Cave In is back! Yes! The band makes its comeback known with the four-track twelve inch EP, Planets of Old, much to the excitement of long time fans and those that have yet to experience the four piece outfit (with drummer JR Connors rejoining the fold). Considering the chameleon like shifting of the band's sound over the years, the question … Read more
Celan is an intriguing collection of musicians that is comprised of members of Unsane, Oxbow, Einsturzende Neubauten, and others. Just reading the list of collaborators and knowing their other work definitely forces individuals to take notice as well as wonder at the possibilities of just what this particular effort might be capable of creating. Halo is the debut album from … Read more
Charged is a hardcore band from southern California, playing a pretty straightforward style. The vocals are probably the strongest part of this band, reminding me a little bit of Verse or even Cut the Shit. The music ranges from fast-paced punk beats to slower breakdowns, and brings in a decent amount of melodic and singing parts, akin to Stay Gold. … Read more
New release from Rockford IL's finest shows that these guys have not lost a step, and in fact, continue to reach new heights as songwriters. Will this end up on the radio? Probably not, but it certainly should. One song-"When The Lights Are Out" is a previously unreleased song from back in the day. But everything else is fresh off … Read more
The reviewer of the following album would like to invite his readers to participate in the following drinking game: grab a shot glass, grab a bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage you wish to imbibe (for those in AA or under 21 years of age, feel free to use whatever is handy - remember, thumb off the carb) and take a … Read more
A couple of the rust-belt cities connect themselves through this new split 7" release. Detroit's Child Bite and Cleveland's This Moment in Black History each offer up one brand new song on this vinyl. Child Bite bring forth "Mammal Manners" in just under three minutes. The eccentric five-piece sounds like Secret Chiefs 3 fronted by Fred Schneider. It's bizarre, and … Read more
What happens when music nerds (hey, I am one of them) get together and bond over their music nerd-dom? Well, besides a great deal of talk, interesting musical ideas are born from just these types of occasions. Chord is an outcome of such a discussion of fellow musicians over their craft. Chord, besides being comprised of members of Pelican, Unfortunaut, … Read more
Over the course of a period of time, Chris Wollard (of Hot Water Music, The Draft, Blacktop Cadence, and Rumbleseat fame) and a gaggle of friends (George Rebelo of Hot Water Music sits in on drums on some tracks) recorded a batch of songs composed by Wollard that were basically front porch jams that got fleshed out into more realized … Read more
When Hot Water Music vocalist/guitarist, Chuck Ragan released Feast or Famine, it took a lot of fans by surprise. There have been a lot of punk musicians who form acoustic side projects in their down time, but how many of them sounded as good and authentic as Feast or Famine did? That album carried a very strong folk vibe and … Read more
By a stroke of luck, my Last.fm did something good for once and recommended me this band called Church of Misery. I usually don't pay close attention to these recommendations as they are usually a bit off (seriously, stop recommending me stuff like Bon Jovi), but the name sounded dope and they apparently fell somewhere into that doom metal category. … Read more
Occasionally, a member of the staff at Scene Point Blank will write a piece on an artist of which I'm not entirely familiar. As a result, I will have to do some investigating in order to make sure all facts are straight. Every once in a while this leads to my becoming a fan of the group. It's been a … Read more
As much as I may or may not be completely objective when attempting record reviews, I must admit that this is probably not capable of happening when it comes to Coalesce's new album, Ox. Quite literally ten years in the making, Ox is the band's first new album since 0:12: Revolution in Just Listening and the subject of much anxiety … Read more
If ever the term spoiled could be used, do it now right now because that is what Coalesce is doing to its listeners with the release of their latest EP, aptly entitled Ox by the way. Following an extremely long layoff due to (of all things) breaking up, Coalesce return with a ton of new material which this EP is … Read more
Goner records has a certain sound to everything on their label. Part Ramones, part garage band record it lo-fi and or subtract piano and organs as you see fit. There is something absolutely great about the simplicity and childlike love of classic 60's garage rock that is contained in each release. So I can't be faulted for having some vague … Read more
Jason Schwartzman is in a number of my favorite movies. He was the self righteous student lead in Rushmore, the soul searching environmental activist in I <3 Huckabees, and the likeable meth user in Spun. He also played drums for the now defunct Phantom Planet, best known for what is arguably the greatest theme song of all time: The OC's … Read more
Yes, a new Coliseum record! Although they are not as prolific as they used to be, Coliseum continues to give listeners new music at least semi regularly. And even though we are still quite a ways away from hearing a new full-length from this touring machine, they still drop this single in an attempt to tide us all over. Although … Read more
Completely predictable chug mosh from Italy. If you like xLiferuinerx or live in my state of Minnesota you probably think this is the shit. The stop and starts on this four-song EP are giving me a headache that may lead to a grand maul seizure. If I hear one more song that starts off with a two-step part I am … Read more
Ever since their conception in 2004, Comadre has been a ridiculously prolific punk band. They tour constantly and release a new album or EP practically every year. You'd assume that it wouldn't give enough time for the band's sound to change and evolve, but I'm impressed with the growth in each of their releases. Their latest EP, A Wolf Ticket … Read more
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