Sick City
Sick City Nightlife [3/5]
While many aggressive rock bands attempt clean vocals, few do it well-which is why it’s surprising that newbies Sick City nail it their first time out on their full-length debut Nightlife. One of the album’s first indicators of vocal success is “XX & XY,” which showcases the skills of frontman...
Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
Say Anything In Defense Of The Genre The rise of Say Anything has been both well-deserved and tumultuous. The band’s 2004 debut …Is A Real Boy, though critically acclaimed was overshadowed by drugs and lunacy, leading many fans to wonder if SA brainchild Max Bemis would survive another album, let alone life itself. Thankfully, Bemis...
Dusty Rhodes And The River Band
Dusty Rhodes And The River Band First You Live [3/5]
There are some real gems on First You Live; “Leaving Tennessee” packs all the piss ’n’ vinegar of a good vengeance ballad, while “Keys To The Truck” includes a powerful gospel refrain that could induce a frenzy of hand-clapping in even the most hardened...
Moving Units
Moving Units Hexes And Exes [4.5/5]
In the three years since Moving Units released their debut full-length, Dangerous Dreams, singer/guitarist Blake Miller has become a globe-hopping DJ and in-demand remixer. Unsurprisingly, these extracurricular activities heavily inform Hexes And Exes, an album that shatters all preconceived notions about what dance-punk can or should be. While...
Just Surrender
Just Surrender We’re In Like Sin [2.5/5]
There are only so many things money can buy-big name producers, lots of studio time, songwriting coaches-but talent isn’t one of them. If it were, Just Surrender went shopping at the wrong mall when they picked up the goods to put We’re In Like Sin together. Translation:...
Far-Less
Far-Less A Toast To Bad Taste [4.5/5]
Tooth & Nail has a knack for plucking the best and brightest from Smalltown, USA. Days after Far-Less, very much fitting this mold, entered the studio in April to record A Toast To Bad Taste, their hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia, became the setting of the mortifying Virginia...
Babyshambles
Babyshambles Shotter’s Nation [1/5]
Considering walking waste-case Pete Doherty fucks up everything he touches, you can pretty much guess what you’re going to get with Shotter’s Nation. Sure enough, the second album from the glorified solo project Babyshambles is a half-baked abortion. The kindest thing you can say about the disc’s sloppy shit-mix of...
Armor For Sleep
Armor For Sleep Smile For Them [4/5]
After a few years of being courted by nearly every A&R rep in the country, this ambitious New Jersey post-hardcore act decided to tackle some decidedly less-serious subjects on their major-label debut. No longer consumed by themes of mortality and the afterlife, Armor For Sleep frontman Ben...
Young Livers
Young Livers The New Drop Era [3.5/5]
Maybe it’s a little redundant to point out for the millionth time, but seriously, does Gainesville, Florida, produce sub-par bands, like, ever? The city’s venerable No Idea Records has been documenting local beard-happy punks in one form or another since 1985, and Young Livers’ The New Drop...