With the first hit of the snare drum and open guitar chord, Gouge Away’s newest release Burnt Sugar envelopes you. The listener has no choice but to yield to the songs. No break or lull is found.
Although Loverboy / Dog Days opens with a distinctly King Woman metal dirge, it winds down to pure shoegazing bliss by its dreamy closer. Likewise, the double EP is split between vengeful recollections of bad romances and breezy poems considerably less bent on storytelling.
The resulting LP, Charles and Roy’s Purple Wang, is a loaded foray into unexpected turns with spasmodic keys, fiery sharp tremoloed clang guitars, stomped percussion, all ready to implode, shatter, puke all over you.
Lisa/Liza has always sought to find the quiet places in what was already desolate music, but Momentary Glance serves to curl up into a ball at every chance, receding into the profound heartbreak of loss without ever romanticizing it.
Moaning Lisa deconstruct love songs to reinvent and re-contextualize them for our hyper-political and (slowly but surely) more accepting culture. Riffs permeate the consciousness of Do You Know Enough? as strongly as the lyrics depict ephemeral romances or singledom.
The latest record by Ty Segall is different than other cover albums and demands consideration on its own merits. Its “low-key” release is no reason not to wholeheartedly join him on his journey into his figurative and literal record collection, of which he has claimed was a great inspiration.
Ing’s Bandcamp describes their music as being “composed of only notes and no chords,” and you’d almost believed this puzzling descriptor at first. This is a band with lots and lots of riffs.
Yowler’s new, incredible album Black Dog in My Path is not an escape, but a mirror to the conflicts of existence. Haunting and sincere, it conjures up dark images that fit with the Halloween season, but not in the fun way we’re used to.
You’d be hard pressed to personify desolation and internal despair more effectively than Daughters’ fourth full-length record, You Won’t Get What You Want. The Rhode Island noise outfit’s latest LP is an anxiety-inducing nightmare ode to human conflict, a rejection of harmony and altruism.
On Elastic Days, his third release on Sub Pop, Mascis is working at his simplest, delivering wounded ballads that cut deep without lingering. Structurally and sonically, Elastic Days is the most consistent album of Mascis’ solo work.
A Laughing Death in Meatspace is a record that never relents on its energetic and pummeling psych-rock. Lilliard and Kitschen meld their voices together seamlessly to create a neat dynamic that cuts through dueling guitars and swirling keyboard and electronics.
Overall, much of the album feels very personal—not necessarily written with an audience in mind, but definitely a pure fleshing out of Shamir’s untempered thoughts. And given his trajectory in the last two years, creating music in this fashion will only make his art more potent as he matures.
Their new album Soft Hell showcases all they’ve done so well the past three years while pushing their sound forward, refining the chaos they breed and giving shape to the simmering rage that lies underneath.
Quicksand hasn't made a record in 22 years, and this new record, Interiors, bridges the gap very well. It feels like stepping into extended, but worthy of being, title tracks off their debut album.
Recorded in 48 hours in the early months of 2018, the record bears influences from noise rock, grunge, and punk. In less than 18 minutes, Gloop manage to sound as effortless as Pavement while remaining as angry and gritty as The Jesus Lizard.
Beast on Beast is an emotionally dense album that hides under playful songwriting and Gabby’s airy and effortless vocals that drive home the accessibility to Gabby’s inner world and life
The trio’s sophomore effort is a sleek approach to melodic hardcore. Stella is filled with sweeping hooks and a revamped sound, as the album’s production value is kicked into high gear with the help of veteran engineers Jack Shirley and Steve Albini.
This record drives home the euphoria of rock songs that make your pulse quicken once their hooks get under your skin. For all its otherworldly ambition, its greatest achievement hails from closer to home
The difference here is that he is pushing just a little further, testing his limits just a little more than we are used to. And that’s what makes this record truly special, that it proves Hartlett can maintain his sense of identity while stepping out into the unknown.
