17 total search results
One Hundred Year Ocean – Where Were You While We Were Getting High?
Review — September 9, 2013
Where Were You While We Were Getting High?, the latest release from the seven-member Connecticut indie-emo band One Hundred Year Ocean, is a four-track collection of massive, breathtaking sonic concoctions.The EP starts with the slow, slightly depressing “Hospital Town”. “Soco Amaretto Bud Light Lime” immediately follows with a …
What's Fluffy – Happy B-Day Mike
Review — October 29, 2013
On Happy B-Day Mike, the latest self-release from math rockin’ boys What’s Fluffy, the Bloomfield, NJ quartet fires out six sonic anecdotes of hypnotic guitar lines, swaying time signatures, sparkling saxophonic blows, and never-ending feelings.The EP, running at just over 18 minutes, opens up with “I Really Hate …
Gypsy Eyes – The Escapist
Review — December 9, 2013
It’s hard to go to an EDM festival without seizuring from strobe lights, going deaf from pulsing beats, or popping too many Mollies. Electronica combusts acres of energy, leaving no breathing room. This genre of trebley arpeggios, never-ending grooves, and overwhelming bass deserves a relaxing vacation.Artists like Actress, …
Les Yeux De La Tête – Mosca Violenta
Review — January 20, 2014
Jazz metal three-piece Les Yeux De La Tête’s (translation: The Eyes Of The Head) second full-length release, Mosca Violenta, is a vicious 11-song steamroller of sludgy riffs, raucous drum patterns, and avant-garde saxophone lines. For a guitarless, sparse album, MV is surprisingly theatrical and fascinating.The trio’s doom jazz …
Xiu Xiu – Angel Guts: Red Classroom
Review — February 3, 2014
Xiu Xiu (pronounced “shoo shoo”) is a critically-acclaimed, Los Angeles-based, avant-garde duo. It’s comprised of founder James Stewart and Angela Seo, a member since 2009.Their melancholy, Bowie Low-esque sound can be heard in the music of contemporaries like Majical Cloudz and Grimes.Angel Guts: Red Classroom, …
Perfect Pussy – Say Yes To Love
Review — February 24, 2014
In 2010, it was Wavves. In 2012, it was Japandroids. Now, the vaginal Syracuse outfit Perfect Pussy is Pitchfork.com's newest punk band crush. Yes, this is the same popular indie music site whose 2013 Reader’s Poll allowed Kanye West’s Yeezus to be the Most Underrated and …
Various Artists – Joie De Vivre/Prawn - Split EP
Review — March 3, 2014
The recent collaboration between emo acts Prawn (NY/NJ-based) and Joie De Vivre (Illinois-based) is a rad split album packed with guitar twinkles and gloomy vocals.Joie De Vivre starts off the split. Compared to past albums like We’re All Better Than This and The North End, JDV’s three …
Owls – Two
Review — April 7, 2014
Post-hardcore merges the experimentation of noise rock with the energy of hardcore punk. During its first two decades, post-hardcore was pretty underground, but it produced notable acts like Shellac, Fugazi, and Big Black in the 80’s and Chavez, Slint, and Unwound in the 90’s.In the …
Blackrat – Whiskey and Blasphemy
Review — April 14, 2014
Whiskey and Blasphemy (Xnihilo Records), the 11-song debut album from Canadian trio Blackrat, is a grittily produced 28 minutes of totes gnarly extreme metal. Like holy metalheads Aura Noir and Sodom, Blackrat combines the Satanic themes and rawness of black metal with the speedy guitars of thrash metal, …
Helms Alee – Sleepwalking Sailors
Review — April 14, 2014
Helms Alee’s Sleepwalking Sailors is a ferocious asteroid of post-hardcore, doom metal, and noise rock. The Seattle-based trio’s third album, released on Sargent House Records, hurls you through a deathly metal ocean, into the Earth’s burning core, and back out again; it’s Michael Bay making rock music.“Pleasure Center” puts …
The War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream
Review — April 21, 2014
The Philadelphia rock scene is famous for producing indie bands heavily dosed on vintage, classic rock. Folker Kurt Vile recalls Bob Dylan and neo-psychedelia band Dr.Dog draws upon Big Star. You probably know Vile from when he packed all the “Best Of” lists last year with his …
Chad VanGaalen – Shrink Dust
Review — May 5, 2014
It’s 11 o’clock on a Saturday night. You’re lying in your bed, craving some late night music. You want something dreamy, but not Panda Bear dreamy; something minimal, but not Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy minimal; something that comfortably sits in the middle of it all. Try out Chad VanGaalen.The Calgary singer/songwriter has been making …
Tweak Bird – Any Ol' Way
Review — May 19, 2014
Tweak Bird is the Los Angeles sludge-pop duo of Caleb Benjamin and Ashton Leech. Their stoner/garage rock crossover sound has enabled them to share the stage with acts ranging from art metal quartet Tool to cheeky indie poppers Best Coast.The duo’s latest release, Any Ol’ Way, combines …
Fucked Up – Glass Boys
Review — June 2, 2014
Even though I’ve listened to some of their material, I hadn't really plunged deep into Fucked Up-mania. It wasn’t until I checked out their new song “Paper The House” that I became captivated by the music of this tumultuous, rudely-named band. The tribal drum intro, the ecstatic guitar duel, …
Jon McKiel – Jon McKiel
Review — July 8, 2014
An old, black-and-white photo depicts five dilapidated homes slowly crumbling away on an island in the middle of a vast, dismal ocean; the sea's endlessness and archaicness adds a sense of sentimentality to the picture. With such a glum album cover, it’s a dazzling surprise once the effervescent, action-packed “New …
Christos Fanaras – Impermanence
Review — August 25, 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 …
