The Rapture is all grown up. Or so that’s how it seems from their most recent release, In The Grace of Your Love. Not quite the weird, artsy, punk, dance, disco sound I’ve grown to appreciate, but I see it as a more toned-down version of what they once were. Because nothing lasts forever, right? Still weird but each song is a little more carefully composed. How Deep Is Your Love, also the single, is a nice treat toward the [...]
Archive for Category: "Reviews"
Oh, Sleeper – Children of Fire review
It’s a metalcore album. In all seriousness though, when I got assigned to do the newest record by Texas-based metalcore band Oh, Sleeper, I was a little bit worried. Quite frankly, my ears just aren’t accustomed to the genre and thus every metalcore band sounds really similar to me, which is a probably when you need to give an opinion about it. And so I took to the internet, and asked around on some message boards to help me out [...]
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical review
After a five year hiatus Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is back with Hysterical, an album that sounds like the group’s previous two efforts honed to a dull edge. Guitars strum repetitively over a pulsating rhythm section and Alec Ounsworth stretches his voice elastically over it all, but the songs lack the manic tones that characterized their debut. The sound is tight and crisp, but forgettable. The album starts off promisingly with “Same Mistake”, with its infectious rhythm and Ounsworth [...]
Dessa – Castor, The Twin review
I’ve always been a fan of political hip-hop; A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, and De La Soul all taken in preference over Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Jay-Z. Likewise, it is no secret that I enjoy the singer-songwriter genre as well, largely due to the power of their written words. What a nice surprise my next assignment was. Part poet, part hip-hop artist, all awesome. Dessa, part of the Minneapolis based Doomtree Hip-hop Collective, has created something special with her [...]
Yob – Atma review
Brace yourself for this one. I don’t know if my little hippie brain can take this on. So I guess that’s a compliment for doom-metal band hailing from Eugene, Oregon, called Yob. This is far from their first EP. Yob have been around for over a decade actually, making five albums before Atma and touring like fiends all over the States. Let’s see here…Atma. This EP five song EP, well, it’s nothing I would personally seek out. I’m not much [...]
The Perms – Sophia Nights extended album review
Perhaps it’s because they enjoy a unique access to the use of human linguistics or perhaps it’s simply because our society has placed immense power on words in general, but vocals – more specifically lyrics – seem to carry an unrivaled weight in a song. Certainly more central than drum rhythms or bass lines and often drawing more attention than even the catchiest of guitar riffs, the message of a song rarely goes without at least some ounce of recognition. [...]
The Drums – Portamento review
If you wished the Drums would have detoured from the eighties synth-rock they’ve been pumping for almost eight years now, you’re gonna be really disappointed. Portamento is full of the same Joy Division-esque bass-thumping and keyboard-bellowing that original members Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham’s spilled on their debut, as well as their project Elkland that disbanded right before the dawn of this duo. However, if you happen to be a gigantic fan of the Drums, or at least mildly enjoyed [...]
Tripper – Hella review
Blissed out hippies beware. Tripper isn’t for you if you’re into lying in the tie-dyed grass, closing your eyes and listening to quiet, breath-like atmospheric shit. But, you know, you could very well like lying in the silent grass and still dig this if you’re a musically diverse person who appreciates many different ways of approaching style and sound and so in that case, MDMA dancers, ditzy junkies, shallow flamers and hard addicts of Peter Paul and Mary, all are [...]
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost review
Father, Son, Holy Ghost is an unlikely title choice for an album that stays true to the modern musical standards of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Then again, Girls are a band comprised entirely of males so maybe outright contradiction is their thing. Or maybe for their title they exchanged the international garage band triumvirate for the paradigm of trinities because they’re just that clever. And maybe Girls is a nod to those who obviously inspire some of their [...]
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy review
St. Vincent wasn’t on my radar prior to late spring of 2009, even though the band had already released an album two years before. My wife and I were set to head to Bonnaroo in a couple months and, in preparation, were listening to as much music as we could get our hands on from dozens of bands in the lineup, St. Vincent being among them. So, Actor was in the rotation. I wasn’t sure what to make of St. [...]
