Label: Parks and Records Released: January 2008 I’ve seen Carcrashlander compared to Randy Newman and I can’t stand Randy Newman. After listening to the debut album (and first release by green-focused Parks and Records), one of two things must be true: Either the Randy Newman comparison is inaccurate or I need to reconsider my feelings about him. Or perhaps there… Read more »
Label: Geffen Records Released: March 18, 2008 A New Found Glory has always been a bit long on sappiness and short on edge, but when I bought Nothing Gold Can Stay, an album whose title is probably more a reference to S.E. Hinton than Robert Frost, it connected with me. It was an album that was geared toward kids 10… Read more »
RED LEADER RECORDS – Limited Edition 10-inch Birthday Picture Disc Available Now! * Only 500 Pressed * Featuring covers from Scream Hello, The New Dress, Attica! Attica! and Nakatomi Plaza SCREAM HELLO – New EP! * Pre-order Smart & Stupid from Interpunk The hits keep coming from the Red Leader camp these days as label has just released an extremely… Read more »
Label: Yep Roc Records Released: August 6, 2007 Liam Finn has a Beatlesque knack for writing great pop songs. Perhaps that comes from his father Neil of Crowded House/Split Enz fame, but Liam walks his own path, making the connection to his father more trivial than musical. The singer-songwriter thing can be pretty limited, but Finn’s generally folky pop has… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: 1991 Baltimore metal fans are probably familiar with Meatjack, but perhaps fewer know of the Daniloski brothers’ first band, Stranger Than Fiction. Their Motherfungus demo was released in 1991 (when the brothers were in their early 20s). These were the days just before a band could make a professional sounding demo cheaply, so the thin production dates… Read more »
Deloused in the Comatorium is one of the most incredible debuts I’ve ever heard. The vinyl is almost as stunning. Yeah, it’s silver. It didn’t photograph all that well, but you can see it better in the close-up. I also like how they left the labels blank.
Label: Spoonful Records Released: 2007 The Griefs channel the Who’s manic drums, big power chords and brutal loudness in a catchy package. Sometimes there’s fuzz and other times there’s jangle, but from start to finish, this is an album of loud melodies and rock n roll bombast that many have copied, but few have done this successfully. Throwing a Tempo… Read more »
Check this out. Dr Pepper will give everyone in America (except Slash and Buckethead) a can of their soda if Guns N Roses (aka the Axl Rose band) releases Chinese Democracy. It’s a good move on Dr Pepper’s part, because it gets them a lot of publicity and is unlikely to cost them a cent. I’d rather they keep their… Read more »
Little Caesar-s/t (1990) versus Lord Tracy-Deaf Gods of Babylon (1989) Metal Mark invited me to participate in this feature over at Heavy Metal Time Machine. It was a chore to listen, but fun to write. Check it out.