While I try to avoid reviewing albums I dislike, sometimes it needs to happen to warn the masses and longtime fans. It’s not often I use the phrase “utter shit” to describe a band or album but here I am typing while listening to Gogol Bordello’s latest, Pure Vida Conspiracy. To say this band has lost it somewhere along the way would be an understatement. They’ve lost members. They’ve lost their edge. They’ve lost that magic. A gang of gypsy […]
Posts tagged "Popblerd"
Pearl Jam, “Mind Your Manners”: The Singles Bar Review
Pearl Jam’s countdown clock has struck 00:00:00 again! On the heels of a North American tour announcement comes word of a brand new album entitled Lightning Bolt, on October 15th, and a brand spankin’ new dose of music in the form of first single “Mind Your Manners”. Remember “Spin the Black Circle,” off of their third album Vitalogy? While it lacks the urgency of that track – the vibrant, punk attitude is completely alive (and well) on this bad boy. It doesn’t […]
True Widow, Circumambulation: Album Review
There’s isn’t really anything like the fuzzed out almost ethereal sounds that True Widow produce in modern heavy music today which makes a throwback album like Circumambulation (That’s a mouthful!) so utterly refreshing. From the evil lurch of “CREEPER” which immediately sets the tone through to “LUNGR”‘s magical slow burn which concludes the album, Circumambulation provides a multitude of facets for lovers of stoner, doom, and just good old heavy music in general to latch onto. Albums like this make […]
Phillip Anselmo & The Illegals, Walk Through Exits Only: Album Review
First off can I just say how sick I am of albums billed as a “full-length LP” featuring less than 10 songs? Unless your name is Isis, Neurosis, or Pelican (To name a few, obviously) and the average length of one of your songs is 6-12 minutes then a measly eight songs ain’t cuttin’ it (Phil’s not the only one, mind you, just the most recent example). End tirade. Superjoint Ritual, Arson Anthem, Down, Pantera….it’s all led to this, hasn’t […]
Purple Suns, YOURS: Album Review
Four songs is all it will take to not only knock you on your ass but also completely ensnare you into the Purple Suns universe! That’s right, Purple Suns is back with an all new EP entitled YOURS. If you thought you knew Purple Suns after MINES, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet! Having never had one myself, I can only imagine that lead track “Concussions” is a pretty good indicator of what one would feel like. It’s a cacophonous wall […]
Holograms, “Meditations”: The Singles Bar Review
How did I not know about this band already? I’m not sure what’s worse, though, that I didn’t already know about them or that I didn’t know about them AND they’re releasing singles FROM THEIR SECOND ALBUM!!! Anyway, “Meditations” is the second release from Holograms’ upcoming sophomore album Forever and it is easily one of the best tracks of 2013! It’s lo-fi old school post-punk mixing The Clash with Killing Joke at times and even some of the anthemic beauty […]
Wilson, Full Blast Fuckery: Album Review
The New Wave Of American Cock Rock is here!!!! Lock up your daughters! And your sons for that matter because it’s a new day and age, ladies and gents! Like the bratty younger brother of Every Time I Die (Probably thanks in part from frequent ETID producer Steve Evetts sitting behind the boards…), Wilson bring the short blasts of pure rawk furiosity (Yeah, it’s a made up word. What of it? I think I’d have to pay Clutch if I […]
Mickey Gloss, “Are You Happy?”: The Singles Bar Review
Wall Of Voodoo meets Devo meets Arctic Monkeys with some manic psychedelia thrown in for good measure, Mickey Gloss is a genre-bending outfit from Australia now based in London who make the kind of music your ears will automatically drift towards. The vocals are mesmerizing, the chorus is hypnotic, and the breakdowns are raging! What more could you ask for in a raucous two and a half minute little ditty like this? Single “Are You Happy?” will be released on […]
Bloc Party, “Ratchet”: The Viewfinder Review
Well, that was quick! Less than a year after their genre-defying comeback album it looks as if Bloc Party are going on the dreaded “indefinite hiatus” once again. Don’t fret just yet, though, as the band have one last batch of new songs to release before they go their separate ways. Slated for release on August 12th in the UK, The Nextwave Sessions could very well be Bloc Party’s swan song but if songs like first single “Ratchet” are indicative […]
Franz Ferdinand Has Two Sides of “Love” For You
It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard anything from the Glaswegian natives Franz Ferdinand. Back in 2009, they’d remixed their third album Tonight as a jaunty experiment entitled Blood: Franz Ferdinand. It was a nice idea at the time, and something to whet our teeth on until they re-emerged with their next full length. Toward the end of May, they did just that, announcing they would release Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action on August 26th. With that date […]
The Editors, The Weight of Your Love: Album Review
On The Editors fourth full length long-player, they turn to Kings of Leon mainstay producer Jacquire King, presumably to emulate the former’s crossover success here in the U.S. It’s a notable goal and vocalist-guitarist Tom Smith seems more than a little eager to meet the task. Ditching the electronic heavy sound of 2009’s In This Light and On This Evening in favor of a more straight-ahead rock sound, the loss or original guitarist Chris Urbanowicz is immediately evident. The resulting album […]
