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AFI / Touche Amore / Coming at the Granada
Just discovered that I’d not uploaded pictures from last Thursday’s AFI show at the Granada. It was the East Bay band’s first tour in over three years, and anticipation was high. Goth kids, hardcore...
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Galactic Cannibal, “We’re Fucked” LP
Milwaukee’s Galactic Cannibal have been getting two things mentioned about them, near as I can tell: first, they’re a side project from Direct Hit!’s guitarist and singer Nick Woods. Second, they sound...
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Yourself and the Air, “Spirit Mixers” LP
“Paisley punk” is a term I’ve heard applied to the likes of the Black Lips, and it’s equally as applicable to Yourself and the Air‘s latest, Spirit Mixers. Psychedelic, yet slightly sneering, it’s a...
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Springtime, “South Hill” 7-inch
Is it lazy to describe Springtime‘s South Hill 7-inch as post-Cro Mags hardcore, fronted by Henry Rollins? Something about Springtime makes me want to start shorthanding every reference. The group’s...
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Nightmare Boyzzz, “Bad Patterns” LP
Oh, man — can power-pop be the next big thing in underground rock ‘n’ roll? We got the ball rolling with the Exploding Hearts, Missing Monuments, and Mean Jeans, but it hasn’t seemed to become a...
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Missing Monuments, “Blast!” 7-inch
Concluding our week of power-pop this week, we’re looking at another release from Slovenly Recordings — in this case, the newest single from Missing Monuments, due out on 7-inch on November 26. With...
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Podcast #104, “The Wind Outside”
It’s been a couple weeks longer than I wanted to get this podcast done. I was hoping to avoid there being a month between podcasts, and we’ve only narrowly avoided that by a few days. However, I’d been...
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The Love Triangle, “Clever Clever” LP
Is is possible for something to be both frantic and chugging? Something about the Love Triangle‘s music makes me think of a biker movie — everything synced to the sound of wheels on blacktop. Clever...
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Joint D≠, “Satan Is Real Again, Again, or: Feeling Good About Feeling Good...
Listening to Joint D≠‘s latest, Satan Is Real Again, Again, or: Feeling Good About Feeling Good About Bad Thoughts, is not something I recommend while jacked up on half a pot of strong coffee. The...
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Strike to Survive, “Yesterday’s News” LP
It’s a damned good thing that Strike to Survive exists, because the Bronx sure as shit isn’t putting out albums like this anymore. Bands change, blah blah blah — whatever, all I know is that what I...
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Waxeater, “Baltimore Record” LP
Listening to Waxeater‘s Baltimore Record makes me really wish I’d been able to get into The Wire. I certainly would like to be able to analyze exactly how the lyrical content specifically relates to...
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Ruleta Rusa, “No Aqui Es” LP
Looking at the cover, I was thinking, “What the fuck? Did Sorry State put out a thrash record?” Just taking a glance at the jacket for Ruleta Rusa‘s No Aqui Es, and you’re thinking Grim Reaper or some...
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Adam Widener, “Vesuvio Nights” LP
Adam Widener‘s new album for Speakertree Records does really bring to mind the late Jay Reatard, but any dirty power pop these days is likely to do so. Reatard’s sound was so distinctive, it’s hard to...
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Signals Midwest, “Light On the Lake” LP
It took the second run-through on the turntable to notice it, but Signals Midwest frontman Maxwell Stern sounds a lot like Bomb the Music Industry’s Jeff Rosenstock. If I remember correctly, I really...
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Secret Smoker, “Terminal Architecture” LP
Well, hello, the late ’90s. I’ve missed you. Before screamo, bands would work angular riffs, battering their guitars and vocal chords to produce emotionally-resonant, cathartic music that shredded...
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New Coke, “Duct Tape Your Mouth” 7-inch
The latest from New Coke isn’t as deliriously weird as their first single. Can anything be as uncomfortably wonderful as “He Got Stabbed In the Throat”? I humbly submit the answer be, “No – no fucking...
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Ex Friends, “Rules For Making Up Words” LP
We’ve talked about asthetics I’m not down with before — the whole Hot Water Music thing being beyond my comprehension, for example — and I’m trying to figure out what it is about Ex Friends‘...
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Adventures / Run Forever, “Split” EP
Pairing Adventures with Run Forever is such a ridiculously perfect idea, it’s basically one of those “shut up and take my money!” releases. Adventures’ dreamy indie pop has a certain angular melodicism...
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Podcast #105, “Short & Sweet”
The podcast returns after an extended holiday hiatus, with a short twelve songs, covering the gamut from blues-influenced garage rock swagger to metal to … weirdness. Yeah. It’s been a bit, so you’d...
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Acid Fast, “Rabid Moon” LP
Jumping up and down in my chair, listening to everything kick in on the first track of Acid Fast‘s Rabid Moon, it’s like that first time I heard Ned’s Atomic Dustbin doing “Kill Your Television” on 120...
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