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Reviews by Loren

699 total search results — Page 12 of 35

Civil War Rust – The Fun and the Lonely

Review — July 29, 2013

In case you’re missing the old Alkaline Trio, the East Bay’s Civil War Rust is calling your name. Not to say the band is strictly derivative of the Matt Skiba-fronted band, but they wear their influences on their sleeve and a number of the songs on The Fun and …

Pissed Jeans – Honeys

Review — July 29, 2013

I enjoyed King of Jeans. It wasn’t great and it didn’t break much ground, but it was a solid play that I still throw on from time to time. What I find peculiar with its follow-up, Honeys, is that I don’t find myself thinking back to the …

Sundowners – The Larger Half of Wisdom

Review — August 5, 2013

It’s been a couple years of seeing Sundowners’ name pop up on show listings around town. Still, I’ve missed them every time. Well, the band has now popped up on Dirt Cult Records’ roster too, so I figured I was beyond due to see what the Minneapolis band (not to …

Mixtapes – Ordinary Silence

Review — August 5, 2013

It’s still a bit hard to grasp what grabs me about Even on the Worst Nights. It finally clicked, though, as I drove through rural Minnesota prairie towns, stopping at the varied towns’ lone stoplights and taking in the familiar quiet downtowns and the fading paintjobs. Thematically the record …

Frozen Teens – Oakland Footsteps

Review — August 12, 2013

Frozen Teens are tough sound to pin down exactly. It’s not because it’s 100% out there, it’s because it subtly pulls from different arenas, coming together in something of a power-pop/punk. The Minneapolis trio are releasing a 7”, Oakland Footsteps, here, and it’s a solid release through and through. …

Vacation – Candy Waves

Review — August 19, 2013

Here at Scene Point Blank we don’t give titles to our work. If I titled my Vacation review, though, it would be named after track ten: “Feedback Got Me High.” Vacation are a punk band but, you know, so were Nirvana (at least on a basic level). The point is …

What-A-Nights – Self Titled

Review — August 26, 2013

What-A-Nights are a Japanese four-piece punk group, mostly falling on the pop-punk side of the spectrum, with some tight Buzzcocks sensibility seeping in. Their self-titled full-length, first self-released in Japan and now brought to the larger masses by Drunk Sailor Records, brings ten songs of soaring melody, hooky guitar, …

The Transplants – In A Warzone

Review — August 26, 2013

I grew up on Rancid and they introduced me, eventually, to a much wider world of punk rock than what I caught on late night Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes episodes. Or, for those who didn’t get where this is going from that intro sentence: I feel that I …

Rumspringer – Stay Afloat

Review — August 26, 2013

Every so often bands live up to their buzz. Rumspringer popped onto my radar through the defunct Dangerous Intersections series of 4-way splits from Traffic Street Records. I had one song at home on the comp., but it never got me deeper into the band’s catalog. Here comes 2013 and …

Eddie Spaghetti – The Value of Nothing

Review — September 2, 2013

For Eddie Spaghetti’s third solo LP, he’s taken a moment to quiet it down and get introspective while seeking answers to life’s big questions: meaty topics such as “If Anyone’s Got the Balls” and just who is “Fuckin’ with My Head.” Or, in other words, his solo work may be …

The Blind Shake – Key to a False Door

Review — September 16, 2013

It’s no secret to long-time site readers that I’m a fan of The Blind Shake. The Minneapolis trio has released a run of albums now, both on their own and with psychedelic luminary Michael Yonkers. All the while, their distinct sound continues to evolve. Starting as, to coin a …

The Wild – Dreams Are Maps

Review — September 16, 2013

Maybe Defiance, Ohio are the height I hold the folk-punk genre to, maybe it’s just that they’re the first such band to really click with me. Regardless, on listening to The Wild’s second full-length, Dreams Are Maps, I find myself making several comparisons. Given the context that’s a good …

The Octopus Project – Fever Forms

Review — September 16, 2013

When did the Octopus Project add vocals? Well, it’s not exactly a lead singer—think more along the lines of Black Moth Super Rainbow (with whom they released a collaborative record in 2006)—it’s mostly loops, reverb, and effects, but it really changes the dynamic of the four-piece group from Austin, TX. …

Galactic Cannibal – We're Fucked

Review — October 15, 2013

Goddamn, these are some brutally hoarse vocals. Like the kind that makes my voice hurt just thinking about singing along, and I mean that in the best possible way.Galactic Cannibal are a Milwaukee punk band comprised of brothers Nick Woods (Direct Hit!) and Peter J Woods (noise …

Rations – Martyrs and Prisoners

Review — October 21, 2013

Released on 86’d Records, I came to Rations with a blank slate. Thirty seconds of research tells me the band is a four-piece from Long Island and includes, among others, 86’d Records’ own Wells as a member. Trivia aside, most folks don’t buy a piece of vinyl based on any …

Nirvana – In Utero (20th Anniversary Reissue)

Review — October 29, 2013

It’s easy to read a posthumous reissue as a mining of a band’s demos and outtakes. Nirvana saw the deluxe treatment of Nevermind a few years back and now, celebrating 20 years since its release, they get the same treatment on In Utero. For a band that only …

Bangers – Crazy Fucking Dreams

Review — November 11, 2013

Bangers are a punk band from Cornwall, but they don’t play to expectations in their second full-length Crazy Fucking Dreams. Instead, the record starts with the mid-to-slow tempo “A Curious Mix,” with speak-sing vocals and a trumpet. Singer Roo Pescod’s voice remains confrontational and direct, and that’s the most …

Steve Adamyk Band – Third

Review — November 19, 2013

Sometimes calling something the “[insert record label]” sound is meant in a derisive way. Before the clichés came home, however, it was also used to complement a label’s stable for having some unique defining qualities. That’s where Steve Adamyk Band fits with their Dirtnap Records home. The general style that …

Radioactivity – Radioactivity

Review — November 20, 2013

Each time I write the phrase “garage-punk” I like it less and less. Still, how else to describe a band that blends pop-punk and garage so well? Actually, in recent reviews I’ve taken to simply comparing bands to the Marked Men, which takes us directly to Radioactivity.Radioactivity is …

Worriers – Cruel Optimist

Review — November 25, 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 …