Album Reviews

The very fucking SECOND "I Saw You Float Away" gets twinkling I am fucking smitten. Amina sounds like that far off memory in your head that both turns you on and makes you miserable. It's the nostalgic smell or taste that brings you back to high school handjobs and after school drug experimentation. It's fuzzy thinking back, but it's that cool sort of fuzzy where you could tell people now that your nickname back then was "Beebop" because of how fucking cool you were. While the vibe of this entire Cannibalize EP is pretty chilled the fuck out, it's borderline creepy. Check the instrumentation on "JINXED" and tell me there ain't some fucking dude in a black trenchcoat holding an arm's full of pop tarts under it, ready to slice your fucking throat with some...

We broke our music submission platform a few weeks ago while trying to update something or other, and it means we haven't been receiving our normal heaps of 90% what the fuck, 5% this might not suck, 4.9% this really might not suck and 0.1% I want to shave this band's name in my chest.  This means I've taken to opening emails as I receive them. I don't remember ever living this life. But in comes a promo email for a band I've never heard with a ridiculous fucking band name and the random mention of one of my personal heros, Cut Chemist. Instead of rereading the email, because I already know I'm going to listen to it, I just downloaded it and tossed it on the manpod and left for the day. Let the record state that I have listened to the opening track on this fucker "It's You", a...

Much like the gays and summer thunderstorms, I absolutely love Canadians. I only really know three Canadians not counting all those SCTV episodes I devoured as a child. But each one has been the epitome of easy to work with. Affable and more concerned about others than with looking like a cool guy.  Marjen, producer from Saskatoon, has the distinction of being one of those said Canadians. I can't wait to visit him someday and we can stalk factor and deface whatever edifice our Northern neighbors have erected to that little bald-ass Caillou.  In the meantime, I'm bumping Rubies and Rust, his newest release on everybody's favorite indie French label, Hello L.A. The record is split between part spacious yet driven instrumentals and something like a label mix tape. Like a cholo's...

My passion for Dirty Ghosts is well documented here.  I love the fact that a female-led rock band is in my top five favorite bands, and not for chauvinistic purposes bro. Far from it.  Dirty Ghosts have pecked out this nostalgic corner of my rock box that's both throwback denim and futuristic leather. Their debut album Metal Moon was in my rotation for over a year before it got a proper release around Valentine's Day of 2012 (if I remember correctly), and it's still one of my favorite recent rock albums. Without the visual of what they look like in person, Dirty Ghosts have cemented a late 80s rock vibe, but it's only fully cured when you actually see these fuckers in person.  Dirty Ghosts sound like tight jeans, Ramones tshirts, Gibson SGs, Thunderbirds, and a super fucking dope...

I love EPs more than LPs for three reasons: 1. You get a quick snapshot into a band rather than having to attend their stupid fucking quinceanera. It's watching the Instagram feed pop up with just the awesome and none of the caterers putting out tepid vegan paté, the shitty keg of Busch Lite, and the fact that you had to park in a Burger King parking lot. 2. There isn't any fucking room for any fluff. An EP is all business. There's not physically any way to hide your filler fucking songs on a fucking EP, unless you're just regurgitating remixes and songs we've all heard before. Of course some people can pull off the remix insertions, but they have to be dopeballs bro. 3. Fifteen to twenty minutes later, you can either move on from the EP or start the fucker over. There's no hefty...

Truth be told, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with Joan Jett and The Runaways. The first time I heard "I Love Rock and Roll" I shit my plastic pants. I even had the song on a 45 with "Crimson and Clover" as a B-side. I also used to really like The Donnas first few albums AND even saw them live and they kicked so much asshole, shit was just flying everywhere. So when I came across The Dead Deads, I couldn't get over the album art. I instantly wanted this as a framed poster. It begged me to click on it. Rainbeau kicks off with blistering drums and pounding bass, and a riffing-fun energy on "The Lonely Sound". What surprised me was, my 6 year old daughter, who is about 80% deaf, felt the drums right away and started banging her head. If you have a daughter, you know how this can...

I've never listened to a Miami Horror album all the way through. They are just one of those bands that I'd include in my 'driving to the raquetball club for my morning aerobic sesh' mix. Their shit is the perfect balance of upbeat synth and shimmying up your one-size-too-small spandex shorts. Well, that is until today. Miami Horror's latest album All Possible Futures came out in April, but I'm just hearing it for the first time. My morning was a blank slate musically, and I saw their album come across my Del-box (inbox folder filtered for Del recommendations) and thought 'what the Fuck?.' Having no idea if I was going to hit and quit one or two tracks, I cautiously proceeded into track one toe first. I flicked the water around a little and slid right in. And let me tell you.......

I think it's safe to say I am a Strange Famous fanboy to my core, with the inner thigh tattoos to prove it. But that doesn't mean I'm incapable to being critical and honest either. B. Dolan just dropped off his follow up to Fallen House, Sunken City, which to me is right up there with Cold Vein & Fantastic Damage as one of the best indie rap records to ever be released. Kill The Wolf is his "proper" follow up album since he doesn't feel his House Of Bee's projects count, and it's a huge step in a more progressive lane for King Bee. And I feel more than alright. Not that B. Dolan hasn't always been pushing the artistic envelope since The Failure, but he's now handling a vast majority of the production, touring with a band, and creating some of his most exciting sounding, and written...

When you really love someone, it's sometimes hard to properly judge or provide nonbiased feedback on anything creative they do. Brandon and Jake, aka Bakus & Morbidly-o-Beats are my dudes, and they've teamed up to create a fire-breathing cassette that sounds like they've been playing Legos together on the floor for years. Here was my initial problem when I was graced with an advance of the project; did I love it because both of these guys are two of the realest, nicest, most honest dudes I know, or did I happen to know two guys who made a really dope record together? Luckily, after much chin scratching and aligning my root chakra with the angle of my ball dangle, I've decided that it's the latter of those two options, and Gone Fishin is another in a line of Morbidly-o-Beats-...

A few of my friends on the softer side of life are Jason Isbell listening blokes. They're almost the typical Jason Isbell demographic: in their mid-30s to late-40s, white as Fuck, into country folk but they call it 'Americana', they may or may not be huge fans of either or both, My Morning Jacket or Wilco, they "listen to the words, man", they are notorious thigh slappers and finger snappers, and they buy their artist merch before the opener is done with their set. These people aren't idiots, they're highly intelligent, they just happen to like their music to fall into one narrow column. Thankfully for me, I can appreciate the music in this column, even though I can't fucking stand Wilco and MMJ is the still the most amazing yet ungodly fucking boring band I've ever seen in concert. I...