Recent reviews

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

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

Wolverines / The Sibling Project

Split
Independent (2006)

Wolverines, you ponder. Wolverines remind you of X-Men - of retractable claws - of deep, absonant snarls. "But what about siblings?" you ask yourself. Siblings bring to mind petty arguments, worthless rivalries, and sharing menial house chores. You rack your mind for any comprehensible link between a carnivorous mammal of the North and your sister. "Ay, there's the connection!" you cheer after happening upon the press sheet. Wolverines and The Sibling Project are both indigenous to Raleigh, North Carolina. The two bands consist of four members collectively, three of whom live together. All comparisons, however, end there. Busy. Wolverines are busy in every sense of the word; the guitar is strummed fast, the drums beaten relentlessly. Think of traditional screamo, but less distorted. Victor, the guitarist, only hits his distortion pedal a few times throughout the five songs. Both Brandon, the drummer, and Victor bark the vocals, juxtaposing the clean, yet jangly guitar tone. If you're into the build-up/climax formula, give these gents a listen. Bubbly. The Sibling Project is a group that utilizes drum machine, keyboard, harmonized vocals and acoustic guitar to produce five tracks of indie-pop. If the name doesn't give it away, Lindsey and Danny are in … Read more

Ground Unicorn Horn

Ground Unicorn Horn
Three One G (2007)

Ground Unicorn Horn's self-titled release, which is packaged on a 3" mini-CD, is four minutes long, so I'm going to … Read more

The Stooges

The Weirdness
Virgin (2007)

This metaphor has been used in other instances and with different figures at the head of the punchline. But believe … Read more

Permanent

Sink|Swim
6131 (2007)

One of the best indicators of rating how good a band is is if you can feel your heart pounding … Read more

The Hidden Hand

The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote
Southern Lord (2007)

Let's be up front with this right off the bat. For all of Wino's - the guitarist and vocalist of … Read more

Stars are Falling

The Consequence of Revenge
Blood & Ink (2007)

Sacramento's Stars are Falling are yet another in long line of bands coming out of California and inking a deal … Read more

Browse our review archives

Review categories

200 Words Or Less

755 reviews

Book Review

43 reviews

Classic Album

25 reviews

Multiple Authors

300 reviews

Review

5049 reviews

Video/DVD Review

19 reviews

One from the archives

Seemless

Seemless
Losing Face (2004)

It's been a while since I heard a new band that played some outright rock-n-roll. Enter Massachusetts natives Seemless and their self-titled debut. Seemless, is a supergroup comprised of former members of metalcore stalwarts Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Overcast and Medium. Ironically for fans of those previous efforts, they may be disappointed to find an album filled with a balanced mix of hard edged rock-n-roll and sludgy stoner metal, music that would make Black Sabbath very proud. Following a mellow and elevating introduction track, things are quickly kicked into gear with the heavy hitting drums and the crunching guitars of "Something's Got to Give." Musically, this song would be very fitting as a track on Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger or Clutch's The Elephant Riders. On the vocal end, Jesse David Leach, who … Read more

More album reviews

Dohrn

Dohrn
Ethospine Noise (2006)

I have a soft spot for those noise punk and grindcore albums that blaze by in ten minutes or less. You know the kind. They're not something you listen to every day, but they are the perfect unrelenting catharsis on those days when you feel like the whole world is against you. Dohrn's self-titled debut is that kind of album. … Read more

Boxcar Satan / The Graves Brothers Deluxe

Black Water Rising
Dog Fingers (2007)

Charity records are always a tough breed to review; on the one hand you don't want to say anything bad because they are for a good cause and you have to respect that. On the other hand though, most are a big pile of shite that the majority of people with taste ignore with intent. So it was with some … Read more

Strangers

Holding
Action Man (2007)

Many Americans tend to take our music scene for granted, very rarely looking outside of our borders for new music. But if the last couple of years writing reviews has taught me anything, it's that there is a just as much music, if not more, deserving of recognition coming from areas outside the United States. Five-piece hardcore outfit Strangers may … Read more

