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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)

King Khan & the Shrines

Idle No More
Merge (2013)

In King Khan & the Shrines, King Khan goes big band. Not in the jazz sense, but in a horn-laden variety a la Memphis rock with some James Brown thrown in for good measure. It’s leg-kicking, camelwalkin’ rock with horns that fill out the sound over a funky groove.While the energetic frontman has a knack for rock ’n’ roll, especially going back to the early days, the sheer scope of The Shrines is grand. And along with that ten-piece band comes a big sound—and one that sometimes gets lost in itself. With 12 songs total, the record varies from cut to cut. It effectively maintains a specific sound that pulls from early rock but it’s never formulaic or derivative—which is a pretty big complement considering what the band is going for. Unfortunately, it never really eclipses the figureheads of the style either, basking in pleasant and easy-listening mediocrity when it could be shaking the chandeliers out of their mounts. It goes bigger in songs like “Bite My Tongue,” “Bad Boy,” “So Wild,” and “I Got Made” (see a theme here?), but those songs are all merely good, never quite passing to the next level. Those are also the standouts. The … Read more

200 Words Or Less

The Instigation

No Way Out EP
Independent (2014)

I feel like there are a million punk records named No Way Out, but I don’t really care because it’s … Read more

Full Of Hell

Rudiments Of Mutilation
A389 (2013)

While hardcore and the like have always valued the use of noise rarely has it ever been used in a … Read more

Vaura

The Missing
Profound Lore (2013)

Comprised by members of great acts such as Kayo Dot, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts and While Heaven Wept, Vaura find themselves in … Read more

Mind Spiders

Inhumanistic
Dirtnap (2013)

Maybe Minnesota is just a long way from Texas, but it seems that Mind Spiders are more of a studio … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Bazooka

Self Titled
Slovenly (2013)

Bazooka hail from Greece and their tumultuous current situation has left its mark on the sound of this band. Lo-fi, … Read more

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One from the archives

The Narrows

Benjamin
Wantage (2007)

200 Words Or Less

The Narrows have been a band for nearly nine years and yet this is my first exposure to them. And its not like they haven't been trying; the three-piece outfit from Bellingham, WA have released an EP or LP for nearly every year they've been a band. Benjamin is the band's fifth full-length and clocks in at just under fifty minutes, even though it only contains four songs. Musically, the band draws influence from an interesting range of artists. Their sound is the sonic clashing of The Melvins, Neurosis, and Low, which for a more modern comparison falls somewhat close to what Pelican is doing, but with soft-spoken vocals added to the formula. "The Sasquatch" opens the album with nearly nine minutes of sludgy metal and grunge dirge. "Last of … Read more

More album reviews

Tim Hecker

Virgins
Independent (2013)

Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker is no stranger to the more esoteric side of electronic composition. Continued experimentation with increasingly nuanced ambient soundscapes under said moniker for six full-length releases, as well as countless side appearances, has inevitably led to the creation of something undeniably unique. With the release of Virgins- now Hecker's seventh effort - the bohemian Montreal resident … Read more

Cloud

Comfort Songs
Audio Antihero (2013)

Cloud’s Comfort Songs is a collection of downbeat, gloomy works that create an atmosphere of utter desolation while somehow lifting the emotional aspect of the pieces beyond total sadness. There are lovely little hints of hope hidden in the depths of these songs and the young man behind it all, Tyler Taormina has, at heart, blurred the lines between sadness … Read more

Direct Hit!

