The Amherst trio had towers of amps stacked up all over the stage, including one that was pointed directly towards front man J Mascis, in case his monitors weren’t providing him enough of his own guitar sound. And not having enough sound has never really been a problem for the group, and it certainly wasn’t on this evening as the band tore through a fiery 90 minute set that spanned the band’s entire career.

One of the perils of playing Minneapolis’ 7th St. Entry is that there is only a thin wall separating the tiny club from the First Avenue Mainroom, leading to a fair amount of noise bleed from some of the louder acts. And as far as noise goes, Wednesday night’s imbalance between Dinosaur Jr. (Mainroom) and a three band female folk lineup (the Entry) was about as large a gulf as there is. However, even though whenever the door opened the ladies were drowned out by J. Mascis’ screaming guitar; they still put on an admirably lovely show.

While he may not get the blog-love or indie-rap nerd hype associated with a lot of other emcees these days, Denizen Kane has forged a strong career for himself on the strength of his unique delivery, creative lyricism and understanding that “hot beats and hot bars” shouldn’t be the end goal for hip hop acts—it should be the basic foundation off of which you can go into new and different places.

Much like the CD, the show ended up being just fine, but I couldn’t help but feeling a little bit underwhelmed from this much hyped about group.

While overall False Hopes XV is really only lengthy enough to whet the appetite, it does so with a fire that shows that the Twin Cities’ institution’s best work is far from behind them—it’s happening right now.

ButeHeart are still unsigned, play free shows, and have yet to even blow up on the local Twin Cities scene. But once their debut record, Brass Beads, starts getting around, I am convinced that it is only a matter of time before the band will start attracting fans like a Robert Pattinson sighting.

Recorded by the quintet live, all collected together in one room in the (in)famous Hotel Frank, what emerges from these sessions is a ramshackle, rambunctious, rollicking record comprised of various strains of lo-fi indie-folk.

Brooklyn-based six-piece White Rabbits released its sophomore effort, It’s Frightening, earlier this year with the help of Spoon’s Britt Daniel who covered production duties for the album. Drummer Matthew Clark recently took some time to answer a few questions about the new album, the band’s new label, and what led the band to work with Daniel.

While I can firmly say that I hope this isn’t the direction the Strokes go, Phrazes for the Young is a strong statement by an artist who clearly isn’t afraid to take chances.

The largely electronic band’s music automatically conjures up memories of the Postal Service, though they mix in enough acoustic folk to ward off further comparisons to that much-adored group.

When bands have a debut record as dramatic and far reaching as Fanfarlo’s excellent Reservoir, you are always at risk for a letdown when you see the songs performed in the live setting. Luckily for the surprisingly full Triple Rock Social Club Wednesday night, Fanfarlo met and exceed any expectations with a thrilling 50 minute set.

In a world filled with pompous, no talent people willing to do just about anything to get attention, it is something like Clear Skies Over Black River, a touching and personal album given away for free, that really deserves our attention.