December 2013
Local Review: Anthems – Bridges
Immediately opening with the aggressive “Bridge Burner,” which uses the imagery of a burning bridge to announce secession from a certain corrupt nation, Bridges is a five-song anthem against political hypocrisy and our national apathy. … read more
Local Review: Andrew Goldring – Forgotten Harvest EP
A lot of this album has the casual buzz that was prominent in the early ’90s, though Goldring uses it wisely, favoring more refined production and carefully composed layers instead of the loud, experimental noise you might find in earlier alternative acts (looking at you, Sonic Youth). … read more
Local Review – Max Pain and The Groovies – Self-Titled
Max Pain and the Groovies certainly have an affinity for the Texas psych scene, and this EP sounds more focused than anything I’ve heard from them before. … read more
Review: George Glass – Welcome Home
There’s a smoothness about this straight-ahead pop stuff that some lo-fi aficionados might distrust, but put that down to their living in L.A. In that town full of phoniness, George Glass (who isn’t a person, BTW, just the band name) somehow seems genuine. … read more
Review: Fuzz – Self-Titled
It is definitely closer to early conventional heavy metal than any of the previous releases—you’re going to hear a ton of people compare it to Black Sabbath. … read more
Review: Espectrostatic – Self-Titled
Garage rock impresario Alex Cuervo (Hex Dispensers, Feast of Snakes) has faithfully captured the intensity and driving repetition of classic horror movie soundtracks on his newest synth project, Espectrostatic. … read more
Review: Eternal North – Children Ov the Cold
This Idahoan group makes me ponder the possibilities if In Flames and Children of Bodom hadn’t “moderned up” their sound. It kind of makes a guy feel like it’s the early ’90s and so many Scandinavian groups hadn’t become shadows of themselves. … read more
Review: Drugs of Faith – Architectural Failures
If any genre should be bulletproof to experimentation and expansion, it’s grindcore, but in 2013, strong releases by Call of the Void and Beaten to Death have challenged this notion, and Drugs of Faith are right alongside them. … read more
Review: East of the Wall – Redaction Artifacts
This album is one big derivative showcase: I hear a shit-ton of Opeth, Tommy Giles, Mastodon and The Ocean among others, so there’s an element of comfortable familiarity when I listen, but that familiarity is at the expense of any originality the band might be capable of. … read more
Review: Dead Hand Projekt – Control
First of all, I was completely amazed when I found out that some of the origins of this band are from Casper, Wyo. Luckily, they ventured out of the one-horse town and came across a Southern California influence. … read more
Review: Dead Waves – Take Me Away EP
For their follow up to June’s Kill the Youth EP, this Queens-based trio fleshes out their penchant for abrasive melodies via six songs of fuzz-blasted caterwauling with a nod to early Pixies. … read more
Review: Cults – Static
Her high-toned vocals complement the sparkly ’50s-style guitar tunes they lay on, though on tracks like “Always Forever,” they remind me of an excited girl talking to a dog (“Hi, puppy!”). … read more
