Music
Review: Polvo – Siveria
Polvo was math-y before there was math rock, but the angular equations of their guitar riffs and drum rhythms seemed like some secret calculus, more subtle and organic then their successors. … read more
Review: Plankton Wat – Drifter’s Temple
If an all-instrumental band uses the adjective legendary in cahoots with its description shortly before touting Grateful Dead as an influence, it’s almost guaranteed to sandbag any actual listening experience. Fortunately, Plankton Wat wined and dined my initial shallowness away before the third track. … read more
Review: Piñata Protest – El Valiente
Opening with a 45-second intro declaring Piñata Protest “los mas chingones de la musica norteña punk,” El Valiente certainly delivers on that description. … read more
Review: Pink Frost – Sundowning
Most often compared to 90s-era Smashing Pumpkins, except without Billy Corgan’s godawful nasally whine, Pink Frost are thick and noisy and energetic and also noisy. … read more
Review: Pelvis Wrestlies – Make Up Face
Reno’s Pelvis Wrestlies take their sound from a casserole of punk, pop and garage, their logo from the 80s WWF and their name from the bastardized moniker of an American icon—a winning recipe! … read more
Review: Peelander-Z – Metalander-Z
I never know if Peelander-Z is fucking with us, or if they’re serious. For a Japanese band peddling its own brand of action comic punk, the reality is they’re both serious AND they’re fucking with us. … read more
Review: Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders – 14th & Nowhere
Patt Todd & The Rankoutsiders burst out of Los Angeles with a fast-paced, country rock n’ roll styled with blues and folk mash-up. … read more
Review: Parquet Courts – Tally All The Things That You...
When talking about quantity, Tally All The Things That You Broke offers a third of the last Parquet Courts’ release (Light Up Gold)—possibly the result of a finer selection process. Tally All The Things That You Broke takes Parquet Courts’ strengths from the last album and drops everything else. … read more
Review: Odesza – My Friends Never Die EP
Whereas Summer’s Gone gave way to the more mellow side of things, MFND is supplemented with bouncier bass and trippier effects, but still manages to keep a solid grasp on Odesza’s winning formula of vocal samples layered over catchy, danceable beats. … read more
Review: Nobunny – Secret Songs: Reflections from the Ear Mirror
Hearkening back to the ramshackle electric lo-fi of 2008’s Love Visions, Secret Songs: Reflections from the Ear Mirror is a deranged mix-tape of Justin Champlin’s dingy, tattered, bunny-mask-clad garage punk interpretations of classic rock n’ roll styles. … read more
Review: Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
The first few times listening through Hesitation Marks, all I could focus on were the poppy, electronic-ish elements that must have rubbed off on Trent Reznor from spending so much time in How to Destroy Angels. It just didn’t feel like a NIN album. … read more
Review: Night Birds – Born To Die In Suburbia
Night Birds, however, seem like the kind of band that could turn on you at any second—a snotty, fast-paced brand of punk that, yes, is reminiscent of ’80s-era bands, but they do so much more than just ape a certain period of hardcore punk. … read more
