Author: Bill Adams

  • Alice In Chains – Dirt 30th Anniversary 2LP Reissue

    Alice In Chains – Dirt 30th Anniversary 2LP Reissue

    Alice In Chains Dirt (30th Anniversary 2LP) (Columbia/Sony/Legacy) While there are plenty of deluxe reissue versions of classic albums on the market at the moment (including of Dirt, actually; there are multi-disc sets of the album which include enough 7” singles to contain all the songs on the album’s hype sticker, and then some), that…

  • The Shouldies – ;) LP

    The Shouldies – 😉 LP

    The Shouldies ; ) LP (Graveface Records/Nevernotgoth Records) It’s uncommon enough an occurrence that one can never hope to count on it, but sometimes an album comes along at precisely the moment a listener needs to hear it. In my own case, I’ve been listening to a surprising amount of very moody, very texturally-centred music…

  • Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children LP

    Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children LP

    Anti-Flag Lies They Tell Our Children LP (Spinefarm Records) After thirty-five years in circulation documented by twelve full-length albums, eleven EPs, a multitude of singles, videos, split releases and other releases in addition to innumerable miles logged on the road, it goes without saying that Anti-Flag has paid its dues – but Lies They Tell…

  • Drowns & Plizzken – Split 7” Single

    Drowns & Plizzken – Split 7” Single

    The Drowns/Plizzken “Lost Boys Of Suburbia” b/w “One More Time” split single (Pirates Press Records) It doesn’t feel as though it happens very often, but some releases (and their contents) defy explanation. Like, how does a song appear on a single and nowhere else – particularly when the song in question features such a high…

  • Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children

    Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children

    Anti-Flag Lies They Tell Our Children (Spinefarm) It might sound a little counter-intuitive but, throughout their career (which has run for thirty-five years now – as of this writing), Anti-Flag has always proven to be at their best when people have already counted the band out – that’s when they have something to prove and…

  • Amai Kuda et Les Bois – EmUrgency! LP

    Amai Kuda et Les Bois – EmUrgency! LP

    Amai Kuda et Les Bois EmUrgency! LP (Imprint Entertainment) It’s not terribly common to come upon an album which sound simultaneously easy to qualify and quantify as well as in addition to coming off completely fresh and original, but that’s exactly what EmUrgency! does. As soon as stylus touches down, needle catches groove and “Which…

  • The Senders – All Killer No Filler (1977 – 2001) 2LP

    The Senders – All Killer No Filler (1977 – 2001) 2LP

    The Senders All Killer No Filler (1977 – 2001) 2LP (Left For Dead Records) It’s funny how, as perfectly well-exposed as a scene and its associated lore might be, there are always bits which are obscured by shadows. In the New York punk scene of the 1970s, for example, everybody knows many of the stories…

  • Bishop’s Green – Black Skies EP and Waiting EP

    Bishop’s Green – Black Skies EP and Waiting EP

    Bishop’s Green Black Skies EP (Pirates Press Records) As cool as some album covers are (and the cover of the Black Skies EP is definitely very cool), the peril is often that the image on the cover of a record just doesn’t match the music. It could easily be argued that Black Skies falls hard…

  • Luke Combs – Growin’ Up LP

    Luke Combs – Growin’ Up LP

    Luke Combs Growin’ Up LP (River House/Columbia/Sony Music) I confess that it took a few days of listening to Luke Combs’ third album, Growin’ Up, constantly in hopes of finding a lede into the music before I finally found one which explained why I liked it as much as I do. I mean, the lyrics…