You might question the wisdom of a Helsinki band securing U.S. distribution for a debut LP sung entirely in Finnish. But one listen to this distinctive, charismatic two-year-old quintet, whose name translates in English to “Copper Castle,” and you’ll be captivated by their countless charms.
“This supercharged psych quintet records for the Portland, OR imprint Little Cloud Records. With a triple threat in the form of three guitarists (Josiah, Kate, and Tayler), these folks kick out the jams on this 8 song short album.”
Dino Jag is a musician who has clearly cracked the code for pop songwriting, and he winningly replicates this formula six times over the course of the simply enjoyable Breakthrough EP.
Purposely recorded with limited technology, Rerun is as warm and tender as it is personal and intimate from a musician with an immediately identifiable voice deserving to be heard.
To celebrate their ten year anniversary in 2013, London noisemongers Hey Colossus assembled a “best of” compilation, originally released on cassette by S.O.U.L. with only 50 copies made.
Having released a slew of 7“s and a lone full-length, New Jersey’s Personal and the Pizzas finally return with another long player that reminds us why they’re the greatest thug rock band in the world.
A concept like this is a heavy one to cover, and by no means easy, but Saint Blasphemer tackles the job with deftness and heart on Simon Templar.
Fallen Asunder occasionally gets lost in trying to sound too much like its influences, but it nevertheless remains a promising debut from a band who have clearly put everything into it.
Inspired by the scene happening around them along with punk rock from England, The Smart Pills formed in New York City in early 1978, but relocated to Topeka, KS after finding themselves completely destitute.
France’s forceful foursome Heming Wave have now morphed into this trio. However, the brash and bracing U.K. Britpop influences that Heming Wave invoked have been sidelined in favor of a more strident, stentorian style.
The Grand Trine isn’t a perfectly cohesive effort, but it’s the sound of a band tightening up considerably since their formation, and truly beginning to find their own voice.
“Hammock sounds utterly unique, their shimmer and shine is all their own. All their releases are gems that stand on their own, each the next chapter in a series of dreamscapes.”
According to lore, Chinatown’s producer Robert Evans disliked Phillip Lambro’s original score so much, he hired Jerry Goldsmith to compose an entirely new one.
In 1970, Lee Hazlewood left his shambling record label Lee Hazlewood Industries, broken relationship with longtime partner Suzi Jane Hokom and the Vietnam War, which threatened to draft is only son, for the calmer pastures of Sweden.
“Cherry Red has become the archival label, in my humble opinion. In conjunction with Grapefruit Records, this fantastic compendium spanning four hours and eighty tracks has arrived. All manner of sounds inhabit the three disks, anticipating the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love and chronicling a tumultuous 12 month period of music in the British Isles. “
Raised and formed in Atwater Village, Southern California, the five members of Wicklow Atwater have all been friends since childhood, resulting in a long-standing bond and natural chemistry rare for musical acts.
Though not necessarily a “singles artist” per se, Tim Buckley recorded 10 singles throughout his eight-year career.
New York-via-San Francisco’s Our Daughter’s Wedding only lasted from 1979-1984, yet, in those five years, they toured with Iggy Pop, U2, Duran Duran and The Psychedelic Furs, appeared on a budding MTV as guest hosts and delivered a synthpunk masterpiece that, sadly, became lost to time.
In 1979, James Chance & the Contortions delivered Buy, the seminal New York no wave album that bent brains and bones with its twisted take on post-punk, skronk and funk.
Inspired in part by the Coen brothers’ film, Fargo, Minnesota is a moody post-punk vision of the coldest and bleakest reaches of America.
“I find myself tapping my toes and bobbing my head as I listen, and the roots of all those Jason has worked with kind of come through. “Glori” even has a spot where the guitar reminds me of Swervedriver. And “Untry Love” is not unlike The Foo Fighters circa “Learning to Fly”.”
Darrin James trenchantly tackles timely American topics on his sonically dynamic and lyrically-blistering new single.
