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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Aaron Turner & Daniel Menche

Nox
Sige (2017)

Aaron Turner and Daniel Menche, two prominent figures of experimental music, meet again after the Mamiffer collaboration with Menche back in 2015. Both have been active recently, with Turner participating in the Thalassa project releasing Bonds of Prosperity with William Fowler Collins, while Menche released his long, immersive Sleeper record earlier this year. With NOX the duo presents a 31-minute long-form collaboration. Anyone familiar with the two artists should have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. Sonic exploration is performed to no end, through the use of field recordings, heavy guitars and amp feedback coupled with electronic manipulation in crafting an experience that is deeply meditative and transcendental. NOX contains a strong sense of peace and serenity, which is a direct result of the meditative perspective Menche and Turner adopt. The opening moments of the track with the vocals appearing from afar displaying that mentality, while the elusive nature of the work, especially around the 21 minute mark, pinpoints to the very centre of the introspective state. However, the tone does not always retain its serene profile, with the duo shifting towards darker and more obscure areas, constructing minimal and desolate soundscapes. It is the drones that … Read more

Royal Brat

Eyesore
Moniker Records (2018)

Royal Brat follow an intriguing trend I see in a lot of queer punk: taking direct and heavy subject matter … Read more

Chiller

Chiller
Dirt Cult (2018)

I’ll admit to coming into this one with a clean slate. I don’t know Feral Trash, who predate Chiller and … Read more

Mokumedori

Mokumedori
Dewfall Records (2017)

How do you tell a fairy tale using only sound? That's a question seemingly answered by Japanese artist Mokumedori's self-titled … Read more

Wake

Misery Rites
Translation Loss (2018)

Wake is a Canadian grindcore act. One of those grindcore-acts that have taken care of me not growing tired of … Read more

Loud Boyz

Party In The USA
Independent (2017)

You know, I’ve never knowingly listened to Miley Cyrus, but I’m pretty sure this record is named tongue-in-cheek and doesn’t … Read more

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One from the archives

Broadway Calls

Good Views, Bad News
Side One Dummy (2009)

It has been two years since Broadway Calls last graced us with a full-length release. But in that time the band has been keeping busy. Their last record caught the ear of Adeline Records, who re-released it, as well as the excellent split 7" with Teenage Bottlerocket last year. In addition, the Oregon trio has kept to the road including dates on Warped Tour and with Alkaline Trio. All this has led to a new home with Side One Dummy for this, their sophomore full-length. Good Views, Bad News is an album that doesn't stray far from what has brought Broadway Calls to this point. They maintain a fairly straightforward pop-punk sound over these eleven songs, the majority of which clock in right around the three-minute mark. What's the point … Read more

More album reviews

Dödsrit

Dödsrit
Alerta Antifascista (2017)

After a couple of years of reviewing I’ve got a love-hate relation with genre definitions. I love ‘em because it makes my job so much easier. Just should a genre name and you, my dear reader, should have an idea about the sound of the record in question and if this review is worth your time. It makes my job … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Balcanes

Carne Nueva EP
Humo (2016)

Spain’s Balcanes tread a glorious path through noisy rock with a sound that is as filthy as it is consuming. Although minimally done, Balcanes still force through masses of power by using painful feedback and deep, rumbling bass to create strong textures in their work. Carne Nueva is only a taste of what the band are capable of and on … Read more

Mind Spiders

Furies
Dirtnap (2018)

While I’ve always enjoyed Mind Spiders, they’ve kind of felt like a side project, an idea that hadn’t really grown into a full-fledged band yet. On each of their releases so far, I listen and think, “I like this, but it’s not really my thing.” Then the next album comes along, I give it a spin, and think, “This keeps … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Various Artists

Say Sue Me / Otoboke Beaver Split 7”
Damnably / Electric Muse (2017)

Though the thought of pairing a shoegazey indie pop band with an anything-goes punk group on a split record may seem odd, in the case of this effort from South Korea's Say Sue Me and Japan's Otoboke Beaver, the results are magical. Say Sue Me's contribution is the sunny “Good For Some Reason,” which finds gorgeously hazy vocals soaring over … Read more

