Posted January 16, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Holopaw ‘Academy Songs, Volume 1’ Misra “Acdemy Songs” is, I guess, a concept album. Whether it aims too high, or whether front man John Orth’s songwriting isn’t up to the task, is ultimately immaterial. Either way, it’s not a very good concept album. The Gainesville, Fla., indie outfit has produced
Read More →
Posted January 09, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Dropkick Murphys ‘Signed and Sealed in Blood’ Born and Bred Records It’s 2013, so it’s time for a new Dropkick Murphys album. The Irish punk Massholes have been releasing a new album every two years like clockwork and, on the heels of 2011’s “Going Out in Style,” “Signed and Sealed
Read More →
Posted January 02, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Rage Against the Machine ‘XX’ Epic There is probably no album that more perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the early ’90s better than Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 debut. Zach de la Rocha’s seething, intellectually Marxist lyrics and Tom Morello’s six string wizardry combined to create a sound that still
Read More →
Posted December 26, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Various Artists ‘JDR Winter Mixtape’ Jeffery Drag Records Nashville-based Jeffery Drag has fairly quickly established itself as one of the finer establishments for all the various flavors of punk music on the market today. As a nice, little primer into its stable of talent, JDR has put together its “Winter
Read More →
Posted December 19, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Razorwire Halo ‘Robotboy’ Independent One thing you need to give Razorwire Halo credit for is its level of commitment: There’s not a huge commercial clamor for electro-goth rock anymore, but that doesn’t stop the Kansas City four-piece from doing it to the hilt and doing it fairly well. The concern
Read More →
Posted December 12, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Parabelle ‘Your Starry Eyes Will Never Make Us Even’ Independent Parabelle isn’t really what you’d call a Tool knock-off — that becomes more apparent the deeper you get into the album. But there are clear similarities in melody and vocalization that serve to make lead singer Kevin Matisyn a kind
Read More →
Posted December 05, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
The Austin Taft Soundtrack ‘War of the Songs of Light Against the Songs of Darkness’ Independent “War of the Songs…” is a concept album, and Taft explores a lot of heavy themes over the course of its 80 minutes. All the greatest hits are here: war, love, hate, forgiveness. Taft
Read More →
Posted November 28, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Ke$ha ‘Warrior’ RCA It’s winter, my friends. Don’t let the fair local weather fool you: Now is the season for long, cold evenings of the Great Reaping. The renewal of spring is a long, long way off, and all we have to look forward to are feelings of isolation and
Read More →
Posted November 21, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Rihanna ‘Unapologetic’ Def Jam Let’s just get it out of the way: Yes, that’s Chris Brown on “Nobody’s Business.” Yes, the two of them swap lines like “You’ll always be my boy; I’ll always be your girl” and “Your love is infectious, let’s make out in this Lexus” — the
Read More →
Posted November 14, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Diamonds For Eyes ‘Catacomb Fires’ Independent Do you like Joy Division? Then Diamonds For Eyes may get it done for you. Now I’m not saying that the Des Moines four-piece is a Joy Division knock-off, or even that they’re necessarily trying to be. I am saying that there’s something reminiscent
Read More →
