The ladies brought their girl group meets punk act to town Tuesday night for a performance at the 7th Street Entry that found me leaving the show as indecisive, in terms of where I stand on the merits of the hype surrounding the young band, as I was going in.

Crystal Antlers played a break-neck set Monday night, showing that the buzz surrounding the band is warranted—you know things are getting good when a string is broken… on a bass… on the second song of the set.

It is often difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt the review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective on the music here are four reactions, four impressions, Four Takes on Actor by St. Vincent.

Electronic mad man Dan Deacon brought a new look to his show Saturday night at the Triple Rock Social Club. Instead of his usual space-age rig to present his Looney Tunes meet classical arrangements, Deacon brought an 11 piece band that added an extra dimension to his always crazy live show.

Long Beach based buzz band Crystal Antlers will be bringing their highly regarded live show to the Triple Rock Social Club for a Culture Bully Approved show tonight.

April was one hell of a month. Lily hit America, new members were introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, No Doubt released its first new song in roughly six years, Eminem dropped his first (hugely underwhelming) video from his forthcoming album Relapse and a group of Frenchmen played SNL. But aside from all of that are Culture Bully’s favorite things from the month of April 2009.

After over a decade of making consistently engaging and sunny kaleidoscope pop music, the band is back with a brand new album titled Dark Days/Light Years.

With some pulsing synths and a soaring chorus, the song is classic Haines, who has also spent time playing with Broken Social Scene and Stars.

The Thermals played a solid 60 minute set that had the band showing off their tightly wound indie punk rock to a boisterous Triple Rock crowd (at least boisterous for a Sunday night)…

Neko Case played a strong set Sunday night at the State Theatre that showed her amazing voice and her consistently great songwriting, both of which have helped to set her apart as one of the best female singer-songwriters of the last few years.

Cymbals Eat Guitars waste little time letting people know they are the real deal on their debut album Why There Are Mountains…

While each band played the songs people really wanted to hear, both showing strength beyond their “hit” singles, one still ended up falling a bit flat…