Author: Bill Adams
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Muskets – Chew LP
As bands like Able Baker Fox, Into It. Over It., Citizen and Tiger’s Jaw have emerged (or reappeared, in some cases), the resurgence of emo has become a discussion point, but longtime fans have been very, very careful about getting on board with it to this point. A lot of that has to do with…
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Able Baker Fox – Visions LP
The first thing that Visions, Able Baker Fox’s first album in ten years, proves is that even if a type of music has fallen from popular fashion in recent years, it can still re-emerge sounding both fantastic and timely if there’s passion powering it. Right off, as soon as “Purple Mountains” kicks the doors open…
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The Complicators – Wake Up (7-inch single)
Now that punk rock has gone around the block a few times and collected little generic influences like a lint brush, it’s understandable how some fans may be hard-pressed to recognize it anymore. That’s why a release like The Complicators‘ “Wake Up” 7-inch is so refreshing though. It grunts, it grinds and it stomps but,…
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JoeCephus & the George Jonestown Massacre – Five Minutes To Live 12-inch EP
It might not sound like it makes sense on the surface, but a convincing case could be made for the most genuine tribute albums being those which rely on deep cuts from the celebrated artist’s catalogue. How else would the songs get collected together that way if not because the artists involved weren’t undying fans…
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Hamell On Trial – Tackle Box LP
It might sound a little ridiculous, but the truth is that some musicians need to have something which genuinely pisses them off before them – something they find truly abhorrent – in order to produce their best work. Take Ed Hamell, for example: Hamell has been a politically-minded songwriter since he first appeared in 1996…
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Roadside Bombs – Best of the Best / 45
It’s pretty uncommon for a punk band to publicly praise a music journalist (not that it NEVER happens, just that it doesn’t happen regularly) so when Roadside Bombs doesn’t just praise a critic, they put his face on the A-side of a single and publicly promote him as being “The Best of The Best,” it…
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Weird Owl – Bubblegum Brainwaves LP
Weird Owl is a genuine anomaly in the music industry in several ways: since forming in 2004, the group has not let anything – not lineup changes, not label changes, not changes in focus or sound – deter them from keeping a consistent release schedule. The band’s fifth full-length (sixth release) finds the band nailing…
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Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician 10” EP
At first glance, it’s hard not to smirk a little at the design, intention and construct of the Locust Abortion Technician EP. The Butthole Surfers have broken their decade-long silence with a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of their Locust Abortion Technician album and, to mark the occasion, they’ve reissued thirty percent (roughly) of the album…
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This Means War – S/T 10” EP
The catch, when it comes to trying to be in a good melodic hardcore band, is that trying to navigate the waters of punk rock is fraught with risk because the region is so over-populated. Unfortunately, there are lots of “melodic hardcore” bands which aren’t particularly melodic (read: the singer can’t carry a tune on…
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Baby In Vain – More Nothing
After seeming to appear from nowhere with an EP which was capable of absolutely levelling listeners even if they did see it coming with pure unadulterated Riot Grrl power last year, it’s unlikely that fans of Baby In Vain expected to see a full-length album appear so soon – but the band is not only…