Anciients
Heart Of Oak
Season of Mist (2013)
The debut album, Heart of Oak, for the Canadian extreme/progressive metal band, Anciients, is a fascinating one. And do not think that this is going to be your standard “progressive” band, where technicality is more important than feeling or substance. This band is an extremely difficult one to categorize so the term “progressive” is used here in a very vague … Read more
Andrew Bird
Armchair Apocrypha
Fat Possum (2007)
With the over saturation of the industry, technology making the ability to record a feasible option for anyone who has ever picked up an instrument, and the Internet spreading music like the plague, what's often lost is authenticity. Currently, there are waves upon waves of like sounding bands making it easy to get flustered and discouraged in a search for … Read more
Andrew Bird
The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Righteous Babe (2005)
Andrew Bird is an intelligent and elegant Chicago based musician. He molds his work carefully. To give you an idea of how careful he is, he scrapped his latest album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, three times to go as far as traveling in-between studios from Chicago, Los Angeles and his hometown in Northern Illinois until he got it right. … Read more
Andrew Hock
Crystalline Privative Opulence
Union Finale (2015)
Andrew Hock, of Psalm Zero and, until recently, incredible black metal outfit Castevet, has always seemed a very interesting case, as the two before mentioned bands would let on. And the same interest would be transferred over to the debut album that Hock is putting out under his own name, Crystalline Privative Opulence. With an extended pallet of instruments, including … Read more
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Christmas Island
Side One Dummy (2014)
Andrew Jackson Jihad make a return on their new label home, Side One Dummy, after a long tenure on Asian Man Records. Usually when a band makes a jump after a long run, many find a cause for concern. I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. The lyrics are as offbeat as ever and the compositions are still whimsical … Read more
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Knife Man
Asian Man (2011)
Andrew Jackson Jihad runs the folk-punk gamut—they’ve put out a split with Ghost Mice, play The Fest more or less annually, and they’re a two-piece mostly acoustic band comprised of Sean Bonnette (guitar) and Ben Gallaty (bass). Now that I’ve lumped them in with a number of other acts, it’s time for the separation.The Phoenix band is distinct in their … Read more
Andrew Paley
Scattered Light
Highwires (2020)
"The world's on fire and I don't feel a thing at all." Sung with a breezy nonchalance, Andrew Paley's prescient lyrics on "Caroline", including the admission "I've been raging at headlines", sound like they were written at the exact moment you're hearing them. On his second album Scattered Light, following 2016's Sirens, the Chicago-based musician looks to the future with … Read more
Andrew Paley
Sirens
Paper + Plastick/Make My Day (2016)
Perhaps best known as the frontman of Vermont post-punk band The Static Age, Andrew Paley has never been shy about his penchant for playing solo acoustic songs. Where The Static Age's sound is sound is distantly confrontational and awash with the vivid colours of late nights, Paley's solo work has mostly been more reflective and vulnerable, like the sounds of … Read more
Andrew W.K.
55 Cadillac
Skyscraper Music Maker (2009)
If I were to comprise a short list of individuals that I would love to sit down and just have an open-ended conversation with, Andrew W.K. would be at the head of that list. No doubt in my mind. For whatever reason, everything that he does has me on the edge of my seat. The multi-talented W.K. returns with 55 … Read more
Andrew W.K.
Close Calls With Brick Walls
Universal/Dope Entertainment/Load (2006)
Andrew W.K. is the latest Renaissance man in the world of music. Like others before him, John Lennon and Henry Rollins among others, W.K.'s influence has flourished beyond the boundaries of his musical output. And while many may still see W.K. as "the party guy," his stature in the public eye is much more than that of a one-hit-wonder. He … Read more
Andrew W.K.
The Wolf
Island (2003)
I'll keep this short so you kids will understand me. I want the time back I spent listening to this. I feel cheated, robbed, and insulted. This is neither fun nor funny. It's devoid of any worth. It's stupid, it's banal, it's bland. So why does it get a 1.3? Two reasons: one point for not being pop-punk, a point … Read more
Angel Blake
Angel Blake
Metal Blade (2006)
The Crown was a good band; Angel Blake, not so much. Guitarist Marko Tervonen's decision to record a solo album seemed like an interesting move at the time. Writing all the music and performing all the instruments offered him the chance to really show what he was made of. Unfortunately, what he's apparently made of is the same milquetoast mediocrity … Read more
Angel Eyes
...and for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars
Underground Communiqué (2007)
Let me get to this straight away; I love the movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so naming yourself after Lee Van Cleef's character in that movie, makes you a-okay in my book. and for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars is the third record from Angel Eyes, following 2005's Something to Do with Death and their … Read more
Angel Eyes
Midwestern
Mylene Sheath (2010)
Having more than a passing appreciation for spaghetti western films, particularly the Man With No Name trilogy A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and the truly epic The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly), I am compelled to check out any band or group that carries any of that iconography or is themed similarly, if only to … Read more
Angel Eyes
Something to Do with Death
Underground Communiqué (2005)
There's not a whole lot you can say about Angel Eyes that hasn't already been said about Isis. If Isis were an actual person, Angel Eyes would be its impressionable, suppler younger brother. The latter always gazing starry-eyed at the former with a love and devotion to rival the strongest of bonds. Ok, that's a stretch, but they really do … Read more
Angel Face
Out In The Street
Slovenly (2025)
Slovenly calls this JAPANPUNK. My preliminary google search of this portmanteau didn’t come up with much but I already know Angel Face features Fink from noisey ’90s Japanese garage rockers Teengenerate. I also learned that some people consider them a supergroup as members also previously played in other bands like Fadeaways, Raydios, Ruler, Triple Junk and Firestarter, none of whom … Read more
Angel Olsen
My Woman
Jagjaguwar (2016)
Angel Olsen has been very active since the release of her debut cassette Strange Cacti, revealing a very promising work. Her dark indie folk/rock tone had a haunting effect, which peaked with Half Way Home and the excellent Burn Your Fire For No Witness. The delicate folk tones of Olsen were engulfed by a healthy dose of reverb, ample amount … Read more
Angels and Airwaves
We Don't Need to Whisper
Geffen (2006)
So Tom DeLonge finally got his way. Apparently sick of the scatological humor of Blink 182 and ill-received attempts at maturity, the band broke up and he was free to record the album that would be "the greatest album of [his] career." Hyperbole aside, this record is, according to DeLonge, "more than an album, and more than just a cool … Read more
