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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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Diarrhea Planet

Yama-Uba EP (Reissue)
Infinity Cat (2014)

Showing up a few years after the group’s 2009 debut Aloha, Diarrhea Planet’s 2011 three-track EP Yama-Uba is a more consistent release, with a sound that’s similar to that of 1990s pop-punk group The Queers. Infusing singalong vocal harmonies, intricate guitar work, and soaring solo lines into familiar, old-time rock song formulas, opening tracks “Hot Spit” and “Mutt-Feast” show that Diarrhea Planet (whose vocalist Jordan Smith positively seems to be emulating Dexter Holland here)are continuing with the type of sound made popular by The Offspring. The noisy but moderately-paced and pensive album closer “Yamanba” shows that the band isn’t strictly a one-trick pony only capable of making breakneck punk rock. If Aloha indicated the band’s seemingly endless reserves of energy, Yama-Uba focused that energy, resulting in a more polished overall effort. The 2014 reissues of both these two very brief early EPs may not capture Diarrhea Planet at the height of its power, but they do prove that the “buzz band” labeling of the group isn’t a fluke. Even if this music doesn't reinvent the wheel, it's hard to ignore the fact that it's extremely fun to listen to and genuinely invigorating. Read more

200 Words Or Less

Diarrhea Planet

Aloha (Reissue)
Infinity Cat (2014)

Formed in 2009, Nashville, Tennessee’s Diarrhea Planet initially were known for their goofy name more than anything else, but with … Read more

Olekranon

Danaus
Inam Records (2013)

When a band or label is as difficult to track down as Olekranon or Inam Records, then you know you're … Read more

Ulver

Messe I.X - VI.X
Jester (2013)

It has been quite a time since one could easily quantify Ulver and what they do as a unit. Garm … Read more

Gholas

Litanies
Dullest Records (2014)

Taking their name from the universe of Dune, this intriguing band releases its latest record, Litanies. Post metal might be … Read more

Eyehategod

Eyehategod
Housecore (2014)

With their first full-length album in 14 years (save for an EP of sorts in 2005 and a 7" in … Read more

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One from the archives

Freshman 15

Throw Up Your Hands for One Night Stands
Standby (2009)

This is a tough one. At some point, there was a crossover between cheesy melodic pop-punk and the worn-out "scene" image of white belts and devil locks. It became cool to sound like Simple Plan as long as you listened to August Burns Red, and constantly posted pictures of how tough your band looks. I've done my best to avoid this topic as much as possible, because complaining about it only brings attention to a demographic I'd like everyone to forget. But I have also been known to pick through these millennial pop-punk manifestations, as a handful of them are not part of this strange metalcore aesthetic, or are simply capable of writing catchy songs that aren't lame. So I'll bite my tongue for the time being. Freshman 15 are … Read more

More album reviews

White Lung

Deep Fantasy
Domino (2014)

Deep Fantasy is pissed off, but it could still use a good angry howl every so often.The record, the third from Vancouver’s White Lung, is their first on Domino Records and was recorded as a trio (though they still tour as a quartet). The band has seen its fair share of comparisons to Pretty Girls Make Graves and this release … Read more

Northless

World Keeps Sinking
Gilead Media (2013)

Milwaukee's Northless have long been trudging within their brand a somewhat sprawling sludge. The band have consistently input further measures of post rock textures into their sound to create something a little bit more different from the norm. While still remaining mostly true to sludge on the whole the band seem to create something a little bit more tuneful and … Read more

Andrew Jackson Jihad

Christmas Island
Side One Dummy (2014)

Andrew Jackson Jihad make a return on their new label home, Side One Dummy, after a long tenure on Asian Man Records. Usually when a band makes a jump after a long run, many find a cause for concern. I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. The lyrics are as offbeat as ever and the compositions are still whimsical … Read more

Dark Model

Dark Model
Independent (2014)

If you find yourself loving classical or orchestral pieces, but would just enjoy something with a little more electronic funky vibe this is what you’re looking for. I imagine such wide varieties for this music and it can fit with many of my moods. None of these songs have lyrics but the music speaks for itself. I find myself lost … Read more

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

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