Label: self-released (CD Baby) Released: April 28, 2009 In the waning days of the first wave of punk, several bands took the groundwork it had laid and mixed it up with a frantic sense of dancability. For lack of a better desciption, we called it post-punk. Three decades later, it seems like everyone wants to “rediscover” Joy Division, the Fall,… Read more »
Label: Fixing a Hole Records Released: February 2009 Ken Decter, infamous leader of Florida fun punks F, once said of his band, “We don’t have a message. If we had a message, we’d put out a newspaper. We’re just a stupid band.” That statement could be applied to any number of punk bands from the goofball antics of Adrenalin OD… Read more »
Label: Orange Dress Records Released: March 17, 2009 On the surface, Kate Mann finds herself channeling a bit of Joni Mitchell and a bit of Janis Joplin, her music swinging gently across the short space between folk and blues. While it is that bit of Joni that shows up in a clever musical phrase here and there, it also manifests… Read more »
Label: self-released (distributed by Fontana North/Universal) Released: April 28, 2009 Terms like lo-fi and DIY have become quite commonplace these days. Unfortunately, these terms are often applied to music that could also be described as contrived or just rotten. The Weather Station is certainly the epitome of both of those common terms, but not of the descriptions which often destroy… Read more »
Label: Jump Start Records Released: February 16, 2009 Hardcore has struggled on and off for years with the concept of melody. When bands in late 70s and early 80s first decided to abandon traditional songwriting and simply go for broke at near light speed, a lot was lost despite the opening of a new avenue. Over time, bands began to… Read more »
Label: Lujo Records Released: April 14, 2009 It’s not unusual to hear a new record and think, “Here’s a band to keep an eye on. This is really good, but the next one could be amazing.” What is unusual is for that potential to actually pan out. Considering the frequency of this scenario, there is surely a lot of ground… Read more »
Label: Magnetic Air Released: January 20, 2009 I didn’t pay close attention to Exciter back in the 80s, but looking back, I’ve wondered why they weren’t considered at least in that second tier of speedmetal bands with the likes of Overkill, Testament, etc. They were early adopters of that happy marriage between speed and heaviness…and yet they’re so often forgotten…. Read more »
Label: Glory Glory Released: March 2, 2009 Guns on the Roof have spent the last two years playing with the likes of Rancid, the Misfits, Stiff Little Fingers, UK Subs, the Briggs and others, all bands that mix their punk rock sneers with unbeatable hooks. Their touring company along with the band from who they lifted their moniker have all… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: February 3, 2009 Everything Burns kicks off as a fairly typical post-emo mainstream rock album. There are bits of alt rock and emo tidied up in a nice, easily digestible package and yet…there’s something else, something deeper going on with this record. Underneath what seems at first to be a solid, but uneventful set of songs, there’s… Read more »
Label: BNS Sessions Released: February 24, 2009 Story problem: If King Crimson and ELP were together heading south at 75 mph, Art of Noise was heading north at 102 mph and Hawkwind was heading west at, well the speed of the Silver Machine, what would you call the force where they met? Answer: Fun Machine. If that isn’t enough in… Read more »