Like many veterans of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, scene, the Comas are as averse to pigeonholing as most non-pigeons are. Indeed, Spells, the outfit’s new disc for the Vagrant imprint, is a veritable variety pack of indie-rock stylings. For instance, the opener, “Red Microphones” is an up-tempo chugger that…

You’ve heard of one-man bands—but one-man glam is something else entirely. On The Moonstation House Band, released earlier this year on the Secretly Canadian label, and a new EP built around the Moonstation single “Nothin’ No,” Vandervelde, who’s based in Chicago, nods to the glitteriest rock of the early ’70s…

Former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul hasn’t made much noise of late, and for good reason: His brother and bandmate, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, was shot and murdered onstage in late 2004. Hellyeah marks Paul’s return, and his stick work is as fierce as ever. If only this would-be supergroup were as…

People who try to change the ones they love rather than accepting them as they are typically wind up wedded to disappointment. The same concept can be applied to British singer-songwriter Carina Round. The Disconnection, Round’s 2004 American debut, was a raw wonder, but because it racked up more glowing…

When it comes to organized religion, Erkekjetter Silenoz, the guitarist/ songwriter for Norway’s Dimmu Borgir, considers himself to be an equal-opportunity hater. “I think most people—at least our fans—know our stance against religion,” he says, his accent as deep as a fjord. “It doesn’t have to be Christianity, but as…

TV on the Radio, fronted by Brooklyn artiste Tunde Adebimpe, is simultaneously progressive and regressive—a forward-looking throwback that’s defined by its ambiguity. Unlike all but a few recent albums, Return to Cookie Mountain, the outfit’s latest full-length, is less a collection of songs than an overweening sonic statement whose whole…

Definitive Jux founder Jaime Meline, who goes by El-P, has spent the millennium battering hip-hop’s boundaries, and on his first solo CD since 2002, he takes things well beyond his previous extremes. The results are intriguing but self-consciously arty, engaging the brain more often than they move the body. El-P…

On “Trollin’,” The Weirdness’ first cut, Iggy Pop declares, “Rock critics wouldn’t like this at all,” and if he’s right, the Stooges’ improbable comeback will collapse on the starting line. In the end, though, most reviewers are apt to view the disc as an honorable miss, not a flat-out disaster…

Is there a peppier performer than the Apples’ Robert Schneider? Although he’s never achieved the sort of commercial breakthrough that’s long seemed his due, this former Denver resident remains upbeat and ready for anything, as he proved on a January episode of The Colbert Report by enthusiastically belting out an…

For a woman who spends much of her time rapping about sex, Canada-born Merrill Nisker, who performs as Peaches, doesn’t seem all that concerned about having fun. Take “Two Guys (For Every Girl),” a provocative cut from Peaches’ latest CD, Impeach My Bush, in which she declares, “I wanna see…

The “thinking-man’s metal” tag that hangs on Isis seems bad for business, but guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner and his comrades don’t appear to mind. After all, the jacket of their new CD includes the quote “Nothing is true, everything is permitted” that inspired the album’s title, as well as a quasi-footnote…

Gerard Way offers his critics plenty to ridicule on the latest Romance CD, including unbridled theatricality, more classic-rock nods than even Lenny Kravitz typically offers and the sort of show-biz shamelessness that hipsters consider terminally uncool. Yet the garish over-the-topness of the entire twisted enterprise is precisely why this disc…

Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson is a hot, eager and totally empty vessel. On The Dutchess, she displays an affinity for the sort of mainstream pop that would put most Black Eyed Peas fans to sleep faster than a Blizzard with Tylenol PM sprinkles–but if acting like a hip-hop ho enhances her…

Keb’ Mo’ will play the spirit of the blues–literally–in Honeydripper, the next movie by acclaimed director John Sayles. The casting, however, isn’t as perfect as it seems. Press reports describe the flick (Sayles’ first since 2004’s Silver City, which was largely filmed in Denver) as a musical drama focusing on…

The men of Minneapolis’ Tapes n Tapes create an indie-rock mlange that recalls at least a dozen acts from the genre’s past–and, relatively speaking, that’s a good thing. Rather than aping a particular group, Josh Grier and company draw from oodles of inspirations, and if they don’t quite individualize each…

British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap frequently sings against a backdrop heavy with electronic accoutrements–a creative tack that’s been known to trigger critical repercussions. Take Beth Orton, whose early albums didn’t receive the respect they deserved because reviewers suspected her of hiding behind the studio touches. Of course, if you believe what…

In the past, New Orleans’ Terius Gray, who’s more than 30 but still Juvenile, has cared more about coochie than about current events; “Back That Azz Up” doesn’t exactly qualify as a political statement. It’s little wonder, then, that “Get Ya Hustle On,” a Reality Check track about the Hurricane…

Some listeners will interpret the Girls’ third disc as the sort of mainstream move currently being attempted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but the alterations in their sound seem inspired more by creative concerns than by commercial calculation. Instead of replacing former guitarist Nathan Thalen with another ax-wielder, the players…

Toby Keith may not really be a dick, but he plays one on CD. He generally comes across as ultra-smug, as if flaunting his popularity in the faces of intellectual elitists was half the fun of success. Yet the attitudinal aggressiveness that dominates White Trash is vastly preferable to the…

At its peak, Stereolab was among the most distinctive combos on the planet. Throughout a succession of discs capped by 1996’s unimpeachable Emperor Tomato Ketchup, the act, led by multi-instrumentalist Tim Gane and beguiling French-born singer Laetitia Sadier, offered up an irresistible blend of electro-dabblings, twisted kitsch and left-wing ideology…

Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis should be thrilled. After all, the February edition of Spin features a multipage profile of her by notable scribe Chuck Klosterman. Unfortunately, though, the spread shortchanges Rabbit Fur Coat–a new side-project CD (made with the Watson Twins) that qualifies as her finest platter to date–in…

Until recently, neo-soul crooner John Legend was known as John Stephens, his given moniker. Legend says he made the switch to draw more attention to his work and to challenge him with “a higher standard to live up to.” It seems to have worked. In addition to seeing Get Lifted,…