Music

The Hives

Review: The Hives’ Lex Hives

The Hives: Lex Hives

The Hives: Lex Hives (Disques Hives, 6/5/12)

“Go Right Ahead”

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In 2000, The Hives hijacked the garage-rock takeover with a two-tone wardrobe, the huge single/video “Hate to Say I Told You So,” and the very sharp studio album Veni Vidi Vicious. Exemplifying the Swedish indie scene’s knack for reinterpretation of retro genre details, the band also brought the charismatic energy of punk rock to the table. It didn’t hurt that the quintet cornered, shifted, and raced like a well-tuned hotrod. The Hives seemed poised to dominate the genre for the rest of the decade. But the hard-touring group only mustered one new full-length between 2004 and 2012, the glossy 2008 release The Black and White Album. Sue us if we feel a bit deprived.

Generation of Vipers

Review: Generation of Vipers’ Howl and Filth

Generation of Vipers: Howl and Filth

Generation of Vipers: Howl and Filth (Translation Loss, 6/5/12)

“Eternal”

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With a pair of members in US Christmas and one in A Storm of Light, Tennessee trio Generation of Vipers has kept quiet for the past four or five years. But the sludgy post-hardcore three-piece finally self-released its third album, Howl and Filth, last year, and now it gets a proper push and release from Translation Loss.

Jherek Bischoff

Review: Jherek Bischoff’s Composed

Jherek Bischoff: Composed (Brassland, 6/5/12)

“Young and Lovely” f. Zac Pennington & Soko

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Jherek Bischoff has more than a few tricks up his very well-tailored sleeves. You know it just by looking at him, at his satin-collared tuxedo and manicured hairdo circa 1939, at his high cheek bones and golden-brown eyes, the color of failing light refracted off coated steel. Bischoff is maybe a renaissance man, maybe one of many. He’s not the only musician whose pedigree includes both experimental ensembles like Xiu Xiu and more classically oriented groups like Wordless Music.

Sweet Lights

Video Premiere: Sweet Lights’ “Are We Gonna Work It Out”

Sweet LightsSweet Lights: Sweet Lights, Sweet Lights (Highline Records / Red Eye, 9/18/12)

Following a handful of solo records and a wealth of material as leader of The Capitol Years, singer-songwriter Shai Halperin took up a brand-new identity as Sweet Lights in 2010. (Some may also recognize his name as part of the original line-up of The War on Drugs alongside underground icon Kurt Vile.) Halperin’s most recent solo effort, born out of an amassed collection of material and not enough musicians around to play it, retains the atmosphere of previous acts with foggy vocals and sugary melodies.

Doseone

Review: Doseone’s G is for Deep

Doseone: G is for Deep

Doseone: G is for Deep (Anticon, 5/29/12)

“End&Egg”

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If you’re looking for a crash course in left-of-the-dial avant-garde hip hop, there are few better places to start than the incredibly varied discography of Adam Drucker — better known as Doseone. As co-founder of the indie-hip-hop Anticon label and a member of Themselves, 13 & God, and Subtle, Drucker holds an indisputable prominence.

On G is for Deep — his first true solo release in five years — Doseone returns with a record that reaches in new directions while retaining all the unique characteristics that make his music unmistakable.