Balboa / Rosetta
Project Mercury
Level Plane (2007)
Project Mercury is the latest output of material from two of Philadelphia's underground sensations: Balboa and Rosetta. The split features original material from each band as well as a collaborative piece - much like the Harkonen and These Arms are Snakes split put out a couple of years back. Project Mercury is a dynamic adventure in music, much like that … Read more
Baldruin
Portal
Wounded Knife Records (2015)
Baldruin, the brainchild of Johannes Schebler, is wondering through the psychic domains of ambient music. Even though the project is relatively new, Schebler has put out a number of releases, various split albums and cassettes. However, Portal is the debut of Baldruin in the vinyl domain, released through Wounded Knife Records. What attracts Baldruin to the ambient domain so much … Read more
Bambies
Snotty Angels
Spaghetty Town Records, Wanda Records (2024)
The digital files I’ve been listening to as I write this review are all tagged to begin with the band name, e.g. “Bambies Teenage Night,” “Bambies Love Bite,” etc. It seems like a fitting metaphor. The Bambies play the kind of Ramones-adjacent garage-punk that’s often self-referential and in on their own joke. The Bambies play leather jacket-clad, straight-forward punky songs … Read more
Bambies
Summer Soon
Spaghetty Town Records (2021)
The first song on Sumer Soon is titled “Dirty Taint.” And if that doesn’t put a taste in your mouth for what’s to come, well, keep reading then. There’s some trash rock influence, for sure, but it’s not that cut-and-dried. The Bambies also have some heavy Ramones influence that gives a more wholesome counter tone. It walks the trash punk … Read more
Band of Bastards
DELETE. REPEAT.
Redacted Records, SilverDoor Music (2021)
It’s nice when artists get back to their roots. There’s a time and place for growth and exploration. But there’s also a time and place to let the rage loose, and that’s what’s happening with Band of Bastards on their debut twelve-song slab of blistering hardcore. That’s probably not what you think about when you heard band names like ...And … Read more
Bandname
Breakfast
Soft City Records (2011)
Flippant is a word that popped up on the of Bandname's press sheet. Take their moniker into account and add the heavy slackerism that permeates everything they touch on their debut full-length, Breakfast, and that seems an appropriate description. The Philadelphia three-piece play pop punk that's run through an organ grinder with 90s alternarock, distortion-heavy garage and, more or less, … Read more
Bane
Boston 6:58 PM / Los Angeles 3:58 PM / At Both Ends
Triple B/6131/At Both Ends (2009)
It has indeed been a number of years since we last heard from Bane; their last full-length - The Note - came out in 2005, and with the hectic touring schedule that the band maintains, these seven inches are the first new recording from the band in quite some time (their Ten Year Plus 7" were old recordings that were … 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
Bane
The Note
Equal Vision (2005)
Remember in high school when big ass dudes would ask you if you knew where the beach was, just so they could flex their muscles and say "that way"? I don't know if that made your underpants moist, but The Note is Bane flexing, and I am currently sitting in a puddle. Has Bane ever done anything bad? Ever disappointed … Read more
Bangers
Bird
Specialist Subject Records (2015)
Bird is the Bangers record I wanted in 2013. Crazy Fucking Dreams is a good record, it was just a little less direct than I wanted from the band, being a little more on the introspective and drawn out (in punk terms) side of things than an aggressive and, er, banging approach. It was good, but Bird is better.It gets … Read more
Bangers
Crazy Fucking Dreams
Beach Community (2013)
Bangers are a punk band from Cornwall, but they don’t play to expectations in their second full-length Crazy Fucking Dreams. Instead, the record starts with the mid-to-slow tempo “A Curious Mix,” with speak-sing vocals and a trumpet. Singer Roo Pescod’s voice remains confrontational and direct, and that’s the most “punk rock” thing about “A Curious Mix.” From there, of course, … Read more
Bangers
Small Pleasures
Kiss of Death (2011)
Small Pleasures is the first proper full-length from Cornwall, England trio Bangers. To shortcut straight to the point, it’s fitting that this record is released in the US on Kiss of Death, as it fits in well with artists such as New Bruises and Mayflower. They bring straight forward, mid-tempo punk to the forefront, with a focus on melodic gang … Read more
Bankrupt
Illiberal Holiday
Independent (2023)
There can be many reasons to pick an album to review. Sometimes it is the description, sometimes it is a connection with another band and sometimes it is the artwork. Upon seeing this for the first time I thought: “This better be good, ‘cause artwork like this deserves something good!”. This thought got stronger and stronger after I discovered every … Read more
Banner Pilot
Collapser
Fat Wreck Chords (2009)
Banner Pilot's last album, Resignation Day earned them a lot of praise among punk fans. To me, I thought it was a very solid album but it didn't exactly stick out among the many great bands that are playing this style of punk right now. They're a good band, but I thought they were missing a few things before I … Read more
Banner Pilot
Heart Beats Pacific
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)
I’ll be honest. I was kind of hoping somebody else would review this record. I like Banner Pilot. A lot. The reason I didn’t want to do this myself has more to do with the fact that I’ve reviewed their past couple releases and I’m not sure I can bring much new insight to the table. Nate Gangelhoff and Nick … Read more
Banner Pilot
Pass the Poison
Arsenic Records (2006)
For anyone who is not from the Upper Midwest, the first thing they will think about when it comes to the climate is how freaking cold it gets in the Winter. This is especially true when it comes to the frozen tundra of my home state of Minnesota. Hell, even Minneapolis won a Weather Channel countdown as the coldest city … Read more
Banner Pilot
Resignation Day
Go Kart (2008)
With a pedigree including Rivethead and Off With Their Heads there are certain expectations behind Banner Pilot's debut full length. In addition to their resume, the band has received a number of rave reviews that boost these lofty expectations. Resignation Day largely proves the buzz correct. What Banner Pilot delivers is nothing groundbreaking: they play rough pop-punk much like their … Read more
Banner Pilot
Souvenir
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)
Often when a critic writes of a band not changing its sound it’s meant in the negative light: art should be about exploring new boundaries and punching the listener in the face with something new. But sometimes it’s not.Banner Pilot have been kicking out raspy pop-punk jams for the better part of a decade now—since 2005—and in that time they’ve … Read more
