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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 Copyrights

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Red Scare (2014)

I like most of my music to have a pop bent. Yes, I like it rough around the edges and only mildly repetitive, which often rules out some of the biggest names that fall under ye olde “pop-punk” flag. Ramonescore, for the most part, just doesn’t motivate me like the actual Ramones did.But every now and again, a truly poppy band has that something, that it that gets me moving. Here’s where I file The Copyrights. They play pop songs under a punk umbrella, whatever that sentence is supposed to actually say. The structures are verse-chorus-verse, the vocals are clean, the power chords reign, and the song title appears in the lyrics. All that said, the Copyrights isn’t some Ramones clone. They take those repetitions and run them through a gritty Midwestern filter—there’s as much down on your luck, self-deprecating Dear Landlord in here as there is boppy Ramones fun. The lyrics are playful, but they’re also devoid of bubblegum, well exemplified by the song “No Knocks” with its refrain of “I graduated from the school of no knocks.” It’s a play on familiar words, but with a stronger meaning behind it. You can laugh at the silliness if that’s … Read more

Nothing

Guilty Of Everything
Relapse (2014)

it would be perfectly simple to couple Nothing into the wave of modern shoegaze and close the book. They carry … Read more

Anatomy Of Habit

Ciphers + Axioms
Relapse (2014)

Put together great musicians from diverse backgrounds and you are bound to get something special. That is what happens with … Read more

Terrence Hunnam

Via Negativa
Utech (2014)

Via Negativa marks the first solo album for Terrence Hunnam, visual artist and member of the incredible Locrian. The connection … Read more

Light Bearer

Silver Tongue
Halo of Flies (2013)

The hyper literate lads of Light Bearer have always kept a level of consistency within their records. whether through the … Read more

Neighborhood Brats

Recovery
Deranged (2014)

Reading Scene Point Blank can pay off. A year or so ago we streamed No Sun No Tan, which was … Read more

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One from the archives

Skeletons with Flesh on Them

The Fish Don't Mind
Independent (2007)

Some bands just have cool names. Skeletons with Flesh on Them, an indie rock band from Seattle, are one of them. This four-piece indie/rock group show obvious signs of influence from the pioneering and currently established bands of their neck of the woods - Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Roy, etc. - on their debut EP, The Fish Don't Mind. "Bein' in Love" is a great song to kick off this EP. It's a rocking number full of upbeat guitar licks and meandering basslines. The drums are soothing, but hit with enough force to drive the song. Vocalist Scott Roots reminds me most of the soothing melodies of Roy vocalist Ben Verellen. Oh, and there are handclaps and piano on this track too! The band continues to deliver song after … Read more

More album reviews

Svarta Stugan

Aspects of Our Future Selves
Independent (2014)

With their 2014 album Aspects of Our Future Selves, Swedish three piece Svarta Stugan (translated as “Black Cottage”) has come up with their third EP release in as many years. One might have thought given the post-rock labeling that this band would make the type of intricate and melodic, typically instrumental music that groups likeMogwai have perfected over the years, … Read more

Shallow Cuts

Storm Watch
No Idea Records (2014)

Shallow Cuts are a group of friends. Oh, they’re a group of musicians too. Some people call that a band. They’re a three piece, with members of Dan Padilla, Madison Bloodbath, and Dear Landlord/The Gateway District.Oftentimes saying a band features members of XYZ isn’t the greatest descriptor, more caught in comparison than in what the side project is doing. In … Read more

Keith Emerson and Greg Lake

Live at Manticore Hall
Manticore Records (2014)

After forming in 1970, the members of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (i.e. keyboardist extraordinaire Keith Emerson, guitarist/bassist/vocalist Greg Lake, and drummer Carl Palmer, all highly experienced and extremely technically proficient players) crafted some incredibly influential music and perhaps were the only popular music group that performed classical music and classically-influenced pieces as part of their normal repertoire. … Read more

