Won't Stay Dead
3 Hits From Purgatory
We Are Horror Records (2023)
Won't Stay Dead are back with a few more tracks following on from their album Purgatory released in Oct 2022 https://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews ... purgatory/. This EP entitled 3 Hits From Purgatory contains two previously unreleased tracks from the Purgatory sessions. "New Descent" and "Nine Guys (No Weapons)" might not have made it onto the album, instead they were destined for bigger … Read more
Won't Stay Dead
Purgatory
Don't Panic Records & Distribution (2021)
Four piece horror themed punk band Won't Stay Dead from Chicago, Illinois formed in 2017. After independently releasing two five-track EP's The Devil Was With Us (2017) and Hellion (2020) they headed to Million Yen Studios to record their magnum opus... this thirteen track full length album Purgatory. Won't Stay Dead, to me, are pure 90s pop punk nostalgia. The … Read more
Woods
At Rear House
Shrimper (2007)
It may seem a bit unproductive to review an album that came out in the early stages of this year, but that's part of what makes Woods the band they are: silently create an album that is noteworthy, but flies below any conventional form of radar. Just as their debut How to Survive In + In the Woods was filled … Read more
Woods
How to Survive In/In the Woods
Release the Bats (2006)
How to Survive In/In the Woods isn't the easiest CD to review, because to put it bluntly, it's not the easiest CD to listen to. How to Survive In/In the Woods is thirteen tracks of experimental, lo-fi, noisy folk music distorted and amplified beyond comprehension. The result is both beautiful and frightening, calming and disturbing, and ultimately one of the … Read more
Worm Ouroboros
What Graceless Dawn
Profound Lore (2016)
Lorraine Rath and Jessica Way initiated a mystical journey with Worm Ouroboros, blurring the lines between doom metal, post-rock, neo-folk and dark ambiance, attempting to create music that is as powerful as it is otherworldly. Releasing their debut album in 2010, they were soon joined by drummer Aesop Dekker, whose first contribution came in the band's sophomore record, Come The … Read more
Worriers
Cruel Optimist
Don Giovanni (2013)
Worriers are yet another Brooklyn band to note, made up of former members of some higher profile DIY punk bands from the area. Most noteworthy in terms of sound is vocalist Lauren Denitzio, previously of The Measure [SA]. Obviously, her familiar voice and vocal style will bring a number of comparisons, including within this very review, and it should serve … Read more
Worriers
Imaginary Life
Don Giovanni (2015)
I’ve reviewed a lot of records now from Lauren Denitzio’s bands. First, The Measure [SA], and then Cruel Optimist, her current band’s first release. Over those records the sound hasn’t changed so much as it’s grown. The songs are now fuller and deeper. With Worriers specifically, though still in a relatively small sample size, the songs also seem less chorus … Read more
Worriers
Survival Pop
Side One Dummy (2017)
It seems like Worriers nailed down their sound on day one, when they rose from the ashes of The Measure S.A.. The Lauren Denitzio-fronted group plays a melodic and quirky style of indie-poppish-punk. On Survival Pop, that sound takes a stronger pop turn, with ear-pleasing hooks paired to politically-charged and empowering lyricism. In many ways, this record is a call … Read more
Worriers
Trust Your Gut
Ernest Jenning (2023)
Worriers, fronted by Lauren Denitzio, is an ongoing evolution. It’s earnest, personal and explorative, and the newest album Trust Your Gut continues that journey as Denitzio puts everything out there for their audience. The music is consistently emotional and relatable while being clearly rooted in personal experience. The magic of the entire Worriers catalog is how Denitzio manages to be … Read more
Worriers
You or Someone You Know
6131 (2020)
If it weren’t for playing in a certain scene, Worriers would likely be branded as a pop band instead of punk. The band is DIY all the way, with a growing discography, plus a back catalogue of previous bands dating into the early 2000s. As the project has grown since debut Cruel Optimist, it’s shifted more and more pop in … Read more
Worthwhile Way
Love Is All
ADD Records (2013)
Worthwhile Way play positive punk. No bones about it, the title Love Is All isn’t some ironic statement, the band brings an upbeat, happy sound that’s typically devoid from almost any subgenre of music. Mayu’s lead vocals convey a pep that meets the bouncy rhythms of Chege with some powerful ’77-style guitars to bring it all home.For a basic sound, … Read more
Wovenhand
The Threshingfloor
Sounds Familyre (2011)
After taking some nighttime cold medicine and falling asleep to Lawrence of Arabia, you awaken bleary-eyed alongside an endless stretch of desert highway, the endlessly distant horizon broken up only by the vague figures of far off mesas. Stumbling to your feet, you lurch past the desiccated remains of an antique cantina just as a dirt-crusted radio sputters to life … Read more
Wow, Owls! / The Setup
Split 7"
The Perpetual Motion Machine/ Life in a Box (2005)
Richmond, Virginia has a lush history when it comes to hardcore bands over the last fifteen years. From Avail to Count Me Out, and as of late Municipal Waste and Stop It!!!, Richmond has always been fertile ground for young hardcore bands. On this split seven inch, two of Richmond's more stylistically diverse bands, The Setup and Wow, Owls! put … Read more
Wreath
Wreath EP
New Grenada (2020)
One era that continues to be emulated is the ambiguous brand of post-hardcore often dubbed Revolution Summer. Wreath burst onto the scene last year out of the hotbed of whiskey-soaked punk music that is central Florida, the latest to give their own interpretation of the style. Their newly released debut self-titled EP quickly shows off its colors as rooted in … Read more
Wreck and Reference
Black Cassette
Music Ruins Lives (2011)
I’ll say this, Black Cassette from Wreck And Reference is good, real good; in fact, this debut has a bunch of people really going out of their way praising this “record” (OK, OK I know this is either on cassette tape or CD but stop hassling me and just listen for minute) and for good reason because the band eschews … Read more
Wrecking Crew
Balance of Terror (Reissue)
I Scream (2006)
Over the past decade or so "toughguy" hardcore has gotten more obnoxious by the second, but one of the bands that spawned this shitstorm, Madball, always had at least one thing going for them. This special ingredient was the combination of the pure catchiness of their riffs and their surprisingly tight sense of rhythm. Even though I am enough of … Read more
Wrekmeister Harmonies
Night of Your Ascension
Thrill Jockey (2015)
The musical collective led by J.R. Robinson has always been inventive when it came to the subjects of their sonic explorations. You've Always Meant So Much to Me was written to accompany a film that Robinson shot in various areas, including Detroit, the desert of Joshua Tree and the forests of Tasmania. The collaborators in this album helped greatly bring … Read more
Wrekmeister Harmonies
We Love To Look at the Carnage
Thrill Jockey (2020)
Wrekmeister Harmonies style is one that is hard to pin down and give a definitive name, yet the duo of JR Robinson and Esther Shaw do create music that is beautifully intimate and stark in equal measure. Latter day works are much more stripped back and streamlined, a change from the huge swells of sound that coloured earlier works and … Read more
