Ryan Leas
@RyanLeas
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I listen to music and write things about it. Formerly Stereogum
New York, NY
Joined March 2012
Called upon years of previously useless Springsteen nerd knowledge to bring you this primer on the new lost albums boxset
vulture.com
What to expect from the massive archival set.
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Went back to an old indie gateway drug (if you are, like me, a 34-year-old millennial) and wrote about Beck's Guero for its 20th anniversary
stereogum.com
For the first 10 years of his career, the idea of the “real” Beck was up for grabs. You had the lo-fi folkie, the slacker white-boy rapper, the is-he-for-real Prince impersonator, the epically...
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Some recent things: Talked to Black Country, New Road about every song on their new album Forever Howlong
stereogum.com
People like to throw around the phrases “long-awaited” and “highly anticipated” a lot. Sometimes it’s just PR hype speak, sometimes it’s really true. In the case of Black Country, New Road’s new...
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Some thoughts on Jason Isbell's Foxes In The Snow, a characteristically nuanced piece of work on the messiness of splitting up, moving on, and his own identity as a musician and celebrity in the wake of divorce
vulture.com
His split from Amanda Shires marked the end of a potent redemption arc. Foxes in the Snow imagines a new path.
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Also revisited Father John Misty's big breakthrough I Love You, Honeybear for its tenth anniversary:
stereogum.com
By the time his mid-thirties loomed, Josh Tillman had been multiple people already. An evangelical upbringing precipitated a crash landing in Seattle, working dead-end jobs while releasing melancho...
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Some things I wrote recently: Album Of The Week reviews on two great early 2025 releases. Ela MInus' sophomore LP DIA:
stereogum.com
“Abrir Monte,” the opening track of Ela Minus’ sophomore album DIA, comes from childhood. Translating to “open the mountains,” the phrase references the process of cutting through jungle undergrowth...
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I booked this show in NYC tomorrow. Brooklyn's first ever totally solar-powered concert, featuring Nation Of Language, Grace Ives, Model/Actriz, and Psymon Spine. Come hang.
stereogum.com
Last week, Stereogum announced we’ve partnered with DERTF and SOLARPUNKS for a one-of-a-kind event in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard. The basic idea: This Saturday, we’re putting on a concert powered entirely...
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Silverbacks are one of the most underrated bands going right now. I caught up with them about how they're (kinda) OK with that, and another great new LP, Easy Being A Winner
spin.com
On their latest album, the Irish sextet Silverbacks settle into real life on their most diverse sound to date
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I talked to Geordie Greep about his gonzo new solo LP which is kind of becoming one of my favorite things he's done?
stereogum.com
In the waning days of this summer, Geordie Greep unceremoniously announced the end of his feverishly beloved band Black Midi. After initial confusion and suspicion that the trio might just be...
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After the last few Bad Seeds albums, it's beautiful to hear them embracing something close to joy. Wrote about it here
stereogum.com
Nick Cave is no stranger to ecstasy. Maybe that’s not the first word you’d associate with him, given all the macabre tales told and villains played in his chaotic youth, or the wise gravity of his...
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The new Peel Dream Magazine is so, so good and Joe had a lot of interesting things to say about it in our little announcement interview
stereogum.com
When we last heard from Peel Dream Magazine, Joe Stevens had basically soft rebooted the project. During the group’s New York years, Peel Dream had been Stevens’ vehicle for exploring a host of...
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Some thoughts on O.'s very good, very idiosyncratic debut for Pitchfork
pitchfork.com
Read Ryan Leas’ review of the album.
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Hung out with the great Water From Your Eyes in Salt Lake City and Nashville
stereogum.com
Water From Your Eyes look fried. Anyone who has been on tour knows this moment: Outfits become an array of whatever is vaguely clean, the van somehow looks increasingly like one of those old “battl...
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Also kept the tradition going and profiled Strand Of Oaks ahead of the big synth odyssey reboot Miracle Focus
spin.com
On his latest album, Tim Showalter, aka Strand of Oaks, returns with a trippy synth odyssey of self-discovery
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Some new things this week. Revisited Parquet Courts' Sunbathing Animal 10 years later
stereogum.com
Parquet Courts had everything an up-and-coming band could theoretically want. As 2013 yielded to 2014, they had accrued a breathless round of buzz and press acclaim thanks to the re-release of their...
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First little profile in a while — Fat Dog have a lot of punchlines, but also the music to back it up. "Running" became a fast 2024 favorite
spin.com
Fat Dog are kind of a wreck. After being “tied up with something,” frontman and Fat Dog mastermind Joe Love finally beams in on his girlfriend’s phone,
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Wrote about the new St. Vincent, which is so much better than the last St. Vincent
stereogum.com
Annie Clark is course-correcting. She’s not pulling the classic rockstar move of readily disowning that last record people didn’t like so much and promising the new one is way better. Nevertheless,...
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Some thoughts on the new Pearl Jam album, which I liked more than I expected to
stereogum.com
There are certain things aging rock stars say when they’re a few decades in and releasing their 12th album. They might say they are rocking harder than you’ve heard them in years, that “It’s a lot...
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