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)

The Darkness

One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back
Atlantic (2005)

There's not much worse than a bad joke, unless it's a bad joke that just won't go away. Let's face it, there are only so many times you can hear that joke about Michael Jackson and the Pope in a plane and with the punch line being about fucking kids, before you want to pull someone's eyelids out and pour sand into their optic nerve. In fact, just about the only thing worse than a bad joke that won't go away is the bad joke that won't go away, but with people saying, "Oh, you only don't like it because you don't get the joke." I fucking get it; I just thought that Spinal Tap was funnier, okay? And this is about the point that someone pops a head up and says something stupid like, "But The Darkness isn't a joke." Frankly, if they aren't, then it makes it all the worse. First time around, fair enough. Anyone can make a mistake. Even I laughed the first time I ever saw an episode of Little Britain. The jokes were funny. Just that once, when they were fresh. The fact that each joke was replayed in each of the six subsequent … Read more

The Starting Point

It's Something You Learn
Independent (2005)

It's not often that I sit down to listen to a hardcore record from a band I'm completely unfamiliar with, … Read more

Babyshambles

Down in Albion
Rough Trade (2005)

Pete Doherty has spent the last year in and out of tabloid magazines for many different things: drugs, Kate Moss, … Read more

Achilles

The Dark Horse
Hex (2005)

Rising from the ashes of another Hex Records band, Building on Fire, Achilles has made a loud statement with their … Read more

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Wichita Recordings (2005)

I can feel it happening. The hype is a train, rumbling in the distance. Though initially faint, it's growing progressively … Read more

At Risk

At Risk
Bloody Knuckles (2005)

This past summer, while vacationing in California, I decided to do the drive down the Pacific Coast Highway. I drove … Read more

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One from the archives

Meat Wave

Malign Hex
Swami (2022)

I heard people raving about Meat Wave for a while before I finally saw the band a few years ago. But I still hadn’t really checked out their recorded material and I wasn’t sure how the band’s powerful set would translate to the at-home experience. Many bands with a raw concert experience struggle to set that same tone to tape. I’m pleased to say that Malign Hex met my lofty expectations. There’s a lot going on with this record. It’s abrasive, but sometimes catchy. It’s heavy, but sometimes dynamic. It’s arty, but never pretentious. It’s raw, intense, carefully composed noise-punk. At different times in different songs I’d make comparisons to the Jesus Lizard and STNNNG, but also Talking Heads and Rocket From The Crypt. The old Touch & Go and … Read more

More album reviews

Danger Doom

The Mouse and the Mask
Epitaph (2005)

Once upon a time, while on a late evening binge of marijuana and cartoons, a young adult named Zed felt it would be appropriate to create. Well, the "young adult" is actually 21 years old...and he's, like, a total hunk. Anyway, the man covered in glistening oils combined his favorite wrapper and his favorite produce in a cereal bowl. With … Read more

Unearth

Our Days of Eulogy
Eulogy (2005)

I really don't know what came over me. There I was sitting on the bus on my way to work when I slid in Unearth's Our Days of Eulogy into my CD walkman and I was suddenly overcome with the urge to get off the bus and cause mayhem; metal mayhem. I pulled the stop signal cord and exited the … Read more

The (International) Noise Conspiracy

Armed Love
American (2005)

Taking what seems like years, in fact almost two, to come out on the shores of the United States, The (International) Noise Conspiracy's latest album Armed Love unleashes our daily dose of revolutionary approved rock-n-roll. This album has been maligned by critics and fans alike and seems to have an incredible polarizing effect on its listeners. People either love or … Read more

Wow, Owls! / The Setup

Split 7"
The Perpetual Motion Machine/ Life in a Box (2005)

Richmond, Virginia has a lush history when it comes to hardcore bands over the last fifteen years. From Avail to Count Me Out, and as of late Municipal Waste and Stop It!!!, Richmond has always been fertile ground for young hardcore bands. On this split seven inch, two of Richmond's more stylistically diverse bands, The Setup and Wow, Owls! put … Read more

Lair of the Minotaur

Cannibal Massacre
Southern Lord (2005)

In 2004 we were treated to Carnage, the debut effort from this throwback thrash/metal outfit from Chicago. If you heard it, good. If not, well, let's just say that the band is highly influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost. Fake metal fans should be sure to Google that name before continuing. Here in 2005 we are awaiting the band's … Read more

System of a Down

Hypnotize
Sony (2005)

It's official. System of a Down can't spell. I'm sorry to any Americans out there who like to get involved with this whole using a "zed" instead of an "ess" thing, but they can't. And yes, I did say "zed," none of that "zee" crap either. Let's face it. America was born from the remnants of a British people who … Read more

Gospel

The Moon is a Dead World
Level Plane (2005)

I, for one, was initially startled by The Mars Volta. Their melding of prog-rock and post-hardcore required the status of a level-32 dwarf. Maybe it was Cedric's multidimensional vocabulary or Omar's guitarscapades, but they got boring real quick. Simply put, the Mars lacked Volta. My replacement and newest musical addiction was run by a thousand engines and possessed by one … Read more

Coliseum

Goddamage
Auxiliary (2005)

Coliseum's Goddamage EP must be listened to in order to be believed. Hell, looking at the cover art, one has to know what to expect. That is not to say that the record is so obvious. The cover simply represents the mood and salvo of sound on the record completely, even down to the faux sticker on the back: "As … Read more

Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

Mile Markers
Texicali (2005)

Be not afraid. Mile Markers by Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash is not the soundtrack to Aunt Edna's covert line-dancing ops at the Iron Horse Saloon. This is good country. Mellifluous, melodious, easy on the ears and heavy on the heart; it's where the best of country music always meant to go before it got sidetracked by private jets, monster … Read more

The Wives

Erect the Youth Problem
Cold Sweat/Sweet Nothing (2005)

Let's get the formalities and the predictabilities out the way right off the bat. Wives are a straight up rock band from Los Angeles whose main claim to fame is that their singer's car got hit by a reckless driving Backstreet Boy - the blonde one, if memory serves. The money from the resulting settlement allowed him to set up … Read more

Against Me!

Searching for a Former Clarity
Fat Wreck Chords (2005)

Music fans are fucking assholes. For those of us in the world who obsess about music, we fail to realize this one fact. We can be incredibly annoying. We can be demanding. We can influence the musical and aesthetic choices a band makes simply because they want to please us, the musical consumers, so they can continue "doing what they … Read more

Hoods

The King is Dead
Eulogy (2005)

Hoods, the reigning kings of Sacramento hardcore, have endured a lot throughout their decade of existence. The band have released a slew of recordings in all forms - LP's, EP's, splits, and compilations - on a handful of labels. Such an unwillingness to give up is rare for a band, especially in the genre of hardcore. And yet, here they … Read more

Brian Posehn

Nerd Rage
Independent (2005)

Stand-up comedians aren't funny. With very few exceptions, this is a truism that has become stronger and stronger over the years with every "I drive my spouse nuts" line and "Black people do things differently" joke. Brian Posehn is one of those exceptions. Culled from the last bastion of laughter - The Comedians of Comedy Tour, Nerd Rage reminds us … Read more

Head Wound City

Head Wound City
Three One G (2005)

Let's get the roster out of the way because that usually draws people in like moths to a blowtorch. Jordan Blilie (The Blood Brothers) (Vocals), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) (Guitar), Cody Votolato (The Blood Brothers) (Guitar), Justin Pearson (The Locust) (Bass), and Gabe Serbian (The Locust) (Drums). You're either feeling the flame or I'm feeling the draft of the … Read more

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