Real Numbers
Brighter Then EP
Slumberland Records (2021)
Last year took a toll on many, many people. It was rough. It was angry. It was painful. And most art reflected that.Sometimes it’s necessary to take a deep breath, relax, and think about that feeling when the sun shines through the clouds. And that’s what Real Numbers sound like to me. The clean and pristine guitar tones really define … Read more
Real Numbers
Wordless Wonder
Slumberland Records (2016)
There are a lot of traps in music journalism. Some, like genre, are the same traps that artists fall into. Because of the constrained vocabulary of describing sounds it can be a challenge to speak of a difference between influence, mimicry, and hybrids. So often when a modern band is described as in tune with an early sound, it’s nostalgic … Read more
Rebuilder
Local Support
Iodine (2023)
In an era of searching for nostalgia, Boston natives Rebuilder have managed to remind us that living in the present isn’t so bad after all —and if it is, there’s always support. With their sophomore album Local Support, Rebuilder has captured what it means to persist as a local, gnarly punk band in the ever-changing world both in and outside … Read more
Reclusa
The Anticonscience
Crucial Blast (2011)
Reclusa has joined the ranks of the crucial blaze releases and take little time to make their intentions known. While the group released a few short run cassettes this is their first big project. Their style matches seamlessly to the labels' general modus operandi revelling in a strained and disturbed combination of noise, industrial and black metal. The press release … Read more
Red City Radio
SkyTigers EP
Red Scare Industries (2018)
Today’s story about wrong first impressions will be about Red City Radio, a some-kind-of-hyphen-punk band from OKC. I’ll admit I’m already behind on first listening to the band just last year – they formed in 2007. That said, I caught a solo acoustic set by lead vocalist Garrett Dale and then watched their last two or three songs as a … Read more
Red Collar
Welcome Home
Tiny Engines (2012)
From the get-go, Welcome Home establishes Red Collar’s infectious brand of up-tempo rock and roll with tenacity and a working-class spirit. Known for their energetic live show that blurs the line between performer and audience, the Durham, North Carolina based band does well to translate that intensity onto a recorded format. Formed by the duo of Jason and Beth Kutchma, … Read more
Red Dons & TV Smith
A Vote For the Unknown
Deranged (2014)
Red Dons are a band I’ve meant to check out for some time. As a reviewer, perhaps I’m supposed to go check out the whole back catalog, but I often find it equally useful to approach a band tabula rasa, as that gives a better view of where this specific record is at. Past accomplishments, be damned, it’s the A … Read more
Red Fang
Whales And Leeches
Relapse (2013)
There's an untold amount of new bands just waiting to be discovered. Some will be discovered and just as quickly forgotten. Some will be discovered, appreciated for a brief time and then forgotten. The very lucky few will be discovered, loved and will continue to be loved by a few, who will spread the word to a few and, higher … Read more
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I'm With You
Warner Bros. (2011)
After a quiet five years of whispers, rumors, questions, confirming of rumors and, at last, the revealing of exactly what the fuck The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been up to, they finally release an album. Featuring a new guitarist. And a fly mounting a pill capsule as cover art. Let there be no doubt; the four chili peppers have … Read more
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium
Warner Bros. (2006)
Like some ever-present albatross around the neck of the rock scene, the Red Hot Chili Peppers continue to linger, 23 years after their LA inception; a different band. Battling through drug-related deaths, personal differences, drug abuse, inter-band squabbling, drug abuse, motorcycle accidents and drug abuse, it's something of a surprise that the band are still kicking it in 2006, now … Read more
Red Hot Rebellion
Self Titled
Independent (2012)
Red Hot Rebellion are a band that was destined to be. Formed as the result of a want ad placed on Craigslist, they are now part of the music scene in Dayton, Ohio that has been strong for years now. As they say in their bio, they were “formed with a singular goal: to rebel against the watered-down excuse for … Read more
Red Orchestra Radio
The Electric Sleep
Feeling Faint (2006)
I know you shouldn't judge people by the company they keep, but I propose that there should be certain exemptions from this rule. For example, the people who hang around with the school bully. They might not be the ones locking you in the bathroom come break time, stealing your lunch, or flying your ridiculously large underpants from the school … Read more
Red Room Cinema
Apsis
New Grenada (2012)
You know what makes me feel really good about myself? Post-rock. I'm not talking about the overwrought, nihilistic, dreary stuff (though I do like that too!), but the kind that just brings you up so much that it's quite literally impossible to feel bad about anything while listening to it, the kind of music that forces you to feel happy … Read more
Red Sparowes
Aphorisms
Sargent House (2008)
When Red Sparowes released At the Soundless Dawn, I began to better appreciate instrumental music. The sound that the band has made for themselves incorporates pedal steel guitar, wandering movements, and entrancing song developments. After recording the band's second full-length Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun guitarist Josh Graham, also of Neurosis, left the band to work on … Read more
Red Sparowes
At The Soundless Dawn
Neurot Recordings (2005)
Even though Red Sparowes is a new project, they didn't have much difficulty making a name for themselves. Neurosis visual-effects man Josh Graham and Isis members Bryant Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide were members of the band at the time of recording. But if you weren't sold on the band based solely on its members previous projects, perhaps this description … Read more
Red Sparowes
Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun
Neurot (2006)
When one listens to instrumental music, he or she has room to think. This is exactly why you should listen to Red Sparowes' sophomore release, Every Red Heart Shines Towards the Red Sun. In today's music scene, an addition of thought-provoking musicianship is extremely refreshing. Since 2003, this group of talented musicians has been creating far-from-succinct songs with far-from-succinct song … Read more
Red Stars Parade
Lutine Belle
Thirty Days Of Night (2008)
Bands that are difficult to pin down to a particular genre are great. They might have a distinctive sound and there might be comparisons that can be drawn, but you can lose yourself in the safe knowledge of something fresh and abstract. Then some idiot music critic comes along and ruins your day by inventing a name for it, so … Read more
Redshift
Worst Timeline Possible
Boss Tuneage Records (2022)
Wax the boards, Everybody Lets Go Surfing, Surfing US-DECAY. On the crest of a sea of plastics, discarded textiles. Built to replace and ready to feed the ever-reaching loving chubby sweaty dirty fingernailed hands of many a landfill. Discard, Destroy and Forget and repurchase. Articles of Waste Forget Faith! Bondi spits shards of coloured sea glass upon canvas recreating, rebirthing, … Read more
