Reviews

Sleep On It Overexposed Sleep On It cemented themselves as ones to watch with their Lost Along The Way EP last October. Just one year later, they’ve dropped their debut full-length, proving that there was indeed way more where that came from. This time around, they fine-tuned their vocals, with guitarists TJ Horansky and Jake […]

Converge The Dusk In Us Right from the start, the very title of Converge's ninth album portends something ominous. The Dusk In Us conveys a sense of resignation of letting things burn with solemnity like a raft at a Viking funeral. Perhaps it's fatalist code for the members of Converge, who, after decades of consistently […]

Weezer Pacific Daydream When placed beside last year’s White Album, Weezer’s 11th studio album is both a continuation and a departure. The 2016 version of the band worshipped at the altar of the Beach Boys, turning in a sunny, surfside effort that recalled all the best parts of their past. It was a beach record […]

Heavy Hearts On A Chain ROCKS LIKE: Brand New, Balance And Composure, Citizen WHAT’S DIFFERENT: Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, four-piece Heavy Hearts’ new EP is a hard-hitting follow-up to their 2016 full-length, Bliss. The band maintain their captivating alt-rock blend, but On A Chain builds on the emo-laden energy they fostered on previous releases. […]

Julien Baker Turn Out The Lights ROCKS LIKE: Elliot Smith, Keaton Henson, Explosions In The Sky  WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Julien Baker’s second solo effort is as devastating as her much-lauded 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle, but nowhere near as hopeless. Before, it was easy to see Baker’s vulnerability as childlike, but Turn Out The Lights proves she’s […]

The Used The Canyon “An album that punches you in the gut with feeling.”  There’s a reason The Canyon opens up with Used frontman Bert McCracken’s voice breaking just 30 seconds into the album on “For You,” a song dedicated to a lost loved one, a very close friend of McCracken. It sets the scene […]

Slaughter Beach, Dog Birdie ROCKS LIKE: The Weakerthans, Modern Baseball, Pinegrove WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Like the band that built him, Modern Baseball co-frontman Jake Ewald treats each record from his solo project, Slaughter Beach, Dog, as its own entity: 2016’s debut, Welcome, felt like an unexplored extension of his talent, songs that didn’t fit his band’s […]

GWAR The Blood Of Gods Rock ’n’ roll’s scumdogs strike hard and fast with their their latest effort, their first album without lead vocal tormentor Oderus Urungus. The Blood Of Gods strips away unnecessary studio wizardry and presents GWAR in its rawest sonic state, opting for a rough-and-tumble attitude.  Nearly every beat and riff on […]

We Came As Romans Cold Like War We Came As Romans walked into recording their fifth studio album knowing one thing: It had to be better than their last one. While their 2015 self-titled release didn’t totally tank, it definitely left a lot to be desired for long-time fans of the Michigan metalcore band. Their […]

Movements Feel Something ROCKS LIKE: Touché Amoré, Casey, the Story So Far WHAT’S DIFFERENT: The debut full-length from AP’s Warped Tour ’17 cover stars has been a long time coming, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Feel Something has a slicker production job than anything Movements have put their name to before, but that hasn’t […]

I The Mighty Where The Mind Wants To Go/Where You Let It Go ROCKS LIKE: Too Close To Touch, Coheed And Cambria, Pierce The Veil WHAT’S DIFFERENT: Never ones to be put in a box, I The Mighty continue to develop their genre-defying craft on Where The Mind Wants To Go/Where You Let It Go. […]

Knuckle Puck Shapeshifter ROCKS LIKE: Seaway, New Found Glory, the Wonder Years WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Chicago’s Knuckle Puck were poised to lead this generation of pop-punkers before their debut, 2015’s Copacetic, even dropped. And leading they are, this time with a heaping dose of maturity (the somber opener “Nervous Passenger”) and songs that flirt with a […]

ROAM Great Heights & Nosedives ROCKS LIKE: New Found Glory, Simple Plan, Blink-182 WHAT'S DIFFERENT: The difference between this album and 2016’s full-length debut, Backbone, is simply a coat of extra polish. Recording in Los Angeles with Kyle Black at the helm, this U.K. quintet now offer the sort of explosive crunch that would slot […]

The Haxans Party Monsters ROCKS LIKE: Creature Feature, the Birthday Massacre, Jack Off Jill WHAT'S DIFFERENT: While the Haxans’ members may be derived from two bands that are positively spooky—New Years Day and Rob Zombie—their debut album brings the idea of Halloween every day to fruition, turning up the boo-scary and the fun dials up […]

The Front Bottoms Going Grey ROCKS LIKE: The Hotelier, Depeche Mode, LCD Soundsystem WHAT'S DIFFERENT: In short—a lot. While 2015’s Back On Top expanded the quirky New Jersey band’s sound a good degree, this record truly opens the floodgates. While still recognizable as the Front Bottoms—mainly due to frontman Brian Sella’s distinctive vocals and lyrical […]

New Politics Lost In Translation ROCKS LIKE: Matt & Kim, AWOLNATION, Twenty One Pilots WHAT’S DIFFERENT: If you thought New Politics couldn’t get any catchier, their latest full-length is here to prove you wrong. They take their unique blend of dance rock and up the ante with sounds as diverse as an 8-bit video game […]

Marilyn Manson Heaven Upside Down WHAT’S DIFFERENT: After cultivating a compelling head-swiveling take on desperado electro-blues-metal on 2015’s The Pale Emperor, Marilyn Manson goes back to his industri-metal roots with idiosyncratic takes on everything from glam sleaze (“Tattooed In Reverse”) to garage-punk rawness (“Revelation 12”), served up with great dollops of blasphemy (“SAY10”), goth-club dance […]

Citizen As You Please ROCKS LIKE: Brand New, Balance And Composure, Smashing Pumpkins WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Citizen have made for one of the scene’s most interesting and evolutionary acts, shifting from passable pop punk to hazy emo and then to jarring noise rock in the vein of Brand New’s Daisy. While the BN influence and similarly […]

August Burns Red Phantom Anthem August Burns Red are one of the best-known metalcore bands around, with a career spanning over a decade and seven studio full-lengths under their belts. However, one listen to their latest release, Phantom Anthem, and you might start to think they’re a heavy metal philharmonic orchestra. Over the years, ABR […]

The Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers ROCKS LIKE: Children Of Bodom, Born Of Osiris, As Blood Runs Black WHAT’S DIFFERENT: This is likely the Black Dahlia Murder’s most refined record to date. As vocalist Trevor Strnad reaches for new levels of emotion, the songwriting as a whole feels more cohesive, receiving a youthful touch thanks to […]