Johnston Farrow

In-Flight SafetyThe Coast is Clear(Dead Daisy)Our boys from the east coast had a huge year. Awards, videos on heavy rotation, signing to Emm Gryner’s Dead Daisy Records. It couldn’t happen to a bunch of nicer and harder working guys. And the music delivered—with soaring aTrevor MacLarenospherics, plaintive lyrics and sweet-as-honey melodies, In-Flight Safety is no […]

Billy IdolDevil’s Playground(Sanctuary)It’s a nice day to start again as Billy Idol returns after a decade of trying to play down his early-’90s Cyberpunk image. Surprisingly, the results aren’t all that bad. That’s mostly because Billy’s sucked it up and brought excellent glamster guitarist Steve Stevens back to the fold. Idol still has his bad- […]

Snow PatrolEyes Open (Polydor) Yes, it’s another of those British bands that make sensitive, epic ballads that pack an emotional punch. Smartly, Snow Patrol doesn’t stray from the formula it followed to stardom on the 2004 hit debut Final Straw. The group wins with vibrant guitar rhythms and pulsating keyboards, and only falters when it […]

Beta BandHeroes to Zeros (Astralwerks)Kicking off with the anthemic “Assessment,” Heroes to Zeros is the opposite of its title, proving again why the Beta Band is one of the best bands in the world, and one of the most underrated. They inspire a Dave Matthews-like following in their native UK but are way cooler, morphing […]

We Are ScientistsWith Love and Squalor(Virgin)Although some critics complained the Brooklyn trio relied too heavily on the songs-about-girls-and-boozing formula, that’s a small criticism when fewer indie rock records sounded as consistently fun in 2006. Backed by a collection of excellent singles (“The Scene Is Dead,” “Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt” and “It’s a Hit”), We […]

Air Traffic ControlS/T(independent)In a fair world, Lunenburg-based Air Traffic Control would have a contract, tour everywhere and be all over the radio. Yet the Comstock brothers (frontman Kirk and drummer Jordi) continue to make great and ignored records. Here they have help from cousin Luke on bass and multi-instrumentalist Philip Clark. Deliciously darker than their […]

MSTRKRFTThe Looks (Last Gang)Crossovers rarely happen in the underground world of electronica. This is especially so since the late-’90s when big beat kings the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Fatboy Slim ruled radio and the pop charts, before kids moved on to other tastes and dance music went back to the clubs. Welcome the return of […]

MorrisseyYou Are the Quarry(Attack/Sanctuary)On his first album in over six years, the Mozzer rails against religion, government, non-vegetarians and the music industry. In other words, it’s another Morrissey album. But the time off has done the British icon some good with a collection of tunes that rivals some of his best work, like the satirical […]