Music
Reviews: Ghost Wave – Ages
Everyone loves songs about getting drunk and breaking stuff, romanticizing self-destructive behavior like a poorly written Bukowski novel. This album gives me none of those feelings—it is about as visceral as a Ryan Adams song. … read more
Reviews: GWAR – Battle Maximus
GWAR are metal to the teeth, even if you count their dabbling in punk rock and other musical diversions. … read more
Reviews: Havok – Unnatural Selection
Havok’s rocked a cut above the feckless ‘80s imitators since day one, shamelessly copping chunks of top-tier bay area mayhem into their casserole, while freely adding their own ingredients. … read more
Reviews: Hawthorne Heights – Zero
Featuring their first foray into concept album territory, it’s too bad that the dystopia-themed lyrics don’t form the most coherent concept in the world, and it’s all fairly forgettable in the long run. … read more
Reviews: Highway Cross – Run Dry
Highway Cross sound like a grown up hardcore punk band. There are moments that have glimmers of Dag Nasty or Hüsker Dü in the eight minutes of charging guitars over semi-harsh vocals. … read more
Reviews: Hot Water Music – Live in Chicago
Hot Water Music = Small Brown Bike + Avail + Polar Bear Club
Recorded live over two nights shortly after these raspy-voiced rapscallions reunited following a two-year hiatus, Live in Chicago is an amazing document for hardcore HWM fans. … read more
Reviews: The Howl – Things I’ve Learned While Swallowing S...
What do you really get from a two-song release? In the case of Chicago-based The Howl, you get two songs, blow through them and then walk away with a serious case of musically induced blue balls. … read more
Reviews: Industrial Park – Self-Titled
I had to change the drive wheel on my turntable to listen to Industrial Park, and wasn’t looking forward to taking the time unless the experience would be worthwhile. … read more
Reviews: Infected Mushroom – Friends on Mushrooms Vol. 2
I was a bit confused when I first pressed play on Infected’s newest album, because it sounded like some slow trance love song, but then the beat drops and quickens and the Israeli duo blows your fucking mind. … read more
Reviews: Jamaican Queens – Wormfood
While more notable acts like Purity Ring and Sleigh Bells benefit from finer production, Jamaican Queens fall short in this area. … read more