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Lycia

A Line That Connects
Handmade Birds (2015)

Lycia was a band that always seemed to me like they were flying a bit under the radar. With a career spanning for almost thirty years now, the act from Arizona released a series of excellent full-length albums, with A Day In The Stark Corner and Cold particularly standing out. What is more, their presence in the scene was constant … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Pestilent Endeavors

Adult Onset Death
Backwoods Butcher (2015)

This is a cool tape sent in by Mr. Food Fortunata, the fine gentleman behind the always enjoyable and reliable Saginaw, MI-based publication Ear of Corn fanzine. A lot of these tracks—and there are a whopping 21 of them, although mostly very short—remind me of early Mudhoney, something for which I am never disappointed. Some of the odder-sounding stuff on … Read more

Kowloon Walled City

Grievances
Neurot Recordings (2015)

Named after one of the most dense places in the history of the planet, Kowloon Walled City have been undergoing a transformative process. The band's origin lies within the sludge domain, with the release of Gambling On The Richter Scale revealing the heavy, filled with dirt foundation of the band. Through their debut album there is a sense of demolition … Read more

Menace Beach

Super Transporterreum
Memphis Industries (2015)

After dropping their debut album Ratworld earlier this year, Leeds-based Menace Beach have wasted no time in producing an energetic but decidedly more focused follow-up. The five songs on the Super Transporterreum EP exist most obviously in the grunge spectrum, imagining what a less depressive and moody Nirvana would have sounded like. What immediately struck me about the EP was … Read more

Krallice

Ygg Huur
Avantgarde Music (2015)

Krallice was a band that was working like a Swiss clock watch. They were very punctual with their releases, putting out album after album, with just about one year gaps between each release. That was the case at least until and including the release of Years Past Matter. That was also the first time that the band did not release … Read more

Good Riddance

Peace In Our Time
Fat Wreck Chords (2015)

Peace in Our Time is an album that seemed like it was never going to be released. Good Riddance's breakup in 2007 appeared to be final. Younger listeners such as myself, who discovered the band around this time, had to come to terms with never hearing new music from the band nor having the opportunity to see them perform live. … Read more

Patrick Higgins

Bachanalia
Telegraph Harp (2015)

Known in his lifetime (1685-1750) primarily as an organist, German-born Johann Sebastian Bach has, in the course of the last three centuries, achieved a status as one of the finest composers to have ever lived. The mathematical precision of Bach’s work is one of its most recognized characteristics, but also an element that provoked a love it or hate it … Read more

Worriers

Imaginary Life
Don Giovanni (2015)

I’ve reviewed a lot of records now from Lauren Denitzio’s bands. First, The Measure [SA], and then Cruel Optimist, her current band’s first release. Over those records the sound hasn’t changed so much as it’s grown. The songs are now fuller and deeper. With Worriers specifically, though still in a relatively small sample size, the songs also seem less chorus … Read more

Mount Eerie

Sauna
P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. (2015)

Over the past two decades, Phil Elverum has established himself as one of the most consistently outstanding artists working in the indie rock spectrum, yet I could almost be convinced that he purposely tries to slip under the radar at every opportunity. 2001’s The Glow Pt. 2, recorded under the guise of The Microphones, positioned the singer and multi-instrumentalist as … Read more

Multiple Authors

Deafheaven

New Bermuda
Anti (2015)

Deafheaven’s Sunbather was the antithesis of a sophomore slump. The album produced armies of lovers and haters, who debated whether or not the album was “metal” enough to deserve all the media attention proclaiming it as one of the greatest current metal albums. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever forget waiting in line to see Deafheaven and hearing the couple … Read more

Multiple Authors

Deafheaven

New Bermuda
Anti (2015)

Looking back at Sunbather, Deafheaven's sophomore release, it is very easy to understand how that album was able to become the point of dispute within the black metal realm. The debut album of Deafheaven, Roads To Judah, was easier to come to terms with. Its blend of black metal and post-rock, as well as the shoegaze tendencies were still at … Read more

Summer Homes

Nocturnes
Independent (2015)

Though the album might attract some of the same listeners that gravitate towards otherworldly new age music, Summer Homes’s 2015 album Nocturnes actually has a more earthy and less corny sound to it. Written and performed by Massachusetts-based musician Daniel Radin, this album seeks to reimagine the early life of the artist as ambient music works and seems entirely earnest … Read more

Six Feet Under

Crypt of the Devil
Metal Blade (2015)

Twenty years ago today, Saturday September 26, 2015, the reincarnation of Chris Barnes’ death metal crusade known as Six Feet Under released their debut full length, Haunted. When social media informed me of this fact this morning, I had a moment of reflection relating to the journey of Barnes and his, often unappreciated, creations of two of the most premier … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Deadmen

Anger Rising
Afraid of the Basement (2014)

This is some metalpunx ouf of New Jersey. Superfast and snotty as all hell. Like some spikey-haired snot punk singing for a grind band or something. There’s sweet breakdowns too, which lend it a hardcore vibe. Maybe I’m way off-base, but that’s what I’m feeling. Not always my favorite thing, but I find this rather endearing. Guitars are sick. Especially … Read more

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