Phil Freeman

Contributions

Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine - Enhanced Methods Of Questioning EP

Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine Enhanced Methods Of Questioning EP   It’s not impossible to age gracefully within the confines of punk rock. Ian MacKaye’s done it; so has Henry Rollins. Jello Biafra hasn’t. And it’s too bad, because of the three, he’s probably made the greatest sacrifices for his art and […]

Swimming With Dolphins - Water Colours

Swimming With Dolphins Water Colours   This synth-based project from Austin Tofte, formerly affiliated with Owl City, blends a million indie-pop moves in mostly entertaining, occasionally toothache-inducing ways. “Easy” could be a ’90s rave anthem, while “Diplomat” sounds like one of those unfunny nerdy-white-guy covers of hip-hop songs (it’s not). “Jacques Cousteau” is VH1-ready fluff, […]

In Fear And Faith - Symphonies EP

In Fear And Faith Symphonies EP   Following the drama surrounding the departure of screamer Cody Anderson last year, In Fear And Faith have been left with only one vocalist: Scott Barnes. Consequently, on this stopgap seven-track EP of orchestral reworkings of old songs, he’s calling in old friends for help. Four tracks feature guest […]

Texas In July - One Reality

Texas In July One Reality On their second album (and Equal Vision debut), these baby-faced Pennsylvanian post-hardcore warriors—two members only recently graduated high school—offer a muscular blend of precision drumming, brutal riffing and vocals that bridge the gap between laryngitis and throat cancer. For the most part, they color within the lines of their genre, […]

Asking Alexandria - Reckless & Relentless

Asking Alexandria Reckless & Relentless   Reckless & Relentless, the second full-length from U.K. electro-metalcore outfit Asking Alexandria, still features heavy doses of synth on a few tracks, but overall it’s much less rave-driven than their debut, 2009’s Stand Up And Scream. They’re indulging their inner rock ’n’ rollers more this time around; “Closure” may […]

The Naked And Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You

The Naked And Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You This New Zealand-based group mix glitchy, dreamy electronic pop and occasional outbursts of static-ridden noise with male-female duet vocals from Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers that sound like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke whispering back and forth with Natasha Bedingfield. Many songs have a steady drum-machine thump to keep […]

Civet - Love & War

Civet Love & War The second Hellcat release from Civet is a raging dose of rockin’ punk that will appeal to Social Distortion and Joan Jett fans alike. Frontwoman Liza Graves roars like Jett with a migraine, and her three bandmates—guitarist Suzy Homewrecker, bassist Jacqui Valentine and drummer Roxie Darling—keep the music driving forward with […]

The Famine - The Architects Of Guilt

The Famine The Architects Of Guilt   It seems pretty clear that Texas-based death-metal band the Famine like the Black Dahlia Murder a lot. That’s fine; lots of people do. But there are a few moves cribbed straight from the BDM playbook on The Architects Of Guilt, including but not limited to the screech-and-growl vocals, […]

Dr. Acula - Slander

Dr. Acula Slander   Long Island sextet Dr. Acula have come a long way since the “party grind” of Below Me and The Social Event Of The Century. Their music is slower and heavier now, moving into the chest-beating deathcore territory of Emmure, the Acacia Strain and Chelsea Grin. The movie and TV dialogue samples […]
<< >>