White Widow - "A Psychological Thriller" CD Review / Show at Public Assembly on July 17th

White Widow (aka Carla Patullo) is releasing her fourth disc, A Psychological Thriller, on June 5th 2012. The new disc is culled from Patullo’s growing interest in psychological thriller films and tells the dream-like story of a fictional character in ten songs that seamlessly blend together into one half-hour long soundtrack.A Psychological Thriller and its concept spiked the interest of Brooklyn artists Jamie Dwyer and Justin Ulloa (Electric Wonder...

Read More

Grand Magus - "Iron Will" CD Review (Metal Blade)

Metal Blade is re-issuing Swedish “traditional metal” band Grand Magus’ 2008 CD Iron Will (originally out on Rise Above) on June 5th. This is my first exposure to Grand Magus so I can’t compare the music on this record to any of the band’s other discs. I’ve read though that Grand Magus started out as “doom” but this disc predominately sounds like Ian Gillan fronting early Iron Maiden.Grand Magus is a power-trio that was formed by vocalist Janne...

Read More

Hallelujah The Hills - "No One Knows What Happens Next" CD Review

<p><a href="http://hallelujahthehills.bandcamp.com/album/no-one-knows-what-happens-next">No One Knows What Happens Next by Hallelujah The Hills</a></p>More and more bands seem to be turning to Kickstarter to fund the recording of a new disc – Hallelujah the Hills launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2010 to fund the band’s third disc, No One Knows...

Read More

Sleep - "Dopesