Thee Oh Sees
Floating Coffin
Castle Face Records (2013)
As a critic there are certain things I’m supposed to keep up with. Fact of the matter is that’s not always possible and, once you get behind, just where do you catch up? Thee Oh Sees are a band I’ve heard peripherally for the past couple of years but never got jumping in on a full-length. Compound that with their … Read more
They Might Be Giants
Nanobots
Idlewild Recordings (2013)
When I first heard these guys in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, there wasn’t really a name for this. Now, I guess it would be called indie pop. The band, led by songwriters John Linnell and John Flansburgh, has long been on the quirky side with a touch of novelty, but it’s their strong sense of melody and that … Read more
Tilman Hartley
To Basics
Orthogonal (2013)
Guitars guitars guitars. When did you last hear a new band who's main focus is on guitars? Londoner Tilman Hartley's debut album To Basics is all about the guitars, teeming with frazzled barre chords and captivating riffs.Among all the near-faultless guitar playing Hartley's vocals have a tendency to veer all over the place. On "Belle de Jour" it's difficult to … Read more
Tim Hecker
Virgins
Independent (2013)
Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker is no stranger to the more esoteric side of electronic composition. Continued experimentation with increasingly nuanced ambient soundscapes under said moniker for six full-length releases, as well as countless side appearances, has inevitably led to the creation of something undeniably unique. With the release of Virgins- now Hecker's seventh effort - the bohemian Montreal resident … Read more
Tim Timebomb & Friends
Mixtape
Pirates Press (2013)
Tim Armstrong (Rancid) has spent over a year releasing a song a day on YouTube under the moniker Tim Timebomb. While astute fans can pull his work right off the internet these days, there’s just something about holding a record and being able to play it at your leisure. Pirate’s Press Records recently dropped three vinyl singles and, as they … Read more
Tomahawk
Oddfellows
Ipecac (2013)
In the summer of 1992, my older brother drove me to Tower Records to buy the new album by a band called Faith No More. Angel Dust was quite a departure from their previous album due to the increased influence of vocalist Mike Patton. As a 14-year-old burgeoning music fanatic, I was fascinated by the idea that such aggressive and … Read more
Tomahawk
Oddfellows
Ipecac (2013)
It's been over 5 years since the world has been graced with anything new from Tomahawk, the pseudo-supergroup featuring the triumvirate of Duane Denison, Mike Patton and John Stainer. 2007's polarizing Anonymous was an earnest exploration down the less-travelled dirt roads of the Native American experience. The album saw the group working as a trio since ankling bassist Kevin Rutmanis, … Read more
Tommy & The High Pilots
Only Human
Redbird Records (2013)
Santa Barbara four-piece Tommy & The High Pilots first formed five years ago in 2008. In that space of time they have released two albums (with Only Human being their third) and an EP. Most of Tommy & The High Pilots' songs are, at their core, slices of catchy pop with sun kissed Californian guitar licks. But like every pop … Read more
Trouble
The Distortion Field
FRW Music (2013)
There are few bands that can boast ever having made one of the heaviest albums of all time.Trouble can make that claim not just once, but twice. Those albums being 1984’s Psalm 9 and 1985’s The Skull. Trouble had the market of doom cornered for quite a while. Due in large part to guitarist Rick Wartell’s down tuned riffs and … Read more
True Widow
Circumambulation
Relapse (2013)
I know when I think of stoner music, I think of pot-fueled haziness, guitar theatrics straight out of the '60s, and a red-eyed three-piece to play it all. But there is one band that steadfastly refuses to conform to that stereotype, and that's Texan trio True Widow, whose third album, Circumambulation, is one of the most intriguing to come out … Read more
Ulcerate
Vermis
Relapse (2013)
Ulcerate are one of the few bands that can honestly claim to have invented a genre. (Well, a subgenre at any rate.) Blending equal parts atmospheric sludge and technical death metals, the freaky Kiwis sparked a huge following of bands eager to try the same thing. And though they haven't really changed their style much over the years, no one's … Read more
Ulver
Messe I.X - VI.X
Jester (2013)
It has been quite a time since one could easily quantify Ulver and what they do as a unit. Garm has made no secret that he remains generally uninterested in what Ulver began as and remains focussed on following whatever muse may take him. So for the early years when there was an emphasis on Black Metal to the middle … Read more
Universe 217
Never
Catch The Soap Productions (2013)
I still remember the first time I saw Universe217 playing live in Athens, back in 2008. They were the supporting act for Scott Kelly of Neurosis and I found myself thinking that this band definitely is on the right path in terms of what they are doing with their music. Considering they had just released their debut self-titled album at … Read more
Unmothered
Self Titled
Independent (2013)
Unmothered from Austin, Texas have released one of the most promising releases of 2012. The band, featuring members of acts such as Lions of Tsavo and The Hidden Hand, brings seven tracks of atmospheric sludge that you definitely need to have a listen to. By combining their sound with influences from stoner and southern rock influences along with their doom … Read more
Useless Eaters
Hypertension
Jeffery Drag Records (2013)
This is weirdo garage punk with some surf and new wave-y parts from Nashville, TN. Hard to tell if Useless Eaters are playing guitars that sound like fucked-up keyboards or if there is a keyboard that drowns out the fucked-up guitars. I honestly could care less because I happen to really like it. Sometimes just being a stupid music fan … Read more
Vacation
Candy Waves
Don Giovanni (2013)
Here at Scene Point Blank we don’t give titles to our work. If I titled my Vacation review, though, it would be named after track ten: “Feedback Got Me High.” Vacation are a punk band but, you know, so were Nirvana (at least on a basic level). The point is this: there’s a lot you can do with those power … Read more
Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires Of The City
XL Recordings (2013)
When the hoax artwork claiming the group’s next album was to be “Lemon Sounds” appeared, it is perhaps unsurprising that so many people were convinced it was real. For the band’s detractors it was confirmation that Vampire Weekend were content to rest on their laurels and produce a Contra II. For fans it meant approximately the same thing; they were … Read more
Various Artists
Brokedowns / Vacation Bible School split
It's Alive (2013)
Taking Side A on the Elgin, IL focused 7” are The Brokedowns, who last released Species Bender in 2010. After a slew of splits in their career and a few full-lengths, they’ve really settled into a distinct style. It’s punk with a verse-chorus-verse kind of structure at its core, but one that they take loosely, preferring to eschew the bridge … Read more
