Author: Bill Adams
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Longstocking – Once Upon A Time Called Now LP
Some events simply defy the laws of probability – and that Longstocking never got a fraction of the attention the band deserved is definitely one of them. Seriously – how did the band get overlooked as much as it did? They were in the right place (in Los Angeles) at the right time (from 1995…
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The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
The Dirty Nil Fuck Art (Dine Alone Records) Rare is the band which knows precisely who they are and actually celebrates that identity rather than asking listeners to excuse it. There’s a certain spark in the music made by bands like that – Alice Cooper Group had it, as did Dead Kennedys, Eagles of Death…
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Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine – Tea Party Revenge Porn LP
Ignoring the fact that Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine really missed the opportunity to address the activities of the Trump administration and of Republicans in general (seriously – there was no new music from the band between 2014 and 2020 – how the hell did that happen?), it’s impossible to ignore the…
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Dale Crover – Rat A Tat Tat LP
Listening to Dale Crover’s second solo album apart from The Melvins is a funny/unique experience because, after having made music with the same band (well, “the same musical counterpart,” singer/guitarist Buzz Osbourne, anyway) for so many decades, it’s hard to remove that sensibility from the music – or hard to remove it completely, anyway. As…
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Puscifer – Existential Reckoning 2LP
Ever since Maynard James Keenan first appeared on the rock radar, the singer’s depth as a creative entity has never been questioned or debated. The singer has always been so prolific that his muse has required three bands to be contained and satisfied; Tool came first and accommodated the heavy/mathy/stoic root of the singer’s output,…
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Paul Leary – Born Stupid LP
When vinyl records made their return as one of the foremost music media at around 2014, a lot was discussed regarding the difference in the sound and fidelity of vinyl and pretty much everything else on the market, at the time. It was an exciting moment; vinyl sales went up 280 percent from what they’d…
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Paul Leary – Born Stupid
When guitarist Paul Leary suddenly reappeared contributing guitar performances to The Melvins’ twentieth album, Hold It In, as well as contributing some songwriting to the project about six years ago, it felt like a shocking development. Not that Leary had vanished or retired or anything, the guitarist was simply busy doing other things; he developed…
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AC/DC – PWR/UP LP
AC/DC has tried a few different things and taken a few different turns to try and grow up (or age up? Or act their age?) in the last thirty-eight years with limited success at most. Every time the band has tried to move forward from the callous one-liners and double entendres which first helped to…
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Boots ‘n Booze (comic book w/ 7” single)
Whether it was intentional or not (and, given the multi-media-angled nature of this release, which combines a comic book with a 7” single, it may indeed be intentional), Pirates Press and the Swingin’ Utters have actually done something pretty surprising with Boots ‘n Booze; while other bands (like NOFX, Butthole Surfers, The Replacements, Rancid and…
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Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All The Rest 3LP
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Wildflowers & All The Rest 3LP reissue by Tom Petty. Author Rae Carson once wrote that, “Some people, the best ones, are motivated more by the chance to prove themselves than by a command to serve. It is the work itself that calls them onward, especially…