Smashing Pumpkins
Zeitgeist
Reprise (2007)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness changed the way I listened to music. Siamese Dream continues to do so. Machina is one of the best records I've ever heard. The news of the Smashing Pumpkins' abrupt return, more than half a decade later, was a big deal - a huge one in fact - and of course it brought with it a number of irritatingly necessary questions. Would all of the original members be present? How would the onset of age have affected the band's former arrogance, former maturity, and former eccentricity? With such a huge gap between albums would they even sound like the same band anymore? In no uncertain terms, Zeitgeist is a brawny return to the familiar sounds of the mid-90's (if the desperately obvious artwork hadn't clued you in already) although with D'arcy Wretzky and James Iha both MIA, it's difficult to call it a return to the classic Pumpkins sound. "Doomsday Clock" bulldozes into the room with a hard-hitting Alice in Chains-esque riff at the wheel. A decent enough rock-out track, sure, but otherwise there's not a lot to it. "7 Shades of Black" is about the same on the forgetability meter, with a catchy … Read more
Odious Mortem
Cryptic Implosion
Willowtip (2007)
Odious Mortem's website describes their sound as employing "technical, dark, and experimental aspects of the death metal genre." When I … Read more
Internal Affairs
Deadly Visions
Malfunction (2007)
Internal Affairs is a band that embodies what hardcore should truly be about. The music is fast, energetic, and pissed … Read more
The Aggrolites
Reggae Hit L.A.
Hellcat (2007)
Since about the year 2000, Tim Armstrong, Lars Frederickson and pretty much that has anything to do with Rancid has … Read more
Wrecking Crew
Balance of Terror (Reissue)
I Scream (2006)
Over the past decade or so "toughguy" hardcore has gotten more obnoxious by the second, but one of the bands … Read more
