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
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
“More” has a certain Peter Bjorn and John feel and is a little more upbeat, though vocals stay in the shadows. “Yes Your Majesty” has great bass that travels over casual synth backings and lazy slide guitar. “Mockingbird” has nice acoustic strums over snappy, quick-paced drums—it reminds me of closing credits for a 007 movie. … read more
It’s a given that January is going to start with a lot of nausea, but this Nausea is a different kind. It’s the band of grindcore (not the crust punk band) legend Oscar Garcia, who did the vocals on Terrorizer’s World Downfall album. … read more
This would be perfect for the road trip to Burning Man, or for any fire performance, as it is packed with tribal drum beats, grungy guitar riffs and a pinch of spaghetti Western twang. The lyrics carry you away and make you think. … read more
This release is packed with archaic, simplistic synthesized sounds reminiscent of the ’80s. The remaining dark tracks provoke the cobweb-clearing dance movement, which is a bit too “goth” for me. I do know that those who are truly black at heart will love it. … read more
Is this the Return of the Grievous Angel? Not quite. While the broad strokes of Cosmic American Music are present here, Natural Child come well short of Gram Parson’s territory, instead sounding like the fat trimmed off Exile on Main St. being gargled by Tom Petty. … read more
This is as post-rock as you can get—intricate guitar melodies, heart-racing riffs, stereotypical drumbeats. Stereotypes aren’t bad, though, and My Education execute what they want so well through their music. … read more
I’m not going to try and convince you to like NOFX—if you’ve been around this music at all, then you know who they are and what they do, but this EP is them doing it at their best. … read more
You might be surprised to know that Neneh Cherry’s 1988 record, Raw Like Sushi, is bad as fuck. Still, I’m not losing my cool over the prospect of a new record by her. … read more
Alt-folk artists typically depend on limited methods of composition when fleshing out their songs. Some focus on telling emblematic stories to carry their creative substance (until another artist tells the same story better) and others fall on the crutch of political critiques (which will immediately filter out non-fans). … read more
NØMADS are a two-piece consisting of bassist Nathan Lithgow (from My Brightest Diamond and Inlets) and drummer Garth Macleavey, both of whom are set on maximizing the most sound with their limited size—and doing it all in a single take of recording. … read more
