699 total search results — Page 24 of 35
Evening Standards – World’s End
Review — July 15, 2019
It’s a dramatic understatement to say that music has changed since I first discovered DIY in the 1990s. But in many ways, one of the first things I discovered about real people making music, is that contacting a label you like usually leads to good things. While you can sample …
Charger – Charger
Review — July 23, 2019
The debut from Charger finds that gray area between punk and metal that’s hard to pigeonhole to a specific genre. You’ll see more than one Motorhead reference in this review, which is both a good place to start and a pretty good complement.Motorhead is really what comes to mind …
Reunions – Winter Heart, Summer Skin
Review — July 29, 2019
I must have slowed down over the years. At least I hope my recent interest in bands like Reunions or Nightmarathons reflects my now 40 years-old perspective more than it reflects of some kind of nostalgia bender. Because I’m truly enjoying these mid-tempo rising tide records, including this new self-released …
Billy Liar – Some Legacy
Review — August 5, 2019
I don’t know much about Billy Liar, but Red Scare has rarely turned out a bad release so I picked Some Legacy out of the pile with some hope -- and it delivers. Liar is a Scottish musician who has been playing under the moniker since 2006. Sometimes he tours …
Kira Jari – Spooky Freaky EP
Review — August 13, 2019
Spooky Freaky is a good debut from an intriguing new-ish band from Texas. Even if the EP name makes me think of “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” each time I read it.The band is similar in sound to a lot of bands I enjoy: Tiltwheel and Leatherface, for example — …
Petty Larcenists – Stolen Chords and Lifted Riffs
Review — September 30, 2019
You’ve heard of no depression music? I’m coining a new term here: depression punk.Opening song “Loud and Ugly” might be a good description of vocalist Jesse Thorson’s approach in general. His songwriting has always been outspoken and focused on personal flaws, pointing to the uglier elements in life. I …
Full Sun – Thinkin’ About It
Review — October 29, 2019
There are certain musical styles where I struggle as a reviewer to offer you my deep thoughts beyond yay or nay. Power-pop is definitely one of those areas, and that’s the label I’d slap on Full Sun. Thinkin’ About It is a 10-song blast of high energy, upbeat jams.Over …
DIÄT – Positive Disintegration
Review — November 18, 2019
Positive Disintegration is an ideal name for this album, the follow-up to Positive Energy, which DIÄT released in 2015. The record is dreary post-punk with a lot of repetition and monotone vocals that carry a beaten-down-by-the-world-but-the-show-must-go-on vibe. “We,” starts things on this path, but as the record progresses that …
Fleshies – Introducing The Fleshies
Review — November 26, 2019
Sure, I know of Fleshies but I don’t really know them. I’ve heard the hits over the years, but I’m coming at Introducing The Fleshies from a relatively clean slate. And it’s a rager. It’s got the aggression, a little bit of slop, and lyrics that are both biting and …
The Hussy – Looming
Review — December 17, 2019
It’s been fun watching The Hussy grow. All those scuzzy, dirty licks and rough-and-tumble beats of their early work is still present, but on Looming the now-trio lets the once understated melodies take the lead. It’s driving rock with some notable grooves, but it’s also singalong with shades of ‘60s …
Rational Anthem – It’s Only Permanent
Review — December 24, 2019
It’s been a long time since the last Rational Anthem record, Emotionally Unavailable in 2014. The band is still similar but what jumps out the most to me with It’s Only Permanent is the clean, big pop hooks. The band has always been peppy and focused on those singalong moments, …
Rivers Edge – The Runaround
Review — January 7, 2020
Runaround is the third release I’ve heard from Rivers Edge, and besides feeling like a nice metaphoric album title for the band’s style – accessible DIY pop punk with a lot of unexpected turns – it also feels like the band is really coming into their own. In the past …
Jumpstarted Plowhards – Round One
Review — January 27, 2020
I’m going to jump right into the thick of it and admit I’m not well-versed in Mike Watt’s catalog. In my defense, the man is a workhorse, releasing records with Minutemen, firehose, Stooges, solo, and many many more. I know the big ones, but not the deep …
MakeWar – Get It Together
Review — February 3, 2020
MakeWar aren’t like most of the other punk bands out there. They play what I call midtempo punk. It’s not built on anthems, choruses or super-fast into-the-pit adrenaline. Get It Together isn’t about fist-in-the-air release, it’s about built-up tension. The band is actively calling for people to (ahem) Get. It. …
Personality Cult – New Arrows
Review — February 10, 2020
I like to find new bands. One of the challenges as I get older is exactly that. I listen to a lot of music, but a lot of it follows a certain artistic lineage. I want to keep up with what old favorites are doing, but with new groups too. …
Black Lips – …Sing In a World That’s Falling Apart
Review — February 18, 2020
In an era of heart-on-sleeve Americana, the Black Lips are up to something else on …Sing In a World That’s Falling Apart. Black Lips approach Americana in this record in half parody and half serious mode. It embraces the ugly with their tongues sticking out instead of buried in …
Bad Year – My Escape
Review — February 24, 2020
Snappy Little Numbers make some snappy packaging. Cover art, one-sided vinyl and specialty colors shouldn’t drive musical decision-making but, let’s face it, in the digital era it definitely makes a difference when you pick up a record that stands out from the pack. And as an uncle who has spent …
Wolf-Face – Still Golden
Review — March 2, 2020
Teen Wolf itself is goofy but with some surprisingly poignant metaphors. Wolf-Face is the same, straddling its own bizarro stance between cartoonish monsters, high school, adolescence, melodrama and real, honest emotion. I didn’t expect to like Still A Son of a Bitch in 2013, but I did – quite a …
The Eradicator – Peak Eradicator
Review — March 23, 2020
Hoo boy! What am I really supposed to say to introduce The Eradicator. The concept is based on a Kids in the Hall sketch, and it definitely draws some inspiration. But it’s also hard to picture the small stature, screeching Bruce McCulloch character being into this style of hardcore. …
