Everything I get in for review goes through the same process. The first thing I do after I greedily rip into the manila envelope like a kid on Christmas is check out the layout. You can tell a lot just from a cover of a CD. Usually if the cover depicts a scene of armored knights upon horseback fending off a plethora of orcs, hobgoblins, and goblins I can make a healthy bet that the band is going to be on the metal tip. If the CD has some band on stage being mobbed by kids in basketball shorts and entitled We are in this Together or Make the Shot I know its more youth crew to deal with. If the layout has some girl crying bloody tears or any sort of references to angel wings or razorblades it usually goes in the trashcan. Martyr Brigade fortunately utilizes simple yet effective pictures of Depression-era children going to school and playing Ring Around the Rosie. Apparently these photos were given to the members of Thieves and Assassins by their families. It adds a nice personal touch which makes Martyr Brigade stand out from the heaps of Dungeon Master Guide imagery and … Read more
Our recent Scene Point Blank reader's poll told us at least two things about you, the reader: (1) you want … Read more
For The World is Bright and Lonely, New Idea Society's Mike Law walks a fine line between poetry and prose. … Read more
Have you ever gone to a movie expecting to see an action movie, but as you watch it, you realize … Read more
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Shout Magic is a five-piece ensemble from Philadelphia. Though, if you were listen to the music of Ceiling Fan and Other Revolutions you definitely wouldn't guess that as their location. Perhaps a swanky lounge in Los Angeles or even some off-strip locale in Las Vegas would be more likely. Ceiling Fan and Other Revolutions is six tracks that clocks in at just about twenty minutes. Over the course of this EP, Shout Magic let loose an upbeat mixture of jazz, lounge, and pop music, complete with horns, winds, and maracas! "Golden Empress" reminds me of a Wayne Newton or Frank Sinatra tune. "Accolades" has a kind of retro pop-rock feel to it, even a dash of quaint folk. "Ceiling Fan' and "Suzie" kind of drag and have me reaching for … Read more
Last year I interviewed New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki about the possibility of another cover album in similar fashion to the band's From the Screen to Your Stereo. He stated that it was a possibility... Well here we are a year removed from said interview and sitting before me is From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2 And … Read more
I don't know why, but there is something really unsubtle about naming a band Die! Die! Die!. It's like using a nuke to kill a mouse, just a bit too over the top to really ever be needed. It also means that the band has got to do an awful lot to live up to the name, so you can … Read more
Every era has seen the chocolate/peanut butter combination of music and activism mixed together to create the tasty sensation of protest music. Long derided as "hippie shit" by those too lazy to listen, the protest song has been a ubiquitous form spanning the last century. Okay, maybe not the eighties, but every other decade has more than had its share. … Read more
I'm not going to classify Hi Ho Six Shooter! as a gimmick band. Granted they play shows with bandannas wrapped around their neck and sing songs about country twangs and bar room brawls, but knowing some of the members I think it's pretty safe to say that they aren't gun toting Confederates. Rather, I would say that Hi Ho Six … Read more
Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, so you would think that with them already delivering Verse, they'd be all out of good hardcore bands. Well, they are not, because Soul Control is equally as, if not more, impressive. The four-piece band delivers a modern take on 90's post-hardcore popularized by the likes of Quicksand and Burn. … Read more
With a few EP's and a couple of renowned festivals under their belt - Lollapalooza and South by Southwest - Cold War Kids have finally released (in late 2006 actually) their full-length album, Robbers and Cowards. Like a few of their indie predecessors, Cold War Kids borrows from 1970's legends like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground for their sound, … Read more
In less than four years, Coliseum has proven to be a busy band with their touring crisscrossing the United States as well as Europe, undergoing multiple line-up changes and configurations, and releasing a bunch of records (a self-titled full-length, the split 7" with Lords, the Goddamage EP, and the split with Young Widows); sometimes I take for granted that they … Read more
Rilo Kiley has finally joined forces again with their fourth full-length album, Under the Blacklight. It has been three years since the band made their widely praised More Adventurous album, released in 2004. Since then, Rilo Kiley took a break from each other with solo projects. Jenny Lewis released Rabbit Fur Coat featuring the Watson Twins in 2006, while Blake … Read more
For the most part, humor is always subjective. Not in this case, however. If Patton Oswalt doesn't make you laugh, then you, my sad little friend are wrong. Dead wrong. So wrong in fact, that I can't even look at you. Go on. Get out of my sight. Go to Target and buy the new Bill Engvall album, you jagoff. … Read more
Everyone has his or her favorite guitar virtuoso. For some it might be the finger-tapping charmer Eddie Van Halen or maybe they go way back and think of the blues inspired violin bow using wizardry of Jimmy Page. There are even some people out that really know their collective six-string shit and cite Yngwie Malmsteen as their favorite axe man. … Read more
What is it about Canada? You know, Due South, The Arcade Fire, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Dan Aykroyd, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Terrance & Philip. Perhaps it's merely been a case of overwhelming ignorance, but lately it seems that all of the best things in the world originated in this faraway place. Last summer whilst sitting in a friend's bedroom … Read more
The first time I saw Engineer was when they opened for fellow New Yorkers Another Breath. I had anticipated another youth crew styled band to be playing and I was absolutely astonished when they turned out the lights and performed the loudest set I'd ever seen. From then on I was a fan, no question. For those of you unfamiliar, … Read more
I received this release and was intrigued by its DIY packaging: card stock covered in some kind of blue block print with a heavier cardboard latch closing the front. I'm unable to decipher the artwork, but it looks awesome. Old Sun is from the city of brotherly love, my new hometown. One of the first things I noticed about this … Read more
Love, Hope and Fear are not what they used to be. And I mean that literally as well as musically. Their latest release, the four-song Fate's Frowned on Us, is the band's third official release in the band's five year (give or take) career. However, it is their second release since the revival of the lineup. Love, Hope And Fear … Read more
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