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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)

Humans

Noontide
Hybridity Music (2015)

The duo that make up Vancouver-based synth poppers Humans met by chance while engaged in artistic endeavours outside of music. Robbie Slade is a former forest fire fighter who met visual artist and film maker Peter Ricq when he was helping a friend put on an art show, and in 2009 they began creating the electronic sound of Humans. With three EPs in their back catalogue, Humans' long-awaited debut LP Noontide has an expectant audience. It was recorded with Canadian musician/producer Nik Kozub of Shout Out Out Out Out at the controls, and is filled with scuzzy, rippling synths. Serving as a collision of tripped out, sludgy synths with an occasional nod to post-punk inspired 80s-era behemoths, like the beginning of "Faith" which has a sound indebted to New Order, before taking on a less abrasive tone,Noontide is a skillful combination of genres. The defining characteristic of Humans' work is their futuristic compositions that seem to inform their hedonistic sound, but are anchored by the inclusion of traditional vocals and guitar chugs, particularly on the indie-electronic fusion of "Gotta Go Home". These interjections fluidly weave their way in and out of the songs, like little tweaks being sewn into the … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Post Pink

Too Pooped to Pip
Independent (2015)

Sounding like the result of glue-huffing fourteen-year-olds being let loose in a recording studio, Too Pooped to Pip, the 2015 … Read more

Various Artists

GC Records 15 Year Anniversary Comp: A Snapshot of the 2014 Las Vegas Music Scene
GC Records (2014)

GC Records 15 Year Anniversary Comp: A Snapshot of the 2014 Las Vegas Music Scene is two things: it’s homage … Read more

Boduf Songs

Stench Of Exist
Flenser (2015)

Started as the acoustic project of musician Mat Sweet, Boduf Songs have been transforming throughout the years. The debut self-titled … Read more

Gang Of Four

What Happens Next
Metropolis (2015)

I haven’t listened to Gang of Four in a long time, and I tend to stick to the classic Entertainment!, … Read more

Murder By Death

Big Dark Love
Bloodshot (2015)

Making a career in the arts is hard. The job description lands somewhere between self-expression and entertainment and there isn’t … Read more

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One from the archives

Gridlink

Orphan
Hydra Head (2011)

My money is on the simple fact that it will take you longer to read this than it will to actually listen to Orphan, the latest album from the estimable grind group Gridlink (their pedigree alone is enough to warrant paying attention to the music this outfit is creating now) and that is not a knock on the album at all; in fact, if this were any longer, listeners heads would more than likely explode from the brash power and energy that zips by in under fifteen minutes (even if you own the LP version that includes both GridLink albums, Amber Grey and Orphan, you still get that break from flipping the record over on the turntable). With an expanded lineup (Ted Patterson of Human Remains and Burnt By The … Read more

More album reviews

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

IX
Superball (2014)

I always get scared when I listen to a new album by a band that I listened to in middle school. Throwing all the embarrassing angst that led me to terrible music aside, there are a lot of other things to worry about when it comes to still-active bands from middle school days. I remember a while back I was … Read more

Grand Vapids

Guarantees
Independent (2015)

Athens, Georgia has a long history of producing some great musicians and music, known for being the birthplace of groups like the B-52’s and R.E.M. as well as the adopted home of the Elephant Six Collective. One of the latest bands to emerge from the storied Athens scene is Grand Vapids, a quartet whose 2015 debut Guarantees features ten tracks … Read more

Hurry

EVERYTHING/NOTHING
Independent (2014)

Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Hurry started out as the solo project of guitarist/songwriter Matt Scottoline before expanding to its current three-piece form, and it’s quite obviously Scottoline’s fuzzed-out vocals and guitar that are front and center in any of the songs on the group’s 2014 album Everything/Nothing. The album features ten songs that update established pop song formulas from years … Read more

Iceage

Plowing into the Field of Love
Matador (2014)

