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So Pitted – neo (2016)
Melodies are all well and good, but they’ll only get you so far. Sometimes all you wanna hear is something that’ll crush you into the ground. Step forward Seattle’s So Pitted: a trio for whom no riff...
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Sonic Youth – EVOL (1986, Reissue 2015)
By 1986, a still relatively recently formed Sonic Youth was in a time of transition. Born out of the noise of New York’s thriving-in-ugliness no wave scene and ensconced in the influence of Glenn...
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The Fall – Wise Ol’ Man EP (2016)
Wise Ol’ Man, 7 track EP features new tracks, remixes and alternate takes of songs from last year’s Sub-Lingual Tablet LP along with a reworking of “No Xmas for John Quays”. The discrepancy between...
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Witching Waves – Crystal Cafe (2016)
Witching Waves‘ first album, 2014’s Fear of Falling Down, was built around sprightly, noisy indie pop like that which the Vaselines used to play in the late ’80s. It was a good sound for the London...
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Death Index – Death Index (2016)
Death Index finds Merchandise frontman Carson Cox collaborating with Italian hardcore veteran Marco Rapisarda for a noisy, industrial-tinged intercontinental project. Even though Cox seems to have...
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The Scientists – Blood Red River EP (1983, Reissue 2015)
The “Seattle Sound” of the ’90s may have brought grunge to the masses, but there are those who believe it first came to fruition in Sydney in the ’80s. After trekking east from the suburbs of Perth to...
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The Scientists – The Scientists (1981, Reissue 2015)
The first self-titled album by Perth’s Scientists bears almost no resemblance to the Scientists who released so many wonderfully dirgy records in the ’80s. Rather, this LP serves as a predecessor for...
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Violent Femmes – We Can Do Anything (2016)
The Violent Femmes spent the bulk of the 21st century either touring their old hits or suing each other over the proper royalty payment of said hits. Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie buried that hatchet...
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Big Ups – Before a Million Universes (2016)
A nervy, fractured blast of millennial unease, Before a Million Universes, the sophomore studio long player from the Big Apple-based punk/post-hardcore quartet, is as fiery as it is laconic, invoking...
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Robert Pollard – Of Course You Are (2016)
While speculation abounds about a new Guided By Voices album and future tour dates, the pressing matter at hand is Of Course You Are, Robert Pollard’s latest solo album. Spending the bulk of 2015...
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JOBS – killer BOB sings (2015)
It’s possible to get tired of literally anything in the world, given enough time. One of the great glories and sometimes downfalls of humans is that we can get used to practically anything that doesn’t...
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Jeff Buckley – You and I (2016)
It’s hardly a new observation that when entertainers die prematurely, they tend to stay fixed in our imagination as forever young and beautiful — free of blemishes, missteps and the twin ravages of age...
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The Body – No One Deserves Happiness (2016)
Portland, Oregon-based duo the Body (Chip King and Lee Buford) have been continually pushing the boundaries of metal since their inception in the late ’90s. On albums such as 2013’s Christs, Redeemers,...
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PCPC –“Ramsgate” (2015)
In the fall of 2014, Parquet Courts announced a tour with fellow New York band PC Worship under the nondescript stage name PCPC. Ramsgate is a live recording that came out of this short-lived...
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Glitterbust – Glitterbust (2016)
Who is Alex Knost and how did he end up in a band with Kim Gordon? Among the many questions raised by Glitterbust — the debut noise guitar record from this California duo — the most pressing one is...
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The Drones – Feelin Kinda Free (2016)
The mercurial Aussie rockers open their seventh studio long player with a thick blast of heavily treated guitar terror that suggests Muse by way of King Crimson, setting the stage for what is their...
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Boris & Merzbow – Gensho [Expanded Edition] (2016)
Expanded edition includes two bonus discs featuring a concert held in November 2015 in Tokyo. Depending on how one counts, Gensho marks the sixth collaboration between Japan’s consummate heavy rock...
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Mike & The Melvins – Three Men and a Baby (2016)
17 years ago, the Melvins brought their friend bassist/vocalist Mike Kunka out on the road with them. Kunka’s band, godheadSilo, had just begun a hiatus, and he was looking for something to occupy his...
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Heck – Instructions (2016)
Last year, mathcore punks Baby Godzilla were forced to change their name by a Japanese film giant. They were reborn as Heck, and their dogged pursuit of carnage resumed. Good job too, because we need...
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Weezer – Weezer [White Album] (2016)
Well, it only took ‘em 20 years. The half-decade hiatus that Weezer started in 1996 after their epochal first two albums – and the sonically streamlined, emotionally neutralized third album they...
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