Music
Review: Popstrangers – Fortuna
Compared to their first album, Antipodes, Popstrangers are really living up to the “Pop” in their name. I want to stress that I said, “compared to.” … read more
Review: Polock – Rising Up
It’s June, ladies and gentlemen, and that means summer indie pop releases. Returning after their debut album, Getting Down From Trees, is Polock, the quintet from Valencia, Spain. … read more
Review: Polar Bear Club – Death Chorus
While initial damage-control over the album focused on the less-harsh style Jimmy Stadt now uses due to throat wear after the last few albums, it’s not the vocal delivery that leaves this album weak and wilting. … read more
Review: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Days...
Without much fanfare, The Pains’ classic lineup has gone (Peggy’s the DIY Editor at BuzzFeed!?) and been replaced by a rotating cast of indie pop vets. Sigh … is the indie pop revival that Kip Berman and friends kick-started in the late aughts finally having its bittersweet coda? … read more
Review: OFF! – Wasted Years
In 2010, when footage of OFF! first started showing up online, fans of old California hardcore music lost their minds. Was Keith Morris actually fronting a punk rock super-group that could savagely jam 17 songs into less than 20 minutes? He was, and they could—it was incredible. Skip forward four years, and here we are with OFF!’s third full-length release. … read more
Review: Odonis Odonis – Hard Boiled Soft Boiled
Hard Boiled Soft Boiled is the second album from this Toronto-based band Odonis Odonis. It’s fitting that this self-described “industrial surf-gaze” group has more to their double name than any singular sound—HBSB is two-sided and explores noise-pop from two different approaches. … read more
Review: Nostalghia – Chrysalis
Nostalghia’s Chrysalis is an otherworldly, eerie combination of intense vocals and uneasily calm synth. The delicate vocals harness an underlying aspect of intensity that slowly builds as the album takes shape. … read more
Review: Moon Zero – Tombs / Loss
Like an unsettling dream, this pair of albums produces associations and feelings that displace and frighten the listener. Tim Garratt plays with the possibilities of maximalist ambience, pitting a full range of reverberating overtones against each other to create overpowering aural experiences. … read more
Review: Metsatöll – Karjajuht
Folk metal exists with many bands doing different things—most mix other genres of metal with folk elements like melodic death, black or death metal. Others exist outside those boundaries. Estonia’s Metsatöll are one of those bands. … read more
Review: Meatmen – Savage Sagas
As the opening lyrics “We’re the motherfuckin’ Men O’ Meat!” were hurtled in my face, I knew that the legendary Meatmen were back with another anthology of gross-out punk rock. This disgusting masterpiece contains assertive numbers like “I’m Gonna Fuck You Up,” “Piss Hot for Weed” and “Speed Kills (But it Sure Feels So Good).” … read more
Review: Mark Barrot – Sketches From An Island
If you follow the surfing community, even casually, then you might know the name Ozzie Wright and his colorful piece of art, “Anti Bad Vibe Shield.” Mark Barrot’s new album could be the soundtrack for that piece of art. … read more
Review: Lydia Lunch & Cypress Grove – A Fistful of...
Like a mysterious mirage amid sand dunes, “Sandpit” begins the album with Spanish-influenced blues and existential wonderings. In her classic style, Lunch moans like a witch with a voice made out of sex. … read more
