Panda Kid
I Saw My Soul Leaving
Lollipop Records / FDH Records / Already Dead Tapes (2015)
Gloriously unpolished and perhaps one of the outright loudest and gnarliest records I've heard all year, 2015's I Saw My Soul Leaving is a sort of greatest hits album released to commemorate the first US tour by Italian garage rocker Panda Kid (a.k.a. Alberto Manfrin). This album combines two new tracks with eight from the artist's back catalog in a … Read more
Pas Musique
Inside the Spectrum
Alrealon Musique (2015)
Forming in Brooklyn in 1995 as a collective based around abstract sound, Pas Musique translates to “Not Music” in French, a fact which gives some indication of what the adventurous listener is in store for on limited 2015 release Inside the Spectrum. That being said, much of what is contained in the wild, ten-track album is actually quite musical, though … Read more
Patrick Higgins
Bachanalia
Telegraph Harp (2015)
Known in his lifetime (1685-1750) primarily as an organist, German-born Johann Sebastian Bach has, in the course of the last three centuries, achieved a status as one of the finest composers to have ever lived. The mathematical precision of Bach’s work is one of its most recognized characteristics, but also an element that provoked a love it or hate it … Read more
PC Worship
Basement Hysteria
Northern Spy (2015)
There appears to be a quite mysterious aura surrounding the existence of PC Worship. The band itself has left a trail of albums and EPs, within just a small margin of time, navigating through the seas of alternative music. It is a really difficult task to give a description of PC Worship's music. On one hand it contains a lot … Read more
Pestilent Endeavors
Adult Onset Death
Backwoods Butcher (2015)
This is a cool tape sent in by Mr. Food Fortunata, the fine gentleman behind the always enjoyable and reliable Saginaw, MI-based publication Ear of Corn fanzine. A lot of these tracks—and there are a whopping 21 of them, although mostly very short—remind me of early Mudhoney, something for which I am never disappointed. Some of the odder-sounding stuff on … Read more
Pontius Pirate
Pterodactyl Island LP
Backwoods Butcher (2015)
Every so often I go through a phase where I’m listening to a lot of pre-Independent Wormhole Saloon era Butthole Surfers. Such was the case when this 17-song slab-o-wax landed in my mailbox via Food Fortunata, the genius behind Ear of Corn fanzine. I promptly ripped this to MP3s so that I could listen to it while riding my bicycle. … Read more
Post Pink
Too Pooped to Pip
Independent (2015)
Sounding like the result of glue-huffing fourteen-year-olds being let loose in a recording studio, Too Pooped to Pip, the 2015 demo from Baltimore, Maryland’s Post Pink, contains some of the most crude and snotty punk rock I’ve heard in quite some time. It may be surprising then that three of the group’s four members are female: listening to the singer … Read more
Powernap
Oreosmith EP
Asian Man (2015)
Oreosmith, whatever the hell that title means, is the first release from Powernap and it’s familiar and powerful, leaving curious signs of where the band may develop. The general sound is gruff, mid-tempo punk a la Jawbreaker or The Broadways.The EP is 6 songs long, clocking at 18 minutes and it keeps a defined sound throughout. The mid-tempo numbers like … Read more
Primitive Man
Home Is Where The Hatred Is
Relapse (2015)
When listening to the debut album of Primitive Man, Scorn, back in 2013, one thing became perfectly clear about them: they are fucking serious about their music. The blackened sludge band from Denver does not exhibit the signs of their friendlier counterparts within the subgenre. Their dystopic vision back in their independent first release was overwhelming and all-consuming, and it … Read more
Priscilla Ford
The Blackout Club
Basement (2015)
Priscilla Ford's debut EP, The Blackout Club, is a raging punk rock'n'roll album. It careens with a controlled abandon, much like the Reno, Nevada murder spree after which the band is named. The band is composed of veteran musicians from a variety of punk rock subgenres, but The Blackout Club is a concise and directed effort. The band appears to … Read more
Prurient
Frozen Niagara Falls
Profound Lore (2015)
There is not much one can say about Prurient, the project of Dominick Fernow. Throughout the years Prurient have produced an extensive discography that sees them creating a cartography of the dark ambient and noise genres with their own experimental mindset. The project has been going on for about twenty years now, but it seems that the focus that Fernow … Read more
Pyramids
A Northern Meadow
Profound Lore (2015)
Back in 2008, Pyramids were setting off with the release of their self-titled debut album. Blending together the different elements of shoe gaze, post-rock, black metal, dark ambient, drone and experimental their first album was nothing less than fascinating. Following the release of the album a variety of artists and bands, including James Plotkin, Colin Marston and Blut Aus Nord, … Read more
Queensrÿche
Condition Hüman
Century Media (2015)
At the time of the release of their eponymous 2013 full-length album, the Geoff Tate storm had passed and cleanup efforts had begun.It was most definitely a return to form under the new stable guidance of Crimson Glory vocalist Todd LaTorre and Queensryche delivered their strongest album so far this century.With Condition Hüman, the band continues on with the same … Read more
Radioactivity
Silent Kill
Dirtnap (2015)
These guys know how to start off a record, with the rapid fire “Battered” pummeling with riffage for the first minute and then Jeff Burke’s familiar vocals chime in and the record transitions to melodic and punky pop songs—and not the kind of pop that’s usually attached to that word. While a minute isn’t a long time for an instrumental … Read more
Raised Fist
From the North
Epitaph (2015)
From The North is Raised Fist’s first release since 2009’s Veil of Ignorance, and is a continuation of the style and sound honed on that album. Veil of Ignorance was a ridiculously catchy album, and a repetitive guilty pleasure for this reviewer. The reason I could not fully get behind Veil of Ignorance, despite not being able to stop listening … Read more
Rei Rea
Food For The Worms
Union Finale Records (2015)
Christian Dubé’s project has certainly blossomed over the years. Originating back in 2000, Rei Rea started off as a software-based musical outlet based in Dubé’s basement (that must be one fucking dark basement), releasing a number of split collaborations throughout the years as well as standalone albums, such as Hate Hand And Hate and Slug Launching Stinction. As time progressed, … Read more
Rixe
Coupes et Blessures EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2015)
Well this was bound to happen. With so many hardcore acts flirting with Oi! for the last few years it’s not surprising that somebody finally came out like, fuck it, we’re just going to be an Oi! band. It’s not the first time by any means—there’s been the PDX crusties’ side project Criminal Damage and the Brendan Radigan-fronted Battle Ruins—but … Read more
Robin Finck and the Wordclock
NOCT Original Soundtrack
Laced Records (2015)
A studio and touring musician with Nine Inch Nails since the mid '90s and part of the whole Chinese Democracy saga for Guns 'n' Roses, guitarist Robin Finck has clearly learned a few tricks from NiN mastermind Trent Reznor over the years. Capable of working in almost any field he became involved in, Reznor went beyond his NiN recordings to … Read more
