Recent reviews

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

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

Powernap

Oreosmith EP
Asian Man (2015)

Oreosmith, whatever the hell that title means, is the first release from Powernap and it’s familiar and powerful, leaving curious signs of where the band may develop. The general sound is gruff, mid-tempo punk a la Jawbreaker or The Broadways.The EP is 6 songs long, clocking at 18 minutes and it keeps a defined sound throughout. The mid-tempo numbers like “Beautiful Day” and “Jewelry” are nice slices of the style, but they don’t bring a lot of new inspiration to the table. When the tempo takes just a little more variance, as in “Girls From Bars,” which speeds things up, it adds a little more zing, leaping above the somewhat drone gruff vocals of Hugo Mudie. That variance earns a bright spot. The chorus in “Live Slow, Die Whenever” is so big it almost feels too epic (though what do you expect with that song title?), and when they give a harder edge to the guitars in “I’ll Resist” it really stands out in a coarse and angry punk swing.The band includes members and exes of Miracles and Sainte Catherines, among others, and in a first EP it brings a lot of promise. I’d like to hear them once they … Read more

Faith No More

Sol Invictus
Reclamation Recordings/Ipecac (2015)

June, 1997.Hanson's Mmmbop was at the top of the charts. Hype was building for James Cameron's soon-to-be-released new film Titanic. … Read more

Arcturus

Arcturian
Prophecy Productions (2015)

The fact that both the new Arcturus and the new Dodheimsgard albums are being released in the same year seems … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Gay Kiss

Preservation Measures
Sorry State (2015)

In this current age of ‘80s hardcore worship overload, it’s refreshing when something this original comes along, even if said … Read more

Dan Webb and the Spiders

Now It Can Be Told
Safe Responsible (2014)

Dan Webb and the Spiders have been out spreading their punk rock for a few years now. They've collected a … Read more

Anti-Flag

American Spring
Spinefarm Records (2015)

Barack Obama recently apologised to the families of two Western hostages killed during US drone strikes in January in the … Read more

Browse our review archives

Reviews by year

Choose a year to view reviews of albums released in that year.

Reviews by artist name

Choose a letter to view reviews ordered by that letter (band name first).

Review categories

200 Words Or Less

749 reviews

Book Review

42 reviews

Classic Album

25 reviews

Multiple Authors

300 reviews

Review

4903 reviews

Video/DVD Review

19 reviews

One from the archives

The Bomb

Speed is Everything
No Idea (2009)

Considering how much I've heard about the Naked Raygun reunion, you'd think there would be more buzz regarding The Bomb. Speed is Everything is the Jeff Pezzati led group's first release for No Idea Records. When compared with Pezzati's more renowned group, I was expecting a more contemporary twist. Instead, The Bomb has a strong 80's feel to it, with dark guitars reminiscent of the more moody new wave bands. Superseding that, however, is the strong drive of melodic punk. "The Rescue" may exemplify the band's sound best. It features a steady, prominent rhythm, with haunting guitars laying over them as Pezzati sings, "Then I come to your rescue" in a tuneful call. As the song progresses, the volume increases and the tempo steadily increases into a melodic punk number … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Soup Moat

Enjoy Your Hobbies
Triple Eye Industries (2015)

Doubled-up, sometimes indecipherable screamed vocals, waves of sludgy, growling guitar and a thudding, powerful rhythm section ensure that Enjoy Your Hobbies, a 7” vinyl release from Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Soup Moat, is anything but dull. Containing five tracks falling in the one to two minute range, this album switches things up from assaults of mangled sound (opener “Comfy One”) to more … Read more

The Lookouts

Spy Rock Road (And Other Stories)
Don Giovanni (2015)

I was apprehensive about reviewing this record. When hear “music by teenagers,” it tends to mean preachy and rather one-sided political rants that are well meaning but, well, immature or not all that developed. Plus teenage voices aren’t all that great to hear singing, know what I mean?The Lookouts were a band comprised of Larry Livermore (not a teenager at … Read more

Built To Spill

Untethered Moon
Warner Bros. (2015)

Calling Untethered Moon guitar rock is somewhere to start. While the band takes their chops from the 1990s alternative boom, the defining moments of their songs come out of the guitars rather than in vocal styling or rhythmic direction. This record succeeds or fails because of that guitar. (See what I just did there? Now you have to keep reading.)As … Read more

