May 22, 2008

Tera Melos Drugs To The Dear Youth [2.5/5] Where one arrangement ends and another begins, you’ll never know. What this music means with regards to culture, ambiance, scenes or art remains to be, um, seen. What Tera Melos’ Drugs To The Dear Youth conveys is that the debilitating audio-vascular workout required to sit through it...

Sham 69 Hollywood Hero [2/5] Feelings of trepidation were to be expected before hearing Sham 69’s latest album, as this Dave Parsons-led incarnation of the pioneering British street-punk band lack original frontman Jimmy Pursey. Turns out, a majority of the tracks were actually penned by Parsons and Pursey before the former singer was kicked out....

Off With Their Heads All Things Move Toward Their End [4/5] For the past year, these Minneapolis punks have been churning out 7-inches like they’re going out of style-enough to fill an entire record, in fact. All Things Move Toward Their End compiles the band’s singles and compilation contributions from 2006 in one place, and...

Haram Drescher [3.5/5] Though they logged serious hours in a veritable who’s-who of screamo luminaries (City Of Caterpillar, Pg. 99, Malady), the members of Haram show no signs of reliving past glories. In fact, they effectively trounce their self-titled debut with the far superior Drescher. With steady Drive Like Jehu-esque rockers and off-kilter Sonic Youth-y...

Balzac Deep Blue: Chaos From Darkism [3.5/5] There have always been a handful of Japanese bands whose relentless commitment to their respective subcultures hold up a gleefully fractured mirror to their influences and in so doing, wind up being way more fun than they have any right to be. With a yen (groan) for both...

Anchors For Arms Listen.React [3/5] Double-time aficionados suffered a tough loss when Lobster Records act Staring Back called it quits in 2005. Those desperate for another serving of “the Forbidden Beat” might find it worthy to invest in Anchors For Arms. While purer punks might prefer A Wilhelm Scream’s gruffer march, the man responsible for...

Saul Williams The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust! [4/5] Who knew the first effort from Trent Reznor, freed from his Interscope “slavery,” would be an album with poet/rapper Saul Williams, who sees modern-day slavery as a matter of course? While both collaborators share more than a morsel of Public Enemy DNA in their respective...

Teargas & Plateglass Black Triage [3.5/5] From its bleak packaging to the manifesto included in the liner notes, it’s painfully clear the second disc from forward-thinking hip-hop unit Teargas & Plateglass is not the thing to put on to get the party started. Black Triage is a concoction of ambient drones, beats and edgy soundbites...

San Serac Professional [2/5] We’d like to have coffee with Nat Rabb (aka San Serac), or at least an RC Cola. See, we can’t figure out if his boisterous, way over-the-top dance album Professional is for real, or if it’s an ’80s-cribbing joke only he and his laptop jockey buddies get. Let’s say Professional is...