Album Reviews

[rating=8.00] Can punk rockers get old and still retain relevance and firepower? Yuppicide’s newest release Revenge Regret Repeat answers that inquiry with a resounding, Hell Yes! After raging to prominence in the New York hardcore scene during the early 90’s the Brooklyn based band has comeback in the late ‘10’s with one of the best […]

[rating=7.00] Sunflower Bean has had a quick ascent from a DIY New York buzz band, to reaching some of the highest echelons of music acknowledgement, garnering mentions in some prestigious publications without having released a record.  While their precociousness is admirable (all three members are under 21), they may have lost a piece of the […]

[rating=8.00] Lik last album, Fourth Corner, 2016’s Porta Bohemica reflects the strength and confidence of a performer that possesses an extended resume. Indeed, on initial encounter, several striking forebears come to mind – Annie Lennox, Betty Levert, Aretha Franklin, and any number of other revered divas. Whitley’s doesn’t attempt to imitate those icons, but she does […]

[rating=7.00] Dr. Dog have never been an easy band to put a ready handle on. Their aggressive posture and penchant for psychedelia finds them akin to a spontaneous jam band in some regards, and has given them a populist kind of precept as well and classified them as indie insurgents overall. It’s a baffling mix […]

[rating=7.00] Sunderland, England’s Field Music have been nominated for a Mercury Prize (for their 2012 release Plumb) and satisfied music aficionados with four albums from 2005 – 2012, each more impressive than the previous. Yet, you’d be lucky to find an American with which to share stories about this considerable catalog. As their tour dates […]

[rating=7.00] A Benji Hughes album is like a seed in transit. If it winds up in the right environment, it will eventually bloom. But it could just as easily land on concrete. In the case of Songs in the Key of Animals, the success of the album depends largely on whose ears in which it […]

[rating=8.00] For those who have never experienced the joys of the seagoing music festival that is called Cayamo, suffice it to say it ought not be missed. Boasting a veritable who’s who of Americana icons — John Prine, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and Lucinda Williams being but a fraction of the major names involved — […]

[rating=10.00] As we move into 2016, it’s safe to say we could all use a little salvation after a year filled with a rise in white nationalistic hate rhetoric, bigotry, gun violence and terrorism. Salvation can come in many forms, yet music has always been one of the most effective remedies. This idea was a […]

[rating=9.00] The two CD ‘Deluxe Edition’ of the Allman Brothers Band’s Idlewild South achieves what so very few such archive titles accomplish: placing the original work in a context that illuminates the artist’s evolution. Arguably the finest studio recordings this iconic Southern band ever completed are further  refined  in this package by remastering that also […]

[rating=8.00] One might be forgiven for feeling some confusion as far as Freakwater is concerned. Never mind the fact that much of the band’s line-up is interchangeable with that of the band Eleventh Dream Day, another Chicago-based outfit of a similar variety. Or that Scheherazade is Freakwater’s first album in ten years, a seemingly lengthy […]

[rating=8.00] Moth, the third album from Brooklyn duo Chairlift, is the band’s boldest statement yet, adding an urban edge to their synth pop sound. Singer Caroline Polachek has learned to meld her idiosyncratic vocals better with the grooves supplied by multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wimberly, who replaced founding member Aaron Pfenning in 2011. The result is a […]

Mike Patton, Tunde Adebimpe, and doseone break bold new ground with their collaborative project, Nevermen.

[rating=8.00] As their website so proudly and accurately notes, Let Me Get By is an album of firsts for the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Their debut for Fantasy Records, this early 2016 release is more importantly, an in-house product of creativity. All the material is original, in various combinations of what’s now a twelve-piece band, was […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews Frank Turner’s latest album Positive Songs For Negative People in his six-panel comic book form. Click on the image for full resolution:  [youtube id=”P4IZbCl6iR4″ width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=9.00] The rapturous cross of post-punk and noise edginess upon Savages 2013’s Silence Yourself marked one of the strongest records of that year. Leading the charge with lyrical deconstruction of gender politics, equality, and sexual fantasy, it was all bottled beautifully with slow-burners and a tightfisted approach that only ramped up the stakes. The once […]

[rating=8.00] Let’s be honest with ourselves: every Bloc Party album that gets release, we secretly hope will be as tremendous as the band’s 2005 debut album, Silent Alarm. For a fan to wish for this is natural, as we find comfort in the familiar, but it is also selfish and unfair. While Bloc Party’s fifth […]

[rating=7.00] Tortoise begin The Catastrophist auspiciously, much like their long experimental career— introducing us to synth keys that belong in the 8-bit realm medium. It eventually teeters off into normal territory, at least considered for their world. Where their earlier works are more revered because of their playfulness, ambition with an aura of sparseness, The […]

[rating=6.00] Nineties nostalgia seems to be at an all time high, which may be what draws listeners to the new record Here’s to Almost from the Virginia-based trio Feral Conservatives. But it’s the touch of sweetness they bring to their folky garage rock that will keep the attention. On the opening track “Round the Corner”, […]

[rating=6.00] Ty Segall is unstoppable. Releasing new music at an alarming rate, the young shredder has no shortage of things to say and noise to make. In fact, on the heels of his new record Emotional Mugger comes a new release from California quartet Audacity, produced by Segall. This is the norm for him, as his is […]

[rating=7.00] Phoenix based dance rockers Harper and the Moths have got a plan and it has nothing to do with being confounding or bland – however that doesn’t mean there isn’t some crypticness to their sound. Like the popular French band (Phoenix) that shares the name of their home city, Harper and the Moths deliver […]