Such is the prolific nature of John Robb – that’ll be journalist, writer, biographer, talking head and broadcaster amongst his many guises – that it’s easy to forget that he’s...
What was originally an outlet for the songs of Sam Cook, Bad Ideas have now been fleshed out into a proper band and Compromise is yet another reason for us Brits to be waving a...
Great Cynics' sophomore full-length Like I Belong is a love letter to being young. This record embraces long, summer nights and the shenanigans that follow, in nearly the same...
Anchoress is a four-piece hardcore punk band hailing from Vancouver, BC whose razor-sharp wit is matched only by their frenzied yet deliberate sonic attack. The band has shared...
Nightmares for a Week's 2010 debut LP Don't Die was an overlooked gem, one of those releases that rarely seemed to garner negative criticism but struggled to gather the attention...
This has got to be one of the most anticipated releases of 2013, or at least for me it has been. Big Eyes' debut album Hard Life, which came out back in 2011, was all about catchy...
Vicious, austere, revelatory post-punks make high-minded idealism sound apocalyptic
Hi again. The well-received debut album by Savages was added to Spotify earlier this week. Genre: post-punk. Enjoy! Savages – Silence Yourself Filed under: 2013, Rock
The wait is over. Streetlight Manifesto's fifth studio album has finally seen the light of day. I've always thought that Streetlight Manifesto, excluding the covers albums 99...
Hello. The solid new album by The Phoenix Foundation is another recent addition to the Spotify library. Genre: indie/psych rock. Enjoy! (Note: US release date is May 14.) The...
The first time Face to Face really fucked with their formula was with 1999's Ignorance is Bliss, an alternative-minded record that buried the band's pop punk roots in layers of...
It would be remiss not to mention that Swedish band AC4 include a member of the much (overly?) venerated band, Refused, and now I've shared that piece of information with those of...
Hi again. Also added to Spotify today: the new album by Coliseum. Genre: punk rock. Read this review and enjoy! (Note: US release date is tomorrow.) Coliseum – Sister Faith Filed...
Celebrating their 10th year as one of independent music's most substantive bands, Louisville's Coliseum return with their fourth full- length, the stunning Sister Faith...
OK, so let's the get the obvious out of the way, shall we? Ready To Die ain't no Raw Power in any shape or form, but then again it was never going to be. Even now Iggy and the...
Good evening. Another busy day for me, but here is the fine debut album by Legs. Genre: dream pop. Enjoy! Legs – Pass the Ringo Filed under: 2013, Pop
Once again, Boss Tuneage reaches back into the past to resurrect the output of a band that many might well have ignored or not even been aware of when they was originally active...
This re-release of Scotland's Political Asylum's 10-inch mini-album, which originally came out in 1992, is as much notable for the additional fifteen live tracks culled from shows...
LA's Rough Kids peddle a sound firmly rooted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, being part rock'n'roll, part punk rock and part edgy new wave. On the first few listens I found it...
Last week I wrote about the beautiful, subtle music of James Blake. This week I am writing about the Thermals, who are almost exactly Blake’s opposite: blasty, condensed, driving...
Desperate Ground, the sixth studio release from The Thermals, is a collection of short, punchy songs that balance bright pop punk against appreciably darker lyrics, while doing...
Hi. The brief but passionate new album by The Thermals is a recent addition to Spotify. Genre: rock. Enjoy! (Version for Irish users here.) (One review here.) The Thermals...
To the casual observer, The Thermals might seem like a one-trick pony. While their brand of power-pop punk uses a "keep it simple, stupid" approach, they have made a conscious...
Jar was originally slated for an April 30 release, but Run For Cover digitally released it early as the result of a leak. --ed. Daylight are a band whose debut LP has been...
Australia must look like a very strange place to the rest of the world right now. Compared to practically every other country on earth, we're doing brilliantly: low unemployment...
The debut full length Too High to Kross evokes early American rock and punk acts such as Red Kross, MC5, Johnny Thunders, The Ramones and The Stooges. However those names are just...
At first I was a little underwhelmed by Don't Let Me Lose Ya. I'm not the biggest Kevin Seconds fan, but I thought Good Luck Buttons was fantastic from the very first listen. Don...
The third album by Jello Biafra and the Guatanamo School of Medicine, White People and the Damage Done, opens with Ralph Spight's swaggering hard rock riff and Biafra howling in...
While a lot of '90s punk and hardcore bands have reunited over the last couple of years, few have produced new material. Not so with Plow United. Reunited since 2011's Riot Fest...
Some records don't feel important upon first listen. Sometimes the stars don't align like they're supposed to, sometimes the listener isn't in the right frame of mind, sometimes...
There isn't a more vital modern hardcore band than Paint It Black. Plenty of bands are more active and/or more hyped, but none of them replicate the sheer vigor and ferocity of...