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)

Mark Lanegan

I Am the Wolf
Da Capo Press (2017)

I came late to the party when it comes to Mark Lanegan and his career. It was him opening for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 2013 and I was instantly overcome with the feeling that I have missed out on an intriguing man and his works. Delving into his oeuvre and myriad of collaborations, among which the ones fronting Queens of the Stone Age and the Screaming Trees form just the tip of the iceberg, the quest was rewarded with a diverse catalogue of music and lyrics that many see in the tradition of greats like Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, yet are driven by a unique and authentic voice – both literally and metaphorically. I Am the Wolf follows Lanegan’s career chronologically, documenting the genesis of his individual albums and the evolution of an artist that defied the odds and came out at the other end. This book is comprised of a collection of the lyrics (largely dealing with sadness and pain, feelings of hopelessness, implications of addiction, rejection and the repercussions of relationships gone awry) to his solo album works plus an extensive selection of collaborations, some of which have never seen the limelight of mainstream … Read more

Iron Chic

You Can't Stay Here
Side One Dummy (2017)

Iron Chic has its own kind of poetry. It’s not quite the Off With Their Heads level of self-hatred, but … Read more

Gone is Gone

Echolocation
Rise (2017)

Mastodon are no stranger to side projects. Hell, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds has released two in the last year alone, with … Read more

Video/DVD Review

Morrissey

England Is Mine
Cleopatra (2017)

Mark Gill's England Is Mine introduces Morrissey while he's on the cusp of adulthood, an enigma of cocksure arrogance presented … Read more

200 Words Or Less

The Holy Circle

The Holy Circle
Annihilvs Power Electronix (2017)

Dream pop, huh?Dark pop?Why not.Baltimore trio The Holy Circle is comprised of vocalist / keyboardist Terence Hannum (Locrian), as well … Read more

200 Words Or Less

At the Drive-In

In•ter a•li•a
Rise (2017)

Interminable slack-ass Omar Rodriguez-Lopez only released 12 solo albums this year on Ipecac Records. So to alleviate the presumed guilt, … Read more

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One from the archives

miniaturized

miniaturized
Independent (2023)

This self-titled record is the debut by miniaturized. While it’s their first record, the musicians have also played with the likes of Pinback, Rocket From the Crypt, No Knife, and more. You’ll pick up on hints and patterns from some of those groups here, but this record is an exploration of new styles and territories. While the band formed for a one-off live tribute to Tom Petty, the songwriting has developed its own sound in 2023. I’d broadly categorize it at prog-pop. The songs and sounds are expansive but most of them still build around a refrain or big hook to some degree. They also lean closer to the 4-5 minute mark rather than going longer. Of course, I’m generalizing about the whole of the record here. A couple songs … Read more

More album reviews

Tim Barry

High On 95
Chunksaah (2017)

Nobody can doubt Tim Barry’s heart. He’s worn it on his sleeve since he began his solo career with a 2005 demo. Depending how you count live records and demos, High on 95 is his eight record since then. Besides being prolific, his songs are largely first-person accounts of a drifter watching the world around him in wonder. The sound … Read more

Book Review

Keith Morris

My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor
Da Capo Press (2017)

Keith Morris is one of the remaining original punk rock figures that is still going and has never really ceased to have an impact on what is widely perceived to be punk and hardcore at large. With a career spanning over four decades as the frontman of genre coining outfits not Circle Jerks, Black Flag and more recently OFF, he … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Long Knife

Sewers of Babylon 7”
Beach Impediment (2017)

Oh man, haven’t heard Long Knife’s name called in a long time. You can choose to split pubic hairs over whether they’re back or still here, but what’s not up for debate is that Portland’s second favorite antiheroes have dropped a damn fine slab o’ new wax upon the jean vest-wearing masses. It comes via the mostly-reliable Beach Impediment label, … Read more

Hard Girls

Floating Now
Asian Man Records / Specialist Subject Records (2017)

Hard Girls are a complex band – or maybe they’re not. They sing about hard life choices, serious moments, and buying candy and cigarettes. A post-punk influence and precise arrangement style seamlessly blend into a more traditional pop structure. At its simplest definition they’re a punk band, but that doesn’t feel like it hits at the fact that both vocalists … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Fried Egg

