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)

Teenage Bottlerocket

American Deutsch Bag
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)

I never learned German in high school, but Teenage Bottlerocket must have because their latest 7’’ is a nod to the punk side of the German language. It's been nearly a year and this is still the most currently release from Teenage Bottlerocket. People didn’t seem to expect much from it, and still don’t, unless you’re one of those middle-aged dudes who has a basement full of fat wreck rare records that you probably love more than your wife and kids. Though, that’s besides the point. As band, Bottlerocket can be underestimated, and so American Deutsch Bag sort of fell through the cracks. Records like this have importance though, not just for music in general, but for the growth of a band. Music nerds get ready, I’m about to break it down for you (Get it? I’m going to breakdown. In the middle of this album review. Okay, I’m done with jokes forever now). American Deutsch Bag has two cover songs and an original track, which not shockingly, the original track "I’m the One Smoking Marijuana Motherfucker" is about marijuana. First off, songs about marijuana are never going to stop. Ever. So people can complain about how it’s immature and … Read more

City States

Geography
Safety Records (2014)

They say that good things come to those that wait and for City States and their main member Joel Ebner, … Read more

Sd Laika

THAT'S HARAKIRI
Tri Angle Records (2014)

First showing up in 2012 and making waves in the underground music scene ever since, Sd Laika makes a brand … Read more

Devo

The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
MVD Visual (2014)

I’ve long felt there are fewer lesser art forms than the music video. It turns out I was wrong—or, at … Read more

Subrosa

More Constant Than the Gods
Profound Lore (2013)

Subrosa have managed to get lumped into the doom genre. While that genre tag isn't completely inaccurate it certainly fails … Read more

Botanist

VI: Flora
Flenser (2014)

The whole concept of one-man black metal projects is quite old. From back in the ‘90s you would have acts … Read more

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One from the archives

Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate)

Year of the Rabbit
Count Your Lucky Stars / Strictly No Capital Letters (2008)

Emo is a genre that often gets its name dragged through the mud. While there are artists now classified as emo that are pretty horrendous, it is those artists playing traditional emo that unfortunately are hurt the most. Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) is one of those acts lumped in with emo that shouldn't be looked down upon. The four-piece Michigan outfit offers up two new songs on this 7" release and follow-up to a self-released full-length. The a-side features "Year of the Rabbit." The song is a mid-tempo number filled with twinkling guitar melodies, placid drumwork, and soft vocal harmonies. I got a definite Death Cab for Cutie vibe from it, but it also reminded of American Football. On the b-side, "IDK, My BFF Jill" ventures into … Read more

More album reviews

Steve Adamyk Band

Dial Tone
Dirtnap (2014)

This is Dirtnap Records.Not to pigeonhole anybody, but man does Steve Adamyk Band hit on that pop structure, garage chaos element that defines the label.Dial Tone is the fourth full-length out of Canada’s Steve Adamyk Band and I reviewed Third a while back. This time around, the band continues their well-crafted, energetic and generally positive vibes in the same fashion. … Read more

Various Artists

Balsa/Sei Hexe - Split EP
String Break (2014)

Two bands hailing from the US Northwest bring a Metalcore filled split from String Break Records. Seattle's, Balsa, take control of the first half with three tracks, while Portland's all-female act, Sei Hexe, fills out the rest of the split with two tracks. Balsa opens the EP with, "Rasputin." The track doesn't hesitate to play with the core of the … Read more

Wolvhammer

Clawing Into Black Sun
Profound Lore (2014)

Having already released two albums showing great promise, Wolvhammer nail it with their third try. No matter how brutal and awe inspiring Black Marketeers of World War III and The Obsidian Plains were, Clawing Into Black Sun stands in a league of its own. It might just be the case that the band took their time for this one, since … Read more

Pussy Cactus

HE'S FAST
Independent (2014)

Connecticut musician Pussy Cactus is more than just another quirky and boisterous noise pop girl. With her new five-track EP entitled He’s Fast, Pussy Cactus shows that she can lyrically be very wise and philosophical.On her glum “I Call My Dick Cheney,” Cactus preaches to the human race that “we are all a baby/ we are all a teenager/ we … Read more

Mad The Martian

Blast Off
MtM Records (2014)

All I keep hearing these days is that Rock is dead, the ever popular Gene Simmons schooled us with this factoid in an interview he did with Esquire (Esquire WTF??) last month. Well friends let me assure you Mad the Martian, a band we interviewed here on Scene Point Blank recently, are here to save Rock and Roll. The band … Read more

Masked Intruder

M.I.
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)

I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t like Masked Intruder, and I prefer to keep it that way. However, despite everyone being completely in love with them, they manage to still remain mysterious. I’m sure everyone has asked themselves these questions before about Masked Intruder: How long are they gonna keep up the gimmick? Are all their songs gonna … Read more

Buckcherry

Fuck EP
F-Bomb (2014)

As might be expected considering the word can be used in a variety of ways and can make up nearly every word in a still-coherent sentence, there’s a rich history of use of the f-bomb in music. While the word has sometimes been used to prove a point or make a hard-hitting statement (Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the … Read more

Flagpolers

Arse Ways EP
Self Released (2014)

Sometimes the RIYL doesn’t lie. When Vancouver punks Flagpolers list Tiltwheel as an influence, it comes across clearly on the four song EP Arse Ways. The songs are built in that Davey Tiltwheel guitar style and then the lyrics are pelted atop in a gruff and staggering delivery. It’s rough hewn, coarse, and alternately beautiful—a fitting tribute to the aforementioned … Read more

In The Whale

Nate & Eric
Self Released (2014)

In The Whale's Nate & Eric promises a look at the seedier side of Colorado. Combining two EPs written by the duo, Nate & Eric is a brazen, unfiltered balls-to-the-wall rock record. On "Robert Johnson", a song about the eponymous jazz musician who purportedly made a deal with the devil, clattering feedback and wailing guitars are matched with cries of … Read more

The Eye Of Time

Acoustic
Denovali (2014)

Marc Euvrie is certainly a unique specimen when it comes to musicianship. When the previous, self-titled, album of The Eye of Time came out, it was just an unbelievable record to handle. The sheer weight of the album, its experimental scope and its extreme outbreaks, definitely left their mark. But today, Euvrie returns with quite different concept in mind, and … Read more

Cross Examination

Dawn of the Dude EP
Organized Crime (2014)

Sometimes I just want to eat a bunch of pizza, drink a 30 pack of Special Export Light, smoke one million doobies, make out with chicks in a swimming pool, stay up all night tripping on mushrooms while watching hippies swirl glow sticks and eat fire, and then make out with more chicks in a tent as the sun comes … Read more

The Meatmen

Savage Sagas
Self-Destructo (2014)

Hailing from Lansing, Michigan, the Meatmen have been a punk rock band existing in some capacity for roughly 35 years. They took a break in 1996, but returned in 2008 and, break or no break, the band still boasts a staggering number of singles, EPs, live bootlegs and compilations under their belt. While there has been a few different iterations … Read more

The Dwarves

Invented Rock & Roll
Recess (2014)

I won’t say anything as hyperbolic as that the Dwarves invented rock ‘n’ roll, but I’ll still give them another borderline statement that fits on a press sheet: the 2014 Dwarves are a supergroup—not a supergroup side project of glossy mag pin-ups, but a supergroup that is honestly comprised of, well, Dwarves. While always performing as a 3-5 piece band … Read more

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 … Read more

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