Right, so who's up for some in your face, straight up no nonsense psychobilly meets angry punk rock?? Well, look no further than Pennsylvanian four piece The Whiskey Bats!! These guys meld high energy 90s style skate punk with a psychobilly twist and are heavily influenced by all things spooky, macabre and monstrous. What is not to like? Not only … Read more
The very First time I heard White Stripes I honest to God thought I was hearing a Led Zeppelin bootleg. I walked into a record store and a minute later was telling a clerk "I'll take it". It wasn't Led Zeppelin. "I'll take it anyway". That was their sophomore album De Stijl, the album I still consider as one of … Read more
"Ecky Thump," a Lancashire colloquialism, is most commonly described as slang for an exclamation of surprise, disbelief, or in recognition of something amazing. Icky Thump, The White Stripes sixth studio album, definitely lives up to it's name. The band released a statement on their official website explaining that: The White Stripes have completed the recording and mixing of their sixth … Read more
Even though Rules is the second full-length from Erlend Øye, I still have a hard time disassociating his airy voice from prior folk duo, Kings of Convenience, Øye's Belle-and-Sebastian-esque alma mater. However, the more I listen to the Berlin-based The Whitest Boy Alive, the more I can appreciate Øye singing similar, heartbreak lyrics over a funky bass line rather than … Read more
Maybe Defiance, Ohio are the height I hold the folk-punk genre to, maybe it’s just that they’re the first such band to really click with me. Regardless, on listening to The Wild’s second full-length, Dreams Are Maps, I find myself making several comparisons. Given the context that’s a good thing. Given the band’s overall sound, well, there are also some … Read more
Let's get the formalities and the predictabilities out the way right off the bat. Wives are a straight up rock band from Los Angeles whose main claim to fame is that their singer's car got hit by a reckless driving Backstreet Boy - the blonde one, if memory serves. The money from the resulting settlement allowed him to set up … Read more
I love Set Your Goals, but the popularity of the band's amalgamation of pop-punk and melodic hardcore has brought forth a million and a half wannabes. Sure, New Found Glory started it all (though they pretty much stuck to pop-punk), but I'll be damned if I haven't heard ten new clones this week alone. Philadelphia's The Wonder Years are the … Read more
The Wonder Years return with a brand new 7", their follow-up to last year's Get Stoked on it!. The record features four new tracks that are exclusive to this release. The 7" starts off with a building intro before the band gets busy with "Solo & Chewy: Holdin' it Down." Like their previous effort, we are treated to a mixture … Read more
The glorious split 7" - how I love thee. What's this? Two bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic? Even better! There is something strangely comforting in knowing that two bands that are separated by thousands of miles of ocean can found a place together on a slim piece of wax. The Wonder Years return with two brand new songs. … Read more
Riffs that are spastic, heavy, hard and fast. Vocals that are poetic, poignant, and political despite being throaty and guttural. Fifty seconds songs comprised of blast beats and all kinds of guitar "wankery" alongside ambient twelve minutes epics that are perfect to get "lifted" to. Abstract cover art that's overtly cryptic, yet at the same time explicitly bad ass. Looking … Read more
Don't be fooled by the name, this isn't a Good Charlotte cover band. HARD HARD. Anyways, this EP didn't get me incredibly pumped up, but it certainly was something worth listening to. Imagine Grade with less melody, and vocals that sound like Jeffrey Madeira from Poison the Well with lower production value. The Young and the Useless certainly aren't my … Read more
I am not sure if I should hate the singer or the band. The singer, whilst having a good screaming voice, doesn't really stray from it. The band is infusing hardcore with pop punk. After getting through the CD all the way I decided I hate the band more. Reason? For dragging this poor guy into such a shitty band. … Read more
As the drums kicked in, literally, my third sense was exposed to the vocals of this young majesty. The kind of majesty that upon a first meeting you love. You share your food with them and eventually you say goodbye. Upon the next few meetings you grow tired and kick him in the stop button, but it keeps on going. … Read more
The Young International is a new band you should know about, if you are into lush pop music laden with hooks. The band manages to put a unique spin on a familiar sound and works it to their advantage, they seem new but feel like old friends. You know after listening to this EP we will hear more from them … Read more
After a successful gig at Fest 12 last month the Massachusetts based power trio The Young Leaves will hit the road to support their third release Alive and Well. With this release the band shows its here for the duration and also shows growth in their songwriting, musically the band is sounding louder and better than ever. A three piece … Read more
When a friend of mine first introduced me to The Zutons back in early 2004 I was not hugely impressed. To me, Who Killedââ¬Â¦ The Zutons? sounded a little too much like their labelmates The Coral's Magic and Medicine and I went so far as to brazenly call The Zutons "a poor mans Coral." With the release of their second … Read more
The_Network poises itself to be one of the weirdest albums of 2007 despite the fact that it was released on the twenty-third day of the year. While they were lead to write the songs on This is Your Pig's Portrait after attending a Bloodlet show, I don't think all but the most trained and knowing ears would pick Bloodlet as … Read more
The internet contains some weird ways to discover music, and this aspect is a double edged sword because now everyone and their brothers and or sisters try to make music in their bedroom or basement or garage and put it up on their interwebz for everyone else to sift through; finding new music can be a giant pain in the … Read more
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