Portal

Ion
Profound Lore (2018)

There is no easy starting point with a record such as Ion. It’s an album that’s dense, almost to the point of being utterly impenetrable, with vocals from The Curator that swirl with crawling chaos and drums that march to an inhuman beat. Portal are not an easy band to digest and their music is a claustrophobic head-trip into the … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Spiritual Cramp

Mass Hysteria
REACT! Records (2017)

Given their name, it's appropriate that San Francisco's Spiritual Cramp have a sound rooted in the punk rock of 40-ish years ago. I don't think debut EP Mass Hysteria would have the same punch had it featured a more aggressive approach. Alienation figures prominently in the lyrics of opener “All MY Friends Are Out Tonight (Alright),” and the somewhat vulnerable, … Read more

Nick JD Hodgson

Tell Your Friends
Prediction Records (2018)

Erstwhile Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson has spent the past five years penning songs for the likes of Mark Ronson and Shirley Bassey, basking in being out of the limelight and no longer having to endure a punishing touring schedule as part of one of the UK’s most successful indie bands. The 40-year-old spent much of his 20s and 30s perched … Read more

Orphaned Land

Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs
Century Media (2018)

Music with a message has long been a starting point for many bands but for Orphaned Land that message is of the most extreme importance. Spreading the missive of peace and understanding has been at the root of the Israeli band and their output since the very beginning and over the last twenty six years. Addressing the turmoil that has … Read more

The Dwarves

Take Back the Night
Burger Records (2018)

Take Back The Night isn’t one of those experiment Dwarves records, like the industrio-tinge of Come Clean. On their latest offering, the long-running band alternates styles consistently between their unique and twisted take on bubblegum pop-punk and screaming, single-vocalist hardcore. For the most part, the hardcore songs are fronted by Rex Everything (Nick Oliveri), with occasional SPB guest contributor Blag … Read more

Baronen & Satan

Why Does The Blood Never Stick To Your Teeth/Satan Is A Lady
Dirty Water Records (2017)

Every now and then I find it entertaining to randomly pick something out of the promo-bin without overthinking what to review. Sometimes this way I discover brilliant stuff, sometimes I question my choices. Baronen & Satan’s short and snappy promo chatter sounds promising enough. This quartet is from Gothenburg, Sweden. There’s more than enough quality music coming from Sweden. That … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Damon Eliza Palermo

Beacon of Maracaibo
Johnkôôl Records (2018)

Contemplative and calming, “Delacorta” kicks off Damon Eliza Palermo's Beacon of Maracaibo release with flowing piano and bubbling electronic tones playing under a pleasant, naturalistic bed of chirping birds. Slightly glitchy but undeniably relaxing even when it introduces a cymbal-heavy beat late in the going, the opener transitions into a lengthy title track awash in sweeping synths, seesawing vocal tones … Read more

City Mouse

Get Right
It's Alive (2017)

The Fest is a pretty cool event. The first time or two I went, I went to see the headliners on the big stages, packing a day of well known (by punk standards) into one action-packed 12-hour period. Over time, I’ve come to seek out the newer bands on the smaller stages. The atmosphere is more my vibe, but it’s … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Daniel Ruiz

A Cup of Coffee with Two Sugar Cubes, Cream, and a Tiny Drop of Whiskey
Independent (2017)

Described aptly by its creator, Barcelona songwriter Daniel Ruiz, as an “ode to misery,” A Cup of Coffee with Two Sugar Cubes, Cream, and a Tiny Drop of Whiskey is a relaxed and dreamlike work built around layers of hazy guitar, warbling organ, and just a hint of piano. Vaguely idiosyncratic lyrics deal with a woman, her particular taste in … Read more

Ann Beretta

Old Scars, New Blood
Say-10 (2017)

There’s a lot of analysis when listening to Old Scars, New Blood. When singer Rob Huddleston sings, “Nothing ever changes/ Nothing ever stays the same” in “Fairweather,” it seems to epitomize the experience of this record, a re-recording of 13 songs by the recently born again Ann Beretta.I can’t decide if this album is a great idea, modernizing a reformed … Read more

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)