Pkew Pkew Pkew
Optimal Lifestyles
Dine Alone (2019)
There’s a lot I want to say about this album, but I’m torn because I try to keep things more positive. I’ve given it a lot of thought and a lot of listens, and I just don’t like it. At its best, it’s a pop-punk version of The Hold Steady – and that’s not in that oversimplified “recommended if you … Read more
Plague Widow
Self Titled
BuriedInHell (2012)
Sacramento three-piece Plague Widow came to form late last year, and have through some kind of sorcery already unleashed an uncompromising and punishing EP. Fifteen minutes of pure intense grind with a tiny hint of death, Plague Widow EP is disgustingly ferocious and absolutely relentless. With an intro track that is longer than 95% of the songs on the EP, … Read more
Plain
Different Not Strange
Independent (2008)
One could say Lugano, Switzerland’s Plain is a risk-taking collection of artists simply for the sheer bravery (or stupidity) of giving themselves that moniker. For those that wouldn’t care for their brand of music, professional critics and aural consumers alike, the door is wide open for the same kind of juvenile puns that your typical Garbage naysayer would dish out. … Read more
Plan of Attack
The Working Dead
Organized Crime (2004)
Upon their inception a few years ago, Plan of Attack was already a cut above a lot of the hardcore bands in the Midwest. Now, a demo, a 7", and a live 7" split with Terror & The Promise later, they continue to remain a cut above most of the hardcore bands around. Perhaps it's the background diversity of the … Read more
Planes Mistaken for Stars
Mercy
Abacus (2006)
Mark this down. This is the comeback record of the year for me. Planes Mistaken for Stars dropped the ball with Up in Them Guts right when they seemed poised to take the indie scene by storm. It was so lackluster for me that I did not have especially high hopes for this new record. With Matt Bellinger jumping ship … Read more
Planes Mistaken for Stars
We Ride to Fight: The First Four Years
No Idea (2008)
One might be hard pressed to envision a band that seems to exemplify a road warrior type touring ethic than that of the hard working group, Planes Mistaken for Stars. It is a sad day to see these stalwarts finally calling it a day after three albums and numerous EPs, particularly after the release of Mercy, which I still think … Read more
Planet Asia
Black Belt Theater
Wandering Worx (2012)
Planet Asia has built a long history in underground hip hop. While certainly not the best known to most he has built his career from the ground up. Through failed major label deals and a lack of recognition he has made himself known through his hard work and consistency. Most rappers couldn't be bothered with the struggles he has gone … Read more
Planet B
Fiction Prediction
Three One G (2024)
Justin Pearson. The only person who you could hear Mike Patton say “Goddamn, that guy’s in a lot of bands”. And it’s true. The list of groups Pearson has been a part of reads longer than his lyric sheets. But within the myriad of music the man has released, Planet B is somewhat of an anomaly. There are synths. There … Read more
Planet B
Planet B
Ipecac (2018)
There’s been few bands in recent memory as polarizing as The Locust. Upon the first few listens, they sound like the aural equivalent of severed nerve endings after an industrial lathe accident. But if you stick with them - and particularly if you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing them live, what once seemed all pandemonium and chaos becomes clear … Read more
Planks
Funeral Mouth
Golden Antenna (2012)
The successor to Planks 2010 release, the warmly received The Darkest of Grays, is the destitute sounds of Funeral Mouth – a record which bridges the blackened gap between sludge and hardcore and maybe a little crust with frantic shouts and depth of purpose. The German trio have been treading the fine lines of genre cross-over for many a moon … Read more
Planning For Burial
Below The House
Flenser (2017)
Would you rather a musician be great live commanding all manner of powers that conjure spirits and whisk the entire gathering to a place of other or of temporary enlightenment, or would you rather that same musician be a paragon of studio craft, wielding instruments like a paintbrush and the studio like a canvas?I was standing on the side of … Read more
Planning For Burial
Desideratum
Flenser (2014)
We all have our dark places and those journeys to and through and from those midnight shores in the bleak silence of night can produce some of the most meaningful moments of one’s life whether it be a conversation with a person that you barely know or just sitting with your cat staring into its eyes wondering what its thinking … Read more
Planning For Burial
Late Twenties Blues
Self Released (2011)
Alright laugh all you want at my horrid addictions, but until you plunge into Late Twenties Blues yourself, you will not have the faintest idea why this tape is on its fourteenth spin already today in my tape deck (not kidding, I am going to have to get another copy as a backup for this in case I completely wear … Read more
Planning For Burial
Leaving
Enemies List Home Recordings (2010)
Are late passes allowed in the internet age where people get to hear the latest music from musicians as soon as 2 minutes (give or take due to their proficiency with certain computer skills) and almost always before the record is released anymore? Leaving sat in an envelope in my house for several months (while I feverishly searched for the … Read more
Planning For Burial
Untitled
Music Ruins Lives (2011)
Do you listen to music that reflects your mood, or do you listen to music to alter just how you are feeling? A simple question really but one that means serious implications for people’s listening habits, it certainly goes back to what Rob Gordon says in High Fidelity, “What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids … Read more
Plastic Cross
Grayscale Rainbows
Don Giovanni (2012)
Hub City Hardcore may not be on par with Greek mythology in terms of their incestuous relations, but with the debut of Plastic Cross, the New Brunswick, NJ brings yet another band of familiar faces playing a wholly new sound. The band is comprised of familiar Hub City Hardcore faces, with ex-members of The Scarlet Letter, Doc Hopper, Down in … Read more
Playing Enemy
Accessory
Hawthorne Street (2006)
Playing Enemy is a three-piece band made up of ex-members of Kiss it Goodbye and Rorschach. I do not bring that up as a selling point, but rather to give an inkling as to the school of thought from which the music is derived. Accessory is a two-song EP that may serve as the band's swan song seeing as they … Read more
Playing Enemy
I Was Your City
Hawthorne Street (2005)
The members of Playing Enemy certainly have an impressive resume of musical ventures in which they have been previously involved: Rorschach, Kiss it Goodbye, Deadguy, Undertow, and Nineironspitfire among others. But rather than re-hash sounds and styles characteristic of those projects, Playing Enemy, instead ventured down a different path in the hardcore/metal realm. The Seattle-based band first hit the scene … Read more
