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MFP Painkiller

MFP - MFP 7"EP (Painkiller)

22 August 2013

MFP continue in the Beantown tradition, adding their name to the list of hardcore greats.

Laura Veirs - Warp and Weft

Laura Veirs – Warp and Weft (Raven Marching Band)

22 August 2013

In an inhospitable country, she’s scaled family life and music to a size that might allow them to endure.

Freddy Boom Boom Cannon The Gears Movin Wondercap

Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon & The Gears - Movin 7" (Wondercap)

20 August 2013

Got the 7” blues? Pick this up for an instant cure-all and a pick-me-up that’ll last as long as the damn record plays!

Overseas - Overseas (Self-Released)

19 August 2013

What do you get when you put Will Johnson, David Bazan, and brothers Matt and Bubba Kadane in a recording studio?

Naohai Miniless China

Naohai - Naohai EP (Miniless)

15 August 2013

From the bustling Shanghai underground music scene comes Naohai, a Chinese trio whose dreamy, emotional music nods heavily to American indie rock.

Math and Physics Club - "Long Drag" c/w "Across the Paper" (Matinee Recordings)

15 August 2013

Seattle-based indie-poppers tease the ears of listeners with a quick two-song blast of pop!

The Dispossessed The Best of 1986-1988 Lost Grave

The Dispossessed - The Best of 1986-1988 (Lost Grave)

14 August 2013

Connecticut is known more for spawning The Carpenters and Moby than UK-fueled goth rock, but in the mid-80s, The Dispossessed, from Hartford, made their mark with their own vision of dreamy death rock.

The Moondoggies - Adios I'm A Ghost (Hardly Art)

13 August 2013

Seattle-based band The Moondoggies return with one of the finest musical experiences of 2013.

Oceanographer Spilling Blood

Oceanographer - Spilling Blood (Oceanographer)

8 August 2013

While spacerock typically conjures the vast openness of interstellar space, Brooklyn’s Oceanographer nods more to the unknown territory of the deep sea.

Hoofus Several Wolves Exotic Pylon

Hoofus - Several Wolves (Exotic Pylon)

6 August 2013

Through the use of blips, beeps, tones and squelch, Hoofus weaves soundscapes of crashed cyberpunk epics, nightmarish video games from 15 years ago and post-krautrock electronic melodies.

Minks Tide's End

Minks - Tide’s End (Captured Tracks)

6 August 2013

Kilfoyle doesn’t so much pay tribute to the failing upper class as simply make observations, letting the listener draw his/her own conclusions.

Purple - (409)

Purple - (409) (Beverly Martel)

31 July 2013

Straight outta Beaumont, Texas, comes Purple, with a lopsided grin, brass knuckles on fists and a cool debut LP called (409).

Grey March Hand/Eye

Grey March - Grey March (Hand/Eye)

30 July 2013

It’s rare for a band that’s been on hiatus for over 25 years to come back and do anything worthwhile.

Bare Mutants – The Affliction (In the Red)

30 July 2013

There is something instantly familiar and appealing about Chicago’s brightest new band, Bare Mutants, the prom band you’ve always wanted.

Grey March Early Works Hand/Eye

Grey March - Early Works (Hand/Eye)

28 July 2013
Grey March dominated the Baltimore punk scene with their heavy post-punk-bordering-on-death-rock sound for about three years in the mid-80s, and this collection documents the band’s recorded output during that time.

Derek See - She Came This Way EP (Psychedelphonic Sounds)

28 July 2013

As such, there are six tracks, five of them shimmering, psychedelic pop that sounds like a lost time capsule from the mid to late ’60s.

Gaytheist - Hold Me

Gaytheist – Hold Me … But Not So Tight (Good To Die)

25 July 2013

Minutemen vs. Gaytheist: a contest centuries in the making!

Hunx & His Punx - Street Punk

Hunx & His Punx – Street Punk (Hardly Art)

23 July 2013

If your world isn’t this band’s, then it can shut up for 20 minutes.

