Atoms For Peace
Amok
XL Recordings (2013)
Every so often an unusual group of veteran musicians gather to form what was coined in the late ‘60s as a supergroup. There have been exceptional creative ventures, from the early Crosby, Stills & Nash, to the more recent Them Crooked Vultures and various Jack White endeavors, while others were better left to inebriated jam sessions at rock star house … Read more
Atreyu
The Curse
Victory (2004)
The first time I ever heard Atreyu, I started laughing. Everything about them was laughable to me; from the name of the record Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses to the overly typical "singing into screaming into mosh" formula they followed, to the already played out "fashioncore" image they displayed. However, after my laughter subsided, I also said to myself, "this … Read more
Attack in Black
Marriage
Dine Alone (2007)
There's no way around this but to say it straight: I heard the first track from Attack in Black's Marriage, "Come What May," and without hesitation, went to buy the album. I couldn't tell you the last time a song did that to me. Maybe it was the way the guitars swelled and stopped at just the right moment, underscoring … Read more
Attention
!Attention!
Tour Van Records (2016)
Do you like long song titles that are loosely related to the subject matter, along with gruff vocal singalong punk? If so, !Attention! is right at home. I haven’t seen the band but it’s easy to picture them playing a Durty Nelly’s set at The Fest as drunkos spill half their PBR cans on the floor after hitting them on … Read more
Attic Salt
Get Wise
Jump Start (2020)
A big part of why I do this is to discover new music. Attic Salt are a new band to me, and I decided to pick up Get Wise after checking out the first couple singles.The band, based in Springfield, IL, play peppy pop-punk. While that subgenre seems to have a surprising amount of different meanings, this is the crisp, … Read more
Attica! Attica!
Dead Skin / Dried Blood
Red Leader (2007)
If Disney were ever to make an animated movie that involved the protagonist turning Congress into an alcoholic shitshow, then taking his magic carpet over to Guantanamo Bay and seeing America's secret war on terror, and then completing his own personal heroic journey back in New York, Aaron Scott would provide the soundtrack, as well as most of the story. … Read more
Attica! Attica!
Napalm & Nitrogen
Black Numbers (2011)
Before your red flag goes up, we are not talking about the "crab-core" group, Attack Attack. Don't worry; I was wary of the same thing. No, Attica! Attica! is the complete opposite. It's the moniker undertaken by De La Hoya and Marathon vocalist, Aaron Scott, for his solo folk-punk project. In September of 2009, he released his second full length, … Read more
Attitude
We All Go Down Together
1917 (2006)
Any band that has a song called "Gets **** Started" and has not one or two, but three pictures of their guitar player doing posi-jumps you just know I'm going to automatically fall in love with even before I listen to the CD. Luckily I didn't go and make myself look like an ass by gushing over Attitude before I … Read more
Audacity
Butter Knife
Suicide Squeeze (2013)
It didn’t take long for Mellow Cruisers to appeal. Butter Knives, the follow-up from California’s Audacity, though, seems to be more of a grower.A band quick-summed-up as power-pop (though that description lacks), the new record seems to miss that one-two punch, earworm aspect. Instead, the songs are a bit more complex, less predictable, and more varied from starter “Couldn’t Hold … Read more
Audacity
Mellow Cruisers
Recess (2012)
It’s not very often I’ll say a song belongs on the radio and mean that in a good way. With the whispered beginnings to “Garza” on Audacity’s Mellow Cruisers, the song starts with a surf-whisper that builds into an uber-catchy song with rise and fall, singalong choruses and a rhythm section that pulls the listener in and pummels through 3:01 … Read more
Aughra
Proof of Dark Matter | Light the Lights
Magic Bullet (2008)
Ambient music is (in the words of one Brian Eno who is usually credited with coining the term) music that can be either "actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener," and that exists on the "cusp between melody and texture." Aughra is the solo ambient/electronic/experimental project of one Brent Eyestone (proprietor … Read more
Aughra / Mosh Patrol
Is There Anyone Else Outside
Magic Bullet (2007)
Is There Anyone Else Outside is the split effort between Aughra and Mosh Patrol. Aughra is the ambient/electronic solo-project of Brent Eyestone (member of Forensics, Corn on Macabre, and Waifle) while Mosh Patrol is a similar solo project from Chris King (member of This Will Destroy You). The Aughra material on Is There Anyone Else Outside is very chilled out … Read more
August Burns Red
Leveler
Solid State (2011)
August Burns Red have become the face of American metal over the last few years with their unique brand of metalcore, but Leveler is poised to redefine the genre all together. Tactically bending genres with ease, they’ve crafted a truly ambitious album of unparalleled diversity and precision.Constellations, ABR’s last release, had shown a tremendous amount of growth with a more … Read more
Aussitôt Mort
6 Songs
Level Plane (2007)
Aussitôt Mort means "immediately dead" in the French language. Their name, as well as their sound, is marked by powerful intensity. The four musicians who make up the French group - some of whom are also in the French band Amanda Woodward - have released 6 Songs as a way for fans to get their hands on previously released vinyl-only … Read more
Aussitôt Mort
Montuenga
Level Plane (2008)
I've been waiting to hear Aussitôt Mort's first full-length since this spring. Montuenga's release kept getting pushed back, but at least three months after the intended date, it's finally here. Aussitôt Mort parted with their vocalist who appears on the 12" demo, so their songs have taken on a more instrumental quality. The songs lend themselves to minimal vocal accompaniment, … Read more
Austerity
Self Titled LP
Deathsmile (2010)
After some blind stroke of luck and the whims of fate, I picked this cassette tape up along with another because I saw it was available and had heard some whispers about the sheer magnificence of this release on the world wide interwebs (a few cryptic reviews and blubbering nonsense about its amazing-ness had me intrigued at least and now … Read more
Austin Lucas
Putting the Hammer Down
Magic Bullet (2008)
To be completely honest, I know more about Austin Lucas than I do about his current residence in The Czech Republic, which doesn't attest too much besides my ignorance of The Czech Republic. I know Lucas was born in the United States and moved, has played in crust and grind bands, and has worked with Chuck Ragan. Not necessarily the … Read more
Austin Lucas
Somebody Loves You
Suburban Home (2009)
When O Brother, Where Art Thou sold over seven million copies, you knew that people were listening and that the soundtrack would have an influence on future music. Where you probably didn't expect that influence to show was in the punk rock world. Seven years later, we have a label named after a Descendents song releasing Somebody Loves You by … Read more
