review

Melanie Martinez has a proven track record of taking fans on deep-dive journeys through her pastel, dark-pop fantasy world, and she doesn’t disappoint with the premiere of her first feature film, K-12. The 96-minute movie accompanies her highly anticipated sophomore album of the same name, which is out today. K-12 marks Martinez’s feature directorial debut […]

[Photo by: Giselle Dias] Awsten Knight is known for many things: his musical talent, his always entertaining presence on social media, his all-caps tweets, and now, he’s adding reviewer to that list.      Read more: Awsten Knight somehow makes “Stacy’s Mom” super emotional Last night, the Waterparks’ frontman took to Twitter to share the exciting […]

Asking Alexandria Asking Alexandria The past few years have been rocky to say the least for Asking Alexandria and their controversial vocalist, Danny Worsnop.The combination of inner-band turmoil, public drama and less-than-stellar releases took them down a few pegs. But while it doesn’t seem likely that Asking Alexandria will come out with a record any […]

Story Of The Year Wolves After seven years of inactivity, coming out with an album is a total make-or-break move. Thankfully, Story Of The Year’s return release, Wolves, is nothing but a complete success: pop punk meets radio rock on the band’s fifth full-length, as they bring a new bag of tricks to their beloved […]

Godflesh Post Self People have been using the term “post-punk” to describe the latest offering from legendary industrial/metal/noise outfit Godflesh. While Post Self isn’t as dramatic a sonic change as that term might convey, the album does arrive where it seemingly set out to go. Decades ago, vocalist/guitarist Justin Broadrick and bassist Ben George Christian […]

Phinehas Dark Flag Phinehas’ new concept record, Dark Flag, contemplates the horrendous assaults on human rights that reportedly occur in North Korea under the Kim regime. While the band do not take a political stance, the record focuses on the pain of human liberties being stripped away and the frustration that no one is taking […]

Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You Happily, this album is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a Finch/Senses Fail collaboration. While Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You is a contemporary work in its own right, it does tap into the beloved sounds […]

Quicksand Interiors The last time Quicksand released a formal LP, Bill Clinton was in office. 1995’s Manic Compression lead off with a bashing track called “Backward” that was noticeably less dense than their prior work—intentionally brittle and wiry at points, opting for dissonance to replicate punch, rather than hip-hop cadence and raspy vocals. Twenty-two years […]

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 […]