Reviews
Tears for Fears Debut Four New Songs Live at 2022 Tour Kickoff: Review, Photos and Setlist
Addressing the crowd on Friday (May 20th), the first night of their amphitheater tour with Garbage at Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center, Tears for Fears founding member Roland Orzabal pinpointed the band’s mood as “chuffed,” as in “deeply satisfied in a particularly British manner.” The band had brought out “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” three songs into their set, sounding just as pristine and cathartic now as it did when first recorded nearly 40 years ago. Conventional wisdom might be to save such an iconic hit for the latter half of the set or the encore. But Tears for Fears are not a mere legacy act capitalizing on Gen X-er nostalgia. You can identify the most popular songs by how many people start recording on their phones. But deeper cuts, like epic multi-parter “Bad Man’s Son...
Harry Styles Builds His Most Fun Full-Length on ‘Harry’s House’: 7 Essential Tracks
A lot has changed for Harry Styles in the two-and-a-half years between his second and third solo album releases — but perhaps most significantly, he now has smash hits. With 2019’s Fine Line, the One Direction standout synthesized the star-crossed classic rock ambitions of his 2017 self-titled debut into sumptuous, soft-edged pop, and achieved top 40 enormity with “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar,” the latter his first Hot 100 chart-topper. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Styles was already headlining arenas before those songs took off — the 1D diehards are both loyal and plentiful — but their crossover appeal solidified him as a cross-generational superstar, capable of making albums that get endlessly streamed by teens and hits that t...
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...
