J-Live is a rapper that I always enjoy listening to. His style has very little fanfare. In the case of Around The Sun the album cover is simply a photo of his face. It was released in April this yearRead more…
Live on Recovery
One of the great things about today’s internet is when you want to reminisce about some TV show from your youth you can probably find it available online. Recently I was thinking of the first time I heard the bandRead more…
Tales from the Bargain Bin: Jesus Jones – Liquidizer
Jesus Jones will forever be known as the group that spawned super-duper hit “Right Here, Right Now.” The album that contained it, “Doubt,” was pretty good. What I didn’t expect was for its predecessor “Liquidizer” to be even better. InRead more…
Buck 65 – Neverlove
Neverlove is Buck 65’s much touted divorce album. I talked briefly about Neverlove on my last post where I talked about the other release Buck release on the same day titled Laundromat Boogie. Compared to Laundromat Boogie there is aRead more…
Joyce Manor – Never Hungover Again
For their third album, the quartet from Torrance, California have progressed without the sacrifice of the charm that made them so endearing in the first place. 10 quick blasts of punchy, hooky melodic punk that induces loud sing-a-longs and raucous pogoing,Read more…
Playlist Monday: Kickin’ It Old-School
Frequent readers to the blog will notice that Craig tends to be the rap/hip-hop guy around here while I spend most of my time writing about 90’s alt-rock bands and various types of metal. Back in the day though IRead more…
Abandoned Pools – Somnambulist
Abandoned Pools is the project of Tommy Walter, either best known as the former bassist of Eels (circa 1996-1997) or the guy who wrote the theme songs for Clone High. Walter has bounced around over the past fifteen years orRead more…
No Joy – Wait To Pleasure
The shoegaze revival thing can feel really played out at times. There seems to be no shortage of bands willing to adopt the pattern of layering waves of distortion over barely decipherable vocals oohing and aahing. It can be hardRead more…
HSY – S/T
HSY’s self-titled EP is a dissonant, grumbling mass of noise. The production values are on the lo-fi end of the spectrum and the howling, atonal vocals sound like they were recorded inside a tunnel. It’s a throwback sound. An uglier,Read more…
In Flames – Siren Charms
This shouldn’t be such a big deal. Anyone who is stunned by In Flames’s seemingly sudden shift to easily-digestible alt-metal hasn’t been playing very close attention. This has been a long time coming. In Flames, renowned for originating the GothenburgRead more…