Claire Rousay - "A Softer Focus" | Album Review
Partnering with American Dreams, Rousay’s latest, a softer focus, is a subtle new leaf. All the usual elements of her previous recordings are still here, albeit with greater spaciousness; Rousay’s partnership with a handful of chamber collaborators are a key element in that, imparting her songs their own dusk-tinged shadows.
Sour Widows - "Crossing Over" | Album Review
On Sour Widows’ second LP, Crossing Over, there is a departure from the alt pop-infused sound of their debut, instead deriving their power from a place of sheer tenderness and meditation. Despite being recorded remotely due to the pandemic, the Bay Area trio has managed to create a harmonious and expansive atmosphere.
Squid - "Bright Green Field" | Album Review
McKinley Dixon - "For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her" | Album Review
Civic - "Future Forecast" | Album Review
Colonial Wound - "Degradation" | Album Review
Deadguy is still fertile ground to excavate for modern metalcore bands. Take one listen to Colonial Wound’s first release Untitled. The vocals are similar but are still modern, adding a much needed update to this style of the genre. Degradation only ups the ante, bringing in more of a noise rock influence, not too dissimilar to Exhalants or Unsane.
Kneeling In Piss - "Types of Cults" | Album Review
Pinpointing our modern hell in a few brief punk songs, Kneeling In Piss gives us more. Types of Cults is their fourth release and their third EP from a series of recordings made over the last year. Signature to the band’s sound is finding that right piece of music and playing it until it’s all used up, with a “concrete lack of skill.”
Maxshh - "Feedback & PB" | Album Review
Crafted intermittently over the course of five years, Feedback & PB is a dense and complex work, flowing dizzyingly from hook to hook, interspersed with noise, found-recording style interludes, and madcap arpeggiating synths. The hooks may be sweet or sour, but they change fast and are always complex and vivid.
Special Interest - "The Passion Of" | Album Review
New Orleans art punks Special Interest dropped their second album The Passion Of at a time when many needed a soundtrack to their suddenly very dystopian lives. In June 2020, there was civil unrest peaking around the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police -- in the midst of a pandemic.
Olivia's World - " Tuff 2B Tender" | Album Review
Tunic - "Exhaling" | Album Review
Fury, alienation and anxiety are key emotions in the punk and post-hardcore canon. For Tunic, those feelings are not just essential, they drive them. On Exhaling, they deliver a massive set of 23 songs injected with visceral themes. David Schellenberg roars and snarls lyrics of coping with stress and the vexed duality of oneself.
Big|Brave - "Vital" | Album Review
BIG|BRAVE didn’t set out to be one of the world’s most riveting experimental metal bands, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to them. Each release has absolutely radiated discomfort. Vital appears to push their approach to its limit, leaning into their well-oiled combination of sinewy vocals, slow rhythms, and twin-guitar sheets of sound.
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - "Haram" | Album Review
Special Friend - "Ennemi Commun" | Album Review
Clever Girls - "Constellations" | Album Review
Constellations is the sophomore album from Vermont quartet Clever Girls who combine dusty Americana influences with bursts of psychedelic noise mixed in. Their songs have a deep-rooted bounciness in them that combines with a spiky lyrical bent to produce ecstatic moments that have real emotional depth.
Spirit of the Beehive - "Entertainment, Death" | Album Review
M.A.Z.E. - "II" | Album Review
It’s not often a band gets harder and lower-fi with time--not without sounding contrived, anyway--but on their new LP II, Japanese post-punk band M.A.Z.E. tap into their hardcore influence with unqualified success. II is faster, furiouser, and more fun, filling in singer Eriko’s vocals with fuzz and throwing some real punch behind guitarist Tatsuya’s oscillating riffs and scorching chord swipes.
