Recent reviews

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)

Elphaba

Any Land But This
Rome Plow (2006)

Elphaba is a noisy band that at times is reminiscent of the sound of The Blood Brothers mixed with No Kill No Beep Beep-era Q and Not U. Upon first listen, their album, Any Land But This, is a very difficult record to digest. But, repeated listening showed the album to have several interesting qualities. "Long Decay Slow Delay" not only opens the record but it also immediately brings to mind The Blood Brothers comparison, especially the vocal arrangement. Musically, the first two songs, "Long Decay Slow Delay" and "Portrait of Hombre Malo," have a subtle DC-ish sound. They are angular sounding but nowhere near as dissonant as one would expect, probably due to the fact that Elphaba never turns their "amps to 11." This lack of loudness contributes to distancing themselves from being too alike The Blood Brothers. "Hip Hop Situation" is an excellent example of the mash of styles that were alluded to earlier. It has a similar rhythmic quality to that found throughout Q and Not U's first album. The vocals in "The Right Hand" are exceedingly dissonant and trade off of each other in a manner that one would expect given the comparisons. "Down the Food … Read more

Fight Pretty

Blood Migration: The Year One Collection
Sleep Walk (2006)

Discography releases are a great thing, when they are deserved, that is. When a band has only released material on … Read more

Adam Green

Jacket Full of Danger
Rough Trade (2006)

Adam Green was half of the ardour and madness that was Moldy Peaches, half of what was behind the animal … Read more

Sick of it All

Death to Tyrants
Abacus (2006)

Does this band honestly need any kind of introduction? Seriously, Sick of it All is an institution in the punk … Read more

Hi Red Center

Architectural Failures
Pangaea Recordings (2005)

Hi Red Center hail from Brooklyn, New York and Architectural Failures is their debut record, initially recorded in 2004 but … Read more

Venom

Metal Black
Sanctuary (2006)

Anton LaVey, Richard Ramirez, and Phil Knight. Three famous individuals who, despite being all about the evil and doing their … Read more

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One from the archives

Cut The Shit

Marked For Life
Gloom (2004)

By the time you read this, Cut The Shit will have already finished their final west coast shows and be on the way to breaking up. Their final show will no doubt be off the hook, but for those of us who won't be able to attend said event, we are blessed with ten and a half minutes of near perfect hardcore. Before listening you might want to take a really huge breath, because shit is about to get dangerous. Cut The Shit plays hardcore how it was meant to be played: fast, angry, and in your fucking face. While this is not the most innovative concept I've ever come across, due to how well done it is and how hard it rocks down your intestines and out your anus, … Read more

More album reviews

Tides

From Silence
Teenage Disco Bloodbath (2006)

Tides have undergone a number of changes since we last heard from them on 2005's Resurface. Most notably, the band has added a second guitar player in Tim Fickeisen and they've picked up and moved from rural upstate New York for the metropolis of Boston. And even with those dramatic changes, Tides remain a focused rock outfit playing airy instrumental … Read more

Gracer

Voices Travel
Revelation (2006)

I feel sorry for emo kids these days. Rather than being a certain clique that listens to a certain type of music they have become an entire entity within themselves. What we have in 2006 are a bunch of mopey teenagers with Livejournal accounts, bad haircuts and their mother's cheapest strands of pearls. Instead of being a community of kids … Read more

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Stadium Arcadium
Warner Bros. (2006)

Like some ever-present albatross around the neck of the rock scene, the Red Hot Chili Peppers continue to linger, 23 years after their LA inception; a different band. Battling through drug-related deaths, personal differences, drug abuse, inter-band squabbling, drug abuse, motorcycle accidents and drug abuse, it's something of a surprise that the band are still kicking it in 2006, now … Read more

Refused

Refused are Fucking Dead DVD
Burning Heart (2006)

A Reflection: The Death of Belief "We drove a few hours to get there. And when I got there, everybody in the band was in different places. I think David was probably talking on the phone to Vic. And Dennis was hanging out with Mike Fight. Angry. And you were all scowling, and, you know… Not getting along with each … Read more

Path of Resistance

Can't Stop the Truth
Victory (2006)

Okay, Path of Resistance was a more hardcore project of Earth Crisis and their friends that convened the first time while certain members of Earth Crisis allowed injuries brought on by a tour accident to heal. Their last album, Who Dares…Wins came out almost ten years ago. It was panned by many hardcore purists, but for some was more loved … Read more

Cross Examination

The Hung Jury
Organized Crime (2006)

Everybody's so political these days. Protesting this, boycotting that. Hell, there are more hippie protest songs out now then there ever was in the 60's. Who cares if it's warranted - shaddap, Commie! Cross Examination harkens back to the good ol' days of drinking, moshing and puking, and not even knowing who the president is, let alone organizing marches over … Read more

Exit the King

Exit the King
Independent (2005)

While most publications seem to avoid reviewing independent releases, I actually enjoy covering bands that aren't joined to a label. It refreshing to hear from passionate artists - it says a lot about a band to not only take the time to release an album on their own, but also to send it off to be reviewed by the "elitist … Read more

Saves the Day

Sound the Alarm
Vagrant (2006)

It's been noted that the names of New Jersey's Saves the Day's records have been somewhat contradictory to the bands' career: Can't Slow Down, Through Being Cool, and Stay What You Are. The release of 2003's In Reverie was marked by a critical panning and a fan reaction that was far from, well, reverie. In some ways, it wasn't surprising … Read more

Dismantled

Standard Issue
Dependent/Metropolis (2006)

Gary Zon's blurb about the ethic behind Standard Issue reads something like, "a sarcastic take on the simplicity and emptiness of the current musical climate." What this means is, either it sounds exactly like what it says, or it means that Dismantled have disappeared into the chasm of banality that seems the staple of the current popular set of industrial … Read more

The Dick Cavett Show

Rock Icons DVD
Sony (2005)

My parents dug Dick Cavett, or at least I think they did. My dad certainly dressed enough like him - the rayon slacks, horrible monster-size lapel shirts, and maybe they spoke in a similar way too. I know, too, that like Cavett, my dad snuck a joint or two, socially of course. Still, who can really remember much about the … Read more

Avail

Dixie / 4 AM Friday / Over the James (Reissues)
Jade Tree (2006)

It's about damn time. Avail is a much beloved punk band out of Richmond, Virginia known for their blue collar style and attitude. They are the punk rock everymen. I can vividly remember my first Avail experience, as most people that I know can. It was 1998 (yes, I was a little late on the band). They were touring with … Read more

The Sea, Like Lead / Belegost

Split
Electric Human Project (2006)

It's a Saturday afternoon and I'm at present stuck at work flipping through a copy of the latest Alternative Press magazine. Good literature it isn't, an easy read between calls it is. This particular issue sitting in my lap contains a feature on the hundred bands that are going to be "taking over" in '06; i.e. rammed down my unwilling … Read more

Eagles of Death Metal

Death by Sexy
Downtown (2006)

The Eagles of Death Metal are back in action and are kicking all notions of a sophomore slump to the curb. Death by Sexy is thirteen tracks of sassed up garage rock that makes for the ideal Summer soundtrack. So pick up a copy of this album and plan a get-together, because if there is fun to be had, this … Read more

None More Black

This is Satire
Fat Wreck Chords (2006)

Have you ever heard a record for the first time and immediately received a feeling of comfort that you would normally get from an album you've been listening to for years? Every so often, you find an album that just "clicks" with you so well that you cannot deny it, and you know you will still be listening to it … Read more

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