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Black Spirituals

Black Access/Black Axes
Sige (2018)

The sound of Black Spirituals is an amalgamation of various disciplines, lineages and motifs. The duo featuring percussionist/drummer extraordinaire Marshall Trammell and sonic explorer Zachary James Watkins has displayed from day one their tendency to investigate the far edges of the music spectrum. Channelling the improvisational corners of rock, the spirit of free jazz, the modularity of drone music and … Read more

William Elliott Whitmore

Kilonova
Bloodshot (2018)

William Elliott Whitmore’s raspy folk pulls from diverse influences that are on full display over the span of 10 covers on Kilonova that don’t really sound like covers, putting his timeless and heartfelt stamp on songs originally recorded by Bad Religion, Magnetic Fields, Johnny Cash, and more. It’s an impressive feat, considering the nature of the cover song combined with … Read more

Proud Parents

Proud Parents
Dirtnap (2018)

With three singers among the four familiar faces of Proud Parents, isn’t no surprise that the record succeeds on the band members’ ability to meet in the middle between different tones and styles. While the vocals due shift frequently on this self-titled debut, the music itself falls consistently in the jangly power-pop world. Members of the group also play with … Read more

Era Bleak

Demo 2018
Dirt Cult (2018)

Dirt Cult is one of the labels where I’ll check out a band based solely on the label’s history of releasing quality stuff that’s in my wheelhouse. I don’t know a lot about Era Bleak, and they’re a hair outside of the style I generally associate with the label. That said, they’re also blowing me away with the release of … Read more

The Get Up Kids

Kicker
Polyvinyl (2018)

The Get Up Kids seemed to take another break after their reunion full length, There Are Rules. Seven years later, and we're given some new tunes in the form of an EP entitled, Kicker. It may be just 4 songs, but they are arguably the catchiest they've written since before reuniting. Kicker takes out the synths and exploratory elements of … Read more

Red City Radio

SkyTigers EP
Red Scare Industries (2018)

Today’s story about wrong first impressions will be about Red City Radio, a some-kind-of-hyphen-punk band from OKC. I’ll admit I’m already behind on first listening to the band just last year – they formed in 2007. That said, I caught a solo acoustic set by lead vocalist Garrett Dale and then watched their last two or three songs as a … Read more

Fashionism

Smash Singles LP
Drunken Sailor (2018)

Smash Singles collects all previous releases of Fashionism. Four singles to be precise (released between 2015 and 2017): Smash The State (With Your Face), Quit Looking At The Time, Suicide and Back In The Day. As a bonus the tracks "Weekend" and "Baby She's Gone" are included here as well. That last song is also the b-side of Come On … Read more

Vacation

Mouth Sounds #2699
Lets Pretend (2018)

For running with the DIY punk scene, Vacation are surprisingly diverse (not to mention prolific). The band’s latest is the 12-song Mouth Sounds #2699 and its 26-minute span delivers the band’s general sound of fuzzed out garage-punk bangers, but within that general sound they deliver crunchy grunge riffs, pop melodies, and flat out noisy bursts, all within a short-song framework … Read more

Thou

Rhea Sylvia
Deathwish Inc. (2018)

Thou, in this particular rendition, throw down great song thud after thud, right on the table, while permeating a delicate scent through their carefully constructed EP, Rhea Sylvia. Each song is a steamy dish, smelling like Tool, Starkweather, and Isis mishmashed together. The vocals have a Maynardish-Alice In Chains chest voice, a Starkweather scream, and a shimmering lead guitar tone. … Read more

Jack of None

The Tattle Tale Heart
Independent (2017)

Playfully naughty lyrics might have been the first thing I noticed about Jack of None's The Tattle Tale Heart EP, but there's more to this record created by three Filipino-born siblings, A.G., Maxine, and Julian Syjuco. Things change from sultry to sinister on a dime, and the album's combination of murky, atmospheric industrial rock with dark and poetic spoken word … Read more

The Plurals

Swish
GTG Records (2017)

The Plurals are a heavy indie rock band from Lansing, Michigan. Their latest album, Swish, was released on GTG Records, a record label the band created when they started putting out music in 2007. The trio’s passion for the Lansing rock scene and DIY aesthetic is compelling, and this piece in the Lansing City Pulse about the band and label’s … Read more

Immortal

Northern Chaos Gods
Nuclear Blast (2018)

Immortal’s career hasn't been the smoothest of rides their ninth full length comes after a protracted and tense battle with founding member Abbath, who finally left the band in 2015 before the Norwegian black metal masters could continue work on a follow up to 2009s All Shall Fall. The problems stemmed from who actually owned the rights to the Immortal … Read more

The Brokedowns

Sick of Space
Red Scare Industries (2018)

When I stop and look at the discogs, The Brokedowns have been doing what they do for a long time now. What is that, exactly? Well, it’s Midwestern punk that’s angry, funny, heavy, and harmonic. There are contradictions in plain sight in that description, and that diversity in sound is what makes the band so interesting. They seamlessly pull it … Read more

Superhero Status

Escape The Herd EP
WTF Records (2018)

This EP is voted best album of 2018 by half of the band according to the sticker on the CD. That should tell you something about the band we are dealing with today. So they do have humour, there's no denying that. The big question is: do they deserve their superhero status? And if they do, are they in league … Read more

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