I'm a fan of Kill Your Idols, hell I rock their hoodie every cold day in myriad of cold days that I endure in the frozen tundra of Minnesota. I've even been privy to see Kill Your Idols twice in the last five years, which by Twin Cities standards, that's like seeing them every week. Kill Your Idols is a great band but albeit a predictable band. With every single Kill Your Idols release you know you are in store for some fast, furious, yet slightly melodic hardcore anthems that is void of pretentious scenester annoyances. Hell, the best thing about Kill Your Idols is that you might even get a cheesy song about heartbreak and it's shockingly gag reflex free. Kill Your Idols is one of those hardcore bands that sing from their hearts and not from some Livejournal slit wrist, peeling scabs from their souls Junior High poetry nonsense. I am however not a fan of live albums. Live at CBGB's July 30 2000 is the only other live album I own besides Hot Water Music's Live at the Hardback. I figure if I wasn't at attendance at the show why would I want document of it? I … Read more
If you're craving a throwback to the time when thrash metal was at it's height, then look no further than … Read more
Preparation for listening to the new Lightning Bolt record for the first time: ' Call up around a dozen of … Read more
Tempers of music fans ran high from the day stories were posted on various sites that specific bands were to … Read more
As Death Cab for Cutie becomes the mainstream poster boy for indie rock, groups like Dilated Peoples and Atmosphere have … Read more
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I doubt that many musicians would claim to not be slightly jealous of Envy's career trajectory. From humbler beginnings as a hardcore band singing in a non-native tongue, to issuing splits with the likes of Thursday and Jesu, releasing albums through Stuart Braithwaite's Rock Action, and palling around with Steve Aoki, they've been met with almost universal acclaim and success in their pursuit of a singular artistic vision. If Envy wasn't already their name, it would at least be a word commonly uttered in the orbit of conversation that surrounds them. While not having the same pedigree as some releases of their past, their seventh album The Fallen Crimson is another in a long line of achievements. To my ears, it is probably one of the more fully realized examples … Read more
So you know how a band will take something that they wrote that does really well with the fans and expand on it? The Offspring, for example, found out that by writing a "witty" punk rock song they could sell lots of albums. On Every Time I Die's last album Hot Damn!, that song was, "I've Been Gone a Long … Read more
This is not a re-release. Photorecording is Elliott's last testament. Allow me to regress a few years. I had always dismissed them as overrated. US Songs was okay, but it just seemed like it was missing that little extra something. When False Cathedrals came out, I gave them another chance; it was their statement, an almost perfect 10 in my … Read more
Some might say that hardcore has gone soft. Those that feel this way have a distorted view of the genre. Hardcore is as explosive and assertive as it has been since its very inception. Florida hardcore outfit Know the Score is a prime example of this. With their debut release, All Guts, No Glory, the band serves up eleven tracks … Read more
Surprise Attack Records and I have never had a good relationship. There isn't any sort of beef between us or anything, it's just I always get stoked for their releases only to be left disappointed when I get something. Surprise Attack Records hypes the hell out of their bands and they make it sound like they are going to hear … Read more
In theory alone, I should love this album. Gay for Johnny Depp is a homosexual band. Great, I love homosexuals in bands. They sing about filthy gay sex. Great, I love filthy gay sex. They play cum rocking screamo hardcore. Great, I love screamo and hardcore. They love Johnny Depp. Great, I think Johnny Depp is an okay actor. Theory … Read more
This trio of sweetness comes from the Northeast and resides in a place called Providence, Rhode Island. Dave Martinka (guitar/vocals) and Jay Mayoh (drums), after playing in bands off an on in high school got together with bassist Hilary Jones, who played guitar in two previous bands. She had been a frequenting customer at a local guitar shop where she … Read more
The attention gained by The Arcade Fire last year has been a blessing and a curse for Canadian indie music. In one respect the scene has been put in the spotlight by the mass media, which have discovered what many insiders have known for years: Canada produces some of the best music in the genre. Unfortunately the amount of hype … Read more
You find yourself strapped on a horse, galloping through a rampaged America. You don't know the year; you don't what the fuck happened. Skyscrapers point at empty skies. Civilization has been looted beyond repair. The outlook is bleak at best. For the purposes of this music review, you somehow find an iPod in your back pocket loaded with Palehorse's Secrets … Read more
I know what you're thinking because I was thinking it as well. How can a band that has only released eight studio albums have yet another greatest hits? Are they taking the piss or what? Singles is New Order's fifth greatest hits package after Substance, The Best of', The Rest of', the Retro box-set and the US release of International. … Read more
I used to hate 'ctrl,' 'alt,' and 'delete.' Used in succession, it only meant one thing - reboot. That's right! Your computer is fucked and there is nothing you can do. Accept defeat and hit those keys. Anything you were working on is lost forever. But now, I'm kind of fond of them. UK post-rock trio Ctrlaltdelete has redefined those … Read more
Opening with a sound not unlike some kind of spaghetti western death knell, Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method, the comeback album of noise mongers Earth, shocks the old time listeners of the band. Anyone who has heard Earth 2 or Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars will tell you that. But, the mastermind behind Earth, Dylan Carlson, is known … Read more
I'll admit, when I first heard of Drowningman back in the day, I had a whole lot of preconceived notions. It was in a magazine, Revolver or Tiger Beat, that featured an interview. After looking at the photo, I was ready to dismiss them as Warped Tour rejects that play the excruciatingly banal bullshit that I'd come to expect from … Read more
HIM is known as the biggest musical joke of our generation and is bashed frequently by message board elitists everywhere. Are they really that bad? It depends. Listening to HIM's new album, Dark Light, is not a good way to introduce oneself to this Nordic phenomenon. I'd recommend going back to the beginning, eight years ago, when Greatest Love Songs … Read more
The moment Shannon Larkin walked out of Amen and into Godhead, or Godsmack, or whatever the fuck awful band with 'God' in their name it was that he walked into, Casey Chaos was turned into that much maligned Dani Filth-esque character. You know the type, right? The ones that float around the music press on a weekly basis, but whom … Read more
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