Music
Review: Beat Mark
rance’s Beat Mark invoke the lazy, Brit-pop sound of the mid-80s with their debut album, Howls of Joy, 13 rushed tracks that leave much to be desired in the world of tone and song structure. … read more
Review: And So I Watch You From Afar
The Belfast, Ireland trio, And So I Watch You From Afar, returns with their technicolor warpaint-smudged and candy-coated Slayer riffs punching gaping holes into rainbow-bleeding amplifiers. … read more
Review: Alkaline Trio
After 17 years and album after album, it’s likely that you’ve heard of Alkaline Trio, and you know what you’re getting into on My Shame Is True. … read more
Review: Airstrip
Willing is the debut album of this Chapel Hill, N.C. outfit. It is primarily slow, rhythmic, guitar-driven rock with a few poppy, almost upbeat numbers thrown in. … read more
Review: Wild Belle – Isles
With an interesting mash-up of eclectic styles—including trip hop, reggae and ska—siblings Natalie and Elliot Bergman’s debut is equally unique. … read more
Review: V/A – Kitsune America 2
Kitsuné has put together another album of electro pop, indie and R&B tracks from around America, which complement one another in a relaxed but well-paced album … read more
Review: Valleys – Are You Going to Stand There and...
The songs on this debut album beautifully capture that feeling its lengthy title evokes. On the album, Valleys reinterprets the rich heritage of melancholic shoegaze with their own vision. … read more
Review: The Thermals – Desparate Ground
Clearly, it doesn’t require a lot of thought to conclude how The Thermals’ long-term survival can be attributed to the singer’s lo-fi punk-saddled rhetoric. Things have been pissing in Hutch Harris’ Cheerios since 2002. Now, his current flavor of the week is relationship drama. … read more
Review: Panikk – Unbearable Conditions
Aping a classic Yankee sound with precision, finesse and a smattering of rough-hewn technicality, Slovenian (!) rippers Panikk pay bleary-eyed tribute to the golden age of Reagan-era noggin shakers, ante-upping “party thrash” contemporaries with fretboard frenetics. … read more
Review: Junip – Junip
Behind the ghostly voice of Jose Gonzales lie the subtle psychedelics that define Junip’s new album. Gonzales’ voice never soars, but is more of a “killing them softly” approach, with light reverb. … read more