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 Chantey Hook

Underground
Razorcake (2014)

The Chantey Hook have been around for a few years now, but have only released a handful of songs to the masses. Their most recent addition to the small catalog are two tracks from their new Underground 7-inch. The A-Side features the title track. The song's a great Jersey punk-rock anthem that holds its own against this year's best punk-rock songs. A soft guitar opening leads the track into a blistering verse and catchy chorus. Seth Swaaley's vocals have a soft, but aggressive, croon to them that people may need to warm up to. By the end you'll be hooked. "Underground" may be the superior track of the two, but "Blue Collar Rail" offers a bit more fun. There's a streaming dance riff, while a jumping bass overtakes the bridge. It's the perfect track if you feel like you need to let yourself go. Neither track bring something new to the table for the genre, but it's quality music nonetheless. It's just a shame they don't have more of it out there. Do yourself a favor and check out The Chantey Hook. Read more

Supercrush

Lifted b/w Melt Into You (Drift Away)
Grave Mistake (2014)

Surpercrush is the newish Vancouver, British Columbia-based band from Mark Palm, a dude most known for playing in a long … Read more

Nadja and Uochi Toki

Cystema Solari
Corpoc (2014)

Despite the fact that Canadian/German drone group Nadja has a long history of collaborating with various artists from around the … Read more

Joyce Manor

Never Hungover Again
Epitaph (2014)

This one took a while to stand out, which I didn’t expect given the accolades Joyce Manor has been ringing … Read more

Billy The Kid

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
Xtra Mile (2014)

This is the first time I saw Billy the Kid: It's Mid-July and the air conditioner at Toronto Lee's Palace … Read more

Ex Friends

Rules for Making Up Words
Paper + Plastick (2014)

Ex Friends are a group of Philly area punks, recognized from their work in other bands. The band features Joel … Read more

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One from the archives

Neon Neon

Stainless Style
Lex (2008)

I might be misjudging my audience here, but you remember the 1980's? By "remember" I don't mean "act them out in a horrible retro manner while not letting on that you were born in 1990." I mean remember. Predator. Commodore 64. Endless Mattel toy lines. The entire decade fucking ruled and if you dare to disagree I cannot be held responsible for my actions. Now, imagine that all those memories you have of the 1980's were somehow pushed together to form one little hyper-dense cube. And that everyone else's memories were added to it until it formed some kind of glowing, throbbing pulsar. It would probably be lime green. Follow that up by imagining someone taking this thing of unimaginable power, congealing it into a purely physical form and creating … Read more

More album reviews

The Great Old Ones

Tekeli-Li
Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions (2014)

The incredible nature of The Great Old Ones majestic, sweeping and downright epic black metal was devastatingly apparent on their debut Al Azif - a record that saw them take flight into the musical world and in turn become one of the most talked about bands of 2012. The French quintet are an unassuming group though, and while they were … Read more

DJ Shadow

The Liquid Amber EP
Liquid Amber (2014)

Universally regarded as one of the most important figures in the world of instrumental hip hop and turntablism after having gained massive recognition for 1995’s Entroducing....., DJ Shadow (a.k.a. Josh Davis) seems in recent years to have been operating more in the, well, shadows of an electronic music scene that’s increasingly been focused on the newest and shiniest acts. Released … Read more

Padkarosda

Szabadulásom Művészete
Wake Up And Live (2014)

Padkarosda is a three piece punk band from Hungary. Szabadulásom Művészete (translated as Art Of My Liberation) is their second full-length release. Recorded in Budapest in June of 2013, Oakland, CA-based Wake Up And Live Records picked it up for US release this year. It comes on cassette with a pro-printed foldout J-card, complete with song lyrics, band photo, and … Read more

Christos Fanaras

Impermanence
Adaadat (2014)

It’s difficult to find a decent single-track LP these days. A classic is Sleep’s Dopesmoker (disregarding the album’s live bonus material). The title track is a 63 minute-long sludgy opus about Jesus getting stoned in the desert. It’s definitely one of my favorite albums of all time, too. Another brilliant one-track album is The Great Barrier Reefer by Bongripper, a … Read more

