Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had a lot of pressure on them for their second album, mainly due to them being the most hyped up band of 2005. Their story was one told over and over ever since their first album came out: five indie rockers out of Brooklyn that released and distributed their debut album themselves. By great reviews … Read more
Classics of Love have a hill to climb. Considering that leader Jesse Michaels has been in bands like Common Rider, Big Rig and, oh, let’s see…Operation Ivy, there’s always going to be that inevitable comparison between 2012 and 1989. His most recent project takes a definite harder edge than the Common Rider song from which the band draws their name, … Read more
Though there are plenty of composers who've made a name for themselves by crafting the soundtracks to horror films, Italian progressive rock group Goblin stands as one of the few legitimate bands known more or less exclusively for their work in this field. A revolving door-type project built around guitarist Massimo Morante, keyboardist Claudio Simonetti, and bassist Fabio Pignatelli, Goblin's … Read more
Every now and then I come home from the supermarket and think to myself, while unpacking: I should not have gone there while being hungry. It is empirically proven that sending me out to get some food while being hungry is not a tried and tested, best in class inventory management solution. I think this should be recognisable for you … Read more
Last year a band by the name of Cloak/Dagger released a 7" record. That record, Piñata, was easily one of the best slabs of wax I had heard in a long long time. The record was eventually re-released with their original demo following the band's singing to Jade Tree Records. As time elapsed my anticipation for new songs from the … Read more
Cloud’s Comfort Songs is a collection of downbeat, gloomy works that create an atmosphere of utter desolation while somehow lifting the emotional aspect of the pieces beyond total sadness. There are lovely little hints of hope hidden in the depths of these songs and the young man behind it all, Tyler Taormina has, at heart, blurred the lines between sadness … Read more
Following on from Zen Summer in 2015 and 2013s Comfort Songs, Cloud’s Plays With Fire moves Tyler Taormina’s sound firmly into the assured category. Where his debut was weighed down with a little too much padding, Plays With Fire takes a somewhat sprightlier turn into sadness, reducing the runtime by thirty minutes yet still packing a hefty emotional punch. Taormina’s … Read more
If there's any one artist who should make you happy to listen to music, it's Ben Sharp, aka Cloudkicker. Though releasing free music on the Internet isn't anything new, it's safe to say that, in terms of quality, Sharp's in a class all his own. He also voluntarily remains unsigned from a label, ensuring that his music will continue to … Read more
Ohio-based musician Ben Sharp (aka Cloudkicker) has made it clear time and time again that he has no intention on confining himself to something as pedestrian as genre labels. Though it's possible to identify trends (the progressive rock and post-anything labels seem to be fairly common for him), there's absolutely no way to tell where he's going next. That element … Read more
Frankly, I'm just as surprised as you are. Ben Sharp, known to many only as Cloudkicker, had warned earlier this year that he was not going to be releasing new material for a while. I guess Sharp's conception of a long time is drastically different from the norm, because the year hasn't even ended yet and he's already let loose … Read more
Following the release of Beacons in 2010, musician Ben Sharp began releasing a series of short, acoustic instrumental loops on his blog. At the time, they were nothing more than a set of enjoyable curios. They sounded like some of the earlier post-rock material he had released as B. M. Sharp before starting Cloudkicker in earnest, and they were far … Read more
After debuting with last year's Legendary Demo, Boston-based rockers Clouds return with their sophomore full-length. Fronted by former Cave In guitar maestro Adam McGrath, the band has delivered another fine offering here, though they have refined their fuzzed-out punk sound with an even wider sampling of influences. We are Above You begins with "Empires in Basements." The song is a … Read more
Who are Clown Core? Long story short – no idea and no one really knows. There’s a lot of speculation online regarding the fact that the duo may actually be drummer Louis Cole and saxophonist Sam Gendel. Although, both have denied being part of the band. As Clown Core continue to skillfully keep their identities a mystery, we can only … Read more
“I’m a real band!” When you write about an artist a billion times, sometimes your head goes to strange places -- leading to references that probably only make sense inside your own head. With Par For The Curse, the third album from the Todd Congelliere founded project, Clown Sounds has evolved from solo origins to a collaborative effort. The results … Read more
I was going to review this when it came out, but I like my statements to be accurate, so I went to the source and interviewed Todd Congelliere first. As the tweetbots like to say: BREAKING--an interview will publish here soon.Preacher Maker is the first album under the name of Clown Sounds, fronted by Todd Congelliere, though he also has … Read more
Back on Jam Room Clutch asked the world, "Who wants to rock?" And on the bands sixth full-length, Blast Tyrant, they respond to that question with the ironic answer of themselves. After flirting with major labels with their past few releases, Clutch have regrouped, signed with an indie label, and recorded an album filled with rock-n-roll loud enough to deafen … Read more
This review is pretty damn pointless. No one is going to buy a live album unless they're familiar with the band, and anyone familiar with Clutch will know whether they want to purchase it long before they read these fevered scribblings. For a long time now, Clutch have been leaders in the field of live rock for those in the … Read more
I’ve listened to a lot of Future Girls, Modern Cynics, and Weekend Dads the past couple of years. What does that have to do with Cluttered? Well, they share a key songwriting voice in Matty Grace, for starters. But Cluttered is a new band and a new direction, albeit more of a variation than a reinvention. Cluttered is Grace (vocals/guitar/bass), … Read more
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