Ultimate Fakebook – The Preserving Machine

Rating: ★★★☆☆

When looking back on my early days of music discovery, the years when you found “the good stuff”, the late 90s and early 00s were likely the most important time for me. This was a time when I began to transition from the middle school days of mostly radio rock n roll towards a more indie, underground scene. Coming out of Kansas at the time were bands like The Get Up Kids, Appleseed Cast, The Anniversary, and of course, Ultimate Fakebook. Though maybe not as widely known as those other bands, the group was equally as important to me and to that scene. So it of course brings me great pleasure to review Ultimate Fakebook’s first album in over 10 years, The Preserving Machine. Hit the jump for my thoughts on this long awaited album.

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Did Someone Say New Jeffrey Lewis?

JeffreyLewisPMVH280711I’m really surprised that Jeffrey Lewis hasn’t gotten more acclaim throughout the world. He’s been writing some of the best lyrics for some time, with musicality to match, so I expected more people to be on board now that Jeffrey Lewis and Los Bolts have a new record to their name. Still, it’s been quiet out there, which is a shame as this song below illustrates just how much fun we’ll all have if we delve into Mr. Lewis’ catalog a little bit. From what I can gather out there, the new record is titled Manhattan and is set for a worldwide debut this Friday via Rough Trade.

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