The Sorely Trying Days
Survival Mode
Useless World (2009)
I knew next to nothing about this band before checking out this album but the fact that they are "recommended for fans of: Dinosaur Jr., Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, and Black Sabbath" was enough to spark my interest. This was a tad misleading as the band doesn't have too much in common with those four bands, with the exception of … Read more
The Spill Canvas
No Really, I'm Fine
Sire (2007)
Patient: The Spill Canvas Brought in by: Sire Records, after a missed bandwagon. Previous History/Notes: Patient claims No Really, I'm fine!. Third commitment to facility. This session a follow up to patient's most recent visit; the One Fell Swoop incident. Symptoms: Suffers from extreme emotional stagnation; clinging firmly to the belief that the year is permanently 2004, and as such … Read more
The Spill Canvas
One Fell Swoop
111 (2005)
The Spill Canvas's debut LP Sunsets and Car Crashes showed us that in high school the members of the band were very, very, sad. With their sophomore follow-up, One Fell Swoop, it looks like the boys are out to prove they're still not over it. Self proclaimed as 'intense and emotionally driven,' The Spill Canvas are the type of band … Read more
The Spirit of 76
The Spirit of 76
Independent (2009)
There's probably nothing else that I hate worse that when bands I've never heard of because they happen to know the same people I do and they want me to review their latest release. For some reason they know I "work" for an online music site (which, by the way, they can never remember the name of) and it would … Read more
The Spits
V
In The Red (2011)
Dirty, spacey punk rawk—in a nutshell, that’s what The Spits are bringing. We could talk costumes, we could talks subgenres, and we could talk recording quality (and we will), but The Spits are a concept best described in those few words. Sound-wise, it’s largely Ramonescore run through a fuzzy filter, so much so that it sounds like half of the … Read more
The Splits
II
Dirtnap (2015)
I really like Dirtnap Records, but they can’t all be winners. The Splits start off II with a really positive vibe in “Rotten Me,” with a powerful and familiar rock ‘n’ rollin’ base behind music that’s emphatic and emotional. I really like the enunciation by singer Helena throughout this song.Unfortunately, the majority of the record doesn’t hold up to the … Read more
The Spotlight Syndicate
Forget the Static Past
Substandard (2003)
So I get this girl up in my room and we start licking each other's tongues, and before you know it, our clothes start to come off. But then all of a sudden, bam! I realize I need to put on some good love making music, or I ain't gonna get no gerjiner tonight. I start flipping through possible albums … Read more
The Stargazer's Assistant
Fire Worshipper
House of Mythology (2023)
Making their first appearance in 2007 with The Other Side of the Island, it felt like The Stargazer’s Assistant would just be a one-off. Luckily, David Smith, David Knight, and Michael J. York found something worth revisiting through the drone and ambient layers of their early release. Returning with their third record since 2016 in Fire Worshipper, The Stargazer’s Assistant … Read more
The Starting Line
Based on a True Story
Drive-Thru (2005)
I am glad that i am not a radio personality because my voice is less then stellar from being that guy you see in his car trying to sing along with his CD player. Yes, the album is that good. It's been 3 days and i already have the first half of the album memorized. I don't think we could've … Read more
The Starting Line
Direction
Virgin (2007)
I'm sure most people reading our reviews here at Scene Point Blank won't care about clicking on this album. The Starting Line is a pretty "mainstream" band; not something the readers would jump to buy, or even care to listen to at all. I know you're thinking that there was that slew of early 2000's Drive-Thru pop-punk bands that were … Read more
The Starting Point
It's Something You Learn
Independent (2005)
It's not often that I sit down to listen to a hardcore record from a band I'm completely unfamiliar with, and fall in love instantly. Two weeks later I'm sitting in the same seat of my Algebra II class playing chest-drums to "Let it Take You Home." The thought that there are hundreds of local hardcore outfits like The Starting … Read more
The Steal
The Steal
Get Outta Town (2007)
Fast, melodic, hardcore punk infused with melody. That is the short and sweet description of what you can expect from The Steal's debut full-length, The Steal, which is a fourteen-track effort that clocks in at just over twenty minutes. The Steal begins with "Breakout," a near two-minute slab of melodic hardcore that draws equally from the likes of Kid Dynamite … Read more
The Stills
Oceans Will Rise
Arts & Crafts (2008)
The third record finds this Canadian five-piece returning to the smooth atmospheric rock of their debut. But with more songwriting maturity to show for it, this is actually a stronger release. "Snow in California" and "Being Here" are the stand out songs, but really this CD works well as a whole. I've never been to Eastern Europe, but I think … Read more
The Stooges
The Weirdness
Virgin (2007)
This metaphor has been used in other instances and with different figures at the head of the punchline. But believe me when I say that when the smoke clears after the apocalypse, be it biblical or manufactured, the only thing left alive will be cockroaches and Iggy Pop. Mr. Pop has had about as wild and varied a career as … Read more
The Storm
Relentless
Innerstrength (2007)
"I see the hate / It's coming down / Down like the rain." Thus begins the greatest song about rain and hate that has ever been pressed to vinyl. Of course I'm talking about the Judge masterpiece "The Storm" a song so amazing that it got a sequel, "The Storm II". Yes I said, "amazing" and to anyone that knows … Read more
The Streets
Everything is Borrowed
679/Vice (2008)
2008 was the year where journalists pushed and shoved each other to be the first to frantically lavish praise upon a rapper with the voice of a frog, underwhelming beats, and the lyrical talent of a self-obsessed sixth grader. Tha Carter III has made everyone temporarily insane, and it's going to be fun in about five years watching everyone listen … Read more
The Strokes
Comedown Machine
RCA (2013)
The Strokes have paved way since brushing the scene in 2001 with their instant garage pop classic, Is This It. What was an unlikely return a decade later, releasing Angles after a near five-year hiatus, the band evolved electronically. Undoubtedly influenced by frontman Julian Casablancas - following his solo synthpop debut, Phrazes for the Young, during the break - this … Read more
The Strokes
Room On Fire
RCA (2003)
The first words to leap out at you on the sophomore LP by the Strokes are "I want to be forgotten." How literally this can be taken is anyone's guess, but for a band under the amount of pressure the Strokes have been, Julian Casablancas' turn of phrase might be the downright truth. Five children of fortune who formed a … Read more
