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)

Crutches

Såld
Distro-y Records (2017)

Crutches strike again by doing what they do best. Playing d-takt, mangel or crust or whatever you want to call it. 2015 saw the release of FörlOrAD getting praised for its rawness whilst not forgetting to write actual songs. After that Eddie joined the band on guitar, but this didn’t really change the sound. Never change a winning team they must have thought, and I tend to agree with them. This is the kind of music that leaves no room for nuance. It’s all full blast ahead all of the time. Mind you, about half the album has that classic d-beat rhythm, so don’t expect grindcore blasting on here. This rhythm doubles the impact of these songs, so it’s well applied. Såld is a 22 minute assault on the ears, but after it’s finished I can’t help myself and push play again. The 11 tracks are written smart enough to remain interesting and there’s a little bit of diversity offered. An example are the extra vocalists that appear on the album. The production is fitting for the style. It's a little rough around the edges, but hits hard. Very hard. And that's just how it should be. I’ve struggled to … Read more

Rixe

Baptême Du Feu
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2017)

More killer punk from everybody’s favorite French Oi! perfectionists. Baptême Du Feu (which translates to Baptism by Fire) is the … Read more

Neil Young

Hitchhiker
Warner Bros. (2017)

Neil Young is cool as shit... there I got that out of the way. He has been an inspiration to … Read more

Zola Jesus

Okovi
Sacred Bones (2017)

Nicole Hummel aka Zola Jesus, is one of the most enticing singer/songwriters of the current scene. By incorporating elements of … Read more

Lost Balloons

Hey Summer
Dirtnap (2017)

By now it feels like hitting repeat, but for the uninitiated, Lost Balloons has to be introduced through the Marked … Read more

Nordra

Nordra
Sige (2017)

Hailing from Seattle Washington, Monika Khot produces music under the Nordra moniker and is now releasing her self-titled debut album. … Read more

Browse our review archives

Review categories

200 Words Or Less

753 reviews

Book Review

42 reviews

Classic Album

25 reviews

Multiple Authors

300 reviews

Review

4979 reviews

Video/DVD Review

19 reviews

One from the archives

Sonance

Like Ghosts
Independent (2012)

Like Ghosts is the debut from Bristol based Sonance, a band so disgustingly heavy that they are currently drowning the car alarm that's been going off in my street for the past half hour. Writhing with sickness and masses of doomed out symphony, Sonance curl around the psyche with a terrifying grip and their tightly woven structures spin out into different soundscapes at the drop of a note. From a deeply horrific beginning, the progression of "Side A" swells with both sadness and melody whilst hauntingly whispered vocals clash with droning spasms of noise. Like Ghosts consistently surprises in it's ability to turn from tremendous and weighty strikes to beautiful and melancholy gloom in the blink of a tear-laden eye, and Sonance are intensely heavy even in these more serene … Read more

More album reviews

GG Allin

My Prison Walls
Independent (2016)

There's been many words used to describe GG Allin.PunkFelonSado-MasochistShit TerroristOk, in all fairness, that last one was used to describe Mike Patton, but believe me when I say, folks - it's applicable.Kevin Michael Allin was not a complex man, but a fucked up individual whose extreme music and shows had a tendency to unnerve even the most hardened of punks.MyRead more

Tex, Don and Charlie

You Don’t Know Lonely
EMI (2017)

Bonafide legends of the Australian music scene, Tex, Don and Charlie are somewhat an Australian super group with gravitas aplomb.Comprised of Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon), Don Walker (Cold Chisel) and Charlie Owen, the trio first incarnated in 1993 and has since released an album every 12 years. The formula has not changed much, despite the passing … Read more

Queens of the Stone Age

Villains
Matador (2017)

au·da·ciousôˈdāSHəs/adjectiveShowing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks.The one mission statement that Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age has long established was to never make the same album twice. Four years after their strongest effort yet, ...Like Clockwork - Queens have taken another left turn at Albuquerque and continued this tradition with Villains - a wholly unexpected yet … Read more

Impure Wilhelmina

Radiation
Season of Mist (2017)

