Category: Reviews – Audio
Glorious metal in all its earthly forms, compressed onto shiny plastic discs or into digital files. Which ones will become the soundtrack to your life?
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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…
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The Wombats – Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This EP
The Wombats Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This 12” EP (The Orchard) After having embarked on a career which has seen the band release six full-length albums, one compilation and nine EPs with startlingly minimal popular notice, there’s no way to deny that The Wombats are one of the most tragically…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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NastyFacts – “Drive My Car” (Limited Edition Deluxe 12” single)
Nastyfacts “Drive My Car” (Limited Edition Deluxe 12” single) (Left For Dead Records) As every punk knows, it’s not terribly uncommon for many bands of a certain vintage to have a pretty abbreviated catalogue of releases. The idea of “one and done” isn’t uncommon at all, really – but it’s still saying something when a…
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Nile & Krisiun Live in London at The Garage, November 6th 2022
American Brutal and Technical Death Metallers Nile have returned to entomb London yet again. They’re actually here to support their 2019 release Vile Nilotic Rites, a venture that was put on pause due to the pandemic. Such a prolonged absence has certainly made their fans’ hearts fonder. The Garage is full of admirers on an unseasonably mild Sunday…
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Alexisonfire – Otherness LP
Alexisonfire Otherness 2LP (Dine Alone) The cool thing that Alexisonfire has always done (and this is not a claim that many bands can make) is that they have always challenged their audience without making it look intentional. When the band’s first album appeared in 2002, for example, the idea that three bands (Condemning Salem, Helicon…
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Lucius – Second Nature LP
Lucius Second Nature LP (Mom + Pop Records) Not so long ago, an article was published outlining the concept and idea of “post-genre” pop, and the very idea made this critic scoff. “Attention spans have grown shorter,” I thought. “The way that many young people define themselves, the things they like and the things they…
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The Flatliners – New Ruin LP
The Flatliners New Ruin LP (Dine Alone/Fat Wreck Chords) In the twenty-year duration of The Flatliners’ career to date, it’s actually pretty remarkable to observe the turns that the band’s music has taken. After beginning with some respectable (if not terribly memorable) ska-core in 2005 and then taking a couple of years to develop (see…