Sometimes music as seemingly simple as Page France’s feels like it’s hardly worth writing about. At the Black Cat on Thursday, the Cumberland, MD six-piece (reigning as the undisputed best indie pop band in western Maryland) played a thirty minute set. Maybe 8 or 10 songs, each one barely more than a hastily-strummed acoustic guitar, a tinkling xylophone, and a simple snare beat. Some songs hardly even had a single chord change for the first…

Ever wonder why rock critics use phrases like “this generation’s Dylan” to describe Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes? Just to piss people off? As an easy hook for ageing rockers? There may not be another artist today so overtly and capably ripping off the rambling, verse-upon-verse epics Dylan has perfected over the years, but the expectation that comes with the “new Dylan” tag is too heavy for anyone to bear. A few of Oberst’s songs…