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)

Vow

Make Me Yours EP
The Native Sound (2014)

Easily the aural equivalent of the light and fluffy clouds that pepper your daydreams, LA duo Vow's second EP Make Me Yours finds them producing a more definitive sound couched in an ethereal sweetness. Opener "Miles Away" embraces an industrial aesthetic with vocalist Julia Blake's lithe, sugar-sweet singing acting as a curveball amongst the heavy, morose synths. It sounds like the industrial weight of VNV Nation melded with vocal inclinations not a million miles from Summer Camp's Elizabeth Sankey."Charm" is the most engaging track on this EP, Blake's singing gains a strength that is downplayed in the other tracks. Her vocals come to life and the dark expanse of Andrew Thomas's synth backing makes Vow stand out in comparison to the current deluge of synth-based bands. "You see me for who I truly am/To you I'm more than a skeleton" is delivered in an unwavering melody that means "Charm" will be knocking around your head for days, which is no bad thing. Make Me Yours is a creative and interesting EP that at times veers into saccharine territory, but serves as an excellent starting point for a band that likely has a lot more to offer. Read more

United Nations

The Next Four Years
Temporary Residence (2014)

United Nations have been locked away for a few years now. Members have come and gone and we aren't even … Read more

Cara Neir

Portals to a Better, Dead World
Broken Limbs Recordings (2013)

Cara Neir have made a name for themselves by playing a suffocating blend of grind and black metal. while this … Read more

Electric Wizard

Time To Die
Spinefarm Records (2014)

Somewhere along the way (and it's hard to say when exactly), but somewhere along the way Electric Wizard became more … Read more

The Proselyte

Our Vessel's in Need
Gypsyblood (2014)

Proselyte return with their newest EP, Our Vessel’s In Need, which also marks the first release for Gypsyblood records ( … Read more

Teenage Bottlerocket

American Deutsch Bag
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)

I never learned German in high school, but Teenage Bottlerocket must have because their latest 7’’ is a nod to … Read more

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One from the archives

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 on a drum stool, while singing and drumming along to hits like “Ruby” and “I Predict a Riot”.Hodgson’s role in the Kaiser Chiefs was unique in that he wasn’t the traditional drummer in the background. The Leeds native was the principal songwriter for the band, and he commanded attention as he sang along with vocals to match those of frontman Ricky Wilson, like on the zany and infectiously catchy “Good … Read more

More album reviews

City States

Geography
Safety Records (2014)

They say that good things come to those that wait and for City States and their main member Joel Ebner, it's certainly true. Ebner has spent many years creating and perfecting his debut - Geography - and after forming in 2008, City States first record finally saw the light of day earlier this year. Geography is a lovely little record, … Read more

Sd Laika

THAT'S HARAKIRI
Tri Angle Records (2014)

First showing up in 2012 and making waves in the underground music scene ever since, Sd Laika makes a brand of electronic music that seems to suggest what Richard D. James (i.e. Aphex Twin) might have been making had he turned up in the 2000s and 2010s as opposed to the 1990s. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin which seems about as … Read more

Devo

The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
MVD Visual (2014)

I’ve long felt there are fewer lesser art forms than the music video. It turns out I was wrong—or, at least pre-1990 it was another game. The Complete Truth About De-Evolution is a DVD compilation of all of Devo’s music videos (1976-1990, minus “Are U Experienced?”), running in chronological order, and it’s a spectacle to behold. Besides the high quality … Read more

Subrosa

More Constant Than the Gods
Profound Lore (2013)

Subrosa have managed to get lumped into the doom genre. While that genre tag isn't completely inaccurate it certainly fails to tell the full story of the band. The band certainly has doom elements at times heavy guitars and lengthy song structures may stick out the band refuses to stick to convention and allowing for a style that is more … Read more

Botanist

VI: Flora
Flenser (2014)

The whole concept of one-man black metal projects is quite old. From back in the ‘90s you would have acts like Burzum and Ildjarn (although they would feature also Nidhogg occasionally.) Those acts were great and it was quite nice to see that other musicians today would adapt the same philosophy and try to create solitary projects, with excellent examples … Read more

Steve Adamyk Band

Dial Tone
Dirtnap (2014)

This is Dirtnap Records.Not to pigeonhole anybody, but man does Steve Adamyk Band hit on that pop structure, garage chaos element that defines the label.Dial Tone is the fourth full-length out of Canada’s Steve Adamyk Band and I reviewed Third a while back. This time around, the band continues their well-crafted, energetic and generally positive vibes in the same fashion. … Read more

Various Artists

Balsa/Sei Hexe - Split EP
String Break (2014)

Two bands hailing from the US Northwest bring a Metalcore filled split from String Break Records. Seattle's, Balsa, take control of the first half with three tracks, while Portland's all-female act, Sei Hexe, fills out the rest of the split with two tracks. Balsa opens the EP with, "Rasputin." The track doesn't hesitate to play with the core of the … Read more

Wolvhammer

Clawing Into Black Sun
Profound Lore (2014)

Having already released two albums showing great promise, Wolvhammer nail it with their third try. No matter how brutal and awe inspiring Black Marketeers of World War III and The Obsidian Plains were, Clawing Into Black Sun stands in a league of its own. It might just be the case that the band took their time for this one, since … Read more

Pussy Cactus

HE'S FAST
Independent (2014)

Connecticut musician Pussy Cactus is more than just another quirky and boisterous noise pop girl. With her new five-track EP entitled He’s Fast, Pussy Cactus shows that she can lyrically be very wise and philosophical.On her glum “I Call My Dick Cheney,” Cactus preaches to the human race that “we are all a baby/ we are all a teenager/ we … Read more

Mad The Martian

Blast Off
MtM Records (2014)

All I keep hearing these days is that Rock is dead, the ever popular Gene Simmons schooled us with this factoid in an interview he did with Esquire (Esquire WTF??) last month. Well friends let me assure you Mad the Martian, a band we interviewed here on Scene Point Blank recently, are here to save Rock and Roll. The band … Read more

Masked Intruder

M.I.
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)

I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t like Masked Intruder, and I prefer to keep it that way. However, despite everyone being completely in love with them, they manage to still remain mysterious. I’m sure everyone has asked themselves these questions before about Masked Intruder: How long are they gonna keep up the gimmick? Are all their songs gonna … Read more

Buckcherry

Fuck EP
F-Bomb (2014)

As might be expected considering the word can be used in a variety of ways and can make up nearly every word in a still-coherent sentence, there’s a rich history of use of the f-bomb in music. While the word has sometimes been used to prove a point or make a hard-hitting statement (Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the … Read more

Flagpolers

Arse Ways EP
Self Released (2014)

Sometimes the RIYL doesn’t lie. When Vancouver punks Flagpolers list Tiltwheel as an influence, it comes across clearly on the four song EP Arse Ways. The songs are built in that Davey Tiltwheel guitar style and then the lyrics are pelted atop in a gruff and staggering delivery. It’s rough hewn, coarse, and alternately beautiful—a fitting tribute to the aforementioned … Read more

In The Whale

Nate & Eric
Self Released (2014)

In The Whale's Nate & Eric promises a look at the seedier side of Colorado. Combining two EPs written by the duo, Nate & Eric is a brazen, unfiltered balls-to-the-wall rock record. On "Robert Johnson", a song about the eponymous jazz musician who purportedly made a deal with the devil, clattering feedback and wailing guitars are matched with cries of … Read more

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

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