Comets On Fire

In Depth

Sub Pop 20: the DiS review

In Depth by Him Tall

DiS crosses the Atlantic to join the celebrations at Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary, at a country park near (of course) Seattle»

Howlin' Rain: magnificently immediate rock 'n' roll explained

In Depth by Mike Diver

At home in California, Howlin' Rain's Ethan Miller is trying to kick his brain into gear to discuss his new Magnificent Fiend LP, the band's first since the curtain came down on his previous concern, the mighty Comets on Fire»

The Weekly DiScussion: cold comfort songs

In Depth by Mike Diver

This week's DiScussion – if the title isn't too much of a giveaway – focuses on songs to while away off-sick-with-a-cold time. After all, something has to fill the space ‘tween Neighbours and Neighbours»

Primavera Sound 2007: the DiS Review

In Depth by A bunch of drunk DiS writers

Don’t want to read everything? Fair enough. In short, Primavera Sound ‘07 featured sun, sea, and almost no sand at all. There was some grass, and concrete, and a number of stages. Bands and DJs performed on them, and DiS danced. Yes, yes we did. And we didn’t get sunburned...»

DiS @ Primavera Sound: the preview

In Depth by Mike Diver

DiS is, to say the least, pretty damn excited: tomorrow (tomorrow, in this case, being May 31, 2007) we fly to Barcelona for the annual Primavera Sound festival. The bill is literally a perfect who’s who of our favourite bands – some returning heroes, some breaking-through young bucks. Feel our sweaty skin, do – we are that excited...»

A Review of 2006: DiS is what it's all about, yo

In Depth by Raziq Rauf

2006 has been a year that’s lived up to and exceeded all expectations. With enough fantastic albums to treble the length of my Albums of the Year list, and a gig list long enough to frighten even the hardiest tour manager, I’ve seen plenty of goodness this year. Luckily we’re on hand to jog those memories and help you reminisce about the good times and the couple of sad moments which brought us all back down to Earth with a big bump. This is 2006...»

Sweet dreams or haunting horrors: ATP's Nightmare Before Christmas in summary

In Depth by DiS Festivals

This December’s Nightmare Before Christmas – ATP’s now-annual end-of-year blow-out, helmed by one prominent figure or other orbiting alternative music circles – filled a fair few DiSsers with not a little fear: with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore at the controls, any semblance of melody, anything resembling a tune you could hum, looked certain to be blown to smithereens by noise bloody noise. DiS reports back from the warzone...»

DiS meets Comets On Fire: "A little house party where everyone’s drunk and raging: I love it."

In Depth by Mike Diver

Stylistic specifics surrounding Santa Cruz-spawned quintet Comets On Fire are a little vague to say the least: a cursory scan of online references – your Wikipedias and AllMusics of this world – reveals little but indefinite categorisations and pigeonholes stretched so wide you could shove an extinct Dromornis australis into the space available. They are, quite simply, bastards to sonically pin down...»

DiS meets Ben Chasny: "Basically I’m lazy, but that’s how I work..."

In Depth by Mike Diver

Ben Chasny might be the busiest man in indie-poppin’ly interstellar super-buzzing folk-tinged acid-fried rock and roll right now. That, or he’s just your everyday musician with a lot on each of his many plates...»

The United Sounds of ATP, weekend one, a preview

In Depth by Mike Diver

It’s that time of year – the sun’s peekin’ its way past the outer fluff of the clouds, and pale-faced indie boys are thinking about takin’ off their tops. They won’t, of course – we’re too shy for that. Festival-wise, there is but one event that truly whets the insatiable appetite of the indie boy: All Tomorrow’s Parties...»