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.

  • The Dils – Live! [Reissue] LP + CD

    The Dils – Live! [Reissue] LP + CD

    The Dils Live! [Reissue] LP+CD (Porterhouse Records) While plenty of punk bands have been well exposed since the public became interested in learning about the early days of the L.A. punk scene (X’s catalogue has been reissued by Fat Possum Records, Porterhouse reissued (MIA) by The Germs and other labels have reissued titles by The…

  • S-E-R-V-I-C-E – Drag Me LP

    S-E-R-V-I-C-E – Drag Me LP

    S-E-R-V-I-C-E Drag Me LP (Let’s Pretend Records) While fans already had a pretty good idea where Jon Spencer would end up following the dissolution of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 2016 (other than making appearances in the multitude of projects to which the guitarist had offered both his name and talent over the years,…

  • Jon Spencer & The HITmakers – Spencer Gets It Lit LP

    Jon Spencer & The HITmakers – Spencer Gets It Lit LP

    Jon Spencer & the HITmakers Spencer Gets It Lit LP (Bronze Rat Records) After breaking and then building upon the first new and surprisingly fertile ground that the guitarist had touched in years with Spencer Sings The Hits! in 2018, Jon Spencer has continued on the same creative terrain with Spencer Gets It Lit. For…

  • Booze & Glory – Raising The Roof 12” EP

    Booze & Glory – Raising The Roof 12” EP

    Booze & Glory Raising The Roof 12” EP (Pirates Press Records) It’s funny how, over time, the purpose of EPs has seemed to change. In the Nineties (read: when I began paying attention), EPs took on a pretty lauded and/or respected position as several such titles came up from the underground [by bands like Nirvana,…

  • Suzi Moon – Animal 12” EP

    Suzi Moon – Animal 12” EP

    Suzi Moon Animal 12” EP (Pirates Press Records) Important point: there are three songs on Suzi Moon’s Animal 12” EP. All three songs appear on both sides of said single so, where most vinyl releases are characterized by the movement from front to back, this single seeks to reprise its progression from one side to…

  • The Drowns – Lunatics 12” EP

    The Drowns – Lunatics 12” EP

    The Drowns Lunatics EP (Pirates Press Records) It would be easy enough to curse The Drowns out for what the band has done with the Lunatics EP. Not unlike what innumerable other acts have done, over the years (Hot Water Music, NOFX and John Lennon all leap to mind), The Drowns have elected to take…

  • Sweat – Gotta Give It Up LP

    Sweat – Gotta Give It Up LP

    Sweat Gotta Give It Up LP (Pirates Press Records) On the surface, the cliche that, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” writes itself into any discussion about Gotta Give It Up. Yes – from the opening notes of “Hit & Run,” the opening cut on Gotta Give It Up, Sweat presents itself like…

  • Charger – Warhorse LP

    Charger – Warhorse LP

    Charger Warhorse LP (Pirates Press Records) After releasing a couple of singles to introduce themselves last year, Charger (Rancid bassist Matt Freeman’s side project) has finally elected to give listeners a full-course meal of exactly everything they’re all about with the Warhorse LP. How, let’s be honest here – some side projects have all the…

  • Jane’s Addiction – “Stop!”/”Three Days” and “Been Caught Stealing” 12” singles

    Jane’s Addiction – “Stop!”/”Three Days” and “Been Caught Stealing” 12” singles

    Now thirty years and several significant cultural movements later, it’s difficult to get a sense of how much excitement and promise there was surrounding Jane’s Addiction at the height of the band’s fame. Simply said, the band represented a way to transition from the staid, well-established values and forms evident in classic rock to the…

  • Come Closer – Pretty Garbage LP

    Come Closer – Pretty Garbage LP

    Come Closer Pretty Garbage LP (Pirates Press Records) While it’s very easy for me to get excited about a new punk band that I’ve never heard before (I’ve been listening to a lot of punk, for a for a lot of years), running across something which makes me excited because I can’t immediately qualify it…