Email Author Doug Wallen

2009 Stories by Doug Wallen

• Dale Watson

  published December 3, 2009

  Rife with character-heavy narratives and big-sky imagery, country music has always been a ideal soundtrack for driving. We’re reminded of... More >>

• Unmasked and Anonymous

  published November 12, 2009

  Deluged as we are with music these days, it's easy to forget how much guts it takes to get onstage with just a guitar and sing your heart out for... More >>

• Brand New

  published October 29, 2009

  Like AFI and a handful of other acts, Brand New plied hardcore roots and mainstream ambition for a strain of dark, chart-conquering rock that was... More >>

• The Horrors

  published September 24, 2009

  Whereas 2007's Strange House found the Horrors meeting the Cramps and the Ramones halfway while singing about Jack the... More >>

• Yourself and The Air

  published July 16, 2009

  Precious and precocious in equal measures, Chicago five-piece Yourself and The Air has benefited from a groundswell of hometown support that is... More >>

• Pete Yorn

  published July 9, 2009

  With his scruffy-model good looks and his equally unkempt Springsteen-meets-Replacements approach to the singer-songwriter racket, New Jersey... More >>

• Starlight Mints

  published June 25, 2009

  Starlight Mints have never quite gotten a fair shake. One could venture that's because there's only room enough for one huge psych-pop band from... More >>

• Larry Jon Wilson: Larry Jon Wilson

  published June 25, 2009

  >With a sonorous voice and brooding storytelling, Georgia country singer Larry Jon Wilson haunted the outskirts of 1970s Nashville, releasing four... More >>

• Math the Band: Don't Worry

  published June 18, 2009

  All harried shouting and hurtling, Nintendo-­sounding synths, New England duo Math the Band craft ultra-geeky, ultra-poppy geek-pop that's... More >>

• O Pioneers!!!: Neon Creeps

  published June 11, 2009

  Song titles can be misleading. In the case of Houston trio O Pioneers!!!, for example, "Saved by the Bell Was a Super Good Show" doesn't... More >>

• The Strange Boys

  published June 4, 2009

  Between the haphazard hooks, ramshackle rhythm section, mumbled vocals and lo-fi lust for vintage psych, Black Lips comparisons are unavoidable... More >>

• Dale Watson: The Truckin' Sessions: Volume Two

  published May 28, 2009

  Rife with character-heavy narratives and big-sky imagery, country music has always been an ideal soundtrack for driving. We're reminded of that... More >>

• Ratatat

  published April 2, 2009

  Haters and even casual fans may find Ratatat a bit one-note, seeing how the New York duo mostly wields zippy guitar riffs and bubbly synths in... More >>

• New Found Glory: Not Without a Fight

  published April 2, 2009

  The most pop by far of a whole generation of pop-punks, New Found Glory has been influential enough over the last dozen years to see mainstream... More >>

• The Juan Maclean

  published February 26, 2009

  Six weeks before it hits the street, The Juan Maclean is road-testing the eagerly awaited The Future Will Come, which despite its title... More >>

• Loretta Lynn

  published February 19, 2009

  Where to start with Loretta Lynn? Whether it's her Grand Ole Opry heyday in the '60s, 2004's Jack White-assisted crossover Van Lear Rose... More >>

• Crooked Fingers

  published February 5, 2009

  Fresh off mining the bottomless influence of Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen over several swell albums, ex-Archers of Loaf barker Eric Bachmann... More >>