Death Grips

Jenny Death
Harvest / Third Worlds (2015)

I almost don’t want to write a review for experimental rap outfit Death Grips, because I feel like I’d be giving them exactly what they want: attention. Their overly abrasive attitude – from no-show live shows to perpetually shitting on their record label via publicity stunts – comes off as an immature gimmick begging for press. But it would be … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Six Of Swords

Polar Vortex EP
Sorrow Carrier Records (2015)

Modern death metal often suffers under the weight of trying to emulate old school heroes while not doing very much of interest at all, so it’s a nice surprise when a newer project manages to pay homage to the old days while still bringing a nice modern flavour to proceedings. Six of Swords, who hail from Toronto, play death metal … Read more

Dodheimsgard

A Umbra Omega
Peaceville (2015)

It always takes a while for Dodheimsgard (DHG) to release a new album, but it is also always worth the wait. The experimental alchemists from Norway started off their career back in the mid ‘90s when the second wave of black metal bands was starting to come together. The core of the band back then with the release of their … Read more

Strung Out

Transmission.Alpha.Delta.
Fat Wreck Chords (2015)

There are some albums that you hear for the first time and fall in love instantly. There are others that require repeated listens in order to grasp the depth and complexity of the material. These albums get progressively more enjoyable as you listen to them. With every spin another pleasant nuance exposes itself. Strung Out’s latest album Transmission.Alpha.Delta falls into … Read more

Derek Grant

Breakdown
Red Scare Industries (2015)

Chances are, most listeners have would heard everything on Derek Grant’s 2015 solo album Breakdown before - it seems to imitate everything from the driving road music of Jackson Browne to the ballads of Guns ‘n’ Roses while frequently capturing an alt-country vibe that might be unexpected coming from a musician undoubtedly best known for drumming in punk group Alkaline … Read more

Summer Cannibals

Show Us Your Mind
New Moss Records (2015)

I know I’d already read the band’s bio, but I think I would have guessed Pacific Northwest anyway. There’s just something dreary and with a bi to’ sunshine about Summer Cannibals. Just like their name, it’s a mix of positive and desperate, with a genre tag somewhere in the vein of grunge-pop.It’s the Portland, OR band’s second full-length and the … Read more

200 Words Or Less

The Rutabega

Shiny Destination
Triple Eye Industries (2015)

After a 2013 full length album that marked the band’s first full-length as a self-described “Carp Rock Power Duo,” a title which I can in no way explain yet love nonetheless, South Bend, Indiana’s The Rutabega is back with Shiny Destination, a 7” vinyl release that presents two very different sides of the group’s sound. With its playfully chaotic feel, … Read more

Matana Roberts

COIN COIN Chapter Three: River Run Thee
Constellation (2015)

The meaning of the word “personal” does not even begin to describe what the COIN COIN works must signify for Matana Roberts. Through the chapters of COIN COIN, Roberts narrates the story of her family as far back as it can be traced. Roberts herself has said that it would probably take her a dozen albums to finish recounting this … Read more

Western Settings

Yes It Is
La Escalera (2015)

When listening to a band you’ve never heard of, it’s a lot easier to make all those “sounds like” comments. Whether that’s why I think Western Settings sounds so much like some familiar favorites, or if that’s because they really do, well, that’s maybe beside the point anyway. It’s punk rock, man. There’s supposed to be a touch of derivation … Read more

Dustin Kensrue

Carry The Fire
Staple Records/Vagrant Records (2015)

The basic tenets of theology and philosophy concern discerning right from wrong, good from evil. There will never be any clear answer to this, but as humans we're going to keep guessing and muddling through. At least partly as a result of its ambiguous nature, morality will always be a topic that's ripe for exploration and dissection. This isn't the … Read more

Siskiyou

Nervous
Constellation (2015)

Third album for the American indie rock, and it comes with a quite disturbing story to it as well. Main man, Colin Huebert, of the band was diagnosed with hyperacusis, a condition that makes the ordinary noise level of everyday life intolerable. That enough could knock out most ordinary people, but you can only imagine what effect it could have … Read more

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