Raging Nathans
Oppositional Defiance
Rad Girlfriend Records (2020)
Boy do The Raging Nathans know how to start a record on a down note. The band plays melodic DIY pop-punk that’s of the verse-chorus-verse variety with driving rhythm to give it that extra oomph. While I tend to think of this kind of music as a little more light-hearted, the band cuts through that veneer instantly with “Tragedy Ghouls: An Introduction,” an instrumental track that collects news stories from the mass shooting in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio last year. It’s grim, graphic, and…really sets a tone.It makes you think. Because you should.“I go to sleep angry/ and I wake up mad.”Those are the first lyrics on Oppositional Defiance and, following the intro, it gives a new perspective everything that follows. Later in that same song, “One Day Closer,” comes the refrain of “Every day I’m alive/ is one day closer to death.” It’s potent and powerful-- and as a person living a city with its own recent tragedy, it strikes in unexpectedly emotional ways.On Cheap Fame, my review summed up The Raging Nathans as having something of a modern day Lookout Records sound. It’s peppy and pogo-friendly, but with more personal lyrics and more prominent, punchy bass that … Read more
Sun-0-Bathers
Floater EP
Morning Wood Records/Thousand Islands Records/Paper + Plastick (2020)
Two years ago I reviewed Local Warming, the debut EP by Sun-0-Bathers. Two years have passed, but not much has … Read more
Sanctifying Ritual
Sanctifying Ritual
Iron Bonehead (2020)
Most death metal bands exhibit a morbid quality to their sound but few would be believed if they said that … Read more
Einstürzende Neubauten
Alles in Allem
Potomak 2020 (2020)
It’s a fairly long story as to the exact circumstance, but a couple of years ago on a rainy winter … Read more
