The Hold Steady
Boys and Girls in America
Vagrant (2006)
Do you remember being just a small child, rifling your dirty paws through the cereal box trying to fish out the prize at the bottom of the box? No? Okay let's flash forward about ten years; what about when you were sitting at the dinner table thinking how you were going to get those same dirty paws down your boy/girlfriend's … Read more
The National
Trouble Will Find Me
4AD (2013)
DISCLAIMER: Readers, a bold claim is about to be made. The National’s Trouble Will Find Me could, quite possibly, be as essential as air. Tread carefully, the sheer force of the overwhelmingly mournful nature of this album may surprise you with its taciturn but fitting attempts of disbelieving optimism. Happiness is not The National’s forte, but tussling with overbearing emotions … Read more
The Necks
Vertigo
Northern Spy (2015)
The Necks is an experimental jazz band from Australia, which has been outputting record after record since their inception back in the '80s. Following the release of their previous full-length, Open, this trio of excellent musicians embarked on a journey towards their next release, Vertigo. Where Open features a more minimalistic mindset, Vertigo is a cinematic piece placed against a … Read more
The Nothing / Send More Paramedics
North of England, South of Heaven
In at the Deep End (2005)
There's not really that many instances I can think of where I could use the words; "hardcore", "thrash metal" and "zombies" in the same sentence to refer to something good. In fact, I'm not even sure I can think of many instances when I'd ever use those words in the same sentence at all. When talking about Send More Paramedics … Read more
The Oxys
Generation Irrelevant
Dead Beat Records (2023)
Arms outstretched in the desperate hope of fulfilling dreams that had dissipated, longing for when life was simpler devoid of political persuasion, social media meanderings and opinionated pigs snorting in their own shit hiding behind the keyboard shooting out grammatical inaccuracies chock full of hateful smiling emojis. Festering open sores, drool pouring from the cocked head unbalanced and teetering onto … Read more
The Rapture
Echoes
Universal (2003)
Something needs to be said about the infiltration of this dance rhetoric in the punk scene. I'm guessing some part of it came from Emma Goldman's ubiquitous, "If I can't dance to it, its not my revolution." This sentence, thought the scenesters, why not make it a call to arms (and legs) for all punk kids to "get down"? To … Read more
The Sidekicks
Awkward Breeds
Red Scare Industries (2012)
Cleveland, Ohio's The Sidekicks have always had it in them to make a record like this. It’s their most polished, mature, and best to date. There is not one bad track out of the eleven here. It’s musicality at its most honest.Taking the influences from past acts like The Replacements and Elvis Costello, The Sidekicks created 2009’s Weight of Air … Read more
The Sons of Adam
Saturday’s Sons-The Complete Recordings 1964-1966
High Moon Records (2022)
If ever a band from the mid-’60s was underappreciated I would have to surmise that The Sons of Adam might top that list. The band comprised of Randy Holden of Blue Cheer and The Other Half, Jack Ttanna of Genesis, bassist Mike Port and drummer Michael Stuart Ware of Love! High Noon Records have compiled The Sons of Adam’s complete … Read more
The Telescopes
Of Tomorrow
Tapete Records (2023)
Tintinnabulation resounds through the astral planes pulsating waves of pleasure that wash over the mind's crevices. Electrical jolts of sensory disturbances alter perception guiding you through dark passageways toward doors with rays of light pouring through cracks and crevices for those brave enough to explore. Lawrie the high lord of shoe pondering kinship amongst psychedelic warlords has reinvented and suspired … Read more
Titus Andronicus
The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Merge (2015)
Titus Andronicus (+@, as they shorten it) is a punk outfit led by Patrick Stickles, an obvious obsessive who has spent the last three +@ albums cramming barrages of references to Pieter Bruegel, Cheers, Nietzsche, and obscure New Jersey baseball teams into angry punk songs. +@’s most-talked-about work is their second album The Monitor, a grandiose, Civil-War-themed account of what’s … Read more
Tommy Keene
You Hear Me-A Retrospective-1983-2009
Second Motion (2010)
2 disc greatest hits collection of Keene's work over his entire career. Disc #1 focuses on his eighties period of work. The most significant advantage to owning this release is having everything remastered here. The sound update is fantastic. Early crowd favorites like "Places That Are Gone" and "Nothing Can Change You" are here and should keep your stereo speakers … Read more
Tool
10,000 Days
Volcano (2006)
Surrealistic imagery, lyrical lunacy, and musical fanaticism will always be the staples of Tool. Floating vocals amongst flares of guitars and some of the best drumming this side of Keith Moon's infamous demise. Tool albums all have the inescapable fact that they are Tool albums; they don't sound the same, but that they all sound like Tool. That Tool's brand … Read more
Tree Wave
Cabana
Made Up (2004)
The sound is akin to being smothered by some heavenly, heavily pixilated pillow- warm washes of analog static, compressed layers of computerized bleeps, waves of soft, arpeggiated trills, and a beautiful voice emerging from the dense, intoxicating cloud. Tree Wave are a Dallas-based duo that write fantastic, mind-bending songs with nothing more than some antiquated technology (Commodore 64's, Dot Matrix … Read more
Tristan Clopet
Purple EP
Sussex (2011)
Whenever anyone is described as a blend of Jeff Buckley and Anthony Kiedis like Tristan Clopet is an alarm goes off in my head, having been a Jeff Buckley fan for years and back and forth with the Chili’s as I like most of their overall catalog. I must admit after my first listen I was surprised by pretty much … Read more
UGK
Underground Kingz
Jive (2007)
It's not easy being a Southern rapper these days. With the airwaves of mainstream radio becoming overcrowded with the "ringtone rap" of such groups as D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz, backpackers and hip-hop purists are quick to point the finger at nearly every rapper south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I guess they forgot about UGK? They've only been in the … Read more
Ulcerate
Stare Into Death and Be Still
Debemur Morti Productions (2020)
Writing this review has been a long time in the making. Usually, sitting down and pressing play is enough to get some words flowing, however, Ulcerate are a unique experience and apparently so is the process of trying to explain why Stare Into Death and Be Still is so, so good. Much time has been spent on consuming the New … Read more
Ulver
Blood Inside
Jester (2005)
Have you heard the myth about prisoners stubbing out cigarettes into a bucket of water in order to create enough poison to use on their fellow inmates? Evidently, someone slipped a copy of the mastertapes to Ulver's latest sonic delivery into that foul brew as well. Opening with the slow-burning near opera of "Dressed in Black," the stage is thoroughly … Read more
Vildhjarta
måsstaden
Century Media (2011)
Let's face it: djent is beginning to sound really, really homogeneous. Though we've known for a while that every single band in the genre is cutting their music the same mould as Meshuggah, I'm beginning to suspect they're using the same knife and cutting board, too. A lot of the bands in this genre just don't do much to distance … Read more
