Change Machine- American Pinup

American Pinup is an Indie/Punk band from Westchester, New York that combines multiple genres to carve out a unique niche in the Indie scene. Going into the album I was expecting something much more influenced by the Psychobilly genre, that is to say, tacky. This genre is characterized by swing music and traditional rock and roll influences and bad movie monster references. It started off kind of slow but then the tempo picked up and it was off to a rocking start. It was pleasantly more Punk Rock-esque than I was expecting and it was executed incredibly well. The fast moving rhythms that are synonymous with Punk music paired up with the simple, easy to listen to vocals signature to Rockabilly and Psychobilly, and the low quality recording equipment sound give the album a cheesy one-of-a-kind feel.

Song Highlight: “Shelter”

Rating: 3.5/5

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Spreading Rumours- Grouplove

Grouplove is a quirky 5 piece Alt-Rock band from Los Angeles that stands firmly between the start and stop rhythm of Modest Mouse and high energy, electronic sound of Passion Pit. I’ll be perfectly honest, I didn’t like Grouplove before I wrote this review. Tongue Tied drove me crazy with how over-played it was but this album convinced me otherwise. The heavy bass beats and melodic vocals give it a chime similar to Florence and The Machine or Marina and the Diamonds without the high range of either. The upbeat and fun loving songs are incredibly fun to dance to. Even with cheap, tinny headphones, the quality was so fantastic that if you closed your eyes you could swear you were in some strange dance club in a foreign country. Even if you’re not normally into electronic music, this album is definitely worth a listen.

Song Highlight: “Schoolboy”

Rating: 4/5