Various Artists

Low Culture-Needles//Pins - split 7"
Dirtnap (2014)

I’ve probably said this before for those 3 people who read all of my reviews, but I feel that the 7” is one of the hardest items to review. Not because they’re short, but because it takes a truly special 7” to jump from an 8 to a 10. It’s a hard format to nail, but it’s fairly easy to … Read more

Serpentine Path

Emanations
Relapse (2014)

When you have members of Unearthly Trance, actually the whole last known line-up of Unearthly Trance, alongside Tim Bagshaw, previously of Ramesses and Electric Wizard, and to top it all off Stephen Flam of fucking Winter participating in the same band, then you find yourself sailing in the seas of nirvana if you are a doom/death fan. This is the … Read more

Serpentine Path

Emanations
Relapse (2014)

For a band such as Serpentine Path it seems nigh impossible to seperate the members past from their current works. Being that the band is comprosed of the whole of Unearthly Trance coupled with members whose former bands include Electric Wizard and Winter. If that doesn't read like doom metal supergroup I have no idea how you would quantify such … Read more

Panopticon

Roads to the North
Bindrune Records (2014)

Panopticon has been around since 2007, releasing great albums, from their self-titled full-length to the 2012 Kentucky. And it was with Kentucky that the band really made many heads turn. Their folk infused black metal was a breath of fresh air for the scene, with A.Lunn making things more interesting, using unconventional tactics. The only worrying part of all this … Read more

Le Butcherettes

Cry Is For The Flies
Ipecac (2014)

When The Mars Volta went on hiatus and sequentially disbanded, I was interested to see what Omar Rodriguez-Lopez was going to get himself involved in. Soon his new band Bosnian Rainbows released their first, self-titled album and that was how I got introduced to Terri Gender Bender, the vocalist of Bosnian Rainbows and the leader of Le Butcherettes. I did … Read more

Quintron and Miss Pussycat

Spellcaster II: Death in Space
Pizza Burglar (2014)

Quintron and Miss Pussycat have never been known as a vocal group, but Spellcaster II: Death in Space takes that to a new level, waiting until the fourth song, “Do the Raid” for the first vocal utterings. That’s not a bad thing, but it is a slow start to the duo’s new record. In fact, it’s not until the third … Read more

Dope Body

Lifer
Drag City (2014)

On a long enough timeline, all genre descriptors start to lose meaning. Spend enough time hopping through the tags on Bandcamp, and you'll discover that "hardcore" and "post-hardcore" are mired down with mostly those bands who are championed as "emo revival" on the internet. Despite whatever evidence there is to the contrary, give it enough thought and it starts to … Read more

Mammoth Grinder

Underworlds
20 Buck Spin (2013)

Mammoth Grinder have made a name for themselves by playing a mix of old school death metal , d-beat and hardcore. While that combination of influences isn't singular to them they have played it with a considerable amount of consistency and rage. This got the attention of more than a few people including 20 Buck Spin. While not their first … Read more

Total Control

Typical System
Iron Lung (2014)

Sometimes you get stuck on a review. Sure, I meant to delve outside my comfort zone a bit in grabbing this record, but I’ve been a little stuck on the details. The plus side, of course, is that means I’ve given it dozens of spins.Typical System is the second release from Melbourne’s Total Control. The band features some recognizable names … Read more

Vegas

Sagevisule
Last Anthem (2014)

The ever elusive Vegas has returned. While the band have released a scant few songs in the years since their full-length those songs have shown them maitaining a sense of quality. After a lengty wait a new EP containing four songs arrives, reflecting what Vegas is and where they may be heading.The whole shebang begins with a dark riff sounding … Read more

Son Of Man

Burn The Witch EP
King Of Monsters (2014)

The possible hermits of Son Of Man have returned after their all too brief burner of a debut the band has reconvened for something even more nasty and dark. With the release of a new EP on a new label they have managed to up the ante overall. While the most basic of core values remain the band have inserted … Read more

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