Reviews of albums release in 2023

107 total reviews — Page 3 of 6

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Live at Acton Town Hall
BMG, Dark Horse Records (2023)

Most music fans were stunned when Joe Strummer passed away in 2002. I’d recently skipped out on a Mescaleros show, thinking I had plenty of time to see the legendary musician. I honestly wasn’t all that into his work with the Mescaleros at the time, but Streetcore is one of the records of that era that’s still in heavy rotation … Read more

Katatonia

Sky Void of Stars
Napalm (2023)

Forgive me, for a moment, while I take some time to explain that sitting down to write this piece was difficult. I stopped and started several times and that’s not counting the amount of days I spent just thinking about writing a review. You see, Katatonia are an institution and I felt that trying to describe their music was a … Read more

Kepi Ghoulie

Ramones in Love
Pirates Press (2023)

The (rightful) knock on many of the “old punks gone solo” is that it’s a person with an acoustic guitar, playing stripped down punk that kind of all sounds the same by the time the record ends. Add the concept of this record, a Ramones covers album, and you likely already expect a lot of that “sameness factor.” Ramones in … Read more

Lambrini Girls

You're Welcome
Big Scary Monsters (2023)

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cake, Iron & Wine, Meat Puppets, Blind Melon, Peaches, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lemon Demon and The Sugarcubes. While stylistically these bands are essentially alien to one another they do have one unifying quality. Bands named after food and drink have a long lineage. As a side note, I have a major beef with online lists of … Read more

Lankum

False Lankum
Rough Trade (2023)

Dedication to tradition is tricky business. On one hand, adhering to existing norms carries on the legacy. On the other end, can this result in something novel? Folk music is, by definition, rooted in tradition. And while many have pushed its boundaries, they are instead labeled as experimentalists or neofolk. From the early works of Comus to the feverish interpretations … Read more

Les Lullies

Mauvaise Foi
Slovenly (2023)

I’m not going to pretend I know any French, but I can tell you that the rhythm of the language is perfect for Les Lullies. Mauvaise Foi (“Bad Faith,” according to google), begins with the title track, a barn burning guitar rocker with big licks and a repetitive chorus in 4/4 time. It’s immediately familiar in that garage rock way, … Read more

Lisasinson

Un A​ñ​o De Cambios
Elefant Records (2023)

When we talk about pop-punk I, and I suspect you do this too, think about bands like Green Day and may drift off to Sum 41 and more bands like that had their prime in the late nineties and the early noughties. Spanish band Lisasinson play something that can only be described as pop-punk, but their sound has little in … Read more

Los Morts

Slasherpunk
We Are Horror Records (2023)

When it comes to horrorpunk I am rather conservative. I usually appreciate bands more if they stay close to the template the Misfits created. My favorite bands in the genre took that template and made it their own, but stayed close to the original. This requires great skill: don’t stray to far from the path to loose me, but also … Read more

Meet Me @ The Altar

Past // Present // Future
Fueled By Ramen (2023)

Meet Me @ The Altar has been THE pop-punk trio pushing us to the edge of our seats in anticipation of their debut LP, Past // Present // Future. The trio’s aptly named album is not only breaking boundaries within the pop-punk realm, but it’s bridging the gap between nostalgia and the present-day scene. MM@TA explores pop-punk in a way … Read more

Merger

Second To Last
Impetus (2023)

Merger was a short lived band that was active between 2017 and 2019. In that time the band recorded one EP. Now, years after the band quit, this single is the first of two planned releases. This EP is my introduction to the band. It was not an easy introduction. In fact, it took me a lot of time to … Read more

Meteor Police

New Type Destroyer
Independent (2023)

Ocean County, New Jersey four piece, Meteor Police, mean business and have gone above and beyond to ensure their debut album New Type Destroyer gets the attention it deserves. This ten track album showcases their talent not just as musicians but the whole package, from recording quality to the artwork and marketing of the finished product. New Type Destroyer arrived … Read more

miniaturized

miniaturized
Independent (2023)

This self-titled record is the debut by miniaturized. While it’s their first record, the musicians have also played with the likes of Pinback, Rocket From the Crypt, No Knife, and more. You’ll pick up on hints and patterns from some of those groups here, but this record is an exploration of new styles and territories. While the band formed for … Read more

Niecy Blues

Exit Simulation
Kranky (2023)

The allure of ambient music and its applications in pop structures has always been an important topic for Niecy Blues. It has been a conjunction that the artist has been playing with on shorter releases, in both the 2020 EP CRY and the 2021 single Bones Become The Trees. But, it is with this full-length in Exit Simulation, that Blues … Read more

Night Court

Humans!
Debt Offensive, Snappy Little Numbers (2023)

  What’s the difference between overabundance and starvation? Between drowning and dehydration? Between far too much and not enough? What’s the difference, then, between everyone else and Night Court? A lo-fi punk trio out of Vancouver, Night Court released their third album, Humans!, June 9th on Snappy Little Numbers and Debt Offensive Records. While their sound may have slightly changed since … Read more

Nobro

Set Your Pussy Free
Dine Alone (2023)

Last year I discovered Nobro through their EP Live Your Truth, Shred Some Gnar. I cheated a bit and included this EP on my (albums only) yearlist. I still return to that EP (and the one before that) often. So you can imagine, my expectations were sky high. And that made me afraid: was I expecting too much from this … Read more

Northeast Regional

Brand Managers of the Mid-Atlantic
Tor Johnson Records (2023)

Brand Managers of the Mid-Atlantic is a lot to digest. And not just because of its lengthy title. The album itself has 23 tracks and was recorded over many years (2015-2022). The final six tracks are covers, and it’s more a discography feel than a standalone album, at least to me. The main sound of the record is post-hardcore with … Read more

Off Contact

Pearls Before Swine
Independent (2023)

Pearls Before Swine= offering something of value to someone who does not understand its value or appreciate it The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These two statements could best describe the debut release of Off Contact. To truly understand this release, it would take countless spins around the world of 33 ⅓ rotations. Easy comparisons are … Read more

Ogives

La M​é​moire des Orages
Sub Rosa (2023)

Ogives are led by ambition. That is the easiest way to describe the newly formed, nine-piece from Belgium. Featuring members of the criminally underrated, and equally ambitious Helium Horse Fly, Ogives make a start to their discography with the 75-minute long opus, La M​é​moire des Orages (roughly translated to The Memory of Storms.) And it is very much a storm … Read more