Though their jangly guitars and penchant for pop melodies bore some of the hallmarks of the so-called C86 sound, more than anything else what united the Close Lobsters with the other acts on the NME’s legendary cassette compilation was an ethos of self-made ingenuity. Born in the Scottish town of Paisley (about 10 miles east of Glasgow) in 1985 out of a surprisingly thriving punk …

Melenas, which translates roughly to “heads of hair,” are an all-female quartet hailing from Pamplona, Spain (yep, of bulls running through the streets fame)

We’ve interviewed dozens of artists here on The Agit Reader, some more than once, and there’s no one that we have spoken to more frequently than Pere Ubu’s David Thomas. While we no doubt have a soft spot for fellow Ohioans, this fact is more a reflection of Thomas’ unwavering ability to create music that is always challenging and enthralling, not only with Pere …

If you don’t go in for overpriced meals and cliched gestures, a good place to have spent Valentine’s Day this year would have been at The

If Wire had called it a day after releasing their first three seminal records (which they supposedly had at the time), it would have been enough to cement

While to mainstream audiences Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (a.k.a. OMD) may forever be remembered simply for “If You Leave,” their big U.S.

It’s been 40-some years since Pere Ubu emerged from the ashes of Rocket from the Tombs, so one could be forgiven for thinking that the seminal

As the last days of 2019 approach, one can’t help but take stock of the past year and the records that stood out. The album with which

Longtime Agit readers will know that we fell in love with Frightened Rabbit via the Scottish band’s second album, 2008’s The

Born in 2014 as a continuation of sorts of the ideas singer Dan Boeckner was exploring in the Handsome Furs, Operators has developed its own set of aesthetics and a sound as distinctive as any of Boeckner’s other previous projects (Wolf Parade, Divine Fits). While Operators rely on a largely electronic palette, there is nevertheless no shortage of human emotion in what they create. As …