We often have to throw out our expectations when it comes two piece rock bands. From the circular smash noise of Lighting Bolt, to the dance pop vibe of Death From Above 1979, to Hella pre-expansion, there’s clearly a lot you can do live and on record with just two guys. There are countless and ever varying examples. In most cases, however, the stripped down composition is apparent. The effort is placed in utlizing the lack of manpower and not in building it into grandeur that sounds like more than eight limbs are doing the work. Canadian duo Japandroids call themselves ‘garage rock’, that vague description more applicable to a style than a sound, but carry big punch. It’s not so much the songwriting as the creation of big sound that drives their debut LP Post-Nothing. A thorough listen to a couple of tracks will give you the idea- check it out.

One of my fave mags because it consistently introduces me to a fountain of new music that I wouldn’t otherwise find unless I spent my free hours diggin’ in the crates and hanging out with vinyl heads, Wax Poetics’ current issue themed under Brazil (it’s a Brazilian summer!) is a treasure trove of interviews with some of the greatest legends of tropicalia and jazz, plus newbies making the grade. Cover star Gilberto Gil leads off articles with Airto Moreira, composer Arthur Verocai, L.A.’s Triorganico, singer Ceu (whose career has seen an incredible forward trajectory in the past few years), among others. This edition will surely be a collector’s edition, worth putting alongside all that vintage vinyl you have.