret
Since the release of his debut solo single “Sign of The Times,” Harry Styles has made it clear that the (one) direction he would be heavily inspired by classic rock. The McCartney-meets-Queen power ballad was just a jumping-off point—a marker of taste that was broader than his days as a One Directioner. All the while, he’s remained genre-fluid, experimenting with psych-pop, funk, folk and indie-rock, but maintaining a pop ethos that would make The Beatles proud. Evoking comparisons to a modern-day Mick Jagger (he even portrayed him on Saturday Night Live), Harry Styles has established himself as the gentleman rock star of the pop world. It’s not just his talent: His charm, swagger. and kindness sets him apart from predecessors like Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake, who secured a followi...
Bauhaus Kick Off 2022 Tour In Portland With A Chaotic, Thrilling Performance
The tone for the evening was established early. Peter Murphy stormed the stage, scepter in hand, before the house lights could be dimmed. “Let’s get going,” he shouted at his bandmates. “Fuck the lights.” The occasion was the opening night of Bauhaus’ 2022 U.S. tour — a short run of dates that sticks to the West Coast during the month of May before the post-punk icons reconvene in September for a pair of shows in New York City — and the temperamental frontman was anxious to get things underway. Only two other members of Bauhaus — drummer Kevin Haskins and guitarist Daniel Ash — heeded Murphy’s call as they ambled through John Cale’s “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores.” The trio played for a good two minutes before bassist David J showed up. He threw his instrument on and spent the rest of the so...
Bauhaus Kick Off 2022 Tour In Portland With A Chaotic, Thrilling Performance
The tone for the evening was established early. Peter Murphy stormed the stage, scepter in hand, before the house lights could be dimmed. “Let’s get going,” he shouted at his bandmates. “Fuck the lights.” The occasion was the opening night of Bauhaus’ 2022 U.S. tour — a short run of dates that sticks to the West Coast during the month of May before the post-punk icons reconvene in September for a pair of shows in New York City — and the temperamental frontman was anxious to get things underway. Only two other members of Bauhaus — drummer Kevin Haskins and guitarist Daniel Ash — heeded Murphy’s call as they ambled through John Cale’s “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores.” The trio played for a good two minutes before bassist David J showed up. He threw his instrument on and spent the rest of the so...
Downton Abbey: A New Era Delivers Exactly the Sort of Period Drama Fans Crave
The Pitch: It may have been a few years since the last one, but never mind that; it’s time for the newest episode of Downton Abbey! Yes, all your favorite characters are back as the clock chimes on the year 1928, and the good folks of this lovely English countryside continue to puzzle over the encroachment of the modern world. First automobiles, then the telephone, and now — moving pictures! What is a stately English manor and its staff and residents to do?!? The above is this writer’s best efforts to inject some extra drama into a description of Downton Abbey: A New Era, the second theatrically-released installment continuing the saga of the wildly popular ITV/PBS period drama. But also, that’s really not necessary. While this isn’t something unique to Downton, it has always been a franch...
Deftones Bring on the Blood Moon with Rooftop Performance in NYC: Recap, Photos + Video
Setting the Stage: After twice postponing their highly anticipated tour due to the pandemic, Deftones have finally hit the road again. Most of the fans in attendance at the Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City had been holding onto their tickets for two years, and they were rewarded with a beautiful night of perfect weather on Sunday (May 15th). Not to mention, a full moon hung over the evening’s festivities, with a sensational real-life backdrop that included the Empire State Building to the left and the Brooklyn Bridge to the right. In fact, later on that night, a “blood moon” would be visible due to a total lunar eclipse. If that weren’t enough, French metal masters Gojira were providing direct support, with Australian electronic duo VOWWS opening the evening. Taking the Stage: With...
Sunflower Bean Give New York a Headful of Sugar at Webster Hall: Photos + Setlist
On the eve of the release of their new album, Headful of Sugar — and drummer Olive Faber’s birthday, no less — Sunflower Bean finally got to headline one of their hometown’s biggest venues: Webster Hall. (Get tickets for the rest of their upcoming headlining dates here.) The setlist featured almost every song from the trio’s latest LP (except highlight “Stand by Me,” which admittedly was a strange omission), but there were plenty of fan favorites and deep cuts in there too. “Twentytwo” — a track Julia Cumming revealed to us is her favorite song to play live — mad an appearance early on, while the encore closed with “Somebody Call a Doctor” off their very first EP, 2015’s Show Me Your Seven Secrets. While the concert was clearly a showcase for Headful of Sugar, it was also a fasci...
With Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar Chooses Himself and Makes a Masterpiece
“I choose me, I’m sorry.” The last five words on Kendrick Lamar‘s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers hit the hardest for anyone who “did the work,” as trained and untrained therapists like to say. Kendrick’s fifth album, out today (May 13th), is a lot of things: part political analysis, part social critique, with a dash of familial observations. But from start to finish, it’s all therapy. Kendrick’s latest effort is the Compton emcee putting himself on the couch and asking, “Why?” Why is he addicted to women and cheating? Why is he overwrought with guilt when he can’t help old friends? Why does he bathe in toxic relationships? Or even why he’s so damn competitive when it comes to rap? Advertisement Kendrick created a double LP sure to inspire tons of ink spillage from the pop culture indust...
Firestarter Review: Zac Efron Stars In a Stephen King Remake That Quickly Flames Out
The Pitch: Stephen King adaptations have been a fixture of the big and small screens for decades, but there’s been a particular surge in recent years, following the blockbuster success of It. So it’s only natural that studios might circle back and revisit some of the adaptations that weren’t especially beloved in their day. Firestarter seems like a good candidate; the 1984 film version is more notable for its eclectic cast (including George C. Scott, Louise Fletcher, and a young Drew Barrymore!) than its meandering story (albeit one that’s largely faithful to the events of King’s book). The new Firestarter still follows Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), the pyrokinetic daughter of two telepathic parents, who goes on the run with her dad Andy (Zac Efron), pursued by the shadowy government for...
The Smile Builds an Alternate Universe Radiohead on A Light for Attracting Attention
Fifty-nine seconds into “The Same,” the first track from The Smile’s debut release A Light for Attracting Attention, the unmistakable voice of Thom Yorke begins singing about how “we are all the same” atop a sci-fi pulse of piano, acoustic guitar, and analog synthesizers. There’s no easy release from the tension of the song’s slowly creeping dread, and it soon begs an important question: how is an album with Radiohead’s singer, lead guitarist, and producer actually not, well, a Radiohead album? The answer lies somewhere in between Jonny Greenwood’s simple desire to work on something — anything — with Yorke during the lockdown era of the COVID-19 pandemic and a larger philosophical debate about the evolution of Radiohead’s music in the past 15 years. Both are reflected throughout the superl...
Apple TV+’s The Essex Serpent Is Sumptuous, Supernatural Gothic Romance: Review
The Pitch: 1890s England: a time where the rapid rise of scientific knowledge — medicine, technology, archaeology — clashed with Christian superstitions and fairy tales. In the middle is Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), a woman recently widowed from a wealthy, abusive spouse, who sees the opportunity to find out who she is and what she really wants out of life. A fortuitous report out of Essex gives her the chance: A winged, fanged “serpent” is reportedly snatching people up outside the sleepy port town of Aldwinter. Armed with her wits, her interest in “naturalism,” her curious son Francis, and adventurous maid/companion Martha (Hayley Squires), Cora leaves her comfortable London life to solve the mystery once and for all. But she quickly finds herself at odds with the paranoid, God-fea...
Top Gun: Maverick Review: Tom Cruise Goes Full Throttle In a Sequel That Does the Original Justice
The Pitch: It may have taken 36 years, but even pandemic delays couldn’t keep Tom Cruise away from the danger zone. When viewers are reunited with Captain Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, one of the military’s best-ever fighter pilots is still a Navy man, working on experimental aircraft after decades of avoiding promotions that would pull him out of the cockpit. But the brass, personified here by a very cranky Jon Hamm, has a new assignment for the ace: Train up a team of hotshot youths for an incredibly difficult (dare we say… impossible) mission into enemy territory. While a dozen officers are selected as candidates for the task, the most prominent are a very Maverick-esque pilot known as Hangman (Glen Powell) and Rooster (Miles Teller), the grown-up son of Maverick’s tragically dece...
Conversations with Friends Review: Hulu’s New Sally Rooney Romance Gets Intimate and Messy
The Pitch: In 2020, a Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s sophomore novel took the spring by storm. Beloved by critics and audiences alike, Normal People launched Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones into immediate stardom territory, and with good reason — the limited series was both tender and excruciatingly heavy; romantic and frustrating; hard to watch and impossible to turn off. It only makes sense that Hulu would want to give it all another go with Rooney’s debut novel, Conversations with Friends. This story follows introverted poet Frances (Alison Oliver) and her ex-girlfriend, best friend, and muse all at once, Bobbi (a luminous Sasha Lane). The two become involved with an older married couple, Melissa (Jemima Kirke) and Nick (Joe Alwyn), and the messy threads that tie them all...
