Month: December 2013
Review: Said The Whale – hawaiii
Hawaiii is an album that sounds exactly like what you’d expect radio-friendly indie rock to sound like. This means that it’s just as likely that a preteen girl will play their music as it is that your mom will. … read more
Review: Saxon – Unplugged and Strung Up
Over the course of a 36-year career, Saxon have proven themselves to be the undisputed masters of heavy metal songwriting. Unplugged and Strung Up is a cavalcade of re-recordings, orchestrations and acoustic takes on a selection of Saxon’s greatest material. … read more
Review: Schooner – Neighborhood Veins
Spooky country songs bleed into ’50s rockers and soulful harmonies accent slow ballads. Like I said before, this is what indie should be: With every chance they get Schooner exercise the freedom they’ve cultivated for themselves. … read more
Review: Savage Deity – Amulet of Sin
Savage Deity, from Thailand of all places, have offered up an album of classic death metal satisfaction. Amulet of Sin has the properties to appease the folks who listen to death metal for the heavy feeling of it all, as well as the folks who like to dissect albums. … read more
Review: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give the People...
After a battle with cancer this past summer and the subsequent delayed release of the album, Sharon Jones returns with her Dap-Kings, more powerful than ever, with the appropriately titled Give the People What They Want—the follow-up to 2010’s I Learned the Hard Way. … read more
Review: Robert Pollard – Blazing Gentlemen
Robert Pollard’s musical universe (and it is a universe—he’s written thousands of songs) often sounds like some alternate through-the-looking-glass world, resembling classic rock, with riffs and lyrical tropes that seem somehow familiar, but from some other far-off constellation. … read more
Review: Rosie Lowe – Right Thing EP
Fresh from her recent guest stint on Lil Silva’s “No Doubt,” UK vocalist Lowe’s debut EP showcases a new and striking talent. … read more
Review: Piano Interrupted – The Unified Field
The mix feels like a series of hymns performed in a discotheque, transforming a club-like atmosphere into an experience both spiritual and mind-expanding. … read more
Review: Poor Remy – Bitters
Folk transforms into alt-country at the end of “Cave Eyes,” concluding the album pleasantly. Try this one out for a hiking trip or a day in nature. … read more
Review: Psalm Zero – Force My Hand
It’s tough to rate the band on this debut single, because one of the two songs is a cover of Today Is The Day’s “Willpower,” which they transformed from its distorted, noise-metal roots into a gothic dirge with what the band calls “medieval vocal harmonies.” … read more
![Review: Poison Idea – Kings of Punk [Reissue]](/uploads/300/6800-poison%20idea-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Poison Idea – Kings of Punk [Reissue]
Southern Lord’s love affair with reissuing old PI records hasn’t let up, and (for once) this reviewer isn’t complaining. Few hardcore bands deserve more praise than Poison Idea, and these loving reissues are a testament to that. … read more
Review: Pinkunoizu – The Drop
They’ve combined classic rock-pop characteristics, like drum lines and bursting guitar sounds, but have kept it weird with ghostly vocals, lingering organ chords and unpredictable tone deviation. … read more
