vlog

  • 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

  • After numerous revisits, this Weeknd album just isn’t sitting well with me. Though I’m all for any efforts the artists of today make to change the R&B landscape, the lyricism on this LP sticks up like an unwelcome weed. Imagine this album as an indie film,

  • Timber Timbre’s latest album is a scarily obsessive look at one man’s post-relationship trauma. The infatuation in the lyrics here runs deep, and it’s tempting to hear the record from beginning to end just to see how bad the train wreck gets. Not that lyrics and some

  • The Vaccines don’t have the most original of styles or tunes, but they know a catchy hook when they hear one. What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? is a record that functions on those basic principles of a catchy rock album: energy, straightforwardness, volume. With influences ranging from

  • Holy Ghost!’s debut LP is buff with great sounds, songs, and production value. This is not some soggy, lo-fi set of dance tracks you’d find for free on the internet somewhere. This is a crisp, lush barrage of beats and hooks. This LP is on DFA Records, and

  • I enjoy Animal Collective as much as the next guy, which is why I’m baffled by this album failing to translate in any sort of major enjoyment to me. I have to admit I kind of saw this coming, though. Many of these tracks were released on singles before

  • Trap Them’s third album won’t be a shock if you’ve heard their earlier work, but they have inched once more toward a unified sound. With Kurt Ballou at the controls again, the band has built a torturous gauntlet of twelve pounding tracks. They’ve got the intensity

  • album

    Boris’ first single from Heavy Rocks is a hefty take on the bluesy sounds metal used to have during its salad days in the 1970s. It recalls the work the band did on the original Heavy Rocks, too, which came out in 2002. It’s 9 years later and Boris