There’s a line in the recent Pixies single ‘Bag Boy,’ that kind of summarizes the sudden EP of new recorded music for the first time in 22 years. “So disappointed I was/that I had to make small talk with you/I’m not feelin’ your buzz/I only smell your crock of stew.” I mean, let’s review the facts here. The band reunited in 2003 and has toured off and on over the past 10 years, flirting with the idea of ‘will they […]
Posts tagged "review"
DevilDriver, Winter Kills: Album Review
Dez Fafara and the boys are back with another blessed hellride on DevilDriver’s sixth album, Winter Kills. ‘You sold me out, I sold myself in/you dealt me out/I dealt myself in…’ or so the story goes on ‘The Oath of The Abyss,’ the lead-off track, Dez’s signature howl in full horn’s up form. ‘Ruthless,’ follows with opening guitars reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins 2007 single, ‘Tarantula,’ before launching into an almost Coal Chamber-like sing-along verse course verse. It’s definitely one of […]
Blue October, Sway: Album Review
The latest chapter of the soundtrack to Justin Furstenfeld’s psychoanalysis was released earlier this week. It comes in the form of his band’s seventh album, Sway. It also marks Blue October’s 15th year in recorded music. To their credit, the band has never created an album that’s easily dissect-able on one listen. It hasn’t changed on album number seven. First impressions are that this one is a heavier ‘groove,’ album than some in the past. The rhythm section of Jeremy Furstenfeld […]
Travis, Where You Stand: Album Review
I continue to ‘date’ myself the longer I continue doing reviews on this site. Do you remember such 90’s radio gems as ‘All I Wanna Do is Rock,’ ‘Tied to the 90’s,’ ‘Why Does it Always Rain on Me,’ or ‘Sing?’ If you do then you’re in for a pleasant surprise because THAT band is back with a brand new album that takes all of those great moments in the band’s early history and carries on the legacy that began […]
blessthefall, Hollow Bodies: Album Review
Let me start this off with a fair warning – there is not a lot of metalcore that I like. I could probably count on one hand the number of bands I’ve either enjoying seeing live or continue to listen to recorded music by in this genre. That being said/disclaimed, Phoenix, AZ’s blessthefall have shitstipated (i.e. released) their fourth full-length, entitled Hollow Bodies this week. The best thing I can say about this one is that the loop has been closed on […]
SOiL, Whole: Album Review
One of the great aspects of my early to mid-20’s was spending many a night hitting up club shows for the latest hard rock act to roll through. Nonpoint, Drowning Pool, Cold, Sevendust, Static-X, Seether and then a constant bevy of second- and third-tier supporting acts. Rock band SOiL never really got the credit they deserved nor really took the bull by the horns when opportunity knocked. They’re one of those bands where, as a fan of that scene, you […]
The Civil Wars, The Civil Wars: Album Review
I’m pretty interested to see what public court of opinion and interest is for a sophomore effort from the folk-rock duo of John Paul White and Joy Williams (aka The Civil Wars). After taking iTunes by storm and in turn debuting in Billboard’s Top 20 with their debut Barton Hollow (2011), they seemed an overnight success story…even if it’d been two years in the making. The promotional and touring cycle included Grammy nominations for both Best Folk Album and Best Country […]
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 […]
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 […]
Nine Inch Nails, “Came Back Haunted”: The Viewfinder Review
Listen…I’m going to be excited for the new NIN album and tour simply because it’s Trent and I think he’s a visionary. This video comes from a highly touted director in David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Lost Highway). It’s, admittedly by the warning that precedes it, an epileptic’s worst nightmare. What to expect? A picture of girl, transposed beneath a spider rotating back and forth, a head’s on view of a shark with human teeth, a creepy play-dough face, and Trent’s […]
Jimmy Eat World, Damage : Album Review
It’s hard to believe Tempe, AZ’s Jimmy Eat World are now on their seventh album. Yet here we are with the boys who created such college radio staples like ‘Lucky Denver Mint,’ ‘The Middle,’ ‘Sweetness’ and ‘The Authority Song,’ confronting relationship issues and converting them into four-minute rock songs. The new album is entitled Damage and once again, its tackling life in the mid- to late-30’s. As a listener, I suppose you could say I’ve spent the past fifteen years growing […]
Travis, “Where You Stand”: The Singles Bar Review
Remember the mid-90’s British Rock band Travis? No? You mean you don’t remember such memorable tracks as ‘ Tied to The 90’s ‘ ‘ All I Wanna Do Is Rock ,’ or ‘ Sing ?’ For anyone who peeled a layer of the onion past Oasis and Blur, they’d find a treasure trove of great Brit Pop Rock with Travis, James or Manic Street Preachers. Travis was literally a blueprint band for what Coldplay would eventually springboard to. Fran Healy and company are back on August 19th, with their seventh full-length […]