Back and Forth 7”
Beach Impediment (2017)

Fried Egg is hardcore punk band from Central Virginia. They rule. But that’s not important. What’s important is that I can’t possibly listen to a band named Fried Egg without thinking about, well, not just fried eggs, but all types of prepared eggs. I eat a ton of eggs – fried hard, over-easy, sunny side up, scrambled, hard-boiled, poached, deviled, … Read more

Book Review

J. Hunter Bennett

The Prodigal Rogerson: The Tragic, Hilarious, and Possibly Apocryphal Story of Circle Jerks Bassist Roger Rogerson in the Golden Age of LA Punk, 1979-1996
Microcosm Publishing (2017)

After pilfering the band’s vehicle in 1983, the man in charge of the 4-strings, a reprobate by the name of Roger Rogerson, disappeared into the ether. Almost fifteen years after his disappearance, he emerged with the demand for a reunion of the Circle Jerks in a bid to become the biggest rock’n roll band on earth. Shortly after, he died. … Read more

Gnaw

Cutting Pieces
Translation Loss (2017)

Formed by Khanate's vocalist after the demise of the legendary drone band, Gnaw doubled down on the extreme sound of Khanate, filling the drone/sludge hybrid sound with noise injections and industrial pacing. This post-apocalyptic vision was first introduced through This Face, a wretched work of heavy, experimental music, containing all the extreme weight, glacial pace and misanthropic philosophy the band … Read more

No Use for a Name

Rarities Vol. 1: The Covers
Fat Wreck Chords (2017)

I harbour a weak spot for No Use for a Name, a band that eventually became a melodic pop-punk band that landed on Fat Wreck records.What not too many contemporary and younger fans devotees would be aware of, is the fact that No Use for a Name evolved from having started as a much rawer hardcore outfit in the late … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Katastrof

Katastrof
Beach Impediment (2017)

Oh Jesus Christ fuck yeah! It’s been a minute since I checked in on Scandi-core, a genre that at one time ruled my turntable. These days it has to be top shelf to grab my attention, and, well, when the lead singer of Totalitär teams up with the guitar player from Herätys you’ve got my attention. Drop the needle on … Read more

Myteri

Ruiner
Alerta Antifascista (2017)

Why do I do this? I just reviewed the vinyl release of Myteri’s debut album and now, a couple of weeks later I’m already listening to their second album. How am I going to say something new and inspiring about it? I guess the answer is twofold. First of all I really liked what I heard on that first album. … Read more

David Bowie

A New Career in a New Town
Parlophone (2017)

I have successfully broken my brain trying to find something new to say about David Bowie. I believe it to be absolutely impossible to speak in new terms on what the musician, actor, artist, and fashion icon meant to the the worlds he showed up in. Countless of us who mourned his death have done so with some type of … Read more

Video/DVD Review

The Damned

Don't You Wish That We Were Dead
Three Count Films (2016)

Wes Orshoski, who is not unknown among documentary aficionados as he directed Lemmy, which sheds light on the times of trials and times of Mr Kilmister, is also the narrator telling the story of The Damned. The Damned were one of the UK’s punk pioneers as they were one of the first outfits to not only have their emissions pressed … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Brooke Bentham

This Rapture EP
All Points (2017)

Even though 21-year-old Brooke Bentham is firmly entrenched in the burgeoning South London music scene, her music sounds as though it has been dusted with sand from a Californian desert. With a sound that recalls Angel Olsen and First Aid Kit, her music soars and dips though the ravages of a shattered relationship with arresting lyrics and fluid guitars.These affairs … Read more

Trachimbrod

Leda
Dog Knight Records/Zegema Beach Records/Through Love Records (2017)

Would you have told me 20 years ago I would enjoy music like Trachimbrod I would have stared at you in amazement only to laugh at you. Hell, that would have been my reaction until about ten years back. But I’ve learned to broaden my scope and thus have learned to appreciate a lot of different types of music. A … Read more

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