Casey Boland

Contributions

The Life And Times - Day II b/w Day III EP

The Life And Times Day II/Day III EP   Like so many great bands, Shiner offered a mammoth, life-altering album (The Egg) before quietly slipping away into the dustbin of music history. Shiner boasted unique vision and exciting songs that walked a swaying tightrope between guitar-powered indie rock and strange boundless experimentalism. Vocalist/guitarist Allen Epley […]

The Black Heart Procession - Blood Bunny/Black Rabbit

The Black Heart Procession Blood Bunny/Black Rabbit   Since their 1998 debut, the Black Heart Procession slowly grew from a curious Three Mile Pilot side project into a fully focused tour de force of gloom and doom. 2009’s Six bested the rest of the band’s body of work: Pall Jenkins and Tobias  Nathaniel’s skills at […]

Heks Orkest - Endless Scroll EP

Heks Orkest Endless Scroll EP Combining veterans of Engine Down, Sleepytime Trio, Action Patrol, Holy Rollers, Avail and Grip, Heks Orkest are something of a Virginian ’90s post-hardcore supergroup, a flashback to the basement-dwelling, Fugazi-worshiping punk bands of yore. From Gravity Records in southern California to Gern Blandsten in the Garden State, scores of kids […]

Tigers Jaw - Two Worlds

Tigers Jaw Two Worlds   Any band who manage to persist past one album usually face the question of direction. Some stay stuck in comfortable patterns; others risk failure and condemnation trekking down unusual paths. Tigers Jaw sufficiently covered late-’90s pop-emo terrain. Their previous full-length and subsequent single and split releases featured some vigorous nods […]

The Extra Lens - Undercard

The Extra Lens Undercard   John Darnielle would be a rich man if every wordy folkster who built a career on his M.O. paid him royalties (cough, Colin Meloy, cough). Entering decade No. 3, the man best known as the Mountain Goats teams with singer/songwriter and renowned music critic Franklin Bruno. The collaboration doesn’t stray […]

Bats & Mice - Back In Bat EP

Bats & Mice Back In Bat EP   Much time has elapsed since we last heard a squeak from Bats & Mice. On 2004’s A Person Carrying A Handmade Paper Bag Is Considered As A Royal Person EP, the Virginian band came into their own with a blend of the dark, lilting beauty of Three […]

Hurricane Bells - Down Comes The Rain EP

Hurricane Bells Down Comes The Rain EP   Surely Steve Schiltz had no inkling that his solo studio endeavor would rocket to success thanks to a bazillion-dollar teenage-vampire franchise. It was probably even more surprising that a throwaway track called “Monsters,” found on the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: New Moon, propelled his popularity. Hurricane […]

Delphic - Acolyte

Acolyte Having won rapturous praise from much of the hard-to-please U.K. music press, Delphic bring the dance party stateside. The band boast key ingredients for success: a handful of potential hot singles, remix-ready club thumpers and palpable artistic heft. Their songs are meatier than, say, Klaxons and their scope spans wider than most of America's […]

Underoath - The Changing Of Times

The Changing Of Times The Changing Of Times was an Olympic pole vault-like leap forward for Underoath. The increased use of melody may have alienated longtime fans; yet the new direction proved much more successful (creatively and in terms of popularity). Dallas Taylor continues to belt out harsh yelping that resembles a trapped fox, but drummer Aaron Gillespie’s […]
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