Month: May 2013
Review: Skiggy Rapz
Repeated, perturbing consonant sounds on “Winning Vibes” are the lightest drawbacks on Skiggy Rapz’s latest, Satellites. High-production hip hop often feels like an endless game of lyrical Boggle, where few combinations are possible––Skiggy Rapz is no exception. … read more
Review: St. Lucia
Virtual one-man band and Johannesburg native Jean-Philip Grobler’s joyous, self-titled EP is something of a small marvel. Following a relatively simple formula of classic beats, infectious melody and a positive vibe presently missing on most radio these days, he has crafted a group of six tracks that are both pleasant and refreshingly memorable. … read more
Review: Senses Fail – Renacer
Opening with the heaviest song in their career, notably without a single scrap of clean singing, Renacer is the album I’ve secretly been waiting for since the first time I heard Buddy Nielsen scream at the end of “One Eight Seven.” … read more
Review: Scott And Charlene’s Wedding
As if a debut album of numbingly good lo-fi fuzz and blues wasn’t enough Craig Dermody is back with an outstanding EP. With less fuzz, and rhythms more poppy than before, Dermody belts out more tales about injuries, love and sadness. … read more
Review: Pyrithion – The Burden of Sorrow
Apparently, Tim Lambesis doesn’t have enough hobbies between As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine, his charity work, and all his iron-pumping; now he’s joined up with ex-The Famine guitarist Andy Godwin and Ryan Glisan of Allegaeon to create this surprisingly ferocious modern death metal EP under the name Pyrithion. … read more
Review: Sadgiqacea – False Prism
The sludgy sounds of False Prism conjure up images of grimy industrial waste, smog, litter and the general oily feeling of some of the industrialized cities on the East Coast. With that in mind, it makes this slugdefest from Philly duo Sadgiqacea all that much more sludged-up. … read more
Review: Phosphorescent
Phosphorescent’s latest album, Muchacho, is laden with lazy, whining steel guitar, strolling piano, trumpet pieces, string sets and lyrics about the trials and tribulations of love. The instrumental work on this album is where Matthew Houck really flexes his songwriter muscle. … read more
Review: Popstrangers
The flavors of Antipodes range from the dark ambiance of Sonic Youth to more recent, surf-influenced indie music like Wavves. The album features prominent bass that constantly moves with the melody while the fuzzy guitars stray, returning to the melody as they please. … read more
Review: Panikk – Unbearable Conditions
Aping a classic Yankee sound with precision, finesse and a smattering of rough-hewn technicality, Slovenian (!) rippers Panikk pay bleary-eyed tribute to the golden age of Reagan-era noggin shakers, ante-upping “party thrash” contemporaries with fretboard frenetics. … read more
Review: Ohvaur
Opening with one of the chunkiest bass lines in recent memory, A Memories Chase is an album as musically powerful as the story that led up to it. … read more