THE OCCASION THE OCCASION Say Hey Records From the haunting opening of “The Midwife,” you know you’re being kidnapped and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Hailing from New York and having opened for band as diverse as Interpol, The Unicorns and Franz Ferdinand, The Occasion sound nothing like their surroundings. Where there
The Lamb Of God Ashes Of The Wake EPIC The Lamb of God precision attack is honed and ready to destroy everything in its…wake. Ashes Of The Wake is the latest from L.O.G., and like its predecessor, As The Palaces Burn (2003), Ashes… is comfortably situated as one of the best albums of the year.
THE POISON ARROWS EP File 13 “Trailer Park” is a tease with its smacking around of sound and distorted blips and buried vocals. It’s a BRMC record stolen by Suicide and slaughtered in Pro Tools. Bloody hell, it’s Primal Scream reborn! Well, if they’d only kick it in and go somewhere, which they never
THE LOCAL DIVISION PURE ELECTRIC LIGHT E.P. Aeronaut Records Singer Ian Christian and guitarist Mati met at a Mark Gardener (Ride) show. The only problem was that Ian lived in the UK and Mati was from Los Angeles. Regardless, they’ve released this rather interesting E.P. The first two tracks lift the early heavy strumming from
The Static Age Neon Nights Electric Lives Tarantulas Having toured with AFI, you might expect something with a little more of a punk rock kick from The Static Age, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they’re actually closer to Catherine Wheel than Davey Havok & Co. Not that you can’t find the smallest
The Perishers come sauntering in with a long list of hopefuls who would, if given the chance, knock that bloody crown off of Coldplay’s collective head. … read more
The songs on this 5 track EP are nice, they sore, they have a little rock in them and they have a mood that sometimes crosses Catherine Wheel with Elbow. … read more
Clearly, it doesn’t require a lot of thought to conclude how The Thermals’ long-term survival can be attributed to the singer’s lo-fi punk-saddled rhetoric. Things have been pissing in Hutch Harris’ Cheerios since 2002. Now, his current flavor of the week is relationship drama. … read more
This is more traditional than many of the Celtic/punk acts out there, but that’s not to say Chicago’s Tossers ease up on the attitude. Just in time for St. Patty’s day, the Irish fury that is The Emerald City, starting with the rollicking tune “The Rover,” which exults the life of the nomad, whether drunk or sober. … read more
Shaking the Habitual extends beyond the scope of the record—it’s a manifesto for a 21st Century pop culture ontology. … read more
Hip hop meets nursery rhymes with this collab from Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson. … read more
Pretty Girls needs more “Hey! Ho!”s and “Gabba gabba hey!”s. The lyrics are extruded from a Joey Ramone-‑like perspective, and the vocals of Scott Free have a similar cadence and tone to Joey. … read more