The echoed, East River Pipe-evoking bedroom recordings on Eric Bates’s one-man Turnsole’s self-titled, early 2016 debut are more defiantly delivered on this way different follow-up, an “abstract look” at the life of France’s tragic teen Joan of Arc.
Thalia Zedek teams up with Neptune’s Jason Sanford and Gavin McCarthy of Karate for an art-noise trio that recalls the heyday of ’90s Touch and Go while looking forward to a bleak, uncertain future.
The Deaner Album is a 110% Dean Ween joint- for good or ill. Adjust your attitude and dig in!
Bastion of the Los Angeles pop scene, David Steinhart, is back once again with his band The Furious Seasons, but this time jumping head first into a new style for the first time.
Veteran New Jersey-via-North Carolina soul singer Lee Fields returns with long-time collaborators The Expressions for yet another powerful album that sounds like it warped out of the ’70s.
Although One Track Mind hails from Norway, their sound actually sounds more like it comes from the suburbs of California or the housing projects of Scotland.
Just in time for the Halloween season, ’50s teen heartthrob Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon celebrates the legacy of Chicago horror host Svengoolie with a rockin’ theme song backed by LA’s rockabilly surf punk pioneers The Gears.
Three years after their side of a split 7” with Ethical Debating Society blew minds here in the US, London’s Skinny Girl Diet finally give us a full-length that fully delivers on everything promised on that initial release.
“It’s a sophisticated, elegant record, comprised of heavenly layers of calming tones and Daniel’s lovely voice. He has no problems hitting the high notes, and has a firm grasp on what makes a great pop tune.”
Athens, GA’s Muuy Biien show just how far they’ve progressed beyond their dark ambient/hardcore origins with a bona fide garage classic of a third full-length.
Self-described as having “a punk rock core made accessible with doo-wop inspired vocal lines,” and “a Billy Joel-approved lyricism…” it’s clear the band are comfortable with stretching the genre to its breaking point.
Nearly forty years after their inception and six years into their acclaimed reformation, Bristol, UK’s The Pop Group follow 2015’s excellent Citizen Zombie with the culmination of their entire two-part career.
Dark SoCal punk trio Girl Tears finally follow their excellent 2014 debut with an even angrier sophomore release.
Saskatoon party favorites have been pushing their unapologetic, if controversial, brand of raw garage punk since 1998, and their latest album, Get Off Easy, is no exception to the rule.
Bronx-based spastic punks Poor Lily reach new heights with an ambitious thirty minute punk rock opera about the NSA and mass surveillance.
A year after Tim Buckley delivered his 1966 eponymous debut on Elektra Records, the label asked for a followup album, as well as a standalone single.
Between 1973 and 1975, electronic composer/hi-nrg disco producer Patrick Cowley recorded several tracks with friend/occasional lover/adult film icon Candida Royalle for her performances with Warped Floors and White Trash Boom Boom, as well as The Angels of Light, a performance troupe that had splintered from the legendary Cockettes.
“A sometimes jumbled, often crazy, and dazzlingly brilliant, reminding completists and slighter fans alike what a towering talent Alex Chilton was. It will make you sad but also completely joyful that this archival collection exists.”
Shake It On Down_ rises above the majority of hard rock that deals solely with partying by deftly acknowledging the shadows of life it’s running from.
Gabriel Wolfchild sends a powerful, positive, – and timely, message into a world that is in dire need of unity and peace.
San Francisco’s Hornss follow their excellent 2014 debut with an even more powerful second offering that clearly shows the trio growing further into interstellar space.
Night and Day is the result of a band finding their voice, flexing their muscles, and the statement of two musicians learning to deal triumphantly with changes.
Iconic French guitarist/electronic music pioneer Richard Pinhas (Heldon) continues his collaborations with Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and Masami Akita (Merzbow) by bringing them together for a constantly flowing album of droning industrial spacerock.
“The words are recessed so deep they become part of the melodic tapestry. It moves past like a shining skein of silk, and catches you up in its musical snare.”
