Reviews
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem [5] James Murphy played drums in ’90s alt-rockers Pony, did sound for Six Finger Satellite, and eventually became so loathsome of the indie scene’s smug elitism, he immersed himself in dance music, producing bands with foil Tim Goldsworthy as the DFA. Under the banner of LCD Soundsystem, Murphy and über-mixer Andy […]
The Sound Of Animals Fighting
The Sound Of Animals Fighting Tiger And The Duke [4] The Sound Of Animals Fighting are a whopping (and highly litigious) 14-person collective whose lineup most notably contains guitarist Matt Embree and drummer Chris Tsagakis of Rx Bandits, guitarist Randy Strohmeyer and bassist Derek Doherty of Finch, and Circa Survive/ex-Saosin vocalist Anthony Green. While the […]
High On Fire
High On Fire Blessed Black Wings [5] What do you to one-up yourself when you’re already the heaviest underground-rock band on the planet? Well, if you’re High On Fire, you fill your recently vacated bass-player position with someone from the other heaviest underground-rock band on the planet (ex-Melvins bassist Joe Preston, also of Thrones fame), […]
Lou Barlow
Lou Barlow Emoh [1] The front cover of Emoh features a drawing of a house with some kind of brown cloud coming out of it, as if to insinuate the stuff on the disc is some pretty explosive material. After listening to the Sebadoh/Folk Implosion chairman’s new disc, I think the house is a metaphor […]
The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
The Mars Volta Frances The Mute While it’s fun to dream of an At The Drive-In reuion that’ll never happen, it’s a shame people are still pining for that band, because ATDI’s most curious-looking members have moved on to some frighteningly next-level shit with their second album. Conceptually rooted in worlds, characters and languages (the […]
Paint It Black
Paint It Black Paradise [5] Contrast Paradise with Paint It Black’s 2003 debut, CVA, and you could be forgiven for thinking there aren’t many differences between the two: The songs still shred; Dave Wagenschutz (Good Riddance, None More Black, ex-Kid Dynamite) is still the best drummer in hardcore; and both vocally and lyrically, frontman Dan […]
Mando Diao
Mando Diao Hurricane Bar [5] It must suck to be a Swedish band who, for all intents and purposes, play garage/mod rock: You will inevitably be compared to countrymen the Hives with the first two sentences of any given review. But Mando Diao aren’t the Hives; nor are they the Strokes, the Libertines, Razorlight or […]
Paramore - All We Know
Paramore All We Know Is Falling If you caught Paramore on the Taste Of Chaos tour earlier this year, you probably don't need this review to understand just how much they can stand out from their screaming, male rock peers. The mere sight of the band's 16-year-old female vocalist, Hayley Williams, made this point better […]
Circa Survive - Juturna
Circa Survive Juturna "Make a sound," insists Circa Survive singer Anthony Green on the second song of the band's debut, Juturna. "Fake it just enough." Now, this is usually the part where we run our reviews through the emo-ban insult machine AP has back in Cleveland, and you eventually end up reading something along the […]
The Used - In Love And Death
The Used In Love And Death The Record company wants a hit, the fans want the exact magic the first album stirred, and the haters need something to bitch about in addition to the new Good Charlotte release. Truth is, In Love And Death is an ambitious venture that sports a shit-eating grin to everyone […]
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