Category: Reviews – Vinyl

Metal still sounds best on large, round pieces of pressed vinyl. The smell, the artwork – and it gets played through a needle.

  • Autogramm – Music That Humans Can Play LP

    Autogramm – Music That Humans Can Play LP

    Autogramm Music That Humans Can Play LP (Stomp/WEA) That Autogramm has so meticulously presented themselves as being perched on New Wave’s pinnacle of power and influence now – about forty years after that form peaked – cannot possibly have been by accident. From front to back and top to bottom, Music That Humans Can Play…

  • the crushedvelvets –  I Planted, Apollos Watered, But God Kept Making It Grow LP

    the crushedvelvets – I Planted, Apollos Watered, But God Kept Making It Grow LP

    the crushedvelvets I Planted, Apollos Watered, But God Kept Making It Grow LP (TCV Records) Not every reader of this review will have experienced any kind of skepticism at the current health and validity of rock music, but they can rest assured that it’s coming. In my own case, I remember being in university when…

  • Scott Collins – Purple Pain LP

    Scott Collins – Purple Pain LP

    Scott Collins Purple Pain LP (independent) There aren’t many artists making music right now who are capable of introducing themselves as clearly having both their heart on their sleeve as well as a chip clearly on their shoulder, but that’s exactly what Scott Collins does on his Purple Pain LP. From the moment stylus catches…

  • Bass Drum Of Death – “Live… And Let Die” LP

    Bass Drum Of Death – “Live… And Let Die” LP

    Bass Drum Of Death “Live… And Let Die” LP (Cobraside Distribution) Even on first glance at the cover of “Live… And Let Die”, I began to get excited. The cover of the album reminded me of so many other live albums I’d seen before; with a black and white photo and an arguably trite title,…

  • Frank Turner – Undefeated LP

    Frank Turner – Undefeated LP

    Frank Turner Undefeated LP (Xtra Mile Recordings/Dine Alone/The Orchard) After releasing nine albums in seventeen years (and that’s just the studio albums – there are more comps and live albums that have appeared, as well), many fans may have a bit of difficulty getting excited about a new Frank Turner album. Granted, the singer has…

  • Trabants – “Mantra” b/w “Surfers On Acid” 7” single

    Trabants – “Mantra” b/w “Surfers On Acid” 7” single

    Trabants “Mantra” b/w “Surfers On Acid” 7” (Hypnotic Bridge Records) It’s impressive how engaging Trabants prove they’re capable of being on theirt “Mantra” single, particularly given that the first which tends to hook listeners is the thing that is noticeably absent from the band’s construct: a singer. Usually, a band’s singer is the first thing…

  • Alice In Chains – Jar Of Flies 12” EP (30th Anniversary Reissue)

    Alice In Chains – Jar Of Flies 12” EP (30th Anniversary Reissue)

    Alice In Chains Jar Of Flies 12” EP (black vinyl 30th Anniversary reissue) (Legacy Recordings/Columbia/Sony Music) After seeing the multitude of “deluxe” variants of Alice In Chains’ Jar Of Flies EP that have been released in celebration of its thirtieth anniversary (on multi-colored vinyl, on vinyl with little replica houseflies pressed into it and so…

  • Blink-182 – One More Time LP

    Blink-182 – One More Time LP

    Blink 182 One More Time… LP (Columbia/Sony Music) It would be easy to find a cynical angle to approach the existence and sound of One More Time…, Blink-182’s ninth studio album and first to feature singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge since 2015. Did DeLonge’s return have something to do with singer/bassist Mark Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis in 2021?…

  • Judas Priest – Invincible Shield 2LP

    Judas Priest – Invincible Shield 2LP

    Judas Priest Invincible Shield 2LP (Epic/Sony Music) In the fifty-five years since their foundation, Judas Priest has seen no small number of changes to their form and style while still remaining an inimitable mainstay of the metal community. The band has never been afraid to re-evaluate their sound and style as they go, and that…

  • Alabama 3 – Cold War Classics Vol. 2 LP

    Alabama 3 – Cold War Classics Vol. 2 LP

    Alabama 3 Cold War Classics Vol. 2 LP (Submarine Cat Records) Before anyone gets nervous about what they might have missed, it’s important to point out that Cold War Classics is not the first Alabama 3 album to feature the erroneous numeric identifier Volume 2 (2002’s acoustic experiment Last Train to Mashville was listed as…