Review: Ride the Boogie – s/t

      No Comments on Review: Ride the Boogie – s/t

Label: Longhair Illuminati Released: June 17, 2008 Ride the Boogie’s self-titled debut is a dark, trippy album. It dabbles in stoner elements, but often avoids that genre’s heaviness, giving the music a core, but also the freedom to move around that core and not get stuck in the usual ruts. From the Baroque pop psych of the opening track, it’s… Read more »

Review: Bigelf – Cheat the Gallows

      No Comments on Review: Bigelf – Cheat the Gallows

Label: Custard Records Released: August 12, 2008 Make a list of all the grandiose artists and albums in rock n roll history and you probably have a map of the influences on Cheat the Gallows. Bigelf manages to seamlessly move from one of rock’s big ideas to the next, making an impressive sound for themselves in the process. It’s scary… Read more »

Warped Tour 2008 Interview: Travis of From First to Last

From First to Last is following up the Spring release of their self-titled album on Suretone Records with a summer-long stint on the Warped Tour. On the verge of breaking through to the next level, vocalist/guitarist Travis Richter took a few minutes to tell me what’s going on with the band and what’s in store for the future. RnRnMN: How… Read more »

Warped Tour 2008 Interview: Mike Ruocco of Cinder Road

The Warped Tour, having expanded beyond its punk rock base, brought along hard rock band Cinder Road. The tour stop in Columbia, MD was a bit of a homecoming for the Baltimore band. I got the chance to see how things are going on the tour and what they have coming up. RnRnMN: How has the Warped Tour been treating… Read more »

Review: Annabel – Now That We’re Alive

Label: self-released Released: Summer 2008 My wife is a great cook. When she makes something, it tastes great, but it also looks great. She tells me that the appearance is important, that the appearance shows that she cares about what she’s prepared for us to eat. I may never have thought of that had she not brought it to my… Read more »

Warped Tour 2008 Interview: Kristina Grossmann of Rock for Health

One of the great things about the Warped Tour is its desire to showcase activist and charitable organizations. Rock for Health is one such organization whose goals center around health care and advice for musicians who are frequently without any resources. Kristina Grossmann, president of Rock for Health, answered a few questions about the organization and its presence on the… Read more »

Song-a-Day 3.0

      No Comments on Song-a-Day 3.0

There are plenty of this-a-day and that-a-day (and don’t forget Skull-a-Day) sites out there these days. Matt Green is doing Song-a-Day. It’s not an original concept in and of itself, but Green isn’t just churning out songs for the sake of it. It’s an exercise for him to grow as a songwriter, so he’s giving you a glimpse into his… Read more »

Warped Tour 2008 Interview: Brian Fallon of the Gaslight Anthem

When you go to a fest like the Warped Tour, there’s so many bands that you have to make choices, but the Gaslight Anthem made it easy, because there wasn’t anything that could trump catching their set. After a listen to their upcoming album, The ’59 Sound, I had high expectations and the band met them. I had a chance… Read more »