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)

Supersuckers

Get The Hell
Acetate Records (2014)

There's very few bands that work as hard to bring the music to the masses as Supersuckers. They're like a sleeper cell. Without warning, they'll come out of hiding in Anytown, U.S.A. and blow shit up. They are a band that everyone needs to see live at least once - and when you do, you'll want to see them every single time they come. Every show is an event. And when a new Supersuckers album comes out? Well shit, that's pretty much the only playlist you'll need for the next few weeks. With their latest Get The Hell, Eddie Spagetti and company continue their tradition of meat and potatoes rock 'n roll, but even more impressive - they continue to make rock 'n roll fun. Let me tell you something folks. Rock came very close to never being fun again with the death of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone. Thanks to bands like Supersuckers, the fire still burns bright through tracks like "Fuck Up", "Gluttonous" and "Disaster Bastard". They hold the standard high for those that can't hold it up anymore.Special note:Folks, as much as we love the music we do, sometimes you need to show it in … Read more

The Sonics

This is The Sonics
Revox Records (2015)

Upon hearing that legendary northwest garage rockers The Sonics were releasing a new album – their first in (gulp!) nearly … Read more

Titus Andronicus

The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Merge (2015)

Titus Andronicus (+@, as they shorten it) is a punk outfit led by Patrick Stickles, an obvious obsessive who has … Read more

Infera Bruo

In Conjuration
Bindrune Records (2015)

I came across Infera Bruo a couple of years back when they were releasing their debut album, Desolate Unknown. The … Read more

Neon Shudder

Ghost Process
Independent (2015)

Covering much of the same ground as a group like Perturbator, Philadelphia’s neon shudder makes dark electronic music inspired by … Read more

Rixe

Coupes et Blessures EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2015)

Well this was bound to happen. With so many hardcore acts flirting with Oi! for the last few years it’s … Read more

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One from the archives

Morning Again

As Tradition Dies Slowly
Revelation (1998)

Without a doubt, As Tradition Dies Slowly is easily the most metal record that Revelation ever put out (at least so far); and the idea of them even touching this album and even Morning Again as a whole with a ten foot pole really just blew me away back in the day (when this came out), and, at the time, the album was released in the midst of a kind of Revelation renaissance where it definitely drew me back into what the label was doing after stepping away for quite a while (say like 1991 through about 1998, I totally did not pay attention to Revelation save for a release here or there). Listening to the album again brings a flood of excitement as the opening of “Stones” throws me … Read more

More album reviews

Boilerman

Boilerman
86'd records (2015)

It took me 8 minutes to listen, so it should 8 minutes to write it too. Or, something. Really that’s just a bad Futurama reference so I can “cleverly” say that this is a short EP with 5 songs total. The song names are on this EP are “I,” “II,” “Weak Week,” “III,” and “IV.” Speaking of clever.Boilerman are punk … Read more

Coliseum

Anxiety's Kiss
Deathwish Inc. (2015)

On Anxiety’s Kiss, punk veterans Coliseum are back with a heavy, dark, melodic new album. The band’s maturity and experience are evident here even to someone who, like this reviewer, was woefully ignorant of their music until now. If you, like me, have somehow stayed in the dark about Coliseum this long, this album is a fine entry point. Unfortunately, … Read more

Grease Thieves

The World This Hour
Independent (2015)

Newly-formed Vancouver, BC pop-punk trio Grease Thieves boast a vocalist whose snarl makes him sound a bit like vintage Tim Armstrong, and one can almost hear the saliva flinging around on the four songs featured on the group’s 2015 The World This Hour - about as enthusiastic and fun a debut EP as one could hope for. Unfortunate though it … Read more

Vaaska

Todos Contra Todos
Beach Impediment (2015)

I've been meaning to check out this Austin, TX-based band for quite some time now (they’ve been active since 2009) but for whatever reason I’ve never gotten around to it. So much punk, so little time I guess. They have released a string of EPs and splits up until this point, but this record is their first official LP. It … Read more

