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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)

Hanoi Rocks

Oriental Beat (40th Anniversary)
Svart Records (2023)

Hanoi Rocks has always been pigeonholed as a hair metal band along the lines of bands like Faster Pussycat, Poison, LA Guns, Ratt, Warrant etc.. However, their allegiance has always been more so with forefathers in the skin of the New York Dolls. Drawing from the Doll's panache for wearing women's attire, high heels and carefully fixated palate of pancake foundation, eyeliner and lots of cheap hairspray. Hanoi Rocks have always worn their influences on their sleeves as it is pretty easy to decipher and no secret which golden goblet they drink from. Some consider Hanoi Rocks as a second tier of wannabe disciples of David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Arthur Killer Kane and Jerry Nolan. Coming from a rabid Dolls fan it is apparent that they are not a carbon copy and pay homage to the things the Dolls did well and put their twist on it. It should also be no surprise that Yaffa ended up in a later edition of the New York Dolls and Steve Conte who was in the same band ended up playing in the Michael Monroe band. Didn't your mother ever tell you never to judge a book by its cover(or L.P) as you … Read more

Ogives

La M​é​moire des Orages
Sub Rosa (2023)

Ogives are led by ambition. That is the easiest way to describe the newly formed, nine-piece from Belgium. Featuring members … Read more

Pack Sounds

Real Gusto
Friend Club Records (2023)

“Keep it simple / It’s not that hard / Just play three chords / On the chorus part” That lyric … Read more

Nobro

Set Your Pussy Free
Dine Alone (2023)

Last year I discovered Nobro through their EP Live Your Truth, Shred Some Gnar. I cheated a bit and included … Read more

The Shits

You’re A Mess
Rocket Recordings (2023)

With their origin dating to the late ‘10s, I was quite amazed to find in Discogs that this is only … Read more

The Telescopes

Experimental Health
Weisskalt (2023)

There has been a lot of excitement about The Telescopes’ latest record, Of Tomorrow, and rightly so. Yet earlier in … Read more

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One from the archives

Ian Lawrence Campbell Swordy

The Bull Loving Truth
Independent (2019)

I came to this book through it’s author. Ian Lawrence Campbell Swordy aka Pony. His involvement in Bent Outta Shape, Behavior and the New York art scene makes him a fascinating character in my mind’s eye. So naturally, reading his first book was an easy ask when given the opportunity. “The book is about a series of performances that started with joining the band (Bent Outta Shape) and ended with walking across the country.“ Pony and I crossed paths in Bushwick, Chelsea and Venice, Italy, but our experiences were vastly different. HIs anarchist Long Island reaction to the threat of a commuter train existence generated copious angsty creativity. This honest account of Bent Outta Shape’s struggles with innovation and addiction could act as a positive guide for young artists experiencing … Read more

More album reviews

Rebuilder

Local Support
Iodine (2023)

In an era of searching for nostalgia, Boston natives Rebuilder have managed to remind us that living in the present isn’t so bad after all —and if it is, there’s always support. With their sophomore album Local Support, Rebuilder has captured what it means to persist as a local, gnarly punk band in the ever-changing world both in and outside … Read more

Merger

Second To Last
Impetus (2023)

Merger was a short lived band that was active between 2017 and 2019. In that time the band recorded one EP. Now, years after the band quit, this single is the first of two planned releases. This EP is my introduction to the band. It was not an easy introduction. In fact, it took me a lot of time to … Read more

Anton Ponomarev / Guillaume Cazelet

Pyrocene
Utech (2023)

Another one for Guillaume Cazelet, the prolific artist from avant-garde icons Neptunian Maximalism and his solo black metal project Ôros Kaù. This time around Cazelet collaborates with Anton Ponomarev, a fellow maniac from free improvisational fiends P/O Massacre. With their new work, Pyrocene, the duo lets go completely of any form or notion and drives straight into the abstract domain … Read more

American Television

Scars
Smartpunk Records (2023)

