Tag: rock

  • Woodhawk – Beyond The Sun

    Woodhawk – Beyond The Sun

    This was truly a pleasure to review – songs, musicianship, production, everything is as it should be! Woodhawk have taken some very good influences: Mastodon, Thin Lizzy, Budgie, Hawkwind, Monster Magnet and, of course… Kyuss. (I often think of some alternative universe where Kyuss never broke up…a splendid thought indeed!) Not so much in sound,…

  • Radio Free Universe – Casa Del Diablo

    Radio Free Universe – Casa Del Diablo

    Firstly, kudos to the splendidly named Radio Free Universe (inspired by World War 2’s ‘Radio Free Europe’) for their commitment to the physical format of music, this is one excellently designed CD. In a fair world, Radio Free Universe would be the next Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, not because they sound like those…

  • Curse the Son – Isolator

    Curse the Son – Isolator

    Although you’d probably be hard-pressed to find it on these northern shores, I had a buddy of mine smuggle a copy of Curse the Son’s previous album, Psychache. At the time, they were largely a local, unsigned Connecticut band, but had started to make a name for themselves with their heavy brand of stoom. Alas,…

  • Jupiter Hollow – Odyssey

    Jupiter Hollow – Odyssey

    I am very impressed by this EP on any level. Sounding, to my mind, like a cross between Rush, Zombi, and Mastodon, this is progressive metal as it should be. Grant MacKenzie and Kenny Parry, the two men that make up Jupiter Hollow, can be proud of this EP. It features strong playing, excellent song-writing, and…

  • The Wallflowers – Bringing Down The Horse LP

    The Wallflowers – Bringing Down The Horse LP

    A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Twentieth Anniversary 2LP reissue of Bringing Down The Horse by The Wallflowers It might not have been the single most obvious thing, but those who remember the times during which The Wallflowers released their sophomore album know the world was a very strange place from an…

  • Our Lady Peace – Naveed LP

    Our Lady Peace – Naveed LP

    A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2016-released vinyl reissue of the Naveed LP by Our Lady Peace Now with the benefit of hindsight, it is genuinely incredible when one considers how many classic bands just seemed to materialize from nowhere on the streets of Toronto in the first half of the 1990s.…

  • Freedom Hawk – Sunlight

    Freedom Hawk – Sunlight

    Man, these guys have been kicking around for a while. I actually reviewed their self-titled debut on MeteorCity nearly seven years ago—at least, I thought it was their debut at the time. Turns out that Sunlight predates it by a year, but it was such a limited edition CDR release that next to nobody actually…

  • Lo-Pan – In Tensions EP

    Lo-Pan – In Tensions EP

    Columbus heavy rock crew Lo-Pan is kicking off 2017 in style with this five-song, 22-minute EP. The grizzled tour veterans head out with “Go West,” a slower, sludgy stomp that kinda reminds me of Torche, especially in the vocal department. “Sink or Swim” is slightly shorter and crunchier, a decent, mid-paced, melodic rocker. The slow,…

  • Baby In Vain – For The Kids EP

    Baby In Vain – For The Kids EP

    Some self-important critic somewhere will review Baby In Vain‘s first EP and say they saw it coming. Over the last couple of years, bands like Dilly Dally, Like A Motorcycle and Ex Hex have all come along and resurfaced the road which once traced the way between hardcore, metal and grunge and also renewed interest…

  • The Pixies – Head Carrier

    The Pixies – Head Carrier

    In music history, there have only been a few bands who have been able to make a truly great “petty rock” or “revenge rock” record (some might say Pink Floyd have done it, it could be debated if Smashing Pumpkins did it) but the Pixies have definitely added their name to that tradition with their…