Miles ahead of most indie bands
author: Maximum Ink
It's been out for awhile, but it definitely deserves some attention, especially to help hype the new EP (vinyl terms are always cooler than digital terms) they'll be releasing in 2006. You can hear the Teenage Fanclub influence on their debut album and the brothers Hernandez (Kyle on bass and vocals and Chris on guitar) find their jangling melodies without wasting much time. Their lyrics are clever (“Ex-Members of a Band” has some good verses and the MacGuffin at the center of “Quite The Production” show that they're not afraid of complexity, even if the point isn't always made clearly.) It's garage-pop and miles ahead of most Wisconsin indie bands, and leaves the listener looking forward to the next (and hopefully a little less fuzzy sounding) Certain Stars record.
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I love the energy and indie pop.
author: Julie Morenstein
Times Like These rocks! I love the energy and indie pop and the instrumental lo-fi stuff too.
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Certain Stars pull it off
author: Splendid Magazine
There's something to be said for bands that can squeeze various forms of power pop, lo-fi rock and even Nick Drake folk into a single album -- and make it sound like it was recorded in a garage. Wisconsin-based Certain Stars pull it off on Times Like These Call for Tambourines. Despite Certain Stars' sonic and lyrical inconsistencies, These Times is a subtle treasure.
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