If Danish punk band Iceage’s debut New Brigade gave us just that, then it looks like their third album Plowing into the Field of Love gives us another brigade. Indeed, if it weren’t for Elias Rønnenfelt’s distinct baritone vocals (think Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers or Ian Curtis of Joy Division), we probably wouldn’t recognize Plowing as another Iceage … Read more

Sergio Mendes

Magic
Okeh (2014)

Sergio Mendes is a Brazilian legend. His name might not be a big draw here at Scene Point Blank, where the focus is on punk, hardcore, and metal, but—hey—we gotta branch out now and then, right?Magic is the 73 year-old’s latest offering, and it comes with a smorgasboard of rhythmic styles and special guests. While it’s true to his roots … Read more

Franz Nicolay

To Us, the Beautiful
Silver Sprocket (2015)

Franz Nicolay is often billed as an ex-member of The Hold Steady, an ex-member of The World/Inferno Friendship Society, or a former touring member of Against Me! He’s a working musician, and while his contributions to other bands are notable, they never showcased the full extent of Nicolay’s talents. Franz has been releasing solo-records since 2007. With his latest album, … Read more

Sumac

The Deal
Profound Lore (2015)

Aaron Tuner sure keeps himself busy. After the demise of Isis back in 2010, Turner has been active musically with other acts such as Old Man Gloom and Mamiffer, while at the same time being a part of SIGE Records alongside Faith Coloccia. There have been quite a few projects that have spawned lately, with Jodis and Greymachine standing out … Read more

A Perfect Circle

A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo
Independent (2014)

Writing a review for a live album can be a daunting task. There's only so much you can say about songs presented in a live fashion that doesn't echo what was said in the original album review, but reviewing a live box set? Time to put the coffee on.A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo (heretofore referred to as … Read more

WAR//PLAGUE

Temperaments of War EP
Profane Existence (2014)

Over the course of their last few records these Minneapolis crust punk stalwarts have really honed their metal chops. I’ll do my best to avoid any “who put their metal in my punk” type of argument and just say, as someone who prefers my metalpunx leaning more to the punk side, I find Temperaments of War a little less intriguing … Read more

The Banner

Greying
Good Fight (2014)

The Banner has always been a band that embraced the darker side of their style. Being a hardcore band that tends to them lean closer to metal than punk, the band have always made their own version of this general style. Whether it was the more youthful style of their early album Your Murder Mixtape or later with the murky … Read more

Treasure Fleet

The Sun Machine
Recess (2015)

You can’t have your middle finger in the air all the time. As such, Isaac Thotz (The Arrivals) has stepped away from his punk-leaning project to explore spacey 1960’s inspired psychedelia with The Treasure Fleet. The band also includes members of Smoking Popes, The Lawrence Arms, and Sass Dragons and was produced by Preston Bryant of Andrew Jackson Jihad, so … Read more

Atlas Losing Grip

Currents
Creator-Destructor (2015)

I first discovered Atlas Losing Grip after the release of their 2009 EP, Watching the Horizon, and became an instant fan. 2009 seemed to be a dark time for technical melodic skatepunk and Watching the Horizon was basically a glimmer of hope in the blackness. It didn’t hurt that the singer, Rodrigo, was a founding member ofSatanic Surfers, one of … Read more

Various Artists

NEONAUTICS v.01
SkyQode (2014)

Running nearly 70 minutes in length, the Neonautics v.01 compilation from Russian label skyQode collects sixteen tracks (many of which in album-exclusive versions) from a variety of European synthpop artists who clearly know their stuff when it comes to making catchy, danceable electronic music. Full of bouncy rhythms, lots of flashy keyboard and synthesizer, and awkward but lovable “English as … Read more

Terminal Sound System

Dust Songs
Denovali (2014)

Hailing from Australia, Skye Klein’s project Terminal Sound System is set on an interesting path. The merging of doom, post rock, and jazz with the diverse fields of electronica and heavy dub has yielded some very promising results. The music of Terminal Sound System is quite difficult to pinpoint due to the above reason but what is quite intriguing with … Read more

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