NPR
: World Cafe 
With simple melodies and sardonic lyrics, Archie Powell and the Exports' new album, Great Ideas in Action, may well be the soundtrack to this summer. The group released its first EP (Loose Change) in 2009, and its debut album, Skip Work, followed a year later. Skip Work was praised for its addictive hooks, lyrical wit and sophistication. Buried beneath catchy, raucous rock 'n' roll, the album's emotional content reflected the nervous energy and anxiety that the band members say they felt graduating college.
On their second album, Archie Powell and the Exports sound more self-assured, but Great Ideas in Action retains the youthful quality that made Skip Work so endearing. It seems that the band has settled into its groove and focused on perfecting its craft: the sort of self-aware, semi-serious songs that demand comparison to early Weezer and Elvis Costello. Hear "Metronome" and "Bending over Backwards" on today's episode of World Cafe: Next.
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Dan Brown: 'Inferno' Is 'The Book That I Would Want To Read'
Dan Brown, author of the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, is back with his first novel in four years. Inferno follows academic hero Robert Langdon on a chase through Italy as he attempts to avert a biological catastrophe.'Picture Cook': Drawings Are The Key Ingredients In These Recipes
Designer Katie Shelly's upcoming cookbook offers 50 illustrated recipe "blueprints" for basic meals — from simple snacks to more hefty dishes like eggplant Parmesan. She hopes they'll inspire any level of cook to improvise in the kitchen.Highly Charged IRS Case Pulls In Political Agendas
NPR's Peter Overby reports on the Congressional testimony of IRS officials in response to the scandal over special scrutiny of tea party groups. Underneath all the politics, there's a policy question that hasn't been addressed.Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes
Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.Leave a Comment
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