Stateside
Phonograph
Action Driver (2004)
Imagine if Limbeck and My Morning Jacket got together for a jam session and you'll be close to how Stateside sounds. Hailing from Tennessee, frontman John Paul Keith has played with heart-throb Ryan Adams, played in The Nevers, and co-founded The V-Roys. Sure the latter you probably know nothing about(shit, neither do I) but you get the point. Phonograph is … Read more
Static Radio (NJ)
An Evening of Bad Decisions...
Black Numbers (2008)
Here's another band that's right up my alley. I know.. I love fellow SPB writer Zach and how he pigeonholes himself with review after review of singer-songwriter types that used be in punk rock type bands - and those bands usually have beards. Nice well groomed beards of awe and lore. I have a beard. One time I was sitting … Read more
Statistics
Leave Your Name
Jade Tree (2004)
Denver Dalley is all over the place. After Desaparecidos went on hiatus, Dalley started to flesh out his own songs in his spare time. He released a self-titled EP in June 2003, and then there was talk of a Desaparecidos reunion. An album and a slot in the 2004 Plea for Peace tour were in the works but schedules clashed, … Read more
Steamachine
City of Death
Records Workshop (2023)
City Of Death is the third album from Polish noise makers Steamachine. Having dabbled in a few metal styles over their career, City Of Death has a heavy carnival influence to it which I have to say I really like. It's interesting just how much more sinister things sound when you pump eerie, jingly circus sounds amongst very dark, heavy, … Read more
Stebmo
Stebmo
Southern Lord (2008)
This is the first solo record from Steve Moore; no this is not the same Steve Moore that is half of the soundscape group Zombi, but rather this is the multi instrumentalist that one can hear and see with Earth since their "comeback" album Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method. Stebmo is Steve Moore's first solo album after working … Read more
Stencil
The Dead Lie Golden
Independent (2007)
Hailing from Seattle, Stencil comes with their debut album The Dead Lie Golden. They have touted themselves as an orchestral indie band which draws stylistically from established artists such as Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Really now, if your band could successfully draw from all those artists, your band would be a musical juggernaut, maybe even revolutionary … Read more
Stereotyperider
Songs in the Keys of F & U
Suburban Home (2009)
I've had a long-standing career of completely ignoring Stereotyperider even though friends have made valiant attempts to reassure me that I would like this band. I kept hearing whispers of Samiam, Seaweed, and other great rock bands from the 90's. So when I saw a promo for Songs in the Keys of F & U was available for review I … Read more
Steve Adamyk Band
Dial Tone
Dirtnap (2014)
This is Dirtnap Records.Not to pigeonhole anybody, but man does Steve Adamyk Band hit on that pop structure, garage chaos element that defines the label.Dial Tone is the fourth full-length out of Canada’s Steve Adamyk Band and I reviewed Third a while back. This time around, the band continues their well-crafted, energetic and generally positive vibes in the same fashion. … Read more
Steve Adamyk Band
Third
Dirtnap (2013)
Sometimes calling something the “[insert record label]” sound is meant in a derisive way. Before the clichés came home, however, it was also used to complement a label’s stable for having some unique defining qualities. That’s where Steve Adamyk Band fits with their Dirtnap Records home. The general style that SAB plays can be summed up in a few distinct … Read more
Steve Hackett
Genesis Revisited II
Inside Out (2012)
This (entirely too long) review is part of my coverage of the 2013 Progressive Music Awards, on 3 September. I fully admit, before I even listened to this album, I actively disliked it. For one, musical sequels are rarely as good as the original (as I've mentioned before). For another, it's a covers album--and we at Scene Point Blank are … Read more
Steve Reich
WTC 9/11
Nonesuch (2011)
Steve Reich occupies a weird place in modern music. He's one of the most-respected modern classical composers and right on the cusp of the avant-garde, winning prestigious accolades like a Pulitzer and a Grammy. Yet at the same time, he's something of a rock star in the classical world. He writes pieces that successfully connect with a younger generation of … Read more
Steve Von Till
A Grave is a Grim Horse
Neurot (2008)
For those who do not know who Steve Von Till is, Von Till is a guitarist and vocalist in the seminal outfit Neurosis. And while that band is one of the heaviest bands on the planet, Von Till's solo records are dark, folk-esque experiences which are stark portraits into a different side of the man that produces them. His solo … Read more
Steve Von Till
A Life Unto Itself
Neurot Recordings (2015)
I had always found it amazing how both Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till were able to separate the different musical modes that defined. Obviously at the top of the pyramid, for both guys, stands Neurosis, being the focal point of the experimental mindset. But both Kelly and Von Till had other projects throughout the years that would allow them … Read more
Steven Wilson
Grace For Drowning
Kscope (2011)
It's pretty easy to get inside Steven Wilson's head. It's abundantly clear from his works with Porcupine Tree that the man has a fetish for 1970s era progressive rock à la Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson. Sure, Porcupine Tree has also picked up influences from modern extreme metal, but nobody can deny that the roots of Steven Wilson's pet … Read more
Steven Wilson
The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
Kscope (2013)
Though they all claim lineage to the great acts of the 1970s, no modern progressive band can claim that they sound even remotely similar to them. Bands in the modern progressive rock genre (see Transatlantic, Spock's Beard, Coheed and Cambria) tend to sound closer akin to brightly-polished half-metal than the rock of the 70s, with a loudness and clarity that … Read more
Stiff Richards
State Of Mind
Drunken Sailor (2021)
I’m doing my damnedest not to judge this book by its cover, because Stiff Richards is far and away the worst band name I’ve heard in some time.With that out of the way, they say punk is an angry genre. Sometimes that’s in the lyrics, sometimes the shouting, sometimes the overall sonic impression. This is the latter. It’s short and … Read more
Still Crossed
Love and Betrayal
Indecision (2004)
Growing up in Cleveland I was more than spoiled when it came to hardcore bands: Integrity, The Spudmonsters, Committed, Ringworm, and countless others. I always found it odd that I rarely heard of hardcore bands from other cities in Ohio. Those that I did hear about were few and far between, not to mention they usually broke up by the … Read more
STNNNG
Empire Inward
Modern Radio (2013)
When frontman Chris Besinger laments, “I’m howling/ Can you hear me?” at the start of “Ballad of the Drunken Word,” it all comes home. Empire Inward is STNNNG’s fourth full-length and comes as the band celebrates their tenth anniversary. Since 2003 STNNNG has been spitting rage, frustration, and some downright mean-sounding rock’n’roll. At times vocalist Besinger sounds like a lunatic … Read more
