Youth Group starts off their “Skeleton Jar” with a very Radiohead/Postal Service-sounding track in “Shadowland”. The same sound predominates during the disc’s title track, which has a solid feel that seemes perfectly acceptable compared with much of the college-rock out current. The guitar, bouncy throughout really lifts up and invigorates the dreamy vocals of Toby. Looking back to the Merseybeat sound just a little bit during “Lillian Lies”, the…
The very sedate opening of “Futures” sounds as if Zero 7 has taken on the mantle of folk rock that was previously worn by acts like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The infusion of this style with a very electronic-based atmosphere puts this act into a current context as well as makes the disc that much more interesting. The use of a number of guest vocalists during “The Garden”…
There are dark places in the mind of every person where feelings of bitterness and rage reside, whether acknowledged by their owner or not. For most, these are not enjoyable places to be, but for many, they are unavoidable. On the new ten track album Origins from English metal band Promethium, the dark corners of the mind are tapped into and stimulated, to the tune of a thirty-eight minute long…
Let Go is the initial track on I Made It Through, and it is catchy enough to immediately draw in listeners. The track soars on strong instrumentation and a similarly intense bit of vocal work from Owens. This album opening links together pop, hints of R&B, and a passion that is simply unparalleled in current music. Can’t Stop This Fire provides listeners with a sense of the depth of…
The North Shore EP is a rare example of a shorter album providing listeners with a complete capturing of an act’s facets; listeners will be provided with a wide array of genres, influences, and types of music. The Quiet Things blends equal parts human and electronic, weaving a narrative for each through the tracks. When Lyda’s vocals kick into high gear, this impassioned approach to music shines brightly; The…
The Sidekicks have justifiably been praised by fans and critics alike for writing some of the best pop punk songs to come out of the Midwest in the past decade. But while the band was winning over city after city of supporters, guitarist Matt Scheuermann was quietly working on his much more reserved side project American War. The result is a collection of strikingly beautiful records, the latest being the…
Man, sometimes CDs have a look that is completely unlike the style or substance of the band that resides inside. This is the case with Zero To Sixty Never who come out with this EP in a black and white CD slipcover, and then proceed to come out with “My Julia Roberts Cameo”. In the vein of Unwritten law or New Found Glory, albeit with a twinge of more…
The scratching and sampling of the beginning moments of “You Oughta Know” should remind individuals of artists like The Avalanches and Kid Koala; the sultry vocals that come soon after are a direct blend of Portishead and The Propellerheads. Of course, this is a cover of Alanis Morrisette’s original track, and the vocals pretty much stick to the blueprint that Morrisette created in the original; where the two tracks do…
The one thing that I wonder about Zozobra is how they were able to get on Hydra Head. The style of music that they play on tracks like “The Blessing” is pure stoner meets gruinge rock. One hears hints of early Tool, Alice in Chains, and Temple of the Dog in “Harmonic Tremors”. This is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, but the approachability of…
With four releases in four consecutive years, Oregon Punk Bluegrass collective Larry & His Flask are not fucking around. They’re on a mission to spread their banjo/mandolin-fused punk rock from city to city and while no album to date has been able to quite capture their amazing live show, By the Lamplight is the closest so far. Since the band’s grand re-opening in 2008, when they went from being a more traditional…
Adam Zwig is a musician that has been putting in work for a number of years; Visions Of The Shimmering Night is his fifth album, and was produced by Stuart Sikes (Modest Mouse) and David Bianco (Tom Petty). Everybody Love is a tremendous opening effort for Zwig. During this introductory track, Adam is able to provide listeners with directions for where he’ll ultimately go on the album. These thematic touches…
Living Proof is the first introduction that listeners will likely have for Perala’s music, and it allows listeners to be entranced by her inimitable style. The track soars on plinking pianos and a vocal style that takes on hints of Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks. While Perala’s vocals are front and center, the instrumental arrangements present here provide a very thoughtful backdrop. Fine uses an interesting differentiation between the vocal…
The Wear introduces listeners to the Straw Dogs’ latest effort, No Dividing Line. This soft, alternative take on rock is led by an emotive and alluring set of vocals. The lush arrangements laid down by the drums and guitars make for a track that will stick with listeners long after it ends. High Horses speeds things up, inserting a Tom Petty meets Soul Asylum feel into the mix. No Dividing…
Walk begins Chances, and it immediately provides listeners with a heavy dose of emotional intensity and bombastic instrumentation. The band touches upon Brand New and Taking Back Sunday, but improves on the formula with the inclusion of a beefiness that will resound with listeners long after the disc ends. Downin’ straddles the line between pop-punk and emo-rock, while remaining eminently approachable for fans of rock and metal alike. While there…
A Return to The Cool (Album review of Tim Easton’s, Not Cool) by Owen M.S. Coughlin, Jr. In the world of music and art as a whole, there is, for whatever reason, a tendency to try to put artists into a certain kind of box, based on the perceived genre under which their work falls. It’s sort of like, “well these guys rock hard but they are very emo,…
Universal Music has announced that Eminem is releasing the second Marshall Mathers LP on November 5th. Keep an eye out for Em’s latest single, Berzerk, which will be released on Tuesday (8/27). This album is Eminem’s first since 2010’s Recovery.
It’s been about six years since The Blow Monkeys – once one of the brightest spots on the 80’s New Wave movement – reunited and the band has certainly been making up for lost time. Feels Like a New Morning marks the band’s fourth release since getting back on the bike and while they have certainly settled into a much more mellow vibe, they have likely aged right alongside their…
The Suicide Machines bring another twist with this new album, slowing down the tempo, but they still keep the sense of good-naturedness with the single “Sometimes I don’t mind”, which is a paean to a dog. A psuedo-Ramones track is thrown in with “Permanent Holiday”, from the topic of the song (Rebelling and Running Away) to the Ramonish pitch of Jason Navarro,.All and all this CD shows the Machines…
Blending Latino culture with punk rock is not unheard of. The Casualties have been known to sing in Spanish; The Bronx have an entire side project devoted to Mariachi music, so the fact that San Antonio’s Piñata Protest have fused an accordion and snatches of traditional Mexican-American music with punk rock is not exactly ground-breaking. But the fact that they do it well, is worthy of attention. Their sophomore album,…
Fire(Part 2) is a free-form jazz that simultaneously touches upon an entire range of styles from the fifties out to the eighties. The constituent elements of Lullaby North are talented enough to weave a cogent narrative through this introduction to the band, resulting in a set of listeners that will be utterly enamored. Words for hire begins with a vocal narration before touching upon nineties…