Label: Interscope Records Released: March 18, 2008 Lay Down the Law is a collection of songs that is perfectly good in the moment. Their catchy 80s power-pop (filtered through more recent times via the Strokes) is pleasant enough, but it can’t hold on to what it’s caught. Even after multiple listens, there isn’t a single melody here that sticks with… Read more »
Label: SideOneDummy Records Released: June 17, 2008 When British punk got into the hands of working class kids in the late 70s who married its anger to pub singalongs and soccer chants, Oi was born. It is a thoroughly British (okay, the Irish can pull it off also) phenomenon that American bands have had a hard time copying. Being able… Read more »
Song: Dusk and SummerArtist: Dashboard ConfessionalAlbum: Dusk and Summer “Dusk and Summer” makes me feel how I felt during the summer between 6th and 7th grades, when I would sit in the front yard and stare at thousands of stars in the night sky and listen to “Don’t Stop Believing” and dream of what it would feel like to be… Read more »
Label: Columbia Records Released: June 17, 2008 Punk rock made its way out of seedy clubs and into arenas over a decade ago, but that didn’t always mean that the bands who made it just turned on the commercial rock and abandoned their roots. Green Day, perhaps the genre’s biggest success story (unless you consider Nirvana punk), still really plays… Read more »
Song: FallibleArtist: Blues TravelerAlbum: Four If someone plays a wanker guitar solo on a harmonica, is it still a wanker solo?
Label: Goodfellow Records Released: April 29, 2008 There are two kinds of anger: one based on love and one based on hate. I’ve always found myself more attracted to the former. New Model Army’s fury on “I Love the World” has always seemed both fuller and deeper than something along the lines of the Circle Jerks’ “World Up My Ass.”… Read more »
Label: The Miriam Collection Released: June 3, 2008 As a long time Joy Division fan, I was very interested in Control. Ian Curtis is one of those enigmatic, sad characters whose mystery was deepened by an early demise. Because the film was based on his wife’s memoir, I hoped it would provide insight into why Curtis burned so brightly and… Read more »
Song: Dire WolfArtist: Grateful DeadAlbum: Workingman’s Dead “Dire Wolf” finds the Dead at their best. The song’s country-flavored, laid-back lunacy is the combination of their unique and distinctly American music and Robert Hunter’s great gift with words. It’s really cool how the story can exist on many levels.
Trever Keith has worn many hats over the years. His band, Face to Face, was one of the best pop punk bands of the 90s and 00s. He mashed up punk and hip-hop with Legion of Doom. He even runs his own record label. I recently had the chance to get some of Trever’s insights into all the facets of… Read more »
Song: Police and the PrivateArtist: MetricAlbum: Live It Out “Police and the Private” takes the synth pop of Metric and infuses it with warmth. It’s the first time I’ve heard a Metric song and immediately wanted to hear it again.