Rock
Noah’s Barks pages related to the rock music genre. Combine with other tags for subgenres, e.g. “alternative+rock,” “noise+rock,” and “indie+rock.”
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The Cult – “Electric”
With Electric, The Cult reveal their true allegiance: none other than AC/DC. 11 times that same song. The only thing The Cult have over their idols is that their lyrics are written about things other than balls and beers, and Ian Astbury sounds like a dork trying to look cool, which is better than sounding… (read more)
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Alice Cooper – “School’s Out”
The attitude and personality is in ‘School’s Out.’ Additionally, the schmaltzy production shows for the first time… but where are the hooks? (read more)
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Alice Cooper – “Muscle of Love”
Name(s): Muscle of LoveArtist(s): Alice CooperRelease Date(s): November 20, 1973 Oh, the humanity. Probably the Alice Cooper group’s most underrated album. Actually there’s no “probably” about it. The four albums before Muscle of Love are quite acclaimed, what makes Muscle of Love the odd duck out that seems to get ignored by critics and fans… (read more)
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Bardo Pond – “Lapsed”
Lapsed is so close to being really great. The drone influence is really pronounced, and with their female vocalist they actually sound a bit like Boris at parts. This is straight-up noisegaze, but under the noise there are some subtle pleasant melodies, they’re just primitive and more buried than your usual shoegaze, but still dynamic enough to… (read more)
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Pale Saints – “In Ribbons” (1992)
The shoegaze “canon” be damned; In Ribbons is objectively the best Pale Saints album—much, much better than The Comforts of Madness. The thing that killed the shoegaze movement was the fact that many bands thought all you had to do was step on effects pedals and find a pretty noise so you wouldn’t have to bother writing any… (read more)
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Blondie – “Plastic Letters”
A definite step up from Blondie‘s self-titled debut album, but not by much, and Plastic Letters is certainly no comparison to the huge leap the band would take forward next with Parallel Lines. The pieces are all there: Chris Stein’s surf rock licks, Deborah Harry’s showgirl vocals (very unusual when compared to the other husky-voiced… (read more)
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Band of Susans – “Veil”
The riff in “Not in This Life” is so similar to the Big Black song “Kerosene” that I kept expecting Steve Albini to shout the title. I originally got this album because it had a pretty, purple cover. As it turns out, Veil is a solid B-tier shoegaze album that’s worth checking out for enthusiasts… (read more)
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Catherine Wheel – “Painful Thing E.P.”
The two exclusive songs on the Painful Thing E.P. (“Spin,” “Painful Thing”) are great but really held back by awful production values. Additionally, the two early versions of songs that would end up on Ferment are better experienced there. Rob Dickinson’s vocals sound much younger here than they’d be on their debut and beyond, which… (read more)
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Moscow Olympics – “Cut the World” (2008)
Cut the World is modern, jangly, dreamy, twee pop reminiscent of similar-sounding ’80s indie pop bands, particularly The Wake. Seriously! If you like this, listen to Something That No One Else Could Bring, it’s practically the same thing (but better). Though derivative, Cut the World does that scene justice. Every song is good, and what it lacks… (read more)
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Blur – “Leisure”
“She’s So High” and “Wear Me Down” are pretty good songs, but the rest of Leisure is mostly just serviceable Baggy-Madchester rock. The band tries to cover up a lack of hooks and good melodies with a lot of minor noisy psychedelic guitar wash. Sometimes it works and makes for a pleasant shoegaze-ish song, such… (read more)