Label: Lujo Records Released: May 13, 2008 The liner notes of Everything Is Alive sent me into a wonderful daydream. As the opening drum loop circled through my ears, I read the line, “We experienced the hospitality of strangers letting us spend the night on their couches or their floors.” I was immediately taken to a pleasant picture of the… Read more »
Label: Atlantic Released: May 13, 2008 You and I are about to engage in the most intimate act that a critic and a reader can share: the record review. But before the door closes behind us and I lift my shirt to reveal four stars tattooed on my chest, you need to know a secret that will color every word… Read more »
Label: Maniac Squat Records Released: March 3, 2008 There are plenty of bands revisiting the 80s, but most stick to post-punk and new wave rather than punk and hardcore. The Eruptors are certainly an exception. They avoid anything refined and go straight for the throat with noisy punk that sounds about as DIY as it can be. The downside is… Read more »
Label: Shout! Factory Released: April 1, 2008 I’ve had a bit of a stormy relationship with John Lennon, not that it would matter to John. His greatest public achievement was the band that made rock n roll matter and mine is…well…this website. Besides, John was dead by the time my relationship with him began. I was nine (almost 10) when… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: January 25, 2008 I seem to be using the word “angular” an awful lot these days and while that usually means I’m listening to something I enjoy, the post-punk influence is becoming so commonplace that it also begs the question, “What’s special about this one?” With Brass, the answer is that they take their mathy angles and… Read more »
Label: Roadrunner Records Released: May 6, 2008 There is really no shortage of bands out there today who are mining the 70s for the source of its hard rock gems. The Parlor Mob is one such band. They’ve obviously spent some time with Zeppelin and the Nuge and they’ve certainly gotten quite a bit out of that. And You Were… Read more »
Label: Rhino Released: April 22, 2008 Otis Blue is a widely accepted soul classic and for good reason. It finds Redding running through some great soul tunes, many made famous by others, yet it never makes you long for the other versions (even Aretha’s version of “Respect”). He’s just that powerful of a singer. “Satisfaction,” one of rock’s most overrated… Read more »
Label: Mercury Released: April 29, 2008 Lots of people are complaining that Third doesn’t sound like Portishead. These people are smoking crack. In fact, they’re probably trying to smoke crack through their ears, which means the crack smoke is blocking out the music. I don’t get the complaints of the crack smokers. Third sounds like Portishead. It is filled with… Read more »
Label: self-released (digital only) Released: February 2008 In the mid-90s, Trever Keith’s band Face to Face was releasing some of the best pop punk around. Big Choice still finds itself in at least my semi-regular rotation. However, they lost me with Ignorance is Bliss at the end of the decade and I never really came back. Now I find myself… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: 2008 “Warning! The recordings contained on this disc are raw and far from perfect. Just how we like it!” That’s the warning on the CD, but it’s more like a mission statement and they back it up with the tunes. Another Shitty Band’s First Demo is raw beyond belief. Thick, sludgy guitar and bass are essentials in… Read more »