After three years of Rob Crow sowing his wild musical oats with namely Goblin Cock and his solo album, he has joined back with Armistead Burwell Smith IV to put out another album under the name Pinback. Autumn of the Seraphs is Pinback's second album for Touch & Go and you can tell right from the first note that the … Read more
Authenticity goes a long way these days in the music industry. It’s most desired in any aspiring musician and sets artists apart from a sea of others chomping at the bit. Using primarily programmed percussion only toughens the playing field; yet, when your band consists of two members playing the role of a full gang, approbation is appropriate. Since the … Read more
Directly after the cover of Pinback's photographically dense lyrics booklet, there is a certain image that I consider of extreme relevance to the rest of this tight, ten-track album. It's a picture of a staircase set in arid yellow stone, one that leads downwards into an old underground bunker. This image, along with a similar and intrinsically linked photo at … Read more
Pinhead Gunpowder began in 1990, recording a 7” in 1991. The band last released a 7” in 2008… Until late 2024 when the band returned with the 14-song full-length Unt. So congratulations if you had “we get a new Pinhead Gunpowder record before a new D4 record on your bingo card. (These two bands released a split 7” in 2000 … Read more
'Oh great,' you're probably thinking, 'another critic on the Internet with her head up her own ass talking about this fucking Pink Floyd album again. How droll.' Let me assuage your concerns: I'm not here to review or otherwise convince you either way on The Dark Side of the Moon itself. You've already heard it by now, and you're already … Read more
The last of the three major Pink Floyd albums to be expanded and reissued is their 1979 double-album opus The Wall. If you haven't heard of this album already, then...well, you're probably lying. I'm willing to bet that, when I type "WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION", literally all of you now have "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" stuck … Read more
I'm really quite thankful that the Why Pink Floyd...? remaster campaign has made it to Wish You Were Here so soon. It has aged incredibly well, and is every bit as perfect of an album today as it was when it was first released. It even holds up favourably in comparison to the first album to be reissued, which was … Read more
Shoegaze and psychedelics just naturally go hand in hand. Sure, you can have one without the other, but you'd probably be cheating yourself of one of two things: a spiritual epiphany, or a night of sitting on your ass in your room staring blissfully into the space. Alright, maybe there isn't really a difference between the two, but Pink Mountaintops … Read more
Bands can sometimes get falsely categorized by those who don't know any better. And it really only takes a few misapplications of a genre to a band before you get frustrated, or simply declare the said genre dead to you. Anyways, we approach the new Pink Razors record Leave Alive with the term pop-punk somewhat lodged in most descriptions of … Read more
Do you remember when pop-punk wasn't sung by guys with swooping black'n bleached haircuts wearing button-up shirts and girl pants? Do you remember when pop-punk didn't have over-produced, mirror-polished, fake-as-hell vocals? Remember when pop-punk had some attitude? Yes, I also remember Screeching Weasel, and more recently, Dillinger Four. Now here's another band that gets it right. Pink Razors are a … Read more
Last year's self titled record from Pinkish Black was a distinctly (un)pleasant surprise from a duo that have been making music together for a substantial length of time. Pinkish Black took the critical world by storm with their debut and the record was, quite rightly, considered a breath of fresh air within the darker confines of the musical spectrum. Pinkish … Read more
Texan duo Pinkish Black employ synthesised loops of terrifying, droning pulses and a deliciously dangerous swagger filters through this debut. Daron Beck’s clouded voice dips in and out of throbbing electronic beats whilst currents of perilous doom cut through the loaded atmosphere, Beck’s voice often hidden in the murky depths of the all consuming sounds layered by cohort Jon Teague … Read more
One (of many) differences between indie rock and punk is generally the sense of humor as it relates to self-awareness. Considering that other reviews namedrop Built to Spill frequently in the RIYL section for Pinned in Place, it’s a nice touch to start the record with the song “Built to Chill.” It’s both self-referential and a sweet name that describes … Read more
I’ve been debating how to describe this one for a while. Pinned in Place aren’t exactly happy campers, but compared to most of what I’ve been reviewing lately their music feels downright optimistic with the sunny guitar lines and harmonies that define their sound. That said, the record is named Rubbernecking at the Gates of Hell for a reason.The opening … Read more
How on Earth do you achieve a goal as lofty and vaguely-defined as “to break out of the norm and push boundaries?” Well, Sydney-based progressive four-piece Pirate aimed to find out with their 2011 debut EP, Left of Mind, which was created with that exact goal in mind. Whether or not they actually succeeded is a different case entirely.I'll admit, … Read more
I enjoyed King of Jeans. It wasn’t great and it didn’t break much ground, but it was a solid play that I still throw on from time to time. What I find peculiar with its follow-up, Honeys, is that I don’t find myself thinking back to the last record often. Instead I mostly think about how I should be listening … Read more
Elegant desert-shoe-gaze-rock from Santa Fe, New Mexico FFO Pigrow, Storming The Beaches With Logos In Hand and Father John Misty. The landscapes and artistry of Santa Fe, New Mexico comes through well on this older “post rock” cassette. The region’s Kokopelli imagery is a reminder to celebrate fertile land and the gift of life. Pitch & Bark seem to lock … Read more
Hello 1990s. Pity Party, from Oakland, play fuzzed out drudgy punk. While most press I read about calls the band pop-punk and even emo, I’d put them a less crisp category. DIY indie-punk, maybe? But with some harsher sounds that parlay a little more anger and anguish. Grunge doesn’t feel quite right, but close. I hate to drop the Riot … Read more
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here:
Click anywhere outside this dialog to close it, or press escape.