Category: Music Reviews

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

of Montreal’s UR FUN album released today (1/17)

Today, of Montreal released their new album UR FUN via Polyvinyl Record Co. prior to release, they shared electro-pop protest song “Peace to All Freaks,” the pet-friendly video for “Polyanuerism” and the intimate, “You’ve Had Me Everywhere” giving us a taste for ten concise electro-pop songs to follow. It’s a collection that exposes the depths of Kevin Barnes’ current life, his private thoughts—both optimistic and brooding— and his passionate relationship…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Altuz “Bitchin'” and “Altuz Baby”

Altuz Baby! showcases a backing beat and rap flow that are immediately at 100. A piano line tracing back to 1970s rock is married to a bold and confident flow that refreshes the 1990s NYC scene like no other. The high-water mark of Altuz Baby! hits right before the end, as the rapper effortlessly lays down some of the most complex lyrics we’ve heard. Bitchin’ has a tremendous backing beat…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 1

Nuke The Soup “Feed The Fire”

Nuke The Soup have just cut their Feed The Fire. This sizzling track defies all genre conventions. This means there are nods to reggae, funk, soul, and progressive music. Easy-going on its surface, there’s no denying that Nuke The Soup can create some heady instrumentation here. The track moves into Police-level of intricacy between the drums, bass, and guitar lines. Vocals drip with charisma here while a sizzling horn line…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Snypa “That’s It”

That’s It has Snypa coming forth hard as head. With nods to Migos and Lil Wayne in his vocal flow, Snypa is given a further boost through a booming backing beat that is part trap, part Hypnotize Minds. A distorted, echoing drum beat cuts through the silence between Snypa’s bars, adding a hint of urgency to the composition. Wrapping up things with a nice bow at the 2:30 mark, Snypa…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Habitz “Cadillac Dippin”

Habitz goes back to the mid-1990s with his latest effort, Cadillac Dippin. With luxurious synths representing the backdrop, the soulful vox that issue forth shortly after delve into the funk of Zapp & Roger. Including Knitwit and Trazel into the mix, Habitz are able to refresh the style of a Too $hort or an E-40. The duo are able to approach their flows in a distinctly different fashion, ensuring that…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

bree “Broken”

Broken is a fun pop-rock track that marries confident vocals with straight-foward guitars and splashy drums. The back and forth between the insistent vox of bree and the sizzling guitar riffs that follow immediately afterward calls back to performers like Kelly Clarkson and Bif Naked. Broken takes a strong turn at the two-minute mark to allow the guitar, bass, and drum to craft one seriously heavy instrumental interlude. Bree’s latest…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Broke Royals “Love & Tatters”

Love & Tatters look back to the synth-popo of the mid-1980s for inspiration during their new single, Love & Tatters. The alluring vocals, synth sequences, and hard-hitting choruses ensure that this track will have legs for days. The band reaches a higher plateau with a multi-part vocal harmony. Touching upon Walk The Moon and Dave Grohl’s vocal stylings, Broke Royals are able to bring fans in while crafting their own…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Raven Salve’ – CoCo Brown (Remix)

Raven Salve’s CoCo Brown is a sultry, slow R&B track that immediately showcases Salve’s vocals like no other. Raven is able to pull double duty during this track as she’s able to weave a cogent story alongside building up the fat beats and Childish Gambino-esque guitar lines playing in the background. The effort is timeless in its execution, drawing from the late 1990s and early oughts rhythmic style just as…

Posted on: January 17, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Marquee Grand – Self-Titled EP

Lost Cause is a taut track that provides Buffalo band Marquee Grand with a good amount of positive vibes as the band begins their new extended play. The track builds upon the framework of The All-American Rejects and Yellowcard, marrying charismatic vocals with intense bass line and jangly guitar work. The song even touches upon The Killers and Goo Goo Dolls, easily ensuring that it could garner playlist and radio…

Posted on: January 16, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Phast Phreddie & Thee Precisions Release Deluxe Version of Limbo 1/31

For a period of time in the early-to-mid ’80s, Phast Phreddie & Thee Precisions were one of the hippest bands in the Los Angeles. So hip that members of such acclaimed L.A. bands as X, Los Lobos, the Gun Club, The Plimsouls and The Blasters lent their talents to their recordings and live shows. So hip that the brilliance of Phast Phreddie & Thee Precisions was largely unknown apart from…

Posted on: January 16, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Wettworker – ‘Are You Okay (ft. Cubbiebear)’

