Month: October 2013
Review: Cosmic Psychos – Go The Hack
Go The Hack was the Cosmic Psychos first album to gain any kind of momentum here in Yankee-land, seeing an initial limited release on Shagpile in 1989 and then Sub Pop in 1990. … read more
Review: Chrome – Half Machine From The Sun – The...
Helios Creed and Damon Edge cleaned out their pockets, gathered funds and purchased their music rights back from corporate grasp to release a piece of lost post-punk history. … read more
Review: Circus Devils – My Mind Has Seen the White...
What makes it all quintessentially Pollard is he doesn’t forget the rock: Amid all the dream sequences, there’s “Deliver Ice Cream (You Must)”—as if the ‘Emperor’ of Wallace Stevens’ poem was throttling an ice cream truck that cranked out a wicked riff. … read more
Review: Circus Devils – When Machines Attack
The second of two Circus Devils, released two days before indie-rock statesman Robert Pollard’s 56th birthday, is much more jagged and jarring, but still bears the warped rewards of Pollard’s twisted stream-of-consciousness wordplay, not just in subjects like “Arrival At Low Volume Submarine.” … read more
Review: Cold Summer – Self-Titled
Starting the album with “Car Crash (In Progress),” featuring the only funky bass rhythm on the album, Cold Summer’s debut album is rough and extremely unpolished but still manages to leave me wanting more.
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Review: Charnel House – Black Blood
The album’s six tracks, while drenched in bleak, obscure tones with heavy emphasis on the rhythm, not the melody, is a cathartic experience. … read more
Review: Chimaira – Crown Of Phantoms
I just can’t get behind this album as much as I’d like to. I’ve been a fan of these dudes for years, and it’s not that the album is poorly played or written—it’s just not as dynamic as I’ve heard them prove to be in years past. … read more
Review: Brianna Lea Pruett – Gypsy Bells
The sparse sounds of Pruett’s voice with her acoustic guitar reflect the topography of the West, with her folk tales coming across as a lone traveler passing through those vast landscapes. … read more
Review: Broken Hope – Omen Of Disease
There’s been a lot of waiting and anticipation for this record—though maybe misplaced anticipation, because there are quite a few death metal bands from the 90s that I feel did a lot better than what Broken Hope ever did, but that’s just my taste. … read more
Review: Carnivores – Second Impulse
A drumbeat just shy of lo-fi, a thin, spineless guitar with a tone so frail and twangy it feels cute (which is not a bad thing) and a 60s-sounding synth unite Second Impulse despite the vocalists switching from one track to the next. … read more