Groupie
Ephemeral
HANDSTAND RECORDS (2021)
This is music for a cloudy day. Titled Ephemeral, Groupie’s debut full-length is moody and fleeting and, to me, delivers a dream-like quality at its best moments.The songs are driven by a rhythmic staccato approach that has a hushed, sing-song quality and occasionally mixes it up with a call-and-response tandem approach. The guitars establish the tone with clean, pristine vibes … Read more
Grouplove
Never Trust a Happy Song
Canvasback/Atlantic (2012)
Every person with a Smart phone has been in this situation. You’re in a traffic jam and you hear a song you don’t know on the radio. “Might as well shazaam it,” you think. If you’ve heard one of Los Angeles natives Grouplove’s songs and are surprised after finding out the song you didn’t know, “Colours,” was by the same … Read more
Grumpster
Fever Dream
Pure Noise (2022)
Grumpster are a relatively young band from Oakland. They released a debut on Asian Man and jumped to Pure Noise for its follow-up, Fever Dream. While 2019’s Underwhelmed caught attention, they’ve taken the leap on their second LP. The band play DIY punk with a wide range of melodic influences. It’s singalong punk, but the 10 songs on this record … Read more
Grumpster
Grumpster
Pure Noise (2024)
Grumpster is just one of those bands. The first record caught my attention, the second was a “whoa” moment, and now it’s already album number three, five years later. It’s been a relatively quick progression and there’s a big jump in sound between the first and last albums, but it’s also linear and it makes sense. The band come from … Read more
Guapo
Elixirs
Neurot (2008)
Neurot Recordings has lately been putting out releases from some great and surprisingly diverse bands such as U.S. Christmas, A Storm of Light, and Grey Daturas. Prepare to chalk up another name on that list: Guapo. Guapo occupies an interesting place on the Neurot roster as the band has a spacey yet focused sound based in progressive rock, avant-garde jazz, … Read more
Guerilla Poubelle
L’Ennui
Red Scare Industries / Gunner Records (2020)
One of the big appeals of punk is its community. So it’s nice to listen to a record where you don’t know what the hell they’re saying sometimes. It’s a good way to make sure it’s really the music that’s putting that bounce in your step instead of political or social solidarity. And I’m greatly enjoying L’Ennui by Paris’ Guerilla … Read more
Guff
Engine Trouble
Go Kart (2003)
Sometimes I really wonder about people. I turn on the television and I see rape, murder, and complete apathy towards the billions of human beings living on 40 cents a day. It's time for a change, it's time for a revolution to make everyone on Earth stop in their tracks and think about things in a brand new way, so … Read more
Guillemots
Through the Windowpane
Polydor (2006)
Guillemots (sometimes written gUiLLeMoTs) are an English avant-garde pop and indie rock band formed in November 2004 by Fyfe Dangerfield. I lifted that from Wikipedia, by the way. Got to give credit where credit is due. But that's what you've got here on the Guillemtos' debut and Mercury-nominated album Through the Windowpane. Clue number one: "avant-garde pop." Clue number two: … Read more
Guilty Pleasures
Summer Strange
Dusty Medical (2012)
Originally recorded at Ghetto Recorders in Detroit back in 2000, Summer Strange came to be under the pretense of simpler times. Although it’s taken 12 years to finally find a proper release and Guilty Pleasures is no longer alive and kicking, it’s an album that couldn’t have picked a better time to see the light of day as the dirty, … Read more
Gulch
Burning Desire to Draw Last Breath
Independent (2018)
Here we go, something horribly maniacal approaches. An out of focus haunt looking like a Goya sketch funnels all the screaming souls from hell at the threat of a Gatling gun and an itchy trigger finger. In their place we as Listener fall into the gap. Each song features a compendium of heavy drum beats, variations of style and groove, … Read more
Guns N' Roses
Chinese Democracy
Geffen (2008)
It's been fifteen years since the last release from the "band" known as Guns N' Roses seventeen years, that's not a typo seventeen years since the last batch of new material dropped as Use Your Illusions 1 and 2. With all the hype surrounding what has been in the works for an entire generation, Chinese Democracy should be the release … Read more
Guns Up!
Outlive
1917 (2006)
Sure Madball is still kicking, but let's face it, they have already been around the block and back several times over. Cleary they are juggernauts of their style but one day they're going to have to relinquish their title as the undisputed kings of hardcore; but who will be the heir? Meet Guns Up!, one of the Merrimack Valley's best … Read more
Gunsmoke
Little Shields / The Righteous Path to Hell
Independent (2007)
Sometimes, a band comes along and knocks you off your feet. As you begin to listen to them, you think to yourself, "Damn, this is pretty good." But after the third or fourth listen you can't help but want to hear the songs over and over again, and you'll rewind in the middle of a song just to hear one … Read more
Gypsy Eyes
The Escapist
Noise Met Sound (2013)
It’s hard to go to an EDM festival without seizuring from strobe lights, going deaf from pulsing beats, or popping too many Mollies. Electronica combusts acres of energy, leaving no breathing room. This genre of trebley arpeggios, never-ending grooves, and overwhelming bass deserves a relaxing vacation.Artists like Actress, Flying Lotus, and Jon Hopkins are soothing alternatives for EDM, infusing jazzy … Read more
GZA
Pro Tools
Babygrande (2008)
Wu-Tang Clan member GZA - aka The Genius - is back with his first solo offering since 2002's Legend of the Liquid Sword. But it's not like GZA hasn't been busy. The six-year span has seen a collaborative effort with Muggs of Cypress Hill, a new Wu-Tang Clan album last year, and, in-between, collaborations too numerous to count. Pro Tools … Read more
H2O
Nothing to Prove
Bridge Nine (2008)
Time lapses between albums can be a tricky phenomenon and this tends to ring especially true for punk and hardcore bands. The conventional wisdom holds that return albums are lackluster and leave longtime supporters wishing the band simply played shows and left their recorded legacy in tact. But H2O never adheres to convention. Their widespread appeal is a result of … Read more
H2O
Still the Same Fellas
Bridge Nine (2008)
There is no doubt in the sincerity of Toby Morse's declaration that H2O have nothing to prove. And while their canon of endlessly catchy and inspiring melodic hardcore songs speaks for itself, their return has generated intense speculation about whether we're getting an album of melodic New York hardcore or poppier leaning tunes a la Go. While I've never fully … Read more
Hail Social
Hail Social
Polyvinyl (2005)
With independent music, you don't usually have the case of one hit wonders. This is mainly due to the fact that most independent music isn't being played on commercial radio and MTV. But, with Polyvinyl's recent signee, Hail Social, I have a feeling this will not be the case. Having toured with Interpol and Secret Machines, and sharing a sound … Read more
