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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)

Various Artists

Post Teens / Rose Cross - split 7"
Dead Tank (2015)

Nice little split 7” here from Dead Tank that I’ve admittedly been sitting on way too long. Technically this is a 2014 release, although I don’t think it started hitting the shops until 2015. Rose Cross is really awesome. One of my favorite discoveries of this past year. They’ve been around for a while but I wasn’t acquainted with them until I heard this. They are out of Gainesville, and you can certainly detect that in their sound. But they also have a familiarity about them—especially in the vocals—that brings to mind bands like Foreign Objects, Daylight Robbery, and maybe even White Lung. “Barn Burner” is a garage-y punk number, while “Radio Silence” explores melodic post-punk territory. Even with just two short songs it’s easy to tell this band is capable of creating a diverse album should they ever go the LP route. And here’s hoping they do, as it would be a crime not to hear more of this.Post Teens—also from Gainesville—takes up the other side with a couple of tracks. These guys have been around for a while now, sporadically releasing splits and 7”s when they can squeeze them in. Members play in other prominent bands like Torche, … Read more

Make Do and Mend

Don't Be Long
Rise (2015)

Back in 2010, Make Do and Mend were taking over top 10 lists with their debut, End Measured Mile. The … Read more

Flotsam and Jetsam

No Place For Disgrace 2014
Metal Blade (2014)

I can remember very clearly when I first heard of Flotsam and Jetsam. As a young hesher growing up outside … Read more

Giorgio Moroder

Deja Vu
RCA (2015)

I admit it: arguably the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures is Euro disco, a genre which found (sometimes quite dubiously-talented) … Read more

Daniel Menche & Mamiffer

Crater
Sige (2015)

In 2014 Mamiffer, the project of Faith Coloccia, released Statu Nascendi, which was described as a transitional album, leading to … Read more

Basement Benders

Lydiad
No Idea (2015)

Side projects aren’t supposed to invite other band comparisons, they’re supposed to separate, to show artisticrange. Who are we kidding … Read more

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One from the archives

Cheap Tissue

Cheap Tissue
Lolipop Records (2018)

LA’s Cheap Tissue bill themselves as rough around the edges garage punk, namedropping melodic yet understated groups like Radioactivity. While the general sound isn’t too far off the mark, the band’s take on high energy garage-fueled punk is more brash and spit-shined, showing more in common with acts like The Hives and New York Dolls. There’s more flash and posturing than working class grittiness to the production.Their self-titled debut runs out 12 songs over 23 minutes without letting up. It’s short, fast, and to the point with driving energy and a rock ‘n’ roll swagger. Lyrics like to use some of those time-tested edgy mannerisms, dropping in words like “ain’t,” “pretty,” and a good amount of innuendo. In 2018, it’s hopefully tongue-in-cheek to sing a song like “Parts” (“She’s got … Read more

More album reviews

The Great Tyrant

The Trouble With Being Born
Relapse (2015)

In the time before Pinkish Black there was The Great Tyrant. The latest album of Pinkish Black came out a few days back, establishing them as one of the more interesting experimental acts out there, encompassing psychedelia, post-punk and new wave influences, a blackened perspective and even a doom approach. Their first, self-titled album was released through Handmade Birds, but … Read more

Dilly Dally

Sore
Partisan Records (2015)

Dilly Dally is a four-piece rock band from Toronto who describes themselves as “#softgrunge” on their Facebook page - I'm not sure how serious it is, but it seems to be relatively accurate (and in a good way, believe it or not!) Their debut Sore gives me two things I’ve been looking for in modern-day rock: (1) more girl rock … Read more

Extinction A.D.

