Nothing is subtle about Death Grips. Their sound rips right out of the gates and grabs you. It challenges you. It gets in your face and says “Here I am. What are you gonna do about it, bitch?” If there’s anywhere the techno-hip-hop trio succeeds, it’s in getting people’s attention. How could they not? There’s no middle ground in this sound. It’s fiery, bold, psychotic, freewheeling and divisive. The YouTube comments for “The Fever (Aye Aye)” feature some of our favorite fan reactions to Death Grip’s massive aural assault. “what the fuck is this!!!” says dudekid19. “Im excited, king...

March is over, bringing us that much closer to the end of the world. But hey, if the world is going to end this year, you might as well check out some cool tunes on your way out the door. Here is Fresh Wet Paint’s Best of March playlist, in no particular order: Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again  Genre: Soul Why it rules: Kiwanuka is, simply put, the best singer-songwriter there is right now. Good Old War - Can’t Go Home Genre: Folk Why it rules:  Good Old War takes the often-repetitive and droll indie-folk sound and turns it into something that is anything but. Alex Winston - Velvet Elvis  Genre: Indie Pop Why it rules:...

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen: The best album of 2012 (so far): King Con by Alex Winston. From track one through 12, Alex Winston’s “King Con”  is the blueprint for how to write an indie pop album. It’s the ideal image of American society: a melting pot. Except instead of throwing cultures and people in the melting pot, we’re throwing in music – done to perfection. Every song boasts a diverse palette of instruments, which isn’t hard to do, but maintaining a musical center of balance is. It’s not easy to make an ’80s-reggae-influenced track have the same feel as the folk-synth track...

If you want to be overly simplistic about things, there are two ideologies in today’s world of independent rock music: There is the camp that thinks the best way to catch ears is by creating a unique sound as an artist using every experimental trick in the book. Then there’s the camp that thinks all you need is a good, catchy song. That’s where Brenton Stanley, vocalist and guitarist of The Perfectos, falls. Sure, he’s got organs and pianos backing his traditional rock three-piece foundation, but that’s where the bells and whistles end. The Perfectos’ new seven-song EP, “The End Of The World...