Two artists from California team up for a split 7". Iamb is the work on single individual - Ross Major - with the help of several friends. On this 7" he offers two songs. The first, "Three Years," is a mixture of indie rock and folk, not unlike the artists of Saddle Creek Records. "One Afternoon," on the other hand takes a slower pace with the use of piano and the cello, the latter of which results in a rather depressive mood being evoked. The song kind of reminded me of the material of early Onelinedrawing. Candle takes over on the opposite side with "With my Heart." The band plays slow-moving alt-country in the vein of Limbeck and Roy. The song isn't anything super-special; it kind of just passes by. Come Back Home a nice collection of country/folk music that will please anyone that is a fan of the genre. Again, I'm not a huge fan of this style so it kind of blends together for me. Read more
Los Angeles-based label Oedipus Records is an independent label run out of an apartment. As an individual doing the same … Read more
Everything I get in for review goes through the same process. The first thing I do after I greedily rip … Read more
Our recent Scene Point Blank reader's poll told us at least two things about you, the reader: (1) you want … Read more
For The World is Bright and Lonely, New Idea Society's Mike Law walks a fine line between poetry and prose. … Read more
Have you ever gone to a movie expecting to see an action movie, but as you watch it, you realize … Read more
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I really hate being heavily reliant on comparisons to past work in order to form a judgement, but in the case of Paul D'Amour (aka Feersum Ennjin), it's hard not to. As the former bassist for Tool, one of most prolific and undeniably best progressive bands today, it's difficult to take him on his own terms and out from under the spectre of his work with them in the past. Somewhat unfortunately, this is especially with his newest release, the eponymous Feersum Ennjin.Believe me, I am loathe to rely heavily on a comparison of an artist to a single other band, and in any other circumstance, I wouldn't be. Unfortunately, I feel almost like I have to here, if only because this album sounds shockingly similar to Tool's Undertow, albeit … Read more
When a band's name makes reference to sinful pleasures, especially of the herbal nature, it's a sign their sound will be akin to Black Sabbath; the emphasis on slow riffing that sounds even heavier due to down-tuned instruments. Weedeater is a perfect example, taking the suggestive themes of drug abuse and sacrilege made famous by Sabbath to new heights but … Read more
This is the kind record that I enjoy from time to time, a big surprise; it is not what I expected in any way, shape, or form and caught me completely off guard. Mourner is the second full-length, first on Profound Lore, from Caïna, the solo project of Andrew Curtis-Brignell - a twenty-year-old who already has a strong grasp on … Read more
Last year I interviewed New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki about the possibility of another cover album in similar fashion to the band's From the Screen to Your Stereo. He stated that it was a possibility... Well here we are a year removed from said interview and sitting before me is From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2 And … Read more
I don't know why, but there is something really unsubtle about naming a band Die! Die! Die!. It's like using a nuke to kill a mouse, just a bit too over the top to really ever be needed. It also means that the band has got to do an awful lot to live up to the name, so you can … Read more
Every era has seen the chocolate/peanut butter combination of music and activism mixed together to create the tasty sensation of protest music. Long derided as "hippie shit" by those too lazy to listen, the protest song has been a ubiquitous form spanning the last century. Okay, maybe not the eighties, but every other decade has more than had its share. … Read more
I'm not going to classify Hi Ho Six Shooter! as a gimmick band. Granted they play shows with bandannas wrapped around their neck and sing songs about country twangs and bar room brawls, but knowing some of the members I think it's pretty safe to say that they aren't gun toting Confederates. Rather, I would say that Hi Ho Six … Read more
Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, so you would think that with them already delivering Verse, they'd be all out of good hardcore bands. Well, they are not, because Soul Control is equally as, if not more, impressive. The four-piece band delivers a modern take on 90's post-hardcore popularized by the likes of Quicksand and Burn. … Read more
With a few EP's and a couple of renowned festivals under their belt - Lollapalooza and South by Southwest - Cold War Kids have finally released (in late 2006 actually) their full-length album, Robbers and Cowards. Like a few of their indie predecessors, Cold War Kids borrows from 1970's legends like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground for their sound, … Read more
In less than four years, Coliseum has proven to be a busy band with their touring crisscrossing the United States as well as Europe, undergoing multiple line-up changes and configurations, and releasing a bunch of records (a self-titled full-length, the split 7" with Lords, the Goddamage EP, and the split with Young Widows); sometimes I take for granted that they … Read more
Rilo Kiley has finally joined forces again with their fourth full-length album, Under the Blacklight. It has been three years since the band made their widely praised More Adventurous album, released in 2004. Since then, Rilo Kiley took a break from each other with solo projects. Jenny Lewis released Rabbit Fur Coat featuring the Watson Twins in 2006, while Blake … Read more
For the most part, humor is always subjective. Not in this case, however. If Patton Oswalt doesn't make you laugh, then you, my sad little friend are wrong. Dead wrong. So wrong in fact, that I can't even look at you. Go on. Get out of my sight. Go to Target and buy the new Bill Engvall album, you jagoff. … Read more
Everyone has his or her favorite guitar virtuoso. For some it might be the finger-tapping charmer Eddie Van Halen or maybe they go way back and think of the blues inspired violin bow using wizardry of Jimmy Page. There are even some people out that really know their collective six-string shit and cite Yngwie Malmsteen as their favorite axe man. … Read more
What is it about Canada? You know, Due South, The Arcade Fire, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Dan Aykroyd, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Terrance & Philip. Perhaps it's merely been a case of overwhelming ignorance, but lately it seems that all of the best things in the world originated in this faraway place. Last summer whilst sitting in a friend's bedroom … Read more
The first time I saw Engineer was when they opened for fellow New Yorkers Another Breath. I had anticipated another youth crew styled band to be playing and I was absolutely astonished when they turned out the lights and performed the loudest set I'd ever seen. From then on I was a fan, no question. For those of you unfamiliar, … Read more
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