May 21, 2008

They’ve been chastised by arena rockers and backstabbed by bands they wanted to help. For some reason, everyone seems to have an agenda with BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, and all they want to do is to rock your head off. Story: Andrew Kelham Photos: James Sharrock Bullet For My Valentine have been at work since...

Their infamous comic-book storyline might be winding down, but the question remains: What new dramas await COHEED AND CAMBRIA? Story: Ben Myers Photos: Brion Toploski An unexpected cold front has swept across Great Britain, when the country should be enjoying somewhat of an Indian summer. At a bar in a non-descript hotel in Islington, North...

MGR Wavering On The Cresting Heft [3/5] For his second album under the MGR (aka Mustard Gas And Roses) moniker, Isis guitarist Mike Gallagher stays mostly true to formlessness, which is just where he seems to work best. Save for a lovely string-quartet contribution on the opening track, Wavering On The Cresting Heft is an...

Agnostic Front Warriors [3.5/5] Is it really possible Agnostic Front are creeping up on their 26th birthday? Friends, it’s true. Regardless, most AF fans will be pleased to hear Warriors sees a significant shift away from the “tough-guy” sensibilities on their last release, Another Voice, which raised some eyebrows among fans of this band’s otherwise...

Cobra Starship ¡Viva La Cobra! A few years back, enterprising bands thankfully realized there was more to rocking out than crying about girls and shoegazing. Credit the end of his old band, Midtown, for Gabe Saporta’s epiphany. On Cobra Starship’s second release, he blazes through a collection of party-rock jams bursting with keytar energy, tits-out...

Hvarf/Heim [4.5/5] If Sigur Rós’ fifth studio album Hvarf/Heim is a vehicle to express the majesty of Icelandic culture-or the benevolent wonder with which they embrace beauty, poignancy and grace through music-then a trip to Iceland is in order. Nowhere in recent memory has there been a trace of something quite so breathtaking, epic or...

NOFX They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live [3/5] Recorded over three nights in early 2007 at Slim’s in San Francisco, They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live marks NOFX’s second foray into the oft-unfortunate realm of the live record. Full of sorta-drunken inter-song banter and a distinct but tolerable degree of slop, listeners get 24 tracks old and...

Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer Schematics [3.5/5] There is a very telling moment in the incredibly catchy chorus of “Death Or Radio,” one of the best selections on Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer’s long-awaited follow-up to 2003’s power-pop primer Jalopy Go Far. Delivered with all the pixie-voiced pop vigor they have become known...

The Hives The Black And White Album [3/5] There’s an old adage that goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” which suggests you need to know what your backstabbing foes are up to just as much as you need your confidantes for support. On The Black And White Album, it seems the Hives...