Faithkiller
Good Fight (2015)

Extinction A.D. rose like hellfire from the rubble of the, now listless, Long Island hardcore outfit This is Hell. In a rare move, the entire musical backing of This is Hell packed up and moved into the world of thrash, leaving the band’s lead vocalist in the dust. The result was Extinction A.D., an immaculate four-piece thrash metal juggernaut. The … Read more

Baldruin

Portal
Wounded Knife Records (2015)

Baldruin, the brainchild of Johannes Schebler, is wondering through the psychic domains of ambient music. Even though the project is relatively new, Schebler has put out a number of releases, various split albums and cassettes. However, Portal is the debut of Baldruin in the vinyl domain, released through Wounded Knife Records. What attracts Baldruin to the ambient domain so much … Read more

Night Birds

Mutiny at Muscle Beach
Fat Wreck Chords (2015)

It’s getting tough to find new things to say about Night Birds. They’re as great as ever with third LP Mutiny at Muscle Beach, it’s just that the sound hasn’t changed all that dramatically from day one. Album #3 is supposed to be when they go all avant on us.Their career has filled out nicely, with textural differences and a … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Mercy Killings

Snuffed Out
Beach Impediment (2015)

This is the second 7” from this new-ish congruence of Richmond, VA old-timers. The band flexes a pedigree that includes Wasted Time, Government Warning, Direct Control and a whole bunch of others. Eight minutes in total of bulldozer USHC in the most straightforward sense. No fucking about whatsoever; just head down, get the fuck out of the way hardcore punk. … Read more

Wrekmeister Harmonies

Night of Your Ascension
Thrill Jockey (2015)

The musical collective led by J.R. Robinson has always been inventive when it came to the subjects of their sonic explorations. You've Always Meant So Much to Me was written to accompany a film that Robinson shot in various areas, including Detroit, the desert of Joshua Tree and the forests of Tasmania. The collaborators in this album helped greatly bring … Read more

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Plays Prog Rock Classics
Cleopatra (2015)

At a point in the late '90s and early-to-mid 2000s, it seemed like every major artist had at least one tribute album out there. Invariably produced by one cheap-jack record label or another, these albums highlighted a dozen or so no-name musicians playing through (and quite possibly butchering) various well-known songs and were often framed around a particular type of … Read more

Hasta

Botanique
Kitsuné Music (2015)

While electronic music used to be a rather exclusive club that only those with access to (expensive) equipment could hope to break into, in recent years, the increased availability of technology has allowed anyone with a will and/or a way to become an electronic producer. Theoretically, this has enabled more talented people to express themselves through music, and there is … Read more

Oneirogen

Plenitude
Denovali (2015)

Diaz de Leon explores the limits of hallucinatory music through his project Oneirogen. Back in 2012, the debut album of Oneirogen, Hypnos, came into existence, combining experimental and heavy music, with the inclusion of big sounding synths, abrupt noise explosions and dark ambient yearnings, all under a veil of distortion and emerging soundscapes. A year later, Kiasma would be released, … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Pontius Pirate

Pterodactyl Island LP
Backwoods Butcher (2015)

Every so often I go through a phase where I’m listening to a lot of pre-Independent Wormhole Saloon era Butthole Surfers. Such was the case when this 17-song slab-o-wax landed in my mailbox via Food Fortunata, the genius behind Ear of Corn fanzine. I promptly ripped this to MP3s so that I could listen to it while riding my bicycle. … Read more

Black Wing

...Is Doomed
Flenser (2015)

The name Dan Barrett is well known to anyone following projects such as Have a Nice Life, Giles Corey and Enemies List (and quite a few more.) In his latest project, Black Wing, Barrett sets on a digital-only path. While the motto of his other project, Giles Corey, has been: “only acoustic instruments allowed,” Black Wing features only digital instruments. … Read more

Grave Pleasures

Dreamcrash
Metal Blade (2015)

Back in 2010, Beastmilk were on the rise with the release of their demo White Stains On Black Tape. The band from Finland, with an impressive line-up featuring Kvohst (Hexvessel, ex-Code and ex-Dodheimsgard), Valtteri Arino, Linnea Olsson (ex-The Oath), Johan “Goatspeed” Snell and Paile, was putting together a disturbing vision of apocalyptic post-punk. The result of this concept was the … Read more

The Necks

Vertigo
Northern Spy (2015)

The Necks is an experimental jazz band from Australia, which has been outputting record after record since their inception back in the '80s. Following the release of their previous full-length, Open, this trio of excellent musicians embarked on a journey towards their next release, Vertigo. Where Open features a more minimalistic mindset, Vertigo is a cinematic piece placed against a … Read more

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