Brainless God
Red Scare (2013)

Direct Hit! get filed in the Midwest pop-punk scene and, while they deviate throughout the course of Brainless God, that’s definitely a fair starting point. While there are some harder influences at play, the band’s core is in that school of Dear Landlord and The Dopamines. It’s melodic, catchy, and peppy. There’s some Screeching Weasel in there, but it’s more … Read more

Mark McCabe

A Good Way to Bury Bad News
Cats? Aye! Records (2014)

On one end of an (unscientific) scale of popular male singer-songwriters sits Ed Sheeran, perched comfortably at the top of the charts while still maintaining an air of authenticity, and at the other end is pop supremo Bruno Mars, master craftsman of insuppressible earworms. Somewhere between these two sits Mark McCabe's brand of insular emoting, not quite hooky enough to … Read more

The Ruins of Beverast

Blood Vaults – The Blazing Gospel Of Heinrich Kramer (Cryptae Sanguinum – Evangelium Flagrans Henrici Institoris)
Ván (2013)

On first listen of The Ruins of Beverast new record Blood Vaults – The Blazing Gospel Of Heinrich Kramer (Cryptae Sanguinum – Evangelium Flagrans Henrici Institoris) you pretty much fall in love. On repeated listens however, you find much to dislike about it. It’s too long, there’s too much happening, there’s too much weird stuff going on. While weirdo black … Read more

Krang

Broken Waves
Profane Existence (2013)

In what amounts as no surprise whatsoever, the Profane Existence Single Series just keeps on delivering the goods.Broken Waves is the sixth P.E.S.S. release now and comes via Midwestern eardrum assassins Krang.A few years ago I saw these guys at a sports bar in Wisconsin. At the start of their set the singer spewed something undecipherable about “ancient religions,” then … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Various Artists

Brokedowns / Vacation Bible School split
It's Alive (2013)

Taking Side A on the Elgin, IL focused 7” are The Brokedowns, who last released Species Bender in 2010. After a slew of splits in their career and a few full-lengths, they’ve really settled into a distinct style. It’s punk with a verse-chorus-verse kind of structure at its core, but one that they take loosely, preferring to eschew the bridge … Read more

Sutekh Hexen

Monument Of Decay
Black Horizons / Belaten / Merzbild (2013)

This is the type of release that you might find yourself anxiously waiting for if, one, you are a hopeless nerd for the band (in which case I am) or, two, you find elaborate and unique packaging to be completely in your wheelhouse (double check for me); so Monument Of Decay from Sutekh Hexen is a perfect confluence of these … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Dave Hause

Resolutions EP
Side One Dummy (2012)

We've finally come to the last of Dave Hause's EP series. The final EP comes from Side One Dummy and features covers of Flogging Molly's "Whistles the Wind" and Audra Mae's song, "The River." I'm sad to say, this was probably the most boring of the 5 EPs, but the covers save it. The acoustic version of "Resolutions" present on … Read more

Year of No Light

Tocsin
Debemur Morti Productions (2013)

Year Of No Light’s emotive instrumental approach is one that embraces the deeper, heavier side of post/sludge/atmospheric music and the cavernous melodies that they dredge up from the darkest pits of night are terrifying and weighty. The six strong French band boast two drummers amidst their ranks and on Tocsin here they utilise that strength to push the songs forward … Read more

The Young Leaves

Alive And Well
Baldy Longhair (2013)

After a successful gig at Fest 12 last month the Massachusetts based power trio The Young Leaves will hit the road to support their third release Alive and Well. With this release the band shows its here for the duration and also shows growth in their songwriting, musically the band is sounding louder and better than ever. A three piece … Read more

Iron Chic

The Constant One
Bridge Nine (2013)

Since their inception, Iron Chic have had a steady rotation through out the years through my speakers and a special place in my heart. Following their full length debut, I was ready to have another album. It's finally arrived in the form of The Constant One, and it does not disappoint. Any fan of this band are going to find … Read more

Iron Chic

The Constant One
Bridge Nine (2013)

If ever a band was created for an epic singalong, it was Iron Chic. There’s that big feeling at the core of their soaring melodies as they build and rage, starting with a verse from Jason Lubrano and building to a gang singalong at the chorus in nearly every song. They’re songs that transcend the performers, taking on the personality … Read more

Saturday Looks Good To Me

Every Night (Reissue)
Polyvinyl (2012)

Imagine my pleasant surprise when the reissue of the long out of print vinyl version of the Saturday Looks Good To Me album Every Night was announced, and even pleasant surprise might be underselling just how excited I was to hear that the LP was being reissued because I had been searching for this format of the album for quite … Read more

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