Tag: hard rock
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Hater – s/t LP (reissue)
I must confess that I had never heard of Hater before Ben Shepherd put out In Deep Owl a couple of years ago. I was really, really taken with that album and had been thrilled at the prospect of taking an interview with him when the opportunity came up; in fact, I jumped at it.…
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Devil to Pay – A Bend in Space and Time
Album number five from these Indiana stalwarts sees the band keeping with the cosmic themes of its predecessor, Fate is Your Muse. But this time, the lyrics seem more grounded in reality, including the Lemmy tribute track “Your Inner Lemmy” where Devil to Pay certainly channel one Mr. Kilmeister. This record starts off on a faster…
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Foghound – The World Unseen
This Baltimore band can trace its lineage—and its rhythm section—back to stoner-rock outfit Sixty Watt Shaman, who put out a couple rippin’ records on Spitfire at the turn of the century. And like with most bands from Maryland, the riffs run deep on this, Foghound’s second record. “Above the Wake” starts things off in a more…
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Pentagram – First Daze Here
These days, when Bobby Liebling sings “These are gonna be my last days here…” he really means it. The dude looked like death warmed over when I saw ‘em down in Cleveland last year, and his touring troubles continued recently, with missed gigs and pissed-off openers on their last trek. The backing band behind him…
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Melvins – Basses Loaded
In case you’re wondering about the title, the Melvins have been through about as many bassists as Spinal Tap had drummers—although we’re still waiting for one to spontaneously combust on stage. It’s also a lesser-known fact that King Buzzo once blew off backstage passes with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme because he had Dodgers tickets.…
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Shortcuts: 7 Recent EPs, Singles, and Splits of Note
Ok – I’m busy. You’re busy. So let’s cut the shit and talk bad-ass tunes, specifically, some recent noteworthy non-LP releases that are more than worth investing what little precious time you have to spare. Dark Circles/Abstracter – Split LP (Halo of Flies/L’Oeil Du Tigre Records/Moment of Collapse/Sick Man Getting Sick/Shove) Damn. This one doesn’t…
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Slash – Raised On The Sunset Strip Blu-Ray
Historians and critics may curse Raised On The Sunset Strip for presenting a documentary which features some pretty plainly revisionist history of the L.A. rock scene of the 1980s in general and Guns N’ Roses in specific, but there’s no way to deny that the film tells a really interesting story – at least at…
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Speedtrap – Straight Shooter
Reviews I’m seen for this simply splendid album seem to focus on two bands as influences on Speedtrap, Motorhead and Chrome Division (I don’t see them as an influence but they share attitudes and influences). For sure I hear Motorhead, which is as it should be, if you don’t love Motorhead, you don’t love life.…
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Van Halen – s/t
The thing about albums which are truly progressive (to be clear, I’m referring to albums which break new ground – not necessarily prog rock albums) is that their impact on pop music as a whole takes a bit of time to really register. Sure, there’s a chance that they might break through, win fans and…
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Kadavar – Berlin
Kadavar has really cut its teeth on the road since the release of their last record, 2013’s Abra Kadavar. On their first North American trek, they blew Scorpion Child off the stage on what I can only assume was a regular basis, judging by the Toronto show. And their 2014 headlining gig at the Horseshoe…