Music Reviews
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Crystal Antlers Tentacles
The Crystal Antlers' debut full length is a dizzy dance of eerily textured groove and wigged-out, propulsive cacophony, a gore-soaked yet emotionally potent slab of psych-punk from a group more interested in the finer degrees of turbulence than those of craft and clarity.
Tom Whalen references Beowulf, jumps the shark... -
Frightened Rabbit Liver! Lung! FR! (Live)
A middling live replication of their latest album, but why?
Brett Oronzio wonders... -
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead The Century Of Self
While attempting to revisit and reexamine their roots for their sixth release, The Century Of Self, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead records some pretty decent music. Unfortunately, they forget to play it back.
Sean Caldwell reviews... -
The Thermals Now We Can See
As the Thermals continue wiggling their way from the stylistic confines of punk, they seem to be closing their mitts all the more firmly around its spiritual core. Now We Can See is a power pop record about vision, death, disease, perspective, and, er, turning into a fish (?) but its great expressive anchor is the elated desperation that gives punk both its wickedness and its promise.
Tom Whalen starts shedding his arms... -
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Perhaps they're giving their critics too much amo by naming themselves after two complete catastophes. The album itself, though, is not so much a disaster as it is an entertaining mess.
Ryan Faughnder tries not to blow up on... -
Metric Fantasies
Metric: a greatness you can't measure in miles.
Andy Pareti reviews... -
Swan Lake Enemy Mine
Q: Are We Not Bowie? A: We Are Swan Lake!
Sean Caldwell reviews... -
Gomez A New Tide
The new tide feels kind of lukewarm..
Cara Nash dips her toes in... -
Mastodon Crack the Skye
Mastodon gives a crash course in faux Czarist Russian history, and I find myself wishing these guys were my Social Studies teachers in high school.
Andy Pareti thinks Rasputin kicks a lot more ass now... -
Condo Fucks Fuckbook
Underground heroes of the 1990s, Condo Fucks, made a surprise return to the stage in early 2009 in advance of their long-awaited... oh forget it, it's just Yo La Tengo under a different name.
Joe Rivers reviews...