Wettworker’s Are You Okay comes forth with some serious fire. There are nods to Atmosphere and Swollen Members here, while the gothic / industrial-tinged backing beat adds a bit more teeth to the effort. These two distinct elements ensure that the song is hurtling past listeners by the minute mark. With a lead-out that calls back to the more ferocious side of Marilyn Manson, Wettworker is able to imbue rap…

Posted on: January 15, 2020 Posted by: Kim Muncie Comments: 0

Singer/Songwriter Andy Michaels releases new Album

The late 2010s produced a lot of interesting singer/songwriters, and among the more intriguing that I heard in 2019 was Andy Michaels, whose record Incendiary Heart raised a lot of eyebrows in his native Australia as well as overseas in the United States. A product of hybrid creativities and eclectic collaborations with singers like Tiarna Madison and Kerry Ironside, Incendiary Heart takes everything that was suggested as being possible in Michaels’ debut LP Revisited and reshapes…

Posted on: January 15, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

The Districts Share Video for New Single “Cheap Regrets”

The Districts today shared the Laura-Lynne Petrick-directed video for new single “Cheap Regrets,” the second from their forthcoming album You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere, which will be released on March 13th, 2020 (Fat Possum). “‘Cheap Regrets’ is some late capitalist nihilism channeled into a Districts dance party. It’s about the extremes of American culture constantly reinforcing the self,” explains singer/guitarist Rob Grote of the kinetic track. “The mirror reconfirms…

Posted on: January 15, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Todd Barrow – Country’s Just Cooler

Barrow calls back to the days of Garth Brooks and mid-1990s country music (Diffie, Lawrence) with his latest single, Country’s Just Cooler. The track soars based on taut instrumentation, a heck of a lot of sizzling guitar work, and an imitable set of vocals laid down by Barrow himself. While the song looks back to the halcyon days of country music, there’s a bit of Paisley or Chesney here in…

Posted on: January 14, 2020 Posted by: Kim Muncie Comments: 0

Two (LP) by This Time Band

If guitar sizzle is your style, I would definitely recommend taking a peek at the latest record from Canadian rockers This Time, Two, the next time you’re browsing new indie titles, because from the plodding fuzz of deep cuts like “Caught You in Love” and “Something About,” to the blustery palm-muted storm of “Be Somebody” and chief single “Runaway,” they absolutely embody the core of this band’s sound more than anything…

Posted on: January 13, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

pagan interface – Psychic Feedback & The Crystal Void

The Sidewinder’s Empathy is a composition that refreshes the trip-hop of Massive Attack and late-nineties Bjork. Neuronal Disintegrity ensures that listeners will have to strap on their headphones to hear the sheer ranges of actions that are occurring at any one section. While the effort concludes well below the four-minute mark, pagan interface ensures that there is enough ensconced within here that one will have to play the effort five…

Posted on: January 12, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Will – Staying Alive (feat. Illogic + Scratch Johnson)

Will’s new single Staying Alive succeeds due to a melange of approaches and styles. This means that there are hints of scratching, Del the Funky Homosapien, and more than a fair shake of mid-1990s NYC hip-hop (e.g. Nas). Scratching represents a good portion of the interstitials between the vocalists’ bars, building off of the style of a Static Selektah. Incorporating guest bars laid down by Illogic to the track further…

Posted on: January 12, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Cool Ass -“S.O.B. (Song Of a Bitch)”

Cool Ass create a wry, catchy track that builds off of the rock of the late nineties and early oughts. With straight-forward, fuzzy guitars linking together surf rock with Slash-style technical riffs, Cool Ass are able to ratchet it up to 11 both on the lyrical and musical side of things. The track moves into a more prog/arena breakdown at around the three-minute mark. With a rapidly-increasing tempo bringing things…

Posted on: January 11, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Aqua Seca “Don’t Care”

Aqua Seca calls back to the rock of the 1980s with their new single, Don’t Care. The song links together Big Country with Eddie Money. Down and dirty guitar lines united with psychedelic and progressive-inspired sludginess. The fact that no two segments of Don’t Care sound the same is astonishing on its own right, but listeners will be agog at how well the resulting composition sounds. Aqua Seca are so…

Posted on: January 11, 2020 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Izzy Ice “Cake Up”

Izzy Ice comes forth immediately on his new single Cake Up as an evolutionary step forward of DMX, Big Joe and Xhibit. Tons of swagger blend nicely with a robust backing beat to tattoo Cake Up deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. The production of this single ensures that Izzy Ice should garner playlist and rotation play in 2020. II’s wordplay during this cut does more than tell…