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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)

Earth Girls

Wrong Side of History
Grave Mistake (2014)

Wrong Side of History is the debut 7” by Chicago upstarts Earth Girls. This piece of weighty green wax (via Grave Mistake in the United States) was recorded during the same session as their sold-out limited run demo cassette from earlier this year. Earth Girls are headed up by Liz Panella of Libyans and Broken Prayer on guitar and vocals. The lineup is rounded out by Joey Kappel, also of Broken Prayer as well as Boilerman, on bass, and Jeff Rice of Daylight Robbery on drums. Although the photograph that’s used for the front and the back of the jacket shows four people, Earth Girls recorded this material as a three piece, with Panella playing both lead and rhythm guitar. Eschewing the aggressiveness of Libyans or the outright weirdness of Broken Prayer, Earth Girls is quite a bit different from Panella’s other bands. These songs are a fun and soothing blend of melodic punk and sun-stroked garage rock. It hits somewhere between Radioactivity/Marked Men territory and the aforementioned Daylight Robbery, while faintly recalling ‘90s alt acts like Belly.There’s a uniqueness to these songs that’s as hard to nail down as it is captivating. The opening track “Unavailable” has this strange … Read more

Astpai

Burden Calls
Jump Start (2014)

I’m not sure what this says about me, but I like Astpai’s Burden Calls just fine but it takes until … Read more

Girl Scout

Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)

Musically tight and lyrically inventive, Pittsburgh, PA-based, self-proclaimed “slacker rock” group Girl Scout seems to draw inspiration from various indie … Read more

John, The Void

Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)

Proving that Italians can do the doomy, post-metal thing just as well as anyone else, mysterious and methodical five-piece group … Read more

GG Allin

(un)Censored Live 1993
MVD Visual (2014)

Despite the fact that the man’s been dead for more than two decades at this point, the reputation of GG … Read more

Earthless & Heavy Blanket

In a Dutch Haze
Outer Battery Records / Roadburn Records (2014)

Hour-long songs can be somewhat of a hard sell. For starters, there has to be an audience of listeners who … Read more

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One from the archives

Various Artists

Junius-Rosetta
Translation Loss (2011)

200 Words Or Less

Junius and Rosetta are two odd bands to select for a split. It's hard to imagine the sonic distortion of the band behind The Galilean Satellites matching up with a band as mellow (in comparison, anyway) as Junius.Their contribution, “A Dark Day With Night,” sounds eerily ethereal; the sweet nature of the writing feels almost at odds with the sorrowful longing of its vocals. The guitar lines are laid as thick and as deeply moving as they are with artists like Cloudkicker, with just a hint more melodic awareness.Rosetta's piece “TMA-3” is, only narrowly, the stronger of the two. The song starts off with light, ambient guitars and soft, yet still busy, drum work, almost entirely out of Explosions in the Sky's playbook. And yet, by the time the song … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Wildhoney

Seventeen Forever
Photobooth Records (2014)

Demonstrating on their 2013 self-titled EP that they may be the modern group that best replicates the sound of classic, British shoegaze bands (particularly, Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine), Baltimore five-piece Wildhoney returned with 2014’s three-track Seventeen Forever. Showing off new vocalist Lauren Shusterich as well as more confident songwriting, the EP kicks off with the calming “Seventeen.” Guitarists Joe … Read more

London Grammar

If You Wait
Columbia (2013)

Heartbreak in its truest form is one of life's most sobering and unyielding experiences. As the tedious old adage goes: there's a thin line between love and hate. The strength of these emotions can feel like a bizarre tug-of-war. They're not lacklustre, they're arresting, enthralling and all-consuming. If You Wait siphons some of the rawest feelings, left over after picking … Read more

The Sands

Hotel & Casino
Houseplant (2014)

Say what you will about the old “don’t judge a book by its cover” metaphor, but it’s got some credence in the music world too. The Sands’ Hotel & Casino is a case in point. The black vinyl sleeve may have suggested something darker, but the simplicity and attention to precision that marks the cover is befitting of the record … Read more

Electric Funeral

Total Funeral
Southern Lord (2014)

