Crunching Numbers: Phantogram.

Now that's what I'm talking about.

(If you haven't seen it, watch Phantogram's couch session here.)

Crunching Numbers: Mumford & Sons.

 Oh, Deusner. How could you!:

"Their debut, Sigh No More, is stocked with group harmonies straight from the Fleet Foxes warehouse, exaggerated earnestness on consignment from the Avett Brothers, some of the same rock "real"-ness that built the Kings of Leon brand, second-hand drama from that run on Keane a few years ago, and some insistent Gomez rusticisms gathering dust in the back room. It's not spot-the-influence if they're pushing them on you with a salesman's insistence."

Harmonious verses need not necessitate false accusations that the Mumfords ripped off the Foxes, though I suppose when you’re the lone writer who giddily handed out Best New Music annotations to the same band twice over for a debut album and their five-song EP, it can be easy to, oh I don't know, have a salesman's insistence — in addition to an unjustified bias and blatant slant.

Funny though, that you thoroughly describe Fleet Foxes as one with "a firm grasp on rock and folk history [that] never play to their record collection" and instead "cherrypick their ideas from a broad spectrum of styles, pulling in Appalachian folk, classic rock, AM country, and SoCal pop" but choose to instead accuse  Sigh No More of merely being plagiarism of various artists that either share a few generally acceptable musical influences or so sadly prove that you haven't got a drop of folk, bluegrass or country music in your iTunes library. (I mean, Gomez? Really? Does anyone who hasn't gotten a driver's permit within the past 18 months even listen to that?)

But, keep your chin up with these reviews, kid. I hear there's an award floating around for you, too.

Crunching Numbers: Local Natives.

yesssssssssssssssssssssss.

When I moved to New York,  I exclusively listened to Local Natives' four songs on MySpace, on repeat, for three weeks straight. There were no CDs to order, couldn't find anywhere to download tracks, and they only had streaming tunes available and the handful of songs available from their Daytrotter session a few months before. I sat in the tiny NYU dorm I was staying at until my lease started, perched over one of those wooden college desks in an uncomfortable chair with a blue, dirty cushion and listened over and over to "Airplanes" and "World News" while wishing I could fly back home and see them play in Midwestern barns on Daytrotter's tour.

It's been months and months, but I'm pretty sure I love their music just as much as I did then.

Much deserved, much enjoyed.