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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Cheap Girls

Giant Orange
Rise (2012)

It takes approximately 30 seconds to decide whether or not Cheap Girls’ latest album, Giant Orange, is to your liking. The overall, upbeat feel of the album is firmly established within the first few lines of “Gone All Summer,” instantly pulling you into the downtrodden world of bassist/vocalist Ian Graham and co. and not letting up once throughout. Combined with guitarist Adam Aymor and drummer Ben Graham, Cheap Girls are immediately reminiscent of iconic alternative rock bands like Dinosaur Jr., comfortably riding a wave of high-strung riffs and melodic choruses.Hailing from Lansing, Michigan, the trio joins an already extensive list of Midwestern rock bands hellbent on making the day-to-day a little less tedious and bleak simply through loud, abrasive rock ‘n’ roll. Produced by Against Me!’s own Laura Jane Grace, Giant Orange is more polished than Cheap Girls’ 2009 release My Roaring 20s, but still contains the anthemic choruses and driving verses notable of their sound. What it lacks in the raw feel of previous efforts is more than compensated for with how huge and overbearing Giant Orange sounds (no pun intended). Chugging along at a steady pace and clocking in at a little more than half an hour, this … Read more

Ministry

Relapse
13th Planet (2012)

Al Jourgensen has managed to create a genre early on in his career and according to most has never quite … Read more

Germ

Loss
Eisenwald (2012)

The Germ project has been in some form or another for quite some time yet the first record (Wish) from … Read more

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Constellation (2012)

Sneaking an album out to the public regardless of the mass of information that seems to leak (including albums and … Read more

Anaal Nathrakh

Vanitas
Candlelight (2012)

Anaal Nathrakh have always been on the very edge of extremity, teetering on the brink of absolute annihilation and destruction. … Read more

Vinnie Paz

God of the Serengeti
Enemy Soil (2012)

Over a decade in the rap game, Vinnie Paz has been a pillar of the independent scene as the front … Read more

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One from the archives

Local Natives

Hummingbird
French Kiss (2013)

Three years since their infectious first effort, Gorilla Manor, LA's Local Natives return in folk-frenzied fashion. The quartet spawned attention and praise for the self-funded debut, going on to build the studio in which the band's latest, Hummingbird, was recorded. Subsequently, their sound is fuller and refined, ripening these eleven tracks.Youth was a prominent quality of Gorilla Manor - seething and wrought with instinctive tribal energy, it succeeded in artful, unique craftsmanship. Hummingbird, however, is more immediate, lacking the impulsive nature and edginess of its former. It's the sounds of a band maturing and further developing their identity. "Breakers", the first single revealed in October, was an ostentatious offering; flashy high bar chords, hand claps and the wooing harmonies these guys do so damn well harbored high hopes. But it's … Read more

More album reviews

Code Orange Kids

Love Is Love//Return To Dust
Deathwish Inc. (2012)

Much of the press that Pittsburgh-based hardcore act Code Orange Kids garnered with the release of its debut 7” Cycles late in 2011 was centered on the young age of the members. Almost a year later, the band has gone through three pressings of Cycles, signed to Deathwish, Inc., released a split with another rising band - Full Of Hell … Read more

Grabass Charlestons

Dale & the Careeners
No Idea (2012)

Is this the same band that released Ask Mark Twain? Well, kind of. Dale & the Careeners is the first Grabass Charlestons full-length since 2005, and their first with singer Will Thomas wielding the axe instead of the kit. Really, after giving this record several listens it seems that talking about the band’s earlier releases will mostly put people on … Read more

Hawks & Doves

Year One
No Idea (2011)

Not knowing how much in the majority that I am, the passing of Gared O’Donnell’s previous band (Planes Mistaken For Stars for those that were unaware) was a sad occasion in my household as the burly riffing and impassioned performances by that band both live and on record were a huge hit in my household; so when Hawks & Doves … Read more

Abiotic

Symbiosis
Metal Blade (2012)

