21 total search results — Page 1 of 2
Iceage – Plowing into the Field of Love
Review — February 16, 2015
If Danish punk band Iceage’s debut New Brigade gave us just that, then it looks like their third album Plowing into the Field of Love gives us another brigade. Indeed, if it weren’t for Elias Rønnenfelt’s distinct baritone vocals (think Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers or Ian Curtis of …
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – IX
Review — February 23, 2015
I always get scared when I listen to a new album by a band that I listened to in middle school. Throwing all the embarrassing angst that led me to terrible music aside, there are a lot of other things to worry about when it comes to still-active bands from …
Viet Cong – Viet Cong
Review — March 23, 2015
Canadian art rock band Women disbanded in 2012, and ex-members Matthew Flegel and Michael Wallace formed Viet Cong almost immediately afterwards. They released an EP, Cassette, in 2013, but this is the first LP we’ve seen from the band. The elephant-sized question in the room is: Is this album really …
Death Grips – Jenny Death
Review — April 27, 2015
I almost don’t want to write a review for experimental rap outfit Death Grips, because I feel like I’d be giving them exactly what they want: attention. Their overly abrasive attitude – from no-show live shows to perpetually shitting on their record label via publicity stunts – comes off as …
Algiers – Algiers
Review — June 29, 2015
I feel like I’ve seen a lot of bands forcing genres together - black metal and shoegaze (Deafheaven), indie rock and hip-hop (Why?), jazz fusion and rap (Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead) - and I could go on and on. Often genre mashing can …
Mittenfields – Optimists
Review — July 21, 2015
Optimists is the debut LP from Washington D.C. emo/indie-rock outfit Mittenfields. The band’s influences are immediately recognizable: Singer Dave Mann obviously listens to Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, while the band’s three guitarists draw heavily from 1990s indie and emo classics like Mineral, Built To Spill, and …
Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Review — August 24, 2015
Titus Andronicus (+@, as they shorten it) is a punk outfit led by Patrick Stickles, an obvious obsessive who has spent the last three +@ albums cramming barrages of references to Pieter Bruegel, Cheers, Nietzsche, and obscure New Jersey baseball teams into angry punk songs. +@’s most-talked-about work is their …
Desaparecidos – Payola
Review — September 7, 2015
Desaparecidos is the Omaha emo outfit led by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame. Payola is the band’s second album, and it’s been 13 years since they released their first album Read Music/Speak Spanish in 2002. Usually one of two things happens when a band releases an album after a …
Deafheaven – New Bermuda
Review — October 12, 2015
Deafheaven’s Sunbather was the antithesis of a sophomore slump. The album produced armies of lovers and haters, who debated whether or not the album was “metal” enough to deserve all the media attention proclaiming it as one of the greatest current metal albums. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever forget …
Dilly Dally – Sore
Review — November 30, 2015
Dilly Dally is a four-piece rock band from Toronto who describes themselves as “#softgrunge” on their Facebook page - I'm not sure how serious it is, but it seems to be relatively accurate (and in a good way, believe it or not!) Their debut Sore gives me two things I’ve …
Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle
Review — December 28, 2015
Similar to how people said, “Alright, I guess we’re done with the novel now” after James Joyce’s Ulysses, I thought, “Alright, I guess we’re done with the singer-songwriter genre now” after Sun Kil Moon’s Benji, with its overwhelmingly detailed accounts of second cousins’ deaths and watching The …
Hinds – Leave Me Alone
Review — February 22, 2016
When Hinds’ debut Leave Me Alone started with a jamming guitar riff, I was scared that this Spanish (but English-singing) all-girls rock band was going down the same lo-fi indie road that bands like The Lovely Bad Things and Black Lips have already thoroughly pounded into the ground. But almost …
Bunnygrunt – Vol. 4
Review — March 14, 2016
St. Louis indie pop band Bunnygrunt will probably always be stuck with the 90s cuddlecore label, as much as they may hate it. The lovable duo Matt Harnish (guitars/vocals) and Karen Ried (drums/vocals) specialize in fun, disposable - and dare I say cute - punk rock, Bunnygrunt reliably delivers the …
Endless Mike and the Beagle Club – St. Paul
Review — April 11, 2016
Endless Mike and the Beagle Club are from Johnstown, PA (about an hour outside of my second home, Pittsburgh), and their album St. Paul (produced by Anti-Flag's Chris Baker, adding some Pittsburgh history) embodies the DIY PA punk aesthetic that I’ve come to love over the years. Around since …
Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness
Review — May 2, 2016
It’s been five years since Texas post-rock outfit Explosions in the Sky released Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, which makes this the longest between-album gap for the band. Not that they’ve been sitting on their hands: They’ve been reliving their Friday Night Lights claim-to-fame years, writing three soundtracks …
Music Band – Wake Up Laughing
Review — May 9, 2016
Music Band, along with JEFF the Brotherhood and Diarrhea Planet, forms the Infinity Cat triad, the latest representatives of the Nashville indie punk scene. I’ll readily admit to being a big DP fan - I’ve seen them four times, once with JEFF and once with Music Band. I knew …
Diarrhea Planet – Turn To Gold
Review — June 27, 2016
I recently saw Weiner, a documentary about Anthony Weiner, the New York politician who completely obliterated his career with a sexting scandal, including a dick pic that made international news. Even though Anthony Weiner seemed like a genuine politician with good ideas for the middle class, he never could …
All Them Witches – Sleeping Through The War
Review — February 27, 2017
All Them Witches is a rock band with a psychedelic blues tinge that reflects their southern-but-also-hip hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Although All Them Witches can really deal in those druggy, heavy-hitting riffs that make you want to knock back a six pack in the desert, they also have a real …
The Menzingers – After The Party
Review — March 21, 2017
The Menzingers are a four-piece punk band from Scranton, PA, sharing the same hometown as band sibling Tigers Jaw. Although not musically the same, The Menzingers have a similar lyrical purpose to The Smiths: to tell detailed, emotional narratives about everyday people. Except, instead of about middle-aged well-read women …
