Bad Veins - or the trio of Benjamin Davis, Sebastien Schultz and a 1973 reel-to-reel player named Irene - may come from the humble midwest, but their music is nothing short of epic in scope. The band's self-titled debut is packed with three minute dramatic opuses. The band joined us at Monolith Music Festival for an acoustic Esurance session. read more

Jookabox combines rock, blues, soul, hip-hop, psych and more. Everything and the kitchen sink is melded, looped, blended, stirred and baked. Some might claim too much, or too weird, but the result is fun. And fun goes a long way in my book. read more

Avi Buffalo, from Long Beach, California, is the project of songwriter Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg. The band, full of kids barely out of high school, has signed to Sub Pop Records and will release their self-titled debut this coming April. Avi grew up with skateboarding aspirations, but when he couldn't conquer the fear of dropping into the half-pipe, he turned to guitar. For the uninitiated, you can expect high-pitched pop with catchy guitar hooks, comparable to Ween and even The Shins, with smart songwriting well beyond the years of band. read more

2009 was a great year for the latest wave of Scottish bands, particularly for Fat Cat Records labelmates Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Laundromatinee.com had the chance to record with both Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks at the 2009 Monolith Music Festival. The interesting thing about We Were Promised Jetpacks is their sound fits very well inbetween the two aformentioned acts, drawing key strengths from both - as Pitchfork puts it - the tough with the tender. This makes sense since the band lists both Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad as influences, but it is rare when a band can pull intelligently without mimicking. WWPJP's debut album, These Four Walls, was released in June of 2009. read more

Chapel Hill, North Carolina startup The Love Language make music so unabashedly drenched in teenage romance that throwing the term 'emo' at them might actually stick—that's even how the band describes itself on its MySpace page, which, of course, features a backdrop of two young lovers kissing. But such a tag would be misleading; whiny sad-puppy fake-punk this is not. Let's try this instead—The Love Language play the music they're named after. Gorgeous, longing and playful songs that speak to the universal emotion that drives us all. Say it with me now—love. The sound is a mix between scrappy, lo-fi garage rock and harmonious, joyful 1960's girlpop, all smushed together in this beautifully messy package, tied with a ribbon of Stuart McLamb's simple, emotive vocals. Untie it and look inside. Promise, you'll fall in love. read more

Justin Ringle's songs sound like the soundtrack to Flannery O'Connor stories: emotive, dark music that feel like they should be sung in abandoned old churches set against dark stormy skies. His solo work under the name Horse Feathers attracted the attention of fellow Portlander Peter Broderick of Norfolk and Western who lent his arrangement talents to Ringle's lyrical talents. On cold winters nights like these, there is no better band to sit down with than Horse Feathers. Their stark, contemplative music is the kind that lends itself so well to quiet, thoughtful nights by a warm fire with a hot drink. We caught them last year as they came through town to play songs from their latest recording House with No Home on Kill Rock Stars. read more

REPOST : Originally posted in October of 2009, I decided to repost this one today as this performance of One Red Thread probably ended up being my favorite session song we recorded last year. We promoted two excellent shows with Blind Pilot in 2009 as well...Portland, Oregon's Blind Pilot started as the two-man project between Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski. The duo made waves touring by bicycle up and down the west coast. In the last year, the band has expanded to six members to more accurately match their recorded sound. That sound, on their album "3 Rounds and a Sound", has been likened to a mix of the Shins and Iron & Wine. Pop songs with a folky flavor, driven by guitar and drums, with an emphasis on lyrics and vocal melodies. read more

When Nashville-based Mat Kearney released his first album on Columbia Records in 2006, he toured, incessantly, with the likes of Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Jason Mraz and the Fray. To say his brand of pop music is simply accessible would likely be an insult. His songs have been featured on a slew of hit TV shows including Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, and he headlined the first ever VH1 'You Oughta Know Tour.' I imagine many teenage girls, soft-hearted saps and AAA/adult contemporary radio fans have already anointed Kearney as a likely ascender to the throne of radio-friendly pop. read more

Based out of both Lexington, KY and Washington, D.C., These United States started out as the brainchild of Jesse Elliott and collaborator David Strackany (better known to most as Paleo), with an ever-changing, shifting collective of collaborators. The lineup has more recently solidified into its current incarnation (Elliott, Robby Cosenza, J. Tom Hnatow, Justin Craig, and Colin Kellogg). You can find their sound in the same wheelhouse as Midlake or Delta Spirit, with the freak-folk sensibilities of Devandra Banhardt haunted by the ghost of Gram Parsons. We were able to sit down with three of them at this year's Monolith Music Festival to catch a song off of their most recent album Everything Touches Everything (United Interests), one from their 2008 release Crimes, and an oft-covered version of the classic 12 Gates To The City. read more

In 2008, Wild Light won “Outstanding Rock Act of the Year” at the Boston Music Awards, but in 2009 the band, a handsome young quartet from New Hampshire, saw their profile raised considerably this year. The band started off the year, along with Tapes N Tapes, on their first national tour. Obviously they turned a few heads and ears because they were asked to open for The Killers tour not long after. It was on this tour the band stopped through our Pop Machine Studio to record an acoustic session for Laundromatinee.com. Wild Light's debut release, "Adult Nights," was recorded in Los Angeles with reknowned producer Rob Schnapf. Schnapf has worked with both Beck and Ellilott Smith previously. Adult Nights was released through Startime International. read more

Wild as mink but sweet as soda-pop, Nashville based Caitlin Rose specializes in the drink-away-your-heartache Country-with-capital-C music that brings rhinestone legends Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn to mind. There's a dose of the singer-songwriter, one voice/one guitar ethic of Kimya Dawson or Daniel Johnston thrown in there as well. Her voice is both delicate and twangy, like a banjo with butterfly wings. Her 2008 EP "Dead Flowers" (her only release to date) showcases her fragility ("Answer in One of These Bottles") mixed with some healthy cynicism and humor ("Docket" and "Gorilla Man," respectively). She also gives us a great cover of The Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers," the second of this year after Deer Tick. read more