South Florida's Abiotic join the death metal race as a young band. The band, over a short time, have managed to take their brand of tech-death with shades of metalcore a rather long way in catching the ears of Metal Blade. As a band that is barely two years old one could question their prowess, but that may be a … Read more

The Ergs! / Grabass Charlestons

Split
No Idea (2007)

The Ergs have suddenly become everyone’s favorite pop-punk and with good reason. They contribute two songs of fun catchy songs about girls that will no doubtingly be stuck in your head for weeks on end. Grabass Charlestons come to me as a bit of a surprise. I was expecting either some cowpunk or Hot Water Music inspired rock, but instead … Read more

Ty Segall Band

Slaughterhouse
In The Red (2012)

It’s hard to know just how much back story/preamble to include when discussing the music of San Franciscan rocker Ty Segall. His career, to date, has been incredibly varied and his ridiculously prolific output includes countless albums, EPs, cassettes, split 45s, etc. To wit, this year alone has seen the release of three full-length albums: one with White Fence (Hair), … Read more

Green Day

¡Uno!
Reprise (2012)

Thank god it's not another concept album.That's perhaps untrue, though: maybe this is just a concept album broken over three separate records: ¡Uno! is the first in a trilogy (wittily to be followed by ¡Dos! and, of course, ¡Tre!). That said, the forty one minutes of this, Green Day's ninth record, don't seem to contain the same kind of forced … Read more

Masked Intruder

Self Titled
Red Scare (2012)

It’s probably impossible not to smile at Masked Intruder’s self-titled debut. Hidden behind a veil of anonymity, the foursome have converged through a myriad of cell bars and prison yards to construct some of the catchiest, colour-coded pop-punk tunes ever written. Between being as violent and delusional as it is hilarious and heartwarming, Masked Intruder successfully pairs the impeccable harmonies … Read more

Whirr

Pipe Dreams
Tee Pee (2012)

Formerly known as Whirl this band has been within the emerging hype machine of the shoegaze / Dream pop underground. After a demo and EP that were both well regarded they managed to both change their name, get noticed more, and get signed by psych rock label Tee-Pee Records. Their past EP Distressor contained showed a band with the ability … Read more

Planks

Funeral Mouth
Golden Antenna (2012)

The successor to Planks 2010 release, the warmly received The Darkest of Grays, is the destitute sounds of Funeral Mouth – a record which bridges the blackened gap between sludge and hardcore and maybe a little crust with frantic shouts and depth of purpose. The German trio have been treading the fine lines of genre cross-over for many a moon … Read more

Grouplove

Never Trust a Happy Song
Canvasback/Atlantic (2012)

Every person with a Smart phone has been in this situation. You’re in a traffic jam and you hear a song you don’t know on the radio. “Might as well shazaam it,” you think. If you’ve heard one of Los Angeles natives Grouplove’s songs and are surprised after finding out the song you didn’t know, “Colours,” was by the same … Read more

Black Moth Super Rainbow

Cobra Juicy
Rad Cult (2012)

Black Moth Super Rainbow are a great group of musicians led by one person mysteriously known as Tobacco that pump out some of the most psychedelically delicious sounding records that I have ever heard in my life, and they are the type of musicians that do whatever the hell they want while still making ass shakingly fun records. With the … Read more

Dave Hause

Time Will Tell EP
Chunksaah (2012)

Dave Hause recently embarked on a little project that involves five indie labels. He took two artists from each label and covered a song from each. The first in the series comes from Chunksaah (though it wasn't the first to be released.) The first half of the 7-inch features alternate versions of Hause's, "Time Will Tell" and "Meet Me at … Read more

Eagle Twin

The Feather Tipped The Serpent's Scale
Southern Lord (2012)

Sophomore albums are always an intriguing milestone for musicians and bands because they kind of serve notice as to how they react to people’s reception of their work (and that reaction ranges from full on ignoring critics and listeners alike and following their own directions to modifying and mass alterations to style and sound depending on what grabbed people’s ears … Read more

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)