Tag: rock
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Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards – Viking LP (reissue)
If the idea that a classic album is defined as ‘one which holds personal meaning for a listener’ can be taken as factual, then I can say confidently that Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards’ sophomore album, Viking, is one of the most important albums of my life; for me, it is a personal classic. I remember, for…
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Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards – s/t LP (reissue)
Those who remember that time period when all those Southern California punk bands who broke through in the early nineties got huge (like the Offspring, Green Day, NOFX and Rancid) remember what a big deal it was when Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards released their first album in 2001. Granted, they were not the first…
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Against the Grain – Cheated Death
Detroit Rock City road warriors Against the Grain are back with their fourth full-length album, and they’ll surely be coming to your town to help you party it down in the very near future. But in the meantime, we’ve got these 12 tracks of Motor City speed rock to tide us over, 40 minutes at…
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Dan Rico – Flesh & Bone b/w Gold Volvo (7-inch single)
On first play through Dan Rico‘s “Flesh & Bone” 7-inch single, many listeners will likely be struck and dazzled by what they hear. They’ll be excited by the tone and tenor of both “Flesh & Bone” and its B-side, “Gold Volvo,” because both tracks sound tightly and classically composed, in the finest tradition of the…
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Stuyedeyed / Birds – split 7-inch
It’s always kind of incredible how great a gamble a split 7-inch single release can be for the artists involved. Over the years, lots of bands have made great ones, yes, but there have been an equal or greater number of weak or soft efforts which feel lopsided because either one band or one song…
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Black Moth – Anatomical Venus
Often reviews of an album consist of ‘this sounds like band x’, the singer sounds like ‘singer y’, and ‘this album sounds like album z’. But this is not the case with Black Moth: they are special; they sound like Black Moth, no one else. This in itself is a mighty achievement.Their song-writing and performances are…
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NEEDLES//PINS – Good Night, Tomorrow LP
Such occurrences are rare but sometimes, all the tumblers just happen to align. A band doesn’t just produce the best damned music of their career, it also happens to get released in just the right place at the right time (and enough people just happen to be looking and listening just the right way) that…
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The Whistles And The Bells – Modern Plagues LP
If we can all agree that many of the best, most interesting albums are those which convey a particular image of its maker, then there’s little doubt of Modern Plagues‘ quality. From the very outset of The Whistles And The Bells‘ sophomore album, listeners are presented with the image of auteur Bryan Simpson toiling gladly…
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Suede Razors – Razor Stomp 12-inch EP
It might sound weird to say, but it’s about time Suede Razors got around to releasing more than just two songs at a time. To date, Bay area bovver band Suede Razors have managed to build a shockingly devoted following on the strength of a succession of seven-inch singles (see “Boys Night Out” and “Here…
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Sass Jordan – Racine Revisited
Twenty-five years ago, Sass Jordan made her first big breakthrough onto Canadian radio airwaves with her sophomore album Racine. It was very much a “right place, right time” kind of moment – with bands like the Black Crowes and singers like Melissa Etheridge holding a whole lot of time and space on playlists around the…