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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Various Artists

Spraynard & Sundials - Split
Evil Weevil (2011)

Spraynard hail from Pennsylvania and they play a style of punk that blends the varied melodic subgenres of punk rock (East Bay, beard punk, pop punk) to create their own identity—there’s a familiarity from their influences, but it doesn’t squarely pigeonhole them under a specific label. The band utilizes up-front bass that delivers the melody while the gruff, gruff vocals explore personal anguish in the tradition of East Bay punk and the guitar and drums move the song forward through muddy production. As for identifying sounds, the lack of focus on vocals really sticks out, giving the music a stronger place in the mix and overriding the pop structures the band utilizes. On “Subsidizing Edward Norton” (whatever that title means), the song is more upbeat, opening with a nice lead that blends into a forward-moving melodic flow throughout the song. At times the clunky delivery of the lyrics gives it some abrasion, but the guitar holds up and pushes the song onward whenever it stumbles. Still, the vocals interplay with the instruments better on this song than on the opening “No Taxis in Malvern,” giving a more consistent, driving energy with a ray-of-sunshine-through-the-clouds slice of optimism that drives the pessimistic … Read more

Various Artists

Backslider & Nimbus Terrifix - Split
Give Praise (2011)

I have long been a fan of the split record format for a few reasons. The simplest one being a … Read more

Planning For Burial

Untitled
Music Ruins Lives (2011)

Do you listen to music that reflects your mood, or do you listen to music to alter just how you … Read more

Random Axe

Self Titled
Duck Down (2011)

After a few years of anticipatory mixtapes, the debut album by Radom Axe has finally seen the light of day. … Read more

Balance and Composure

Separation
No Sleep (2011)

Separation is not a complicated album nor is it very diverse, yet Balance & Composure have managed to create a … Read more

Cannabis Corpse

Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise
Tankcrimes (2011)

You may think you know everything there is to know about Cannabis Corpse. Which is two things (maybe three if … Read more

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One from the archives

Jasper TX

An Index Of Failure
Handmade Birds (2013)

I cannot explain how much I needed to listen to this right at this moment when my heart rate is racing and it feels as if my chest is going to explode, the calming feeling that the final recordings of Jasper TX are literally helping me to breath semi normally; An Index Of Failure is quite simply a pretty album and a feather in the cap for the project as Jasper TX has announced that this would be the final recording that would be released under the moniker, which is a bit shocking considering how good this record is (as well as the last album, Black Sun Transmission for that matter).Often times when listening to a record such as An Index Of Failure, the sparse beauty can sometimes be rather … Read more

More album reviews

Keith Canisius

This Time It's Our High
Darla (2010)

Keith Canisius is a lesser known musician who managed to be born in the USA and move himself out to Denmark. This album is not his first for certain. In the time between albums he has made a mark on the growing dream-pop and shoegaze scenes. The man has clearly been able to create a fan base using a backing … Read more

Various Artists

Homewrecker & The Love Below - Split
A389 (2011)

A389 Records announced earlier this year the signing of Homewrecker. The band play a nasty style of hardcore with nods to powerviolence and straight out heavy hardcore. While this may sound awkward the band work in these influences in a rather seamless manner. Those who have been paying attention to the site have probably heard of The Love Below. Having … Read more

40 Watt Sun

The Inside Room
Cyclone Empire (2011)

40 Watt Sun were borne from the ashes of English band Warning, a band that ceased to exist after only two full length albums (albums separated by seven years and an extensive hiatus). Their demise was much mourned in doom circles, and then this little gem came along to brighten the day. If slow, down-tempo riffs are the kind of … Read more

Elway

Delusions
Red Scare (2011)

Pop structures with gruff vocals? Check.Group singalongs at the chorus?Check.A lyrical focus on being lost in the world while simultaneously abusing alcohol semi-therapeutically?Check.There’s definitely a format at play for Elway, the Colorado band who just issued their debut on Red Scare Industries. Say what you will about the whole “beard punk” sub-subgenre, but I’m a sucker for it and Elway … Read more

Nick 13

Self Titled
Sugar Hill (2011)

Many were intrigued when Tiger Army frontman, Nick 13, first announced he’d be releasing a solo country album. It was a sound that fans were already familiar with from Tiger Army songs like “Outlaw Heart” and “The Long Road.” However, I’m not sure everyone was prepared for the genuine country vibe that Nick 13 managed to execute on this record. … Read more

Mock Orange

Disguised As Ghosts
Wednesday (2011)

Mock Orange took me completely by surprise. They only just came to my attention despite having been a band for nearly 2 decades. Although, they didn’t begin to gain some exposure until their third album, Nines and Sixes, in 1998. It’s 2011 now, and they still seem to be Indie’s little secret after the Spring release of Disguised As Ghosts.The … Read more

Heinali And Matt Finney

Conjoined
Independent (2011)

Heinali and Matt Finney are a meeting of the mind's in a way. Consisting of a spoken word artist (Finney) and a predominantly Ambient composer from the Ukraine (Heinali). The pair have never met and act as an internet only project. This may concern a few as rarely do these sort of projects make their own name, save for a … Read more

Dirge

Elysian Magnetic Fields
Division (2011)

Dirge, the self-described 'neurotic post-core' band from France, may have gotten just a bit big for their britches. Ever since Blight and Vision Below a Faded Sun was released in 2000, Dirge have been pushing the limits of how much space they can cram into their music and get away with it. 2004's And the Sky Shall Descend saw this … Read more

Isis

Live.05
Independent (2011)

A year after their dissolution, post-metal powerhouse Isis is preparing to digitally re-release its entire live discography on a fortnightly basis throughout the summer of 2011. The set of five albums unfortunately does not contain any new material, but for those of you who skipped acquiring them while the band was still active, some of these albums may satiate your … Read more

My Morning Jacket

Circuital
ATO (2011)

My Morning Jacket’s latest release titled Circuital, especially because of the first single “Holdin on to Black Metal,” has been called something of a long departure from their previous album, but Jim James and company remain consistent where it counts: in making great, rounded, listenable records. Circuital is chock-full of repetitious, exhaustive lyrics and chord progressions, but it more than … Read more

Kingdom

Threads
Dead Truth (2011)

In a time where the only things that garner a hardcore band’s attention is how heavy they are, it’s hard to find bands with an actual proactive message. Everywhere you turn, the next hype band has little to nothing to say lyrically but are the most talked about based on their music, which is usually beatdown at its most basic … Read more

Janelle Monáe

The ArchAndroid
Wondaland Arts Society / Bad Boy (2010)

When music historians look back on the first decade of the 21st century, they'll no doubt highlight the dazzling array of pop musicians daring to innovate. Those producing music which both reinvents and creates, challenging conventions and spinning concepts and long-term constructions around their work. Except, of course, they won't. Pop has been sadly lacking of late, with depressingly little … Read more

Amateur Party

Truncheons in the Manor
Rorshach (2011)

There are a lot of names that could be dropped when talking about Amateur Party—in fact, I did so when I reviewed their EP back in 2009. However, the band really stands as a completely different kind of monster than the members’ other work. As such, I’ll delay the biographies until later. Truncheons in the Manor is their first full … Read more

Mauser

End Of The Line
Vinyl Rites (2011)

While eventually churning out some less than desirable material late in their career, there is no arguing the impact early Discharge made in both the punk and metal scenes—going so far as to create their own sub-genre in the process. D-beat, as it is aptly titled, signifies thick, lumbering guitars matched with an intensely repetitive drum beat, and shouted vocals, … Read more

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)