Year: 2013
Review: Japanther – Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart
Japanther are one of those long-running Brooklyn duos who are typically heralded by music snobs for their heavyhandedness in lo-fi synth ostinatos and inability to stay rooted in one particular stylistic element for a whole album’s length. … read more
Review: House of Black Lanterns – Kill The Lights
I would be in a trance-like state—then suddenly, I would be jarred and thrown into shock by a disturbing pipe organ sound that was something along the lines of the soundtrack of the classic 1974 movie, Phantom of the Paradise. … read more
Review: James LaBrie – Impermanent Resonance
The attempt here is to bridge the gap between prog-heads and fans of the more melodic style of melodic death à la Sweden. It works extremely well. … read more
Review: I’m In You – Trust
I’m In You keep the guitars to a minimum, only using them for texture, giving the album a new wave feel like the darker songs of New Order filtered through Metronomy. For me, the album peaks in the middle with “Disclosure,” a track that would easily fit on the Drive soundtrack. … read more
Review: Ills – Hideout From The Feeders
This album mixes aspects I’m fond of—catchy progressions matched on bass and guitar that give the rhythm a thickness I could move to—with aspects I could leave behind, like vocals that sometimes sound a little too much like Isaac Brock, for example. … read more
Review: Irish Moutarde – Raise ’Em All
A mix of alternating lead vocals—switching between nearly each band member—and representation of bagpipes, accordion and banjo, played to fast-paced punk rock, make for a really exciting sound. Like any Irish-style band, they include their drinking songs like the bittersweet “Farewell to Drunkenness” and the festive “Glasses to the Sky.” … read more
Review: Iron Chic – The Constant One
“Whoas” and subtle vocal harmonies adorn these major-key pop punk songs that elicit emotion in a heartening way, as if Iron Chic’s M.O. was to purge our negative thinking by way of sonic chemotherapy. … read more
Review: Jeffrey Novak – Lemon Kid
One assumes that the unintentionally yet appropriately titled opener, “Endless Repetition,” sounds like a first-stage demo on purpose, or that the title track is really dreadful, despite the briefly creative drumming that it starts with. … read more
Review: I Break Horses – Chiaroscuro
Although it feels like I’ve heard this album a hundred times before, performed by different artists throughout the years, I Break Horses deliver a skillful synth-pop performance of epic proportions. … read more
Review: Hidden Towers – Olympus Mons
Hidden Towers = Queensryche + Soundgarden … read more