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You may think to be truly punk rock you have to hail from London or New York? But you might be surprised if I told you that Oslo Norway was were it’s actually happening!

Turbonegro has been living the punk rock drama for the past 20 years. When speaking with Happy Tom this weekend I likened them to the Andy Warhol’s of the punk rock scene. He wasn’t especially impressed with my comparison. He said,”That’s terrible, didn’t he get shot”. But my point, and I did have one, was that Warhol really paid attention to popular culture, took the opinion and vices of the day and served it right back to the Richies all the while mocking their moral high ground. In essence Turbonegro has been paying attention to the most ridiculous trends in rock culture and then serving it right back to the world, only suped up, fast, hard, and totally rock.  As Happy Tom says, “We started off as a parody, and ended up a revolution”.

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4.33 (6 votes)

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Band of Horses played this years Coachella. Their runaway hit The Funeral has an emo vibe that one would assume might make them a good fit for the alt rock lineup. Clearly the thousands of people paying rapt attention to them at the show made me re-think my initial impression…which was “what is this southern rock band doing playing Coachella”? But you know, that’s just me.

Words by Barbie Brady, photos by Fever Dragon

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4.25 (4 votes)

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TV on the Radio has been making music since 2001 in New York City. Their sound is like a mixing bowl full of electronica, jazz, hop-hop with a dash of soul. Its unique fusion has made these guys a critically acclaimed act. When I see them play it feels as though they have been around inventing sounds forever, and yet, they are younger than me. What have I been doing with my life?

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4.67 (3 votes)

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A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York-based power trio composed of Oliver Ackermann (guitar/vocals), Jono MOFO (bass) and Jay Space (drums). The band plays a heavy, atmospheric wall of sound-influenced blend of psychedelic rock, shoegaze and space rock. The band is commonly known by the initialism APTBS.

Their heavy flood of rushing sound is a little like the Jesus and Mary Chain on speed. They have opened for the N.I.N. and MGMT. A good fit for both shows as I’m sure these headliners have at one point in time or other needed a place to bury strangers. If you missed them at Coachella you can check out their sound below.

A Place to Bury Strangers: To Fix the Gash in your Head

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A Place to Bury Strangers – Ocean

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I fell in love with the Silversun Pickups shortly after Carnavas came out. For me that album takes me back to New York City in a dingy hotel room, with an incredibly hot sexy stranger, and an ipod set on repeat. (ok replace dingy with corporate, and stranger with my husband and that’s pretty much how it went down). However, my emotional memory plays it back as the soundtrack to a torrid affair. And discovering that music, that way, was hot.

So imagine my impatience at waiting for the next installment of the Silversun legacy. Swoon does not disappoint. If you are sick of hearing their sound described as picking up where the pumpkins Gish left off, too bad. It does.  But they have also made it entirely their own. The first single, Panic Switch ebbs and flows in perfect time, riding the rails between slow moody melodies and rocking the F out. Thoughtful lyrics and driving rhythms abound on this articulate album front to back.  If you listen to it with the lights off, burning a candle, you will see your whole future in front of you (ok maybe that was the kid from Almost Famous – but it applies).

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4.67 (3 votes)

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Fans of Calexico have already come to expect the unexpected from Tucson, Arizona residents Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of their albums, from their dusty, lo-fi debut Spoke (1996) to the noir-infused dramatic power of The Black Light (1998), the breakthrough, mariachi madness of Hot Rail (2000), to their hugely successful most recent album, Feast of Wire (2003), which flirted with ambient electronica and Gil Evans infused jazz, charting in 14 European countries.

In 2006 comes Garden Ruin, officially the band’s fifth album, apart from their many tour-only CDs. Written in Bisbee, AZ. Recorded in Tucson, AZ. Mixed in Brooklyn. Mastered in California. It sees a new, and surprising episode unfolding in the Calexico story.

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4.00 (3 votes)

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