Busdriver

RoadKillOvercoat
Epitaph (2007)

Busdriver is something of an anomaly in contemporary hip-hop. He is perpetually labeled as, if not "the next big thing", at least "someone to watch out for" by mainstream hip-hop media. And yet he never can quite break out of his underground, intelligent indie rapper niche. Whether this is due to his admittedly strange delivery or his legitimately politically aware … Read more

The Snake The Cross The Crown

Cotton Teeth
Equal Vision (2007)

In late 2004 when folk was just breaking through and about to become the new emo, I was caught off guard by a band called The Snake The Cross The Crown. Opening for Owen, I was dumbfounded by the passion these gentlemen brought to the stage. Shortly after witnessing the spectacle that was their live show, I picked up their … Read more

Short Sharp Shock

Short Sharp Shock
Dead & Gone (2006)

Anyone who's read any of my reviews probably has a pretty good idea of my old-school sensibilities when it comes to music. I've been listening to music for my whole life and it's tough to find anything that sounds fresh these days. So the reasons for my old-school tastes are simple. I'm old. I've heard a lot in my life. … Read more

xDeathstarx

We are the Threat
Facedown (2007)

Maybe I am the only one that can see the irony in a Christian straightedge band having a song called "The Great Opiate" since organized religion has always been thought of the opiate of the masses for free thinking atheists around the world. Then again, I don't think xDeathstarx could bang two brain cells in their collective seven heads to … Read more

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

Living with the Living
Touch & Go (2007)

Like a well-deserved punch to the face, a breath of fresh air in a smog-ridden city, or indeed, a good musician amongst a plethora of bad ones, Ted Leo and his illustrious Pharmacists have returned with their Touch & Go debut, Living with the Living. At just over an hour long, the record beats Leo's previous offering, 2004's Shake the … Read more

Since the Flood

No Compromise
Metal Blade (2007)

New Hampshire natives Since the Flood have worked hard to get where they are today. In their five years of existence the band has self-released a couple demos, signed as the first band to Ironclad Recordings (Trevor of Unearth's label), and toured their asses off, resulting in the promotion from imprint label Ironclad to the mother of metal, Metal Blade … Read more

Nicole Atkins

Bleeding Diamonds
Columbia (2006)

What is it with the recent explosion of male singer/songwriters? Almost like buses, none show up for ages and then all of a sudden a billion swarm you and the one that everyone jumps onboard turns out to be James Blunt. And where have all the female singer/songwriters gone? It seems that when there is a rise in one sex … Read more

Call it Fire

Demo
Independent (2007)

Oh wow, another Long Island hardcore band? Seriously? Man, I can't really say I saw this one coming. All sarcastic comments aside, Long Island, New York has cranked out some seriously great bands over the years. I mean, who else has a pedigree like Glassjaw, Silent Majority, Brand New and Crime in Stereo? More or less, you know the score … Read more

This Time Next Year

Demonstration
Independent (2006)

I know I've said this before, but God bless the Bay Area! Five-piece outfit This Time Next Year is the latest band to emerge from the thriving music scene of the Golden Gate. The young pop-punk outfit hits the scene with Demonstration, five tracks of fabulous pop-punk and melodic hardcore fused as one. "The Wise are Always Better" begins the … Read more

Escape the Floodwater Jug Band

Whiskey Will Fix It
Super Amigos (2006)

A half a century ago, when America was a more wholesome place than its current manifestation, a man by the name of Kerouac wrote the great American novel of its time. In the novel, On the Road, Kerouac recounts the adventures had when crisscrossing the newly developed highway system. Kerouac himself often romanticized of an even earlier America still: a … Read more

Menomena

Friend and Foe
Barsuk (2007)

Wow, this is really rare. Admittedly, this is my first exposure to Menomena - in a nostalgic sort of way; I love their band name. I was drawn to Friend and Foe, the second full-length from the band, because of the superior artwork that they employ for the packaging of the record. What is inside that packaging was a total … Read more

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