Matt Skiba and the Sekrets

Kuts
Superball (2015)

Matt Skiba's latest side project sound like they've been born out of the wave of late-90s American indie that brought us the likes of Weezer and Blind Melon, and with Skiba adopting a Bowie-esque aesthetic on the band's album cover it gives the impression of a band fully embracing the indie sensibilities that they couldn't explore in as much depth … Read more

Áine O'Dwyer

Music for Church Cleaners
MIE (2015)

Without doubt one of the more strange albums released in 2015 (or any year for that matter), Irish-born harpist Áine O'Dwyer’s Music for Church Cleaners is a two LP collection that presents ninety minutes of improvisational music made on the pipe organ at St Mark’s Church, Islington, UK. Aside from being, essentially, a live performance album (where the audience was … Read more

Sophie Lillienne

The Fragile Idea
IRMA Records (2015)

Artistically satisfying and incredibly eclectic, 2015’s The Fragile Idea from Italian electronic artist Sophie Lillienne seems designed to lull a listener into a somnambulistic state. Typically lumped into the trip hop genre, Sophie Lillienne’s music is full of unconventional, quietly haunting melodies, scratchy rhythms, and dramatic vocal performances. I would almost say that the dark and gloomy Fragile Idea is … Read more

Feral Kizzy

Slick Little Girl
Eliterecords (2015)

Feral Kizzy’s new album Slick Little Girl was easy for me to like. I am a big fan of new wave, glam rock, and dark ‘80s music, so I was easily seduced by our obviously shared tastes. I immediately caught the Lou Reed reference of the title (lyrics from “Make Up” off the Transformer album). I love me some Lou, … Read more

Blazing Eye

Blazing Eye EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2015)

This is some of that rhythmic punk that's making the rounds lately. Kind of like Dawn of Humans (with whom they are currently label mates) but more on the crusty and menacing side than the weird and experimental. Blazing Eye is a quartet out of Los Angeles that share membership with Raw Ponx-affiliated acts like Drapetomania, Tuberculosis, and Sadicos. They … Read more

Nite School Klik

Nite School Klik
Liquid Amber (2015)

Though his own catalog has been hit-or-miss since 1996’s classic Endtroducing, I’d place DJ Shadow among the relatively few who have managed to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly changing world of electronic music. Shadow’s own label, Liquid Amber, was formed in 2014 to provide an outlet for unique sounds, and a year later, they’ve already put out … Read more

Great Cynics

I Feel Weird
Specialist Subject Records (2015)

Naming a record I Feel Weird is a statement about the psyche of Great Cynics, and an applicable one at that (for the band, not necessarily the members). The band’s third record, it wavers between melodic pop punk with digressions into exploratory indie-alt rock. What that means in real English is that they play punk-ish songs with a lot of … Read more

Mamaleek

Via Dolorosa
Flenser (2015)

The experimental black metal outfit from San Francisco has been able to create a veil of mystery around their existence. The origin of Mamaleek is traced back in 2008, and since then, these guys have been quite active. Their first couple of albums, the self-titled debut and Fever Dream, were released on a very limited amount of copies through (I … Read more

Locrian

Infinite Dissolution
Relapse (2015)

Locrian’s approach to metal is to disassemble the core structures, push them further away from their crude beginnings and delve into building them back up again into towering walls of sound and phases of light and dark. Infinite Dissolution is a record that shares small similarities to the genre that it’s born from, mostly in Terence Hannum’s hoarse screams and … Read more

Asid Bateri

Demo
Dead Tank (2014)

Here's some of that good ol’ raw punk that was en vogue a few years ago. You know, those salad days before everyone started going gaga for the gothic, post-punk, all-weird-all-the-time trend that’s hot right now. (Personally, I like both styles quite a bit so I’ve got no complaints. I’m just having some fun here.) While the intro shows 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)