Copper Lung Records strikes with another great find in Atlanta, GA's Gray Ghost. The five-some melds together atmospheric post-rock, meandering drone-metal, and dissonant hardcore on this, their debut offering. This 10" has five tracks that'll please fans of Isis and Cult of Luna but also will draw in some hardcore fans as well. And they've got a new record that … Read more
Newly-formed Vancouver, BC pop-punk trio Grease Thieves boast a vocalist whose snarl makes him sound a bit like vintage Tim Armstrong, and one can almost hear the saliva flinging around on the four songs featured on the group’s 2015 The World This Hour - about as enthusiastic and fun a debut EP as one could hope for. Unfortunate though it … Read more
Naming a record I Feel Weird is a statement about the psyche of Great Cynics, and an applicable one at that (for the band, not necessarily the members). The band’s third record, it wavers between melodic pop punk with digressions into exploratory indie-alt rock. What that means in real English is that they play punk-ish songs with a lot of … Read more
Calling their fourth record Posi is an interesting statement about Great Cynic’s vibe across the 11-song, half-hour record. From lyrics about being the clouds and listening to the birds to others that proclaim “what makes you special,” this is posi-punk, music that’s uplifting in an overtly cynical music scene. Hell, see the band’s name for reference.It’s not to say it’s … Read more
The demise of Playing Enemy was a tough pill for me to swallow as they were a band that I had followed for a number of years and always thought that they got better and better as their releases stacked up over time. Following the untimely end of that project Demian Johnston and Shane Mehling went on to do a … Read more
Thank god it's not another concept album.That's perhaps untrue, though: maybe this is just a concept album broken over three separate records: ¡Uno! is the first in a trilogy (wittily to be followed by ¡Dos! and, of course, ¡Tre!). That said, the forty one minutes of this, Green Day's ninth record, don't seem to contain the same kind of forced … Read more
Green Day are at a point in their careers where they can basically do anything. Almost all of their fans from the Gilman Street days are gone and they seem to appeal to a completely different crowd now. That's not to say that the "true punks" don't still enjoy then, but the band's audience has definitely expanded over the years … Read more
I'm going to keep this brief, because Billie Joe Armstrong and company couldn't 21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's first record clocking in at over an hour in length, comprising, as you're probably sick of hearing about, three acts and eighteen songs. It also picks up where American Idiot left off, except it lacks any of the character of that … Read more
Like too many of their musical peers, Green Day, the longtime bay area punk/pop heroes, have thrown down their challenge to the American government with their bluntly titled seventh album. Upon learning the name of this record, I have to admit that I felt a little concerned that everyone's favourite pop-punkers had decided to become 'political' - didn't they learn … Read more
If you know anything about Green Day, it's no big secret that they're Who fans (see: Sweet Children EP - Track 4 - "My Generation"). On top of that, you should also know that they've been extremely creative lately (see: Warning). Now, put those two together, and you have Green Day's seventh full length release, American Idiot. Not only does … Read more
You could almost imagine the epitaph on Green Day's headstone from the moment Reprise got into the whole contract-fulfilling kiss-of-death releases that beset Green Day just this side of the turn of the millennium. A "best of" collection and then the certain doom of the "rarities" compilation followed in quick succession and it seemed that a dying cash cow was … Read more
Many people don't realize it, but Green Day released a trio of albums throughout the fourth quarter of 2012. However, due to some personal problems and a public breakdown at a festival from frontman, Billie-Joe, promotion for the albums was put on hold. Those albums, Uno!, Dos!, and Tre!, had their share of lackluster songs, but they also contained some … Read more
Nearly a decade ago Bad Religion's Greg Graffin released his first solo effort, the miscellaneous American Lesion (miscellaneous because you can only find it online), and it was a definite departure for the punk rock icon. He slowed it down quite a bit and explored a different side of his musical roots, as well as lyrical themes not present in … Read more
Greg Graffin has always been a big influence on the way I approach things. I love punk rock, but there was always a stigma attached to those that partook in the genre. It’s true I was part of a generation that pushed the vision of the '90s slacker kid, but I would like to think it was much more than … Read more
Do you know who the Meat Puppets are, or have you ever wondered who the two long-haired guys that appeared on Nirvana’s Unplugged performance were? Like many people my age, I was introduced to the Meat Puppets by seeing the Kirkwood brothers perform their songs with Nirvana on MTV’s Unplugged way back in 1993 (Dear God has it really been … Read more
Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Grey Daturas is an enigmatic trio whose music is an amalgamation of many musical styles from metal all the way to free jazz. Now, I know what people might think upon seeing such a lofty description as many groups who aspire to such allegiances of musical styles or name check them end up falling well short, … Read more
With their humble roots set in friendly jam sessions, American post-rock band theLakeSuperior recorded their first three demos back in the spring of 2011. Just a year later, bolstered by their warm reception, the band took a new name, Grey Storia, and was ready to cut their first release. Those recordings later became their 2013 EP and debut, Martonic.From the … Read more
Certainly, GREYMACHINE is a group whose mere existence is enough to generate interest and the inevitable hype considering its composition of some rather prominent members of the "extreme" music community. Seriously though, how could it not comprising members of Isis, Godflesh, Jesu, and tons more? The real question, at least if we concentrate on the actual content of Disconnected should … Read more
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