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Minus the Bear

Planet of Ice
Suicide Squeeze (2007)

Continuing on from 2005's Menos El Oso, Minus the Bear's Planet of Ice breaks away from the band's previous shtick of long song names and extended album titles. As the record name may suggest, this album is slightly colder and less forgiving than previous releases. To drag that analogy just one metaphor further, we can also hear a slightly more … Read more

Multiple Authors

Minus the Bear

Planet of Ice
Suicide Squeeze (2007)

Here's where I am: I'm standing on a beach, four time zones away from "home." It's March, but here it feels like July. The Pacific Ocean is blue and ethereally tinged equal parts grey and white. It's mid to late afternoon and the sun burns low in the sky, doggedly sinking towards the horizon. The air tastes salty and good. … Read more

Nekromantix

Life is a Grave and I Dig It!
Hellcat (2007)

Sometimes a joke can go too far. You know what I mean - like that puny kid at school who you gave a horrible name to so that by the end of year everyone was calling him it and then by the end of the next year he was found hanging in the toilets to stop the abuse. The Nekromantix … Read more

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

In Glorious Times
The End (2007)

If you've never seen Sleepytime Gorilla Museum live, do yourself the favor the next time they come to your town, berg or hamlet. They might not necessarily become your new favorite band, but I guarantee you won't regret having gone. The flip side to being such a great live act is the music can often fail to live up to … Read more

El Ten Eleven

Every Direction is North
Bar/None (2007)

Some would argue that post-rock has, in recent years, become overpopulated with carbon copies of Explosions in the Sky. Although I am not so sure about that myself, I can definitely see that there are some bands falling into a bit of a quiet-loud-quiet, delayed and reverbed guitar formula. Not that I am complaining, because I have to dig pretty … Read more

Jesu / Eluvium

Split
Temporary Residence/Hydra Head (2007)

Arriving home at approximately 5:30 PM EST, I walk up to my door to see the familiar Temporary Residence logo on the front of an LP vinyl mailer; the initial excitement that washes over me is dwarfed solely by my need to call a friend to exclaim my surprise and, quite possibly, gloat that I will be hearing the Jesu … Read more

Death Before Dishonor

Count Me In
Bridge Nine (2007)

Boston-based and Boston-proud, Death Before Dishonor has been churning out bruising hardcore since they first hit the scene with True Till Death. Their debut EP hit with very much the same style of breakdown heavy metallic hardcore that they drew their namesake from. Five years later, the band continues to deliver the hits with Count Me In, their debut full-length. … Read more

Signs of Hope

First and Foremost
Detonate (2007)

It wasn't more than twenty-four hours from the time that I started typing up this review that I was having a conversation with a friend of mine in the basement bathroom of Cheapo Records about the '88 styled hardcore resurgence that happened, for the most part, in Boston in the last part of the 20th century. He commented on how, … Read more

Kill Your Idols

Something Started Here
Get Outta Town / Lifeline (2007)

Kill Your Idols were always one of those bands to me. I never considered myself a fan of their music, maybe having a track or two on various compilations, but I would never outwardly say "they suck" or some similar criticism. My indifference to the band wasn't total either. I can recount seeing them four or five times, almost always … Read more

Blitzen Trapper

Wild Mountain Nation
LidKerCow Ltd. (2007)

When I'm on a road trip, I get this undeniable urge to listen to All-American music. We're talking CCR and we're talking Skynyrd and Tom Petty, and we're talking Violent Femmes and Pavement and Modest Mouse. Something about that western scenery. Just like you can hear the British in an Ozzy or Kinks' record, you can hear the American in … Read more

Black Dice

Roll Up / Drool
Paw Tracks (2007)

Black Dice are ridiculous; they have the spottiest and most transformative of musical histories even when compared the most dysfunctional bands. After ten years and numerous experimentations in sound, the band is somehow still cooking up and destroying music, and with plenty of gusto to boot. The first of two songs is "Roll Up," and it starts the record off … Read more

Last of the Believers

Paper Ships Under a Burning Bridge
Independent (2007)

Paper Ships Under a Burning Bridge is the debut offering from Last of the Believers, a new project spearheaded by former members of the extremely underrated Reach the Sky, as well as Ignite and Spark of Life. The music that Last of the Believers offers on this, a five-song EP, combines the members past experience into one impressive debut. Paper … Read more

Rocky Votolato

The Brag and Cuss
Barsuk (2007)

Rocky Votolato has been a busy man of late. He released last year's Makers to wide acclaim and only just recently re-issued A Brief History with his long time collaborators at Second Nature recordings. This brings us to his latest musical foray. The Brag and Cuss is Votolato's sixth album since he began releasing his solo material in 1999, and … Read more

Lymbyc Systym

Love Your Abuser
Mush (2007)

The limbic system controls a fairly large part of the human brain. It helps us get aroused, remembers important facts, and regulates the sleep cycle, among other cerebral functions. Exchange a few vowels and you end up with Lymbyc Systym. But what could this subtle transformation mean? The Bell brothers of Arizona are Lymbyc Systym; one deals with the keyboards, … Read more

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