Music
Review: Twinstar – The Sound Of Leaving
LA-based trio Twinstar is comprised of some talented musicians, especially main songwriter and vocalist Keith Joyner and his musical cohort Chris Candelaria, who came together after disbanding two bands most of us have probably never heard of before—Chihuahua and Revolux. … read more
Review: Tormented – Death Awaits
Hey, this is almost like Entombed never flip-flopped on their style. Tormented help the old-school Swedish death metal remain alive along with their own rusted twists and nasty riffs. … read more
Review: Ten Kens – Namesake
The album begins with a “Death In The Family,” and the moody seven-plus minute song certainly sets the tone for this concept album. It’s a journey through experiences and emotions, and just like life, the sound goes up and comes down, dragging your psyche along for the ride. … read more
Review: Telekinesis – Dormarion
Michael Lerner has harnessed the ability to merge synths and guitar fuzz to create an effective blend of indie psych-garage. He’s a jack-of-all-trades with everything from an acoustic ballad to new wave on “Ever True,” which sounds like a new-generation Yaz song. … read more
Review: Streetlight Manifesto – The Hands That Thieve
Their fifth album in the last ten years, The Hands That Thieve is a catchy and encouraging sign that ska has gas left in the tank. Like with all ska reviews, if you’re not a fan, just quit reading right now and kindly fuck off, we don’t care. … read more
Review: Starkill – Fires of Life
The debut album promises a big and bright future for this Chicago-based band. Blending elements from several different subgenres, including power and melodic death metal, this is an album full of blood and fire and battle (which I now dub “warrior metal”), free of clean singing, arranged with occasional symphonic and piano elements that really bring out cinematic properties in the sound. … read more
Review: The Runs – Pretty Girls
Pretty Girls needs more “Hey! Ho!”s and “Gabba gabba hey!”s. The lyrics are extruded from a Joey Ramone-‑like perspective, and the vocals of Scott Free have a similar cadence and tone to Joey. … read more
Review: Royal Trux – 3-Song EP
The utilitarian title of 3-Song EP (originally released in 1998) contains no lies and no lollygagging. The EP contains 3 songs. “Deafer Than Blind,” the minimalistic first third of the EP, begins with a slow, heavily reverberated drumbeat that remains steady to the end of the song. … read more
Review: Royal Canoe – Today We’re Believers
This album starts right off sounding a bit like a carnival: a spectacular explosion of energy and sound, music and noise. In line with some of the best in the experimental rock genre, … read more
Review: Red Hare – Nites of Midnite
“Don’t want to not fit in in the wrong way” sings Shawn Brown on Red Hare’s debut, kicking style over substance square in the balls. Nothing less should be expected of a punk veteran like Brown, or the rest of Red Hare. Although technically a debut, Red Hare is essentially Swiz/Sweetbelly Freakdown with a new drummer, the raging Joe Gorelick (Bluetip). … read more