STEPHEN BRODSKY’S OCTAVE MUSEUM
STEPHEN BRODSKY’S OCTAVE MUSEUM Stephen Brodsky’s Octave Museum [4/5] When Cave In’s brand of technical, emotional metalcore was about to blow up, frontman Stephen Brodsky bought a truckload of effects pedals and created the pre-cursor to prog-punk with 2000’s Jupiter. Alternately, now that prog-punk is all the rage, he’s doing something else completely unprecedented by...
SOFT COMPLEX
SOFT COMPLEX Barcelona+ [2/5] If there was anything truly “wrong” with J. Robbins’ post-Jawbox band Burning Airlines, it’s that they were too far ahead of their time. Sadly, the opposite can be said for bassist Mike Harbin’s new project, Soft Complex. The biggest problem with Barcelona+ is the band’s musical identity crisis: “Barcelona” recalls Portishead...
ANDREW DOUGLAS ROTHBARD
ANDREW DOUGLAS ROTHBARD Abandoned Meander [3/5] The theatrical metal of his old combo Pleasure Forever would have been tough to match in the over-the-top department, so it’s not surprising that vocalist/keyboardist/bassist Andrew Rothbard has chosen a more sedate path on his first solo outing. It’s a collection of folky acid damage that features more backward...
PINEBENDER
PINEBENDER Working Nine To Wolf ,b>[3/5] In the course of just under 14 minutes, Chicago’s Pinebender run the gamut from dirge-y stoner rock to epic instru-metal to late-’90s post-hardcore and back again via effortless manipulations of dynamics-and that’s just the first song, folks. While the remainder of Working Nine To Wolf has a difficult time...
MÚM
The Peel Session [3/5] A lot has changed since múm recorded these four tracks from their breakout debut Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is Okay with the BBC’s John Peel in 2002. Neither the late radioman nor the original band lineup are still with us, so listening to this EP is like opening a time capsule....
ISOBEL CAMPBELL
ISOBEL CAMPBELL Milkwhite Sheets [4/5] When we last heard from Isobel Campbell on 2005’s Ballad Of The Broken Seas, she was making music for manic depressives-no shocker, considering her collaborator was brooding alt-rock wreck Mark Lanegan. Recorded in the wake of that Mercury Prize-nominated project, Milkwhite Sheets finds the former Belle And Sebastian chanteuse and...
TRIUMPH OF LETHARGY SKINNED ALIVE TO DEATH
TRIUMPH OF LETHARGY SKINNED ALIVE TO DEATH Dead Rhythm [2/5] It’s likely that fans of the iconic Murder City Devils will clamor for the release of this record simply for the associated name value of ex-pats Spencer Moody (also of Dead Low Tide) and Dann Gallucci (also of Modest Mouse and A Gun Called Tension);...
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead So Divided [5/5] So Divided is as good a description as any for longtime fans of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. For every punk purist who wants a remake of Madonna, there are art-house adventurists who love the way the...
KYLESA
KYLESA Time Will Fuse Its Worth [3/5] Buzz bands usually have some nefarious PR scheme behind them, so it’s anyone’s guess how an under-publicized Georgia noise-metal group who at their catchiest recall early Neurosis won over so many media tastemakers last year. But that’s the cross Kylesa have borne since 2005’s To Walk A Middle...