Video/DVD Review

Circle Jerks

My Career As A Jerk
MVD Visual (2012)

I must admit, before I sat down to watch this I wasn't exactly excited to listen to Circle Jerks vocalist Keith Morris talk about punk rock for the millionth time. Morris, like Jack Grisham (TSOL), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), and to some extent Duane Peters (US Bombs) seems to be a constant presence running throughout any number of the ubiquitous … Read more

The Hold Steady

Teeth Dreams
Washington Square (2014)

The Hold Steady has been on quite a ride. They went from “New York bar band” to critical and indie darlings to, now, wavering somewhere on the edge of the public consciousness without really breaking into new circles. In other words, they seem to have found their fan base and stuck with it. Separation Sunday was a favorite record of … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Glue

Glue EP
Katorga Works/Video Disease (2014)

With an extremely downbeat and aggressive sound, Austin, Texas four-piece band Glue follows up their noisy and vulgar 2012 demo with a 2014 self-titled 7” that picks up right where the demo left off. The first of four tracks featured here is the brief “Enemy,” which operates at a moderate pace and includes a sort of diabolical, horror movie chord … Read more

Earth Girls

Wrong Side of History
Grave Mistake (2014)

Wrong Side of History is the debut 7” by Chicago upstarts Earth Girls. This piece of weighty green wax (via Grave Mistake in the United States) was recorded during the same session as their sold-out limited run demo cassette from earlier this year. Earth Girls are headed up by Liz Panella of Libyans and Broken Prayer on guitar and vocals. … Read more

Astpai

Burden Calls
Jump Start (2014)

I’m not sure what this says about me, but I like Astpai’s Burden Calls just fine but it takes until they pull a sample from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the original) to hit that next level. It has little to nothing to do with the actual songs, but somehow it shifts the tone and the energy just picks up at … Read more

Girl Scout

Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)

Musically tight and lyrically inventive, Pittsburgh, PA-based, self-proclaimed “slacker rock” group Girl Scout seems to draw inspiration from various indie rock groups of the ‘90s and early 2000s - it doesn’t at all seem a coincidence that the band included a cover of Pavement’s “Cut Your Hair” as the b-side to their first single. Built around Jeremy Zerbe’s vulnerable voice … Read more

John, The Void

Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)

Proving that Italians can do the doomy, post-metal thing just as well as anyone else, mysterious and methodical five-piece group John, the Void’s 2014 self-titled EP (which actually runs a bit longer than what I might typically expect from an extended play) features six tracks ranging from two minute ambient pieces to sprawling, nine-minute epics. Throughout this very atmospheric but … Read more

GG Allin

(un)Censored Live 1993
MVD Visual (2014)

Despite the fact that the man’s been dead for more than two decades at this point, the reputation of GG Allin, self-described “public animal #1” who aimed to bring the danger back into rock and roll through live performances that existed somewhere in the netherworld between punk rock shows and performance art pieces, has only continued to grow over the … Read more

Earthless & Heavy Blanket

In a Dutch Haze
Outer Battery Records / Roadburn Records (2014)

Hour-long songs can be somewhat of a hard sell. For starters, there has to be an audience of listeners who are willing to carve out the time and sit and engage for sixty-plus minutes. Additionally and most crucially for instrumental projects, the sounds have to be there. Dopesmoker is an hour long, but it tells a story to go along … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Wildhoney

Seventeen Forever
Photobooth Records (2014)

Demonstrating on their 2013 self-titled EP that they may be the modern group that best replicates the sound of classic, British shoegaze bands (particularly, Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine), Baltimore five-piece Wildhoney returned with 2014’s three-track Seventeen Forever. Showing off new vocalist Lauren Shusterich as well as more confident songwriting, the EP kicks off with the calming “Seventeen.” Guitarists Joe … Read more

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