May 21, 2018

Reviews

SUMAC & Keiji Haino - "American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On" | Album Review

May 21, 2018

Reviews

SUMAC & Keiji Haino - "American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On" | Album Review

American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On is a psychedelic journey that travels between metal, noise, and back again. It’s a long record (about 66 minutes), so be ready to embark on a trek when you put this album on,

May 21, 2018

by: Jorge Velez

Reviews

A Beacon School - "Cola" | Album Review

May 21, 2018

by: Jorge Velez

Reviews

Every day can be the refreshing, familiar sip of a Cola, an appropriately named record for New York’s A Beacon School’s new record out now on Grind Select; an experience that is altogether new but feels surprisingly familiar.

May 18, 2018

by: Dylan Pennell

Reviews

Iceage - "Beyondless" | Album Review

May 18, 2018

by: Dylan Pennell

Reviews

Over the course of the album the band veers between rock classicism and Western swagger, letting drums gallop, guitars criss, cross, and then clash, all while frontman Ronnenfelt mumbles, spits, and gnashes over the newly streamlined discord.

May 17, 2018

by: Joshua Hoey

Reviews

Trace Mountains - "A Partner To Lean On" | Album Review

May 17, 2018

by: Joshua Hoey

Reviews

Trace Mountains - "A Partner To Lean On" | Album Review

The distinction from earlier efforts is the sense of completeness, the confidence of a final draft as opposed to (also compelling) sketches.

May 16, 2018

by: Scott Hartge

Reviews

Big Ups - "Two Parts Together" | Album Review

May 16, 2018

by: Scott Hartge

Reviews

Big Ups - "Two Parts Together" | Album Review

Two Parts Together, while very much a Big Ups record, sees the band exploring exciting new territories forcing listeners to keep their expectations in check.

May 15, 2018

by: jacob dempsey

Reviews

War On Women - "Capture The Flag" | Album Review

May 15, 2018

by: jacob dempsey

Reviews

War On Women - "Capture The Flag" | Album Review

Capture the Flag is a record the seeks to create a rallying cry around the forward movement of our society, which seems to be caught in a downward spiral.

May 15, 2018

by: Brian Manley

Reviews

Bush Tetras - "Take The Fall" | Album Review

May 15, 2018

by: Brian Manley

Reviews

Bush Tetras - "Take The Fall" | Album Review

They have been creating no wave/new wave/post-punk shivs into establishment ideals and sexist stupidity for decades and still stab heavy with their latest EP, Take the Fall on Wharf Cat.

May 14, 2018

by: Connor McInerney

Reviews

Varsity - "Parallel Person" | Album Review

May 14, 2018

by: Connor McInerney

Reviews

Varsity - "Parallel Person" | Album Review

Chicago’s Varsity begin their sophomore effort Parallel Person with a question that foreshadows the record’s candid discussion of self critique, isolation, and human relationships. Fortunately such difficult topics are approached with levity in one way or another.

May 14, 2018

by: Kayla Morgan

Reviews

A Day Without Love - "Diary" | Album Review

May 14, 2018

by: Kayla Morgan

Reviews

A Day Without Love - "Diary" | Album Review

While Walker continues to speak out about mental illness, Diary also tackles white privilege, systematic racism, inequality, and the consequences of capitalism.

May 11, 2018

by: Joshua Hoey

Reviews

Connections - "Foreign Affairs" | Album Review

May 11, 2018

by: Joshua Hoey

Reviews

Connections - "Foreign Affairs" | Album Review

Foreign Affairs reveals a band unafraid to throw in a few curveballs. However they choose to accessorize these tunes, at the core of each resides a nugget of pure pop bliss.

May 10, 2018

by: Alex Azuelos

Reviews

Thanks For Coming - "Back At It Again" | Album Review

May 10, 2018

by: Alex Azuelos

Reviews

Thanks For Coming - "Back At It Again" | Album Review

What really shines on this album, as often does in Thanks For Coming’s work, are the unique, clever lyrics delivered by Brown’s distinct vocals. The six-track album has an inviting and fun feel to it, while maintaining a sort of intimacy found in its style and message.

May 9, 2018

by: Joe Gutierrez

Reviews

Bonny Doon - "Longwave" | Album Review

May 9, 2018

by: Joe Gutierrez

Reviews

Guitar noodling hits swift like a crisp breeze, riffs initiating goosebumps galore. Longwave is a steady hike through the desert, filling up your pockets with rocks and stones for friends along the way.

May 8, 2018

by: Jonathan Bannister

Reviews

Pill - "The Dull Tools Tapes" | Album Review

May 8, 2018

by: Jonathan Bannister

Reviews

Pill - "The Dull Tools Tapes" | Album Review

Pill is rarely an easy listen but they’re always a vital listen. It’s music you can move to, while never checking out. They’re a band that is needed now more than ever.

May 7, 2018

by: Myles Dunhill

Reviews

Cup - "Jitter Visions" | Album Review

May 7, 2018

by: Myles Dunhill

Reviews

Jitter Visions, the continued expansion of Tym’s splintering vision might be the strongest batch of tracks yet. The integration of sci-fi synth lines and textures skew the overall sound of the record into more outward terrain while the subject matter straddles the bizarre and the terrestrial.

May 4, 2018

by: Pat Pilch

Reviews

Parlor Walls - "EXO" | Album Review

May 4, 2018

by: Pat Pilch

Reviews

Parlor Walls’ latest strays away from the notable jazz undertones found on their previous material, favoring the grating sonic proclivities of avant and post punk acts like Exploded View, PJ Harvey, and Sonic Youth.

May 3, 2018

by: Pat Pilch

Reviews

Grouper - "Grid Of Points" | Album Review

May 3, 2018

by: Pat Pilch

Reviews

Grouper - "Grid Of Points" | Album Review

Grid of Points, in its brevity and faintness, sounds elegantly withdrawn, as most tracks deteriorate beautifully into sonic nothingness.

May 2, 2018

by: Kris Handel

Reviews

Half Waif - "Lavender" | Album Review

May 2, 2018

by: Kris Handel

Reviews

Plunkett and company's emotional and musical growth is very clearly evident on this record that possesses a sense of beauty in the dark moments that most may miss. There's still a bit of a cool distance to work through but there's an underlying warmth here that is fully engrossing and quite honestly moving.

May 1, 2018

by: Nick McGuire

Reviews

Goat Girl - "Goat Girl" | Album Review

May 1, 2018

by: Nick McGuire

Reviews

Thanks to their patience, their eponymous debut sounds self-assured and distinct, with dirty guitars that take surreal but playfully smart turns.

May 1, 2018

by: Mike LeSuer

Reviews

Speedy Ortiz - "Twerp Verse" | Album Review

May 1, 2018

by: Mike LeSuer

Reviews

Speedy Ortiz - "Twerp Verse" | Album Review

For a band who have thus far given us several stellar iterations of the same thing, Twerp Verse is a lot of different things. It’s the “speedy ortiz online presence?” to the band’s @speedyortiz discography, offering plenty of breathing room for Dupuis’ pop-leaning proclivities while continuing to consider the established personality of her surrounding band.

April 30, 2018

by: Dylan Pennell

Reviews

Czarface & MF DOOM - "Czarface Meets Metal Face" | Album Review

April 30, 2018

by: Dylan Pennell

Reviews

Czarface & MF DOOM - "Czarface Meets Metal Face" | Album Review

To its credit, it’s a lighthearted wet dream for hip-hop fans who crave straight-forward beats, the wry witticisms of Doom, Inspectah Deck, and most notably Esoteric, and the old-school comic book humor at play on some of Doom’s finest releases.