Contributions
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
Romanian Names Analog purist John Vanderslice pares down the electro-folk brilliance of his previous releases to embrace a more modest ingenuity on Romanian Names. The LP begins restlessly with the thickly layered tempest "Tremble And Tear," a subtle introduction to a collection shivering with clingy, new-wave left turns. The moodiness doesn't stop there; the short line […]
Tongues - Tongues
Tongues The Chicago post-punk family tree has a new branch from which to prune, and Tongues might be its ripest growth in years. The conglomerate (featuring members of Apocalypse Hoboken, Joan Of Arc and Ghosts & Vodka) stitches together a quilt with unapologetic cock-rock, sludgy guitar interplay and enveloping drums, matched in outlandishness only by […]
Stephen Egerton - The Seven Degrees Of Stephen Egerton
Stephen Egerton The Seven Degrees Of Stephen Egerton The whole point, it seems, with Descendents/ALL was to make punk rock fun again after the ballyhooed LA revolution resulted in a trail of mascara compacts and a major decline in safety pin sales. Their songs were masterful homage to both the hardcore of their roots, the […]
Matt Pryor - Confidence Man
Matt Pryor Confidence Man Matt Pryor’s career has been a study in dependability, which is to say that he seldom releases bad songs let alone bad records. Confidence Man finds Pryor on his first solo production, home-recorded and sandpaper raw, a fearless, though not necessarily innovative, songwriter. No new ground is broken here, but his […]
The New Amsterdams - At The Foot Of My Rival
The New Amsterdams At The Foot Of My Rival Matt Pryor’s sixth studio album under the New Amsterdams banner sounds like it should have been released in the ’80s. All the elements are present for a thrifty rock ’n’ roll rehash, but it’s Pryor’s intimacy and the liberties he takes with wide open spaces that […]