Music
Animal Collective @ The Depot 09.08
As bitter of a bitch as I was about the original cancellation, I am happy that lead singer Dan Portner (aka Avey Tare) was in good health this time around, as his vocal chords traveled in monstrous directions that would’ve been nearly impossible to perform had he sung with even the slightest bit of a scratch to his throat. … read more
Uproar Festival 2013: Rockstars and Wannabes 09.02 @ USANA Ampitheater
Typically anchored by fairly recognizable and boring headlining acts like Disturbed or Shinedown, this year those acts consisted of the strange combination of Circa Survive, Coheed & Cambria, Jane’s Addiction and the legendary Alice In Chains – strange mix, but finally compelling enough for me to begrudgingly make it to an Uproar date. Make no mistake, though, I’ve got a lot of generic bullshit to tear apart before we get to the good stuff. … read more
Reviews: Front Line Assembly – Echogenetic
Returning somewhat to their early 1990s sound, but with a detour through dubstep—it’s sort of impossible not to get that particular peanut butter wub in your electronic chocolate these days—Echogenetic is a very workable, even strong bit of electronic industrial/ebm. … read more
Reviews: The Garden – The Life and Times of a...
The Garden write some very interesting riffs. In fact, both the drum work and the guitar work on “The Life and Times of a Paperclip” feature some surprisingly progressive moments—an interesting departure from the simple garage-style fare which Burger Records are known for. … read more
Reviews: Gauntlet Hair – Stills
It starts with “Human Nature,” a fist-pumper with an awesome build-up to a glorious hook. What follows is a collection of songs that are grungy, crystalline, sexy and ugly. … read more
Reviews: Get Dead – Bad News
Intense, growling vocals swoon wonderfully over heavy acoustic rhythm instrumentation and an electric lead guitar. … read more
Reviews: Ghost Wave – Ages
Everyone loves songs about getting drunk and breaking stuff, romanticizing self-destructive behavior like a poorly written Bukowski novel. This album gives me none of those feelings—it is about as visceral as a Ryan Adams song. … read more
Reviews: GWAR – Battle Maximus
GWAR are metal to the teeth, even if you count their dabbling in punk rock and other musical diversions. … read more
Reviews: Havok – Unnatural Selection
Havok’s rocked a cut above the feckless ‘80s imitators since day one, shamelessly copping chunks of top-tier bay area mayhem into their casserole, while freely adding their own ingredients. … read more
Reviews: Hawthorne Heights – Zero
Featuring their first foray into concept album territory, it’s too bad that the dystopia-themed lyrics don’t form the most coherent concept in the world, and it’s all fairly forgettable in the long run. … read more