Why I choose to review Radiation I can’t exactly recall (perhaps sharing members with Rorcal and Vuyvr did the trick, perhaps it was just the description “post-hardcore” that triggered my interest); whatever it was, the album surprised me, let me tell you that. I was expecting post-hardcore from this Swiss band (as the promo said it would deliver just that) … Read more

Rancid

Trouble Maker
Hellcat (2017)

It’s strange to me to realize that Rancid just released their ninth album. It’s a mark of age, not to mention that they haven’t been the most productive band on the block since the 3-year spree of LPs 1-3 from 1993-1995. Mostly it just makes me feel old, which is also how their last album, (the disappointing) Honor Is All … Read more

White Suns

Psychic Drift
Flenser (2017)

White Suns, the New York based noise trio, has been slowly descending on the path of deconstruction. Founded in 2006, the band has released a series of albums, presenting an experimental rock perspective and subsequently deconstructing it to its most basic core. The highlight of this process was Totem, a record where at times it felt like the experimental aspect … Read more

Moon Duo

Occult Architecture Vol I & II
Sacred Bones (2017)

Based in San Fransisco, Moon Duo is the brainchild of Erik “Ripley” Johnson, known from his work in Wooden Shjips, and Sanae Yamada. Centering around a psychedelic perspective, the band has released a series of works, influenced by garage aesthetics and krautrock, projecting their own trippy themes within an existing framework.Occult Architecture is Moon Duo's latest full-length releases. Split into … Read more

Poseidon

Prologue
Ripple Music (2017)

Concept albums aren’t a new trick but for Poseidon and their epic, sludged-out doom, the concept forms more than one story and instead will be stretched across a multitude of records in order to give the narrative the space it certainly needs. Hailing from London and having been members of many bands over the years, Poseidon have created their own … Read more

Fonija

Mislev EP
Balkan Veliki (2017)

Fonija became one of my favorite punk bands… correction: favorite bands with the release of Mojot Pekol. I never heard of this Macedonian band before that release, but boy, that album left a lasting impression. It’s an album I still come back to on a regular basis. The album (...Bez Ime) and split with Culture Development (Magla) that followed are … Read more

White Ward

Futility Report
Debemur Morti Productions (2017)

Hailing from Odessa, Ukraine, White Ward exist within the post-black metal scene, stirring experimental means to enhance the core of the genre, and push it forwards. Initially founded in 2012, the band has released a series of EPs and demos, taking five long years for their first complete work, Futility Report, to come into light. Being released through White Ward's … Read more

Time Lurker

Time Lurker
Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions (2017)

Time Lurker, the one-man project from France, is releasing its debut, self-titled record. Coming out from Les Aucteurs de l'Ombre, it is easy to get a first idea about what type of sound to expect. The label specializes in the more adventurous side of black metal, and its experimental and atmospheric edges, with the most famous alumni in their roster … Read more

Whiskey & Co.

Ripped Together, Torn Apart
No Idea Records (2017)

Whiskey & Co. are something of an outlier on the No Idea Records roster, but it’s still a cultural fit. Their boozy, swaying country may not be in the same vein as the gruff punk “Gainesville sound,” but it’s a fitting morning after with its laid back, introspective vibe. Ripped Together, Torn Apart is their latest, and it’s a solid … Read more

The Rememberables

The Rememberables
Adagio830 (2017)

Is this bandname some sort of challenge the bandmembers set for themselves? A goal to achieve so to say: be remembered? Is this debut full-length their first step on a clear defined path? So many questions pop up in my head just by the name alone. This album was brought to my attention with the statement it was a great … Read more

Boris

Dear
Sargent House (2017)

I like the idea of certain types of metal paralleling the thought patterns of jazz. Whether it is the twitchy renderings of a Meshuggah beat, the sprinkle of jazz-like tendencies of an Intronaut record, or the experimental coo-coo of Fantomas. The immediacy, expansive sound, and improvisation can certainly draw comparison to a Miles Davis or John Coltrane offering. Those two … Read more

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