Back when the term emo wasn’t either an insult or part of the marketing lexicon for tween-targeting clothing stores, there was Sunny Day Real Estate. While not the originators of the fledgling genre, they’re a reminder that melodic, sensitive punk rock hasn’t always been synonymous with poor quality. Together, the band released two records in the mid-nineties that proved to be massively influential and Diary, their debut, even spawned what we used to call an “alternative rock” hit single in the song “Seven.” What happened next was much publicized; lead singer Jeremy Enigk took time away from the band to record his debut solo release Return of the Frog Queen and to actively become a Christian, and a year later the band reformed to craft two more albums before disbanding for good. Three former members of Sunny Day Real Estate, Enigk included, formed The Fire Theft in lieu of simply reforming their old band, but that group also appears to be in hiatus. more ›

It took ten years for ex-Sunny Day Real Estate front man Jeremy Enigk to release a follow-up to his first solo album, Return Of The Frog Queen - and it's been well worth the wait. Though not as grandiose as its predecessor, World Waits (released through Enigk's own Lewis Hollow Records) combines all the best bits of Enigk's various projects. And though it doesn't cover much new musical ground, World Waits will definitely please fans... more ›

The Horrors – The Horrors EP Coming straight outta the swampy backwaters of, erm, London art school…hm, let’s start over. Not to be confused with the US Horrors, who play the same excessively raw neo-proto-punk but don’t get any press because they live in Iowa, these London delinquents split the difference, both visually and aurally, between Edward Gorey’s Victorian grotesques and Elvis in Jailhouse Rock. There’s no doubt that The Horrors are well-connected—how else do... more ›