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LIZ PELLY

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What's F'N Next: Naomi Punk (Olympia, Washington)

In the Pacific Northwest, Naomi Punk started playing in various underground projects as teenagers about 10 years ago, self-releasing online EPs and CD-Rs to the locals, unconcerned with ever being part of the greater "music world."

By: LIZ PELLY | November 08, 2012

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What's F'n Next: Squarehead (Dublin, Ireland)

On a sunny autumn afternoon on a side street in Brooklyn, I sit outside on a rickety black staircase with Squarehead, chatting about their week.

By: LIZ PELLY | November 01, 2012

What's F'n Next? Swearin'

Allison Crutchfield grew up in the punk-rock world of DIY. And with her newest band, Swearin', she's released one of the best records of the year.

By: LIZ PELLY | October 18, 2012

Robot invasion!

Six-legged robots, mechanical snakes, and a friendly dino-bot by the name of Butch will make new friends in Somerville this week at two free events.

By: LIZ PELLY | October 09, 2012

Beach House's artful myth

Victoria Legrand opened her notebook and saw the word "Myths." "There were no other words on the page," says the Beach House singer and keyboardist. VJust JMythsM. . . . I hadn't even remembered writing it. It was magical. A total sign."

By: LIZ PELLY | October 10, 2012

How to Dress Well...on how to dress well

Given his sartorial stage name and his ear for R&B beats and avant-pop minimalism, Tom Krell of How to Dress Well certainly sounds like someone who could compose an excellent soundtrack for a runway show.

By: LIZ PELLY | October 03, 2012

Shopping with Kitty Pryde

A few weeks ago, Florida’s Kitty Pryde — everyone’s favorite red-haired teen-girl rapper — stopped by Brighton Music Hall for her much-anticipated first Boston show.

By: LIZ PELLY | October 02, 2012

Shelf life: Twin Shadow

One-offs
On Sunday, George Lewis Jr., a/k/a TWIN SHADOW, brings his new-wave and R&B-inflected indie-pop to the Paradise, where he'll play songs from his latest record, Confess.

By: LIZ PELLY | September 25, 2012

What's F'n Next? DIIV

Zach Cole Smith is grappling with extremes.

By: LIZ PELLY | September 19, 2012

Occupy energy ramps up Boston’s student power movement

OB 201: Intro to Tuition Strikes
On a gray Saturday afternoon in Cambridge, the first meeting of Boston's new student power movement is assembled in a Harvard auditorium: about 50 students from more than eight Boston-area schools, working out goals, structures, and values.

By: LIZ PELLY | September 12, 2012

Boston’s hackerspaces make room for robots and DIY synths, computer geeks, and tech punx

Creative co-working
"Hackerspace." At first, that term might bring to mind an image of rows of Internet wizzes staring intently into their screens, coding illegally. But there is more to the term "hacker" than its unfortunate computer-criminal stereotype.

By: LIZ PELLY | October 16, 2012

Help! Our bands are on fire!

Fanning the flames
Brendan Burns and his 11 housemates were asleep early last Thursday morning when flames engulfed their three-floor Cambridge home around 3:15 a.m.

By: LIZ PELLY | August 29, 2012

Potty Mouth spring out of Northampton

Rural development
On the top floor of Ally Einbinder's house in Western Mass, back behind her Creamsicle-colored bedroom, is a tiny attic with low ceilings, lit by one pink lamp, with walls covered in Xeroxed, vintage punk posters.

By: LIZ PELLY | August 22, 2012

Scratching beneath Cuffs’ indie-pop surface

Living splendor
On a Friday night in Central Square, the guys from Cuffs are hanging around before a show they're playing with some local friends' bands.

By: LIZ PELLY | August 07, 2012

A weekend of wonder at Newport Folk

All for Woody
Everyone was talking about Woody Guthrie at this year's Newport Folk Festival.

By: LIZ PELLY | August 02, 2012

On the Cheap: FoMu

Cruelty-free ice-cream shop makes Allston’s Union Square even more of a destination for vegans and foodies
With two all-vegan spots, pizza shop Peace o' Pie and Asian eatery Grasshopper, Allston's Union Square neighborhood already has a deserved reputation as a Boston vegan dining destination.

By: LIZ PELLY | July 11, 2012

DIIV | Oshin

Captured Tracks (2012)
On the debut LP by Brooklyn four-piece DIIV (formerly known as Dive, but still pronounced the same way), frontman and songwriter Zachary Cole Smith drifts between the dark and dreamy, channeling bits of new wave, '80s indie-pop, and Krautrock with ethereal instrumentals and reverb-drenched vocals.

By: LIZ PELLY | July 10, 2012

Out: Birthdays and Little Spoon rep Boston at Brooklyn FMLY Fest

Family values
Last year, when I spoke to Sammy Yager a/k/a Birthdays for the Phoenix about FMLY (an international socially-conscious artist collective he is involved with), he said the differences between FMLY fests and his typical Boston shows was "like comparing being at the best bar mitzvah ever with all of your friends to being in a bar by yourself."

By: LIZ PELLY | July 03, 2012

Friends | Manifest!

Fat Possum
With their debut full-length, Brooklyn pop quintet Friends have released the best pop album of the summer.

By: LIZ PELLY | July 03, 2012

The righteousness of Japandroids

House that rock built
The same week I first heard Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl), the new sophomore LP by Canadian rock duo Japandroids, I bought a plane ticket to Spain.

By: LIZ PELLY | June 22, 2012

Surveying the scene at Primavera Sound

Reign in Spain
Visiting Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona felt like a sometimes-surreal glimpse into an indie rock myth: the breezy stages surrounded by the Mediterranean sea, dreamy pop bands playing at sunset, hip European music geeks speaking all different languages, late-night punk and electronic sets raging until 5 am.

By: LIZ PELLY | June 15, 2012