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Hoi-Poi Farplane Wind

Sain’t Adorable
Nasty Cut Records (2020)

Hoi-Poi Farplane Wind hails from Thessaloníki, Greece, and apparently splits their time between there and Copenhagen, which is an arrangement that sounds like a travel blogger’s wet dream. They play an evolving brand of post-hardcore that often has a Hot Water Music influence standing front and center. Their early sound is fuzzier, harsher, an offhand shot at their own interpretation … Read more

Dinosaur Pile-up

Celebrity Mansions
Parlophone (2019)

Celebrity Mansions, the fourth album by the UK’s Dinosaur Pile-Up, has been like finding a needle in a haystack for me. I’m not good at looking for new music and I feel that it gets harder as I find more grey in my beard, especially finding music that is actually good and/or listenable. Maybe my standards are getting too high? … Read more

Euglossine

Psaronius
Orange Milk Records (2020)

Created using a combination of physical instruments and various synthesized elements, it wasn’t particularly surprising for me to learn that one of the major concepts behind Gainsville, Florida-based musician Euglossine’s Psaronius (a name which could refer to either a type of prehistoric tree fern or a kind of precious stone) was recreating familiar objects through the use sound. This album … Read more

Rotting Out

Ronin
Pure Noise (2020)

Back in March, I attended a stop on the American Nightmare "reunion" tour, celebrating twenty years since they self-booked their first show at a church in Maine. While I still remain loyal to my wheelhouse of early- to mid-2000s hardcore, I hadn’t been to a show in nearly a decade. What I found there was somewhat expected yet still disheartening … Read more

Ditches

Ditches
Drunken Sailor (2020)

Am I going to be able to review this record without comparing Ditches to Marked Men? Clearly not, but I made it 14 words. This debut album from Stockholm’s Ditches bears a lot of similarity to that band. Given how good that band was, I’m not sure that’s a knock against them. Besides the sonic similarities, the record was also … Read more

Talk Me Off

Cursed
Smartpunk Records (2020)

There’s a lot to like on Cursed, the debut full-length by Richmond, VA’s Talk Me Off. But as much as I enjoy the structures, the vocal tradeoff, and the political urgency, I just can’t get over the vocals on this record. They just feel flat and robotic at key moments, which is ironic for a band named Talk Me Off.This … Read more

Gaahl's Wyrd

GastiR - Ghosts Invited
Season of Mist (2019)

Kristian Eivind Espedal, otherwise knows as Ghaahl has been a polarizing fixture on the Norwegian Black Metal scene since the mid 90s, fronting bands such as Gorgoroth and God Seed. In the nine years fronting Gorgoroth, Gaahl helped to create some the most vicious and brutal darkness in the genre without ever really straying from the true Norwegian style.But Gaahl’s … Read more

Katatonia

City Burials
Peaceville (2020)

Katatonia are one of the most well loved and revered bands of today and while the wait for new music since The Fall of Hearts in 2016 has been a little longer than the usual cycle for the Swedish band – they announced a hiatus after this record was released - they have not been resting in that time, rather … Read more

Book Review

Mark Lanegan

Sing Backwards and Weep
hachette Book Group (2020)

“If I was honest, there was nothing but shame in the way I lived my life. I was nothing if not an abject failure, a fucking shitbag liar, a junkie loser if ever there was one”.Sing Backwards and Weep, the memoir of musician Mark Lanegan is a raw, honest portrayal of addiction with not a hint of poetry or hyperbole … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Rat Cage

Screams from the Cage
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2020)

A quick tip for you: don’t listen to this album in bed when you’re trying to sleep. Your heart will race and you will most likely be thinking about stage diving and mosh pits. Save it for your daily allowance of exercise instead during the lockdown we all find ourselves in. This one is a banger. Twelve songs in 20 … Read more

Guerilla Poubelle

L’Ennui
Red Scare Industries / Gunner Records (2020)

One of the big appeals of punk is its community. So it’s nice to listen to a record where you don’t know what the hell they’re saying sometimes. It’s a good way to make sure it’s really the music that’s putting that bounce in your step instead of political or social solidarity. And I’m greatly enjoying L’Ennui by Paris’ Guerilla … Read more

No Matter

Excess Baggage EP
Independent (2019)

No Matter is a North Ireland punk band. They have quite a couple of releases under their belt. Excess Baggage being their latest offer. They offer a bit of a time travel experience. This EP reminds me of the nineties very much. And not just the nineties, but the punk demos I heard back in the day to be specific.I … Read more

Oranssi Pazuzu

Mestarin Kynsi
Nuclear Blast (2020)

The avant-garde used to be something that was looked upon as something altogether too strange, something to be listened to in private and whispered about to that one friend you had that also liked weird stuff. Now, it’s a marker of exciting experimentation, it’s celebrated, even, as a style that is moving music forward and giving some genres new leases … Read more

Smut

First Kiss
Iron Lung (2020)

Punk rock, man. Sometimes a band just does it right. Iron Lung released First Kiss on February 28 and it’s a doozy. There are only 8 songs here, and they fly by in probably 10 minutes. It’s fast and furious, with a whole lotta swagger and vitriol. The record sounds like aggression, pure and simple. I’m generally not an angry … Read more

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