There's definitely some feedback flow that fans of the shoegazer explosion will appreciate while, thanks in part to Amper's fragile vocals, anyone taken with the work of bands like Felt or the Field Mice will find something to love here. There's a definite Pale Saints influence as a result, since such a similar combination was that band's raison d'être (and indeed, former lead singer Ian Masters is thanked for creating the album title), while Harrington's lead guitar work contains more than a few hints of the Cure's own narcotic pop/rock rush.

What's up with that guy's singing, anyway? That question was tossed around quite a bit back in 2008, when Crystal Stilts emerged as one of the more interesting acts in the lo-fi Brooklyn jangle-pop pile. On the band's debut LP, 2008's Alight of Night (as well as the preceding Woodsist-co-released self-titled EP), frontman Brad Hargett often sang in a tone-wary, bass-heavy voice, his vocals cloaked in enough echo to nearly smother his dark incantations. 

They're absolutely gorgeous.... way more gorgeous than that girl you saw drinking PBR last night with the green eyes and too tight neon pants with the weird plaid shirt that was totally indie. (I changed my mind about not being snarky.) 

One need only take a cursory glance at the Fredericksburg, Virginia-based trio's latest album, Synthstatic, and its hallucinogenic pink and blue artwork, or pull up the band's website at killerrockandroll.com to infer what their music sounds like and where they get their kicks. 

Well, when I guess it’s pretty obvious that my influences are bands like Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, etc. When we did The Millia Pink and Green, I wanted to do a very swirly album that would set us apart mostly from a lot of stuff that was going on locally here on the West coast (US). At that time, there really weren’t many bands doing the kind of stuff we were around here, and I really wanted to do something that would be just a million miles away from all of the other albums coming out.

This album is as relaxing as a deep tissue massage with Dr Xanax hands. Philadelphia’s Work Drugs, Tropic Of Cancer, has been moving in and out of our sights for about a month..mas o menos.

The Washington, D.C.-based indie pop band the Ropers was formed in 1991 by singer Doug Bailey and guitarist Mike Hammel, students at the University of Maryland who quit school after two years to begin making music. They soon recruited drummer Alex Hacker, whom both Bailey and Hammel knew from their brief stint in the Lilys; with bassist Greg Pavlovcak, the Ropers recorded their debut single, the 1992 Slumberland label release "Sunbathe," soon followed by "I Don't Mind." 

Every single song on here is amazing... from the chugging bombast of "Delaware" to the fuzzy windout that is "(Plus Fish Dream)." You'll be changing your mind constantly as to which song is your favorite. Right now I really like "Kick The Tragedy," which features an interesting segment of a possibly intoxicated person rambling about different things. The song is both poignant and uplifting.

Revolver were a London based guitar band in existence from 1990–1994, comprising Mat Flint (guitar/vocals), Hamish Brown (bass) and Nick Dewey (drums). Flint and Dewey had been in school bands together, and when the two moved to London in the autumn of 1990 met Brown who completed the line-up.