Total Funeral is the entire anthology-to-date of Electric Funeral, the one-man Swedish raw punk hobbyhorse manned by Jocke D-Takt. And holy crap is it ever unnecessary. We’re talking about 53 songs that, to the untrained ear, are nearly indistinguishable from one another. Southern Lord, as is their wont, reached into their deep-ish pockets to compile material from yet another act … Read more

Gog

Gog
King Of Monsters (2014)

I had the fortitude to come across GOG’s previous album, Ironworks, and was astonished with what I discovered. On his previous album, Michael Bjella (the man behind GOG) explored the noise and industrial scenes with much precision and no hesitation when it comes to how extreme a musical offering can be. The ability of Bjella to retain the harsh industrial … Read more

Maur

Elegy
Independent (2014)

Running nearly twenty minutes in length and featuring two tracks, 2014’s Elegy is the second demo from Indonesian five-piece Maur. I’d classify this band as sounding somewhat similar to stoner metal, particularly on Elegy’s fourteen minute title track which unleashes crisp guitar work played at a deliberate, relaxed tempo. There are moments when the instrumental parts didn’t quite match up … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Van Dammes

The VD EP
Keep Fishin’ Music (2014)

Though the band is not doing anything that the typical punk rock fan wouldn’t have heard dozens of times before, there’s definite energy and excitement in the four rowdy songs featured on Finnish group Van Dammes’ debut EP. Opening track “(Let’s) Go” kicks the album into high gear immediately, with the sort of singalong punk one would expect from The … Read more

Tobacco

Ultima II Massage
Ghostly International (2014)

Known primarily as the frontman for Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobacco (the stage name of electronic musician Thomas Fec) has nonetheless carved out a little niche for himself as a solo artist in the electronic music scene with albums like 2010’s Maniac Meat, which featured contributions by the one and only Beck. Four years later, Tobacco has unveiled Ultima II … Read more

PS I Love You

For Those Who Stay
Paper Bag (2014)

Coming to prominence in 2011 on the strength of the almost unanimously praised debut LP Meet Me at Muster Station, PS I Love You (made up of guitarist/vocalist Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson) popped up at precisely the right time to take advantage of a music community all too willing to embrace an unconventional indie rock duo. Though the … Read more

Video/DVD Review

Black Lips

Kids Like You & Me
Universal (2014)

At one point during Kids Like You & Me, the documentary chronicling Atlanta "flower-punks" the Black Lips' 2012 tour through the Middle East, drummer Joe Bradley remarks that it would be easy for the band to go out and book a tour in North America or even Europe really since the band already has a developed audience there. However, for … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Low Forms

Low Forms EP
Big Action Records/Tectonic Plates (2014)

Low Forms self-titled 7” is a six minute blast of power-pop defined by clean guitars, rhythmic chops, and traditional format rock ’n’ roll. While it’s not reinventing anything, it’s a solid homage to a timeless style with a nice build-up from opening verse to close, milking the verse-chorus-verse structure to increase urgency as the song progresses without succumbing to dumbed … Read more

Barghest

The Virtuous Purge
Gilead Media (2014)

This black metal act from Louisiana continues to spread destruction and devastation. Barghest released their debut album back in 2011, unleashing an echoing shout of misanthropy and obliteration. After their self-titled album, the band put out a split EP with fellow black metal act, False, which also marked their first work for Gilead Media. So now the band carries on … Read more

White Reaper

White Reaper EP
Polyvinyl (2014)

White Reaper is a cool-named trio who are rubber-burning their way out of the Louisville, KY DIY scene. There’s a dude named Tony Esposito who sings and plays the guitar, and twin brothers Nick and Sam Wilkerson who play drums and bass respectively. Their self-titled debut EP will appeal to fans of Wavves, Japandroids, and Jay Reatard. Hate to drop … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Tessela

Rough 2 EP
Different Grooves (2014)

This drug influenced, euro-electronic laser beam, drum and bass can be very, VERY repetitive, Anxiety inducing, tough to listen to, and at times I felt like it was going to trigger a panic attack or an audible seizure.An ‘80s pop-locking, track suit wearing dance crew wouldn't touch this album that brings no emotion or anything of value to the table. … Read more

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