Jason Schreurs

Nightmares Suspiria It’s amazing what a great vocalist can do for a band. That’s not to say the players in Atlanta’s Nightmares are slouches; in fact, Suspiria is one of the better modern metalcore albums in recent memory. But frontman Carter Hardin is a star here; pouring everything he has into these songs, to the […]

Junior Battles Rally In the vein of similarly awesome melodic Canadian punk bands such as Attack In Black and the Weakerthans, Toronto’s Junior Battles have come into fine form on their second album, Rally. The strength is in the band’s no-bullshit approach to wearing their influences on their sleeves. You can tell there’s been many […]

Foxy Shazam Gonzo It seemed like a brave move for Cincinnati soul rockers Foxy Shazam to give away their album for free online, but now it looks like it might have been a form of damage control. Gonzo, the band’s fifth album, and first self-released effort since their 2005 debut (after short stints on Ferret, […]

PUP PUP Like a more rambunctious Titus Andronicus (if such a thing were possible), the self-titled debut album from Toronto’s PUP (which stands for Pathetic Use Of Potential) is sure to raise quite a ruckus in the progressive pop-punk world. Overflowing with drunken sing-alongs, guitar foolery and feedback-drenched melees, PUP is 10 songs of irreverent party […]

Dust Moth Dragon Mouth EP Dragon Mouth, the debut EP by Seattle post-hardcore band Dust Mouth, starts off with a confounding piece of ambient noise called “Pounding,” which leads into a lurching, atmospheric track called “Cusp.” It’s quickly clear that Dust Moth is a much different beast than the band members’ previous gigs, such as […]

Morning Glory War Psalms Morning Glory’s third full-length is like a fist in the air; a rallying cry for the kind of “revolution rock” that New York punk scene vet Ezra Kire talks about in the album’s second song, “Standard Issue.” As ambitious as the band’s brand of spruced-up punk has been over the years, […]

Joie De Vivre/Prawn Split EP The unlikely combination of Rockford, Illinois, and Ridgewood, New Jersey, has been made possible by a split release between two bands championing the so-called “emo revival.” Joie De Vivre and Prawn both revel in understated melodies, jangly guitar chords and a pleasing sense of melancholy. Similar to first(ish)-wave emo bands like […]

Forever Came Calling/Family Thief Split EP Interestingly, it was Forever Came Calling’s Joe Candelaria who convinced Malcolm Williams (aka Family Thief) to continue on with his music despite many failed attempts. Cue this acoustic split EP with two songs by FCC and two by Family Thief. The first FCC song, “Endangered Innocent,” is a playful number […]

The Bouncing Souls/The Menzingers Shocking Split EP With a blast of “whoa-ohs,” this long-anticipated split EP of two amazing pop-punk bands is off to the races. The offerings here are two original songs and two cover tunes (each band cover the other). The Bouncing Souls’ original, “Blackout,” is classic Souls, positive lyrics pouring out over that […]