TUBE ALLOYS – MAGNETIC POINT
you know who were and remain underrated? THE ADICTS. this is not a review of one of their records, but that’s who i kept thinking of while listening to TUBE ALLOYS, along with WIRE and a few others. snotty, higher-register singalong vocals mix well with low, grumbly,...
PRIVATE LIVES – HIT RECORD
post-punk has been in a big revival swing for a few years, which is great, since i play in a post-punk band, but it’s fun to hear different angles on it, and PRIVATE LIVES have a pretty good one — this record has plenty of the angular, tinny guitar you expect to hear...
CHURCH GIRLS – NIGHTMARE NIGHTS EP
i’ve been a big fan of the way that hardcore and post-hardcore keeps blending with indie rock as hardcore and post-hardcore kids get further and further away from even being able to be called “kids” as a joke. CHURCH GIRLS have been around a minute, but i only really...
RINGLETS – RINGLETS
for some reason, i listened to a lot of records from australia and new zealand this year, and RINGLETS were a delightful addition to this list. this self-titled full-length is a fantastic, dancy debut that owes some influence to dancy rock and punk bands of the 00s,...
DUST – ET CETERA, ETC.
another great aussie guitar record from DUST, "Et Cetera, Etc" goes in different directions than PINCH POINTS with a denser and more layered take on post-punk that includes some nods to post-hardcore, both in terms of production and melody. both the second track “The...
PINCH POINTS – PROCESS
there’s something in the water over on the other side of the world that has allowed the aussies to, over the course of four decades, perfect the art of a particuarly nervy, lo-fi, mid-tempo, guitar-forward punk rock that sort of blurs the divide between those decades....
BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY – THIS HOUSE IS MADE OF CORNERS EP
BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY snuck into just under the wire with this lovely 5-song EP that’s a long overdue contender to the long-empty throne of MORRISSEY, RICHARD BUTLER and even ROY ORBISON. every song on this EP’s a banger torch song that’ll have you tearing open your...
HOME FRONT – GAMES OF POWER
street punk! oi! synthesizers! ian mackaye voice! this record has it all! GAMES OF POWER is the first full-length from rockers of canadia HOME FRONT, and it’s a doozy. the first 60 seconds of this record give you a great preview of what you’re in for — driving floor...
TEKE TEKE – Hagata
TEKE:TEKE are such a wonderfully weird and diverse band that it’s hard to know where to start with describing them. typically, i see them described as “japanese psych rock”, which is definitely, partially true, but there’s plenty more going on here — big brass runs,...
A Very Special Episode – Freak Me Out
About This is a fun record from our friends A Very Special Episode, based out of New York. The record is pretty diverse, combining a lot of post-punk and shoegaze with a sound that's almost 90s grunge-adjacent, without necessarily diving right into, like, Soundgarden....