always listening
Bitter Days is the new record from Nothing Serious – a trio that lays claim to Basement, Ontario (a nebulous space known to be somewhere around the Durham region) as their home. It’s a continuation of the fast-paced, melody-driven precedentRead more…
Calamity is the new EP from Toronto’s Fine Motor Control. Not to be confused with the drum/bass “new grunge” outfit of the same name also from Toronto circa 2004-2007. This band is actually the fifth collaboration between Vello Verder andRead more…
Hurry Up and Wait is the latest from Toronto’s Wasting Time. It’s the immediate follow-up to 2023 EP Chainsaw Dynamos and sees the four-piece picking up right where they left off. It’s a succinct collection of tightly-spun punk-rock head-bobbers. Frontman/songwriterRead more…
Crossing Visual Field – the latest from London-based post-punkers Mononegatives – is the record we thought people would be making in the future back in the 80’s. While we now have scarily-accurate facsimiles of songs by famous artists created byRead more…
“All guitar strums were down” Avem proudly announces in the liner notes of their EP Nerdin About Birdin. For the uninitiated, Avem has embraced Ramonescore – a sub-genre of a sub-genre that embraces the fast, furious and melodic sound ofRead more…
Taxi Girls is a power trio from Montreal. After seeing them perform at Pouzza Fest earlier this year my first instinct was to compare them to west coast indie darlings Cub, but after a few listens I realize I’m wayRead more…
If you ever wondered “what would the Misfits sound like if Danzig got into sci-fi instead of horror?” have I got an album for you. While it’s a blink-and-you-miss-it affair (9 tracks in 15 minutes) Poison Fountains’s Terminal is hookyRead more…
I’ve written about Bit Brigade before. They’re a Georgia-based rock band that performs painstakingly faithful adaptations of music from Nintendo games from the 80’s and 90’s. Or more specifically Nintendo Entertainment System games. And they are thorough. They will performRead more…
I know it’s been a while. Still always listening. Not always blogging. Paperwork is the Swordplay’s follow up to the excellent 2013 album Tap Water. Since the release of that album he moved to Berkeley California to study law. ProductionRead more…
Factor returns with a follow up to 2013’s Woke Up Alone. Now going by the name Factor Chandelier the name is not the only thing that’s changed. While previous albums from the Saskatoon producer have been packed full of vocalsRead more…