There are a few basic moods to punk. American Television fall into the singalong category. This is short, fast, and predictable melodic punk – and I don’t even slightly mean that in a bad way. Scars tears through 10 songs in probably 20 minutes, balancing whoa-ohs, harmonies and punchy power chords. It all culminates in “Bittersweet” with a refrain of … Read more

Half Dead

Nasty, Brutish, and Short
Early Onset Records (2023)

I have two sisters (both younger) and growing up I found myself with their chores on my list, despite the initial fair divide decreed by our parents. I went to university (I know- my level of pretension and rambling introductions give that away) and was often submitted to the dreaded group project. You know how it goes. Group chat, a … Read more

Raspberry Bulbs

The World Is Empty, The Heart Is Full
Hospital (2023)

Raspberry Bulbs are an act that is seemingly allergic to bullshit. Since their inception, they have bounced between different scenes and sounds, but one thing that remained constant was their adherence to their punk roots. No matter if these were infused with a primal black metal spirit in Nature Tries Again, or adorned by deathrock variations with Before The Age … Read more

The End

Why Do You Mourn
Trost (2023)

The End is assembled by stellar musicians of the Swedish and Norwegian avant-garde jazz scene, amongst them the likes of Mats Gustafsson and Sofia Jernberg. Their moment of origin with Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen, found this collective relishing their all too familiar chaos. Crazed saxophone solos and frenetic rhythmic changes collapsed any notion of structure. At the center of … Read more

Various Artists

Beex/L'Amour - Split
Zero Degree Records (2022)

Oh, hail Richmond, Virginia !. Occasionally regional bands became lauded on compilations for greedy grabbing sweaty secretive nerdy evil record lords. Seeking out and posting their findings on social media for all to tilt their caveman posturings and send a spindle of sweaty spittle cascading down their black head-encrusted chin thus avoiding their overpriced modern artifact shelved in the thickest … Read more

Sprain

The Lamb As Effigy
Flenser (2023)

One of the many exciting acts introduced through The Flenser, Sprain delivered an impressive work with their debut record, As Lost Through Collision. Introduced during the dark times between lockdowns in 2020, the album is a tour de force through noise rock and post-hardcore. With an off-kilter element and an allure for both the chaotic and depressing nature of no … Read more

Old Tower

Draconic Synthesis
Hospital (2023)

The line between dark ambient and dungeon synth has always been blurry. Since Mortiis’ departure from Emperor and his stellar, first-era works in Født til å Herske and Ånden som Gjorde Opprør, many have traveled the same path. Amongst the newest additions to this merry group is Old Tower, the obscure project from the Netherlands. Since the mid-10s, Old Tower … Read more

Sincere Engineer

Cheap Grills
Hopeless (2023)

You know those bands whose music you enjoy, but each record sort of sounds the same, just a little fresher? Well, Cheap Grills is the third LP from Sincere Engineer and it continues exactly as you’d expect from the Deanna Belos led band. The first five seconds of the album feature the lyric, “I’m a walking open wound,” in her … Read more

Mike Schiff

The History of Metal and Horror
Independent (2022)

The History of Metal and Horror is an extensive dip into a world where two defining genres of audio and visual come together so perfectly it's difficult to imagine one without the other. Music and film have had a long and happy marriage and both play a big parts in each others existence . Rom Coms and pop music, action … Read more

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Live at Acton Town Hall
BMG, Dark Horse Records (2023)

Most music fans were stunned when Joe Strummer passed away in 2002. I’d recently skipped out on a Mescaleros show, thinking I had plenty of time to see the legendary musician. I honestly wasn’t all that into his work with the Mescaleros at the time, but Streetcore is one of the records of that era that’s still in heavy rotation … Read more

Grischa Lichtenberger

Works for Last Work
Raster (2023)

Grischa Lichtenberger’s works are defined not only by their experimental foundation but also by relentless energy. Be it through glitch and EBM components, or jazz injections, there always is a volatile core. This is now changing with Works for Last Work. While the abstract mindset still defines Grischa as an artist, this time around it is applied over a minimal … Read more

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