Pagoda (Feb. 27)
4 stars
Pagoda’s musical formula may seem all too simple to some. As the first real grunge-revival group, the New York City quartet harkens back to many of the same musical themes and tones that led groups like Mudhoney, Scratch Acid and, ultimately, a little band called Nirvana to success while changing the course of rock music in the 1990s.
But Pagoda has something different brewing under its surface: Founder and actor Michael Pitt’s scratchy and sometimes cacophonous vocal and guitar work is visionary in its simplicity, making you wonder if the rebirth of alternative rock might just be what music needs right now.