What I enjoy most about the Jesus and Mary Chain is arguably also their biggest flaw. The band’s slacker energy meets wall of feedback with a surprisingly melodic twist has always worked for me, but it kind of blurs together after a while. It’s kind of rainy day music – hence the classic “Happy When It Rains” off 1987’s Darklands. The band broke up in 1999, reforming in 2007. I listened to the 2017 comeback record and didn’t mind it, but never really dove in deep. Newly released in 2024, Glasgow Eyes sounds like classic JAMC, and that’s an accomplishment given how most reunions work out. It does sound a little different, too, of course. The modern production is bigger, louder, and cleaner – which could be divisive depending what you like about the group. It highlights their melodies more than the fuzz. And I notice a lot more synthesizer tones throughout, which give a new tone of the sun breaking through the clouds instead of wallowing in the mist. “Silver Strings” is a good highlight of how Glasgow Eyes integrates more synth sounds and with dark pop sensibilities. In some ways, this record almost feels fun. The band is very self-aware, in a way … Read more
Since the demise of Sonic Youth in 2011, Kim Gordon has stayed active through multiple outlets, through all of which she has … Read more
Somehow I never reviewed Viva Belgrado before, even though I have followed them since their debut album Flores, Carne. Somehow I was always … Read more
Since the 2010 release of her debut album, The Grime and The Glow, Chelsea Wolfe has steadily become one of the … Read more
Choose a year to view reviews of albums released in that year.
745 reviews
42 reviews
25 reviews
300 reviews
4786 reviews
19 reviews
Rudimentary Peni are, at least in some circles, a criminally underrated punk band that releases music semi steadily since their inception (besides the seven year layoff between their landmark album, Cacophony and its successor Pope Adrian 37th). Cacophony is a personal favorite and always keeps me coming back to their material and checking out the new material whenever it hits the shelves. Rudimentary Peni's latest record, No More Pain, is their first record since 2004 when Archaic landed; No More Pain is ten songs which leaves me a bit surprised that some consider this only an EP, and admittedly there is a tinge of excitement for me at hearing this new record from this three piece. There are brief blasts like "A Handful of Dust" which give one just enough … Read more
With the billion or so punk subgenres and comeback cycles, it’s interesting to me that more bands aren’t playing this style of Crimpshrine-inspired East Bay punk. Popstar by Bad Idols is crunchy yet melodic. It’s generally pop-structured but with gruff and deeply personal lyrics. Let’s just say the word “I” is prevalent throughout this 12-song record. I’ll also add that I’m a big … Read more
You know how most records start out with an absolute banger? It sets a mood, for sure, but it often feels like the band doesn’t top it as the full album plays out. I’m definitely not saying that The Sleeveens deliver a dud with the first song here, “Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls,” but I am saying that … Read more
Slumberland is one of those labels I note, but haven’t really dove into. The Umbrellas fit my expectations of the label’s sound though. It’s distinctly modern songwriting, but with a wave of sounds from yesterday. I’ll call this power-pop washed in the folk and psyche rock of the ‘60s, with a bit of twee and British invasion and dreamy indie … Read more
Rage meets dance-punk on Dublin four piece, SPRINTS’, first full length release. After a smattering of well received singles and a trail of blazing live performances, the group released their album following the success of their previous EP, A Modern Job. The Irish punk band’s star continues to rise in the good company of contemporaries Fontaines DC and Pillow Queens- Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox even produced … Read more
Canadian made horror/comedy Here For Blood sees Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil/Land Of The Dead/Diary Of The Dead) as Tom, a wrestler who helps his girlfriend Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) out by taking on her babysitting gig for a night whilst she studies for exams. What would appear to be a normal night of playing video games and eating pizza with Grace (Maya Misaljevic) … Read more
Confession time: I was going to burn this record to the ground. I wasn’t writing a review yet, just listening to the album, but I had some really not nice things to say. And then everything changed. Why? Well, I decided to see if my problems with the album could be solved by playing it from another source. I thought … Read more
Members of Come Closer have played in Dan Padilla, Pinback, Tiltwheel, and more. While that background is helpful for setting the tone, though, it’s not really essential. They are a new-ish group and We Died With Print is their second album. J. Wang is the ringleader of the band, which is rooted in DIY basement punk but expands their sound well beyond those three chords. … Read more
Paint It Black kind of burst back onto the scene the last two years. It had been 15 years since their last full-length, New Lexicon, and now we get Famine, which came out last fall. And “burst” was a word a chose purposely, because this record is fast and loud. Just as important, when it’s playing, you can’t ignore it. Paint It … Read more
The Manikins previous album, 2019s Bad Times, was my encounter with The Manikins. We started off a bit weird, as I read their name as The Mankinis for a while. I expect different music from a band with a name like that. I did like that album after I ditched my assumptions and stopped messing up the band name. It gave … Read more
The allure of ambient music and its applications in pop structures has always been an important topic for Niecy Blues. It has been a conjunction that the artist has been playing with on shorter releases, in both the 2020 EP CRY and the 2021 single Bones Become The Trees. But, it is with this full-length in Exit Simulation, that Blues can fully dive into … Read more
The talent and quality of Aisha Devi have been apparent since the release of her first EP, Aura For Everyone through her own Danse Noire imprint. As the years passed, Devi became more ambitious and started honing into the duality between ecstasy and mysticism. Her latter works, in 2018’s fantastic DNA Feelings yielded towards the atmospheric and ambient side, presenting a sublime journey through … Read more
Aesop Rock seems to be the rare artist who gets better with age. I enjoyed his early work with Blockhead, but it felt like things started to take off when he took over self-production, steadily growing and hitting what felt like peak when Spirit World Field Guide came out in 2020 (followed by Garbology in ’21). Luckily for all of us, he’s maintaining his trajectory … Read more
In December 2019, Benefits released their “Marlboro Hundreds” single. The UK act sourced all the fury and urgency of punk, wrapping it into a devastating noise facade and powerviolence demeanor. A prime example of weaponized music, and while through the years Benefits have morphed, their poignant messaging remains. Now, their debut record, Nails, sees them revisit some of their early single … Read more
Having listened to Goat’s first two records, 2013’s New Games and 2015’s Rhythm & Sound, I was firstly blown away by their minimalism, but mostly by their precision. Featuring primarily percussive elements, the act from Japan perform an etude on both technical aptitude but also creativity. I was even more impressed when I had the chance to see them perform live at 2018’s … Read more
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here: