On their third album, Ponytail turns the noise down and pumps the musicianship up. While this album isn’t as harsh or mind-melting at 2008’s Ice Cream Spiritual, this new album–aptly titled Do Whatever You Want All the Time–shows the band letting their improvisational flags fly. These
Every time a Kills album comes on, I feel a bunch of involuntary reflexes coming on: my eyes squint, my lips tighten, and my shoulders start to shrug. I’m just unsure of why this music should appeal to me. I could certainly see myself latching onto the noisy distortion,
Download: Curren$y- Covert Coup via 2dopeboyz Admittedly, I slept on New Orleans rapper Curren$y last year when he released Pilot Talk one and two. His extremely laid back–some would say “blunted”–delivery on the mic was really leaving me underwhelmed. He’s got a new tape out,
Wormrot’s brand of grindcore will probably strike most people as being old school. Their dedication to thrash metal riffs and a natural-sounding production style calls back to the genre’s salad days in the 80s. But not everything here is from the past. The band’s intensity and speedy
Rotten Sound’s Curse is a loud record. No one can deny that. They have the speedy blast beats, vocals, and guitar riffs every grindcore band should have. However, this LP loses a lot of potential energy in its extremely regulated recording. I know the in-the-moment sound bands like Terrorizer
Wasting Light is easily one of Foo Fighters’ most consistent effort in their past several albums, but it’s not resonating with me like I wanted it to. Chalk it up to the album just not being my style, I suppose. Still, I can appreciate a great studio sound when
On their third LP, Metronomy lowers their eccentric characteristics to a simmer and gives their songwriting strenghts a workout. The track list hits with one great tune after another. And even though the sounds behind these tracks might not be fantastic, the hooks and melodies are too good not to
On his latest EP, Manifestations, Mono/Poly brings all of the sounds informing his full-length debut to their melting point. Rather than hoping from idea to idea, this short release shoots for an atmospheric aesthetic filled with crisp beats and glitched bass programming. Like any good release on Brainfeeder, it’
On their latest LP, Vivian Girls try to step even further past the noise and effects that made their previous efforts such noisy whirlwinds. It’s a step in the right direction theoretically, but does the band’s sound appeal outside of the cacophony? Will the songs, production, melodies, and
On their latest album, Crystal Stilts brings what made their full-length debut great while still adding some extra sounds to the mix. The tunes here are much more upbeat, and there are a few legit hits that sneak their way into the track list like “Shake the Shackles” and “Through
