Frenzal Rhomb
Hi-Vis High-Tea
Fat Wreck Chords (2017)
It would be easy for the uninitiated to dismiss Frenzal Rhomb and throw them into the bucket of playful pop-punk epigones from Australia. While their sound does incorporate the key ingredients of what makes the likes of The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX and Blink 182 appealing and palatable, all of which they have toured with, it is the mélange of intelligence, humour, pisstaking and poking fun, based on the foundation of having a social conscience and a penchant for romance veiled by loudmouthery, along with a tongue firmly placed in cheek that makes Frenzal Rhomb a unikum – one that convinced Fat Mike to take them under Fat Wreck Chords wings in 1995 before they meandered via Sony to Epitaph Records.Twenty-five years in with many hospitalizations along the way (with everything from broken drumming arms and detached guitar–playing retinas to an actual pig-borne tapeworm in the lead singer’s brain), tours across the world, cross pollinations and trading oozin’ aahs with the who-is-who of Californian pop punk royalty and legendary stories galore to fuel and match and give depth to their song and album titles, they have refined their catchy take on pop-punk on their ninth studio album, which was recorded … Read more
Dimmu Borgir
Forces of The Northern Night
Nuclear Blast (2017)
There’s no denying that Dimmu Borgir come from a solid black metal background but what these Norwegian’s have done in … Read more
Spelling Reform
No One’s Ever Changed
Black RD Records (2016)
This was a tough nut to crack. Wow! Why, you ask? Well, this is way out of my comfort zone. … Read more
Great Cynics
Posi
Specialist Subject Records (2017)
Calling their fourth record Posi is an interesting statement about Great Cynic’s vibe across the 11-song, half-hour record. From lyrics … Read more
Ian William Craig
Slow Vessels
Fat Cat (2017)
The classically trained Ian William Craig released in 2016 one of the best experimental works of the year in Centres. … Read more
