¡Apeshit!
¡Apeshit!
Independent (2007)
¡Apeshit! is a four-piece outfit hailing from New York City. They blast through thirteen songs on this, their debut effort, in less than eleven minutes. You don't have to be good at math to realize that means one thing: super short songs. With only three songs clocking in over a minute, the remainder of ¡Apeshit! is sub-one-minute cuts of traditional … Read more
.hinge
The Rise & Fall of Living Great
Independent (2007)
aroncag: Who the hell does .hinge sound like!? blackpony1: I have no idea. That's one of the great mysteries of music, my friend. Busted. This is the brilliance that columnists use when telling people which tunes are good and which ones aren't worth the plastic they're printed on. With the prior statements originating from a recent AIM conversation, it's a … Read more
//LESS
Useless EP
Independent (2022)
Returning readers might have noticed I like to be able to hear the bass guitar. It is an instrument that is too often a victim of a less than stellar production. French band //LESS are here to my aid. Their trick is simple and effective: instead of the more regular trio of drums, bass and guitar they opt to leave … Read more
A Caesar Holiday
A Caesar Holiday
Independent (2008)
The five-piece A Caesar Holiday offer up six tracks totaling forty-five minutes on their self-titled debut release. Featuring the combined instrumentation of violin, dual guitars, bass, drums, and accordion the Indianapolis group offer moody and mostly instrumental music falling somewhere between prog and post-rock. The album is at its strongest in the tracks featuring the violin work of Eison, most … Read more
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo
Independent (2014)
Writing a review for a live album can be a daunting task. There's only so much you can say about songs presented in a live fashion that doesn't echo what was said in the original album review, but reviewing a live box set? Time to put the coffee on.A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo (heretofore referred to as … Read more
A Sense Of Porpoise
Self Titled
Independent (2012)
Upon initial listen, this came across as the kind of sloppy folk punk that I’d likely be annoyed by if there was a male singer. Call me sexist if you will but the fact that a female is doing the vocals makes this totally pleasurable, whereas I’d normally dismiss such stuff after one listen as gimmicky coffee shop music that … Read more
A Step Behind
This is What We've Become
Independent (2007)
I knew this was bound to happen. I feel slightly invaded by the fact that it has. I've never been one to shun a good pop-punk record, but I can't remember the last time I found a rock band whose music I can enjoy on the most base level, that being the level where it inspires absolutely nothing except the … Read more
A Swarm of the Sun
The King of Everything
Independent (2007)
A Swarm of the Sun delivers with The King of Everything a dark, brooding EP that sounds as if the chasms of hell have opened or, better said, are about to open. If one expects the chasms of hell to be filled with power metal and/or gay metal like Manowar; then one is wrong. The King of Everything is subtle, … Read more
Aaron & The Sea
Cloak & Dagger EP
Independent (2013)
Aaron & the Sea have come a long way from writing dinosaur-themed ballads. The Minneapolis band formed in 2008 when roommates Aaron Rice and Alex Brown started making music together, and later completed their line-up with the arrival of drummer Peter Leggett. Over a year after releasing their debut album Creature Creature the trio are back with their Cloak & … Read more
Ace High Cutthroats
Black Fire
Independent (2012)
With a name like Ace High Cutthroats, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to determine what the band is about. On their debut Black Fire, the group delivers rollicking rock with big guitars and a lot of swagger—keeping their rock’n’roll lifestyle close at heart underneath their black leather jackets. The band includes members of Nightgaun and Prosthetics, and the … Read more
After
Edges Of The World
Independent (2012)
When I heard California's After described to me with phrases like "Soundgarden meets Rush" and "progressive pop", I knew I had to give them a try. Any band willing to reach back and recapture some of the classic rock sound that you just can't hear today definitely gets my interest, and I gave this EP a listen as soon as … Read more
After Oblivion
Vultures
Independent (2011)
After Oblivion have an extremely modest discography under their belt—a debut EP and that same EP repackaged in a split album. I suppose that this should have tipped me off that After Oblivion weren't necessarily up to snuff yet, but I can't help but feel after listening to Vultures that I went into this particular EP with my expectations too … Read more
Altered Beast
Demo
Independent (2007)
About two months ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Altered Beast play a quick, understated, but totally badass set in my friend Paul's basement. Being the swamped college kid that I am, I am just now able to sit down and write a few words about the demo they passed out to everyone in attendance. If I hadn't been … Read more
Ambitions
No Limits
Independent (2005)
Demos can be funny sometimes. They are called a demo for a reason; it's by no means a finished product. And yet many times these demos end up becoming just that. Ambitions will see No Limits mass-produced in both 7" and CD format in the near future, but with good reason. Over the course of these four songs, Ambitions have … Read more
Annasay
Annasay
Independent (2006)
I know this sounds familiar and you've heard a thousand of projects along these lines by now. But bear with me. Following the breakup of melodic hardcore/rock band Linus, Brad Lebakken decided to start writing music on his own. The songs that developed from these writing sessions were acoustic guitar driven indie rock. Lebakken recorded and released these songs under … Read more
Antinode
The Canary That Named The Stars
Independent (2021)
I’m always up and ready for some good prog, especially when we’re looking at a concept piece. I’m tempted to say something along the lines of ‘they don’t make’em like they used to’, but we’re talking about music, not audiophile grade consumer electronics so that doesn’t ring true. It’s just that these days you have to dig further and deeper … Read more
Aoria
I Know You Came Here to Erase Me
Independent (2007)
It's been a year since I first reviewed material from this Swedish rock group. Well Aoria are back with a new two-song EP. While the previous demo had more a new-wave meets rock aspect to it, these two songs tread different water. "A Slow Moving Storm" is just that - a slower moving track that seems to draw an awful … Read more
Aoria
If I Slow Down Everything Will Disappear
Independent (2006)
I love unsolicited review materials, especially when it's a band I've never heard before, and even more so when said band turns out to be surprisingly good. Aoria is a four-piece outfit from Sweden that plays rock music with the electro-pop influence of The Cure. The songs of this three-song EP are strongly written and the intricate composition of the … Read more
