Review: Tool, “Fear Inoculum”
The new Tool album is good, but is it thirteen years good?
Review: Trvss – “Absence”
Holy shit, man. How a rock band sounds so vicious, yet so calculated and razor-sharp precise on a record, never mind a debut LP, is beyond me. In short: the…
ALBUM REVIEW: Old Crow Medicine Show, Live at the Ryman
If ever there was an act best served live, it’s Old Crow Medicine Show. This Harrisonburg, VA six-piece which mixes bluegrass, alt.country and various other Americana stiles together, is fully…
Review: The Turbosonics – “Bedrock Stomp” b/w “Journey to the Center of the Sun”
The Turbosonics, one of Pittsburgh’s more reliable surf bands, always has been a bit of a cultural throwback for me, and I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense. Yes,…
Review: The Lampshades – “Forget Me Not” b/w “Sadly True”
As posthumous releases go, the new 7-inch from Pittsburgh-by-way-of-Altoona’s The Lampshades, out today, is the exception to the rule in this fatalistic sub-genre: an afterthought of sorts that is actually…
Review: The Successful Failures, “Saratoga”
The terms “honest” and “true” are most often prescribed to the following: When the situation and/or products are clearly neither, but the marketing team wants you to believe otherwise Foods…
Review: The Vapour Trails, “See You In The Next World”
Name off a list of the most influential bands ever. I’m sure you started with The Beatles. The Beach Boys? Agreed. How about The Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath? In…
Review: Meeting With Hans – “Genius Loci”
Multi-instrumentalist Tomas Svoboda is clearly out to toy with listeners’ expectations of recording fidelity. The Czech musician’s third LP as Meeting With Hans – titled Genius Loci, available now on…
ALBUM REVIEW: THE ANDERSON COUNCIL, “Worlds Collide”
The Anderson Council, in a just world, would be known all over the country. They should be, by now. And with a little luck and people getting it, with this…
ALBUM REVIEW: THOSE PRETTY WRONGS, “Zed For Zulu”
Let’s start with an instant disclaimer – I love this band. I’m already a committed fan. So it’s not like any great surprise that I would want to sit down,…
Review: Blood Year – Russian Circles
The music of Russian Circles has always created a refreshing, if not assault-like quality. In fact, it’s surprising to me that they’re not better known than they are. With seven…
Review: Picastro – “Exit”
Liz Hysen’s reliably dissonant acoustic guitar might ground her as Picastro, but her work on six strings, however interesting it might be, is only the sparest introduction to this highly…