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Off!

Wasted Years
Vice (2014)

I generally hate punctuation in a band name, but it’s uncommonly fitting with Off!. Sure, they only included it to keep the pesticide theme going, but every scrap of vitriol that Keith Morris shouts out in the lyrics deserves to be followed with the exclamation point. It’s loud, shocked, and direct as hell. Almost every song uses the first or … Read more

Parquet Courts

Sunbathing Animal
Whats Your Rupture? (2014)

Four years on in a career that’s seen them work on perfecting the brand of quirky 1990s alt rock of bands like the acclaimed Pavement and not-so-fondly-remembered Harvey Danger, Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts return with 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, an album that may be most surprising for the fact that it’s very nearly the equal of the band’s well-received debut, 2012’s Light … Read more

Bane

Don't Wait Up
Equal Vision (2014)

It has been literally years since I have been so taken with a hardcore record, and I am not talking about saying that you love a record with all your being; but rather I am talking about living with the record and sleeping with the record still going on in your desperate feverish brain while some batch of loveable hooligans … Read more

Ævangelist

Omen Ex Simulacra
Debemur Morti Productions (2013)

Omen Ex Simulacra is a difficult record - one that twists and forms new shapes as it progresses, one that falls into an unfathomable abyss and crawls back out again. It’s dark, overwhelming and grossly pregnant with malevolence and the base duo of Ævangelist are masters of noise control, giving their record a cacophony of sounds to work with and … Read more

Fucked Up

Glass Boys
Matador (2014)

Even though I’ve listened to some of their material, I hadn't really plunged deep into Fucked Up-mania. It wasn’t until I checked out their new song “Paper The House” that I became captivated by the music of this tumultuous, rudely-named band. The tribal drum intro, the ecstatic guitar duel, and barechested frontman Damian Abraham’s face-melting, guttural howls make Glass Boys’ … Read more

Planning For Burial

Desideratum
Flenser (2014)

We all have our dark places and those journeys to and through and from those midnight shores in the bleak silence of night can produce some of the most meaningful moments of one’s life whether it be a conversation with a person that you barely know or just sitting with your cat staring into its eyes wondering what its thinking … Read more

American Football

American Football (Re-Issue)
Polyvinyl (2014)

Much like the recently-reunited Owls, the unfortunately short-lived American Football was a group formed from the remnants of seminal Midwest-based 1990s emo band Cap’n Jazz (whose members went on to form a seemingly endless number of great bands). Unlike Owls who set about making rhythmic post-punk however, American Football’s lineup of Mike Kinsella (guitar, bass, vocals), Steve Lamos (drums, trumpet), … Read more

Lord Mantis

Death Mask
Profound Lore (2014)

You know the saying: “Third time’s the charm?” Well it could not be more suitable for the latest Lord Mantis album. The band from Chicago delivered two previous full-lengths, Spawning the Nephilim and Pervertor, both of which were great, but this one really fucking hits the spot. Death Mask is way nastier and dirtier listen, lifting the band to a … Read more

Chuck Ragan

Till Midnight
Side One Dummy (2014)

It’s almost at the point where Chuck Ragan has reinvented himself. Sure, he’s always had the voice and he’s done the countrified thing in the past with Rumbleseat, but the level of professionalism and dedication he’s brought to his solo project is worth noting. He’s now released four solo records and built his own momentum beyond the punk rock scene.Till … Read more

Direct Effect

Sunburn
Tiny Engines (2014)

With roots in Orlando, Florida but now touching down in Philadelphia, members of hardcore outfit Direct Effect have presumably fallen victim to the general awfulness that is otherwise known as traveling up and down I-95 for extended periods of time. A slow crawl on a good day, traffic on this expanse of east coast highway has been actually known to … Read more

Multiple Authors

Swans

To Be Kind
Young God (2014)

Considering that many of the group’s earliest albums were sometimes described as being unlistenable, it’s odd that Swans have garnered increasing critical acclaim and notoriety some thirty years on in their history. Led by Michael Gira, the only player remaining from the group’s earlier incarnation that was declared as “dead” following 1996’s outstanding Soundtracks for the Blind (an album I … Read more

Multiple Authors

Swans

To Be Kind
Young God (2014)

Listen, I will fully admit that I am a hopeless Swans fan boy and might even listen to a record filled with sounds of the members defecating and giggling to each other while doing such a dirty deed; so imagine my immense surprise that not only did To Be Kind not immediately blow me away with its intense two plus … Read more

Moonlit Sailor

We Come From Exploding Stars
Deep Elm (2014)

A post-rock review is always a challenge. If you think it’s tough to capture the attention of an audience and carry them on your journey, musically, for 45 minutes without lyrics or choruses then try writing about that action. The successes and failures of the genre come in the ebb and flow, the storytelling, atmosphere, and ability to pull away … Read more

Green Day

Demolicious
Reprise (2014)

Many people don't realize it, but Green Day released a trio of albums throughout the fourth quarter of 2012. However, due to some personal problems and a public breakdown at a festival from frontman, Billie-Joe, promotion for the albums was put on hold. Those albums, Uno!, Dos!, and Tre!, had their share of lackluster songs, but they also contained some … Read more

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