Debut album from Drowner

Drowner-You're Beautiful, I Forgive You (Saint Marie Records)

21 July 2013

You can revel in the shimmering guitars and the wall of feedback driving such lovely tunes as “Stay With Me”, bliss out to the piano driven “You” or let your mind wander with the beautiful ambience in “Not There”.

Univox - The Altec (Independent)

20 July 2013

Univox are a brilliant quartet of players who have always provided creative, complex and challenging music while never compromising the baseline of total abandon and rock and roll.

Roger Eno/Plumbline - Endless City/Concrete (Hydrogen Dukebox)

18 July 2013

Roger Eno’s latest—and a second collaboration with the group Plumbline—is a fine (if not unsurprising) collection of ambient compositions and gentle melodies.

Lexicon Devils Surfin'Ki

Lexicon Devils - Lexicon Devils 7"EP (Surfin' Ki)

17 July 2013

Four songs clock in at slightly over six minutes – you know what you’re in for.

Endangered Feces Insane Brown Posse Overdose On

Endangered Feces - Insane Brown Posse (Overdose On)

15 July 2013

Queens, NY’s Endangered Feces return with another furious blast of melodic hardcore that celebrates the virtues of excessive booze and poop.

Eddie Spaghetti - The Value of Nothing (Bloodshot Records)

15 July 2013

Eddie Spaghetti offers up his first-ever solo album of all-original material, and though it’s a fun ride, underneath the sexy cover art, you’ll hear some of his deepest, most introspective—and best—songwriting to date.

New release from Carta

Carta-The Faults Follow (Saint Marie Records)

14 July 2013

Through death, divorce, and illness, they’ve managed to pull off something that is beautiful yet challenging. It unveils itself over time and reveals many-hued layers of complexity, yet it can also be boiled down to simple melodies.

Scout Niblett - It's Up to Emma (Drag City)

12 July 2013

Scout Niblett’s latest release is a journey into heartbreak, anger, jealousy, desire, and revenge—resulting in one of the darkest albums released this year.

Skinny Girl Diet split HHBTM

Skinny Girl Diet/Ethical Debating Society - split 7" (HHBTM)

11 July 2013

You know that feeling when you hear a band for the first time and it’s everything you’ve been looking for without realizing it?

The Terrors Meathook Project Bandcamp

The Terrors - Meathook Project EP (The Terrors/Bandcamp)

8 July 2013

Like contemporaries The Will and Brainbombs, The Terrors have tapped into a unique style of horrifying rock, something that doesn’t rely on makeup or dark Ramones riffs.

Locust - You'll Be Safe Forever (Editions Mego)

8 July 2013

Electronica composer Mark van Hoen returns with the first new Locust album in twelve years, and it continues the exotic experimentalist group’s legacy.

Visage Hearts and Knives

Visage - Hearts and Knives (Pylon)

3 July 2013

Nearly 30 years after its last record, new wave/new romantic pioneer Visage returns to the racks with a brand-new album.

Lynch Pigs Cheap Sleaze Scene Destroyer

Lynch Pigs - Cheap Sleaze (Scene Destroyer)

1 July 2013

The biggest problem with Cheap Sleaze is the unforgivably boring songs.

The Palisades — Mr. S.'s Memory EP

The Palisades - Mr. S.'s Memory EP (self-released)

1 July 2013

In revisiting the jagged guitars and measured catharses of ’90s emo-core, this Bellingham, WA foursome trades navel-gazing histrionics for freewheeling pop-punk shoutalongs.

Happy Noose - Haunted 7" (Dead End Social Club)

Happy Noose - Haunted and Amagosa 7"s (Dead End Social Club)

29 June 2013

For comprising familiar punk, indie-rock and darkwave influences, multi-generational Olympia, Washington pop-rockers’ two new Tim Green-produced EPs are surprisingly hard to pin down.

Faz Waltz Back On Mondo Piovra White Zoo

Faz Waltz - Back On Mondo (Piovra/White Zoo)

25 June 2013
Back On Mondo is loud, bombastic, ass-shaking rock’n‘roll done proper, the kind that encourages sexual relations amid alcohol consumption.
Rogue Wave - Nightingale Floors

Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors (Vagrant)

25 June 2013

I’ll agree with the assessment of Nightingale Floors as a return to form, but not in any way that requires me to whitewash the excellence and weirdness of the band’s recent history.

Femi Kuti No Place For My Dream

Femi Kuti - No Place For My Dream (Knitting Factory)

25 June 2013

The sixth studio LP from Femi Kuti, No Place For My Dream shows that not a lot has changed in the world of the most famous son of Fela Kuti – and that’s both good and bad.

Klaus Schulze Shadowlands Synthetic Symphony

Klaus Schulze - Shadowlands (Synthetic Symphony)

24 June 2013

Having grown up listening to Klaus Schulze as a child in my father’s apartment, it’s nice to hear my dad’s favorite electronic composer, who subsequently became one of mine, hasn’t lost his touch over his 45 year career.

Irma Thomas In Between Tears

Irma Thomas - In Between Tears (Alive Naturalsound)

24 June 2013

In Between Tears is back, and it’s a shining gem of 70s soul.

Big Star Nothing Can Hurt Me

Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me (Omnivore)

21 June 2013

Nothing Can Hurt Me serves as a best-of or, better yet, a great introduction for the Big Star newcomer.

The Pedaljets What's In Between

The Pedaljets – What’s In Between (Electric Moth)

20 June 2013

What’s In Between is a smart, vibrant rock & roll record that perfect balances loose (not sloppy) performances with highly-crafted writing. .

Noteherder & McCloud South Coast Lines Exotic Pylon

Noteherder & McCloud - South Coast Lines 3"CD (Exotic Pylon)

19 June 2013

For two guys, Noteherder & McCloud sure make one helluva racket.

The Backhomes - Only Friend (Storyboard)

18 June 2013

The effect overall of Only Friend is a very deep aural experience, you can either intently lose yourself within it’s folds or allow it to shimmer in the background of a midnight drive or a hazily intimate evening.

Sad Baby Wolf – Electric Sounds

Sad Baby Wolf – Electric Sounds (self-released)

18 June 2013

No longer weary with youth, Marty Crandall and friends make a joyous rock ‘n’ roll record.

Special Explosion - Past/Future 7"

Special Explosion - Past/Future 7" (Forbidden Seabass)

18 June 2013

Young Seattleites Special Explosion have, since 2010, wowed locals with ahead-of-the-curve musicianship, pop hooks and presence. On its vinyl debut, the indie-rock foursome enters adulthood.

Zs Grain Northern Spy

Zs - Grain (Northern Spy)

17 June 2013

Grain is comprised of two 20+ minute tracks that ebb and flow like a Throbbing Gristle outtake.

Cover art for After the Dream You Are Awake

PacificUV-After The Dream You Are Awake (Mazarine)

8 June 2013

For me, it’s not so much the message as the sound that gets me. Especially when you hit perfect summer songs like “American Lovers”.

Various Come Records Popkiller Brutal Poodle Vog Hernia Balj

Various - Come Records/Popkiller Box Set (Come/Popkiller)

6 June 2013

This set, assembled for the Japanese-themed LA shop Popkiller, consists of three CDs and three cassettes, showcasing the various sounds, moods and insanities of the eccentric label, Come Records.

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks - How Far Away

Alex Bleeker & The Freaks – How Far Away (Woodsist)

6 June 2013

Impressions from inside the time cloud.

World War IX Off the Wagon Megaplatinum

World War IX - Off The Wagon EP (Megaplatinum)

3 June 2013

Thee mighty World War IX return with their second EP, five more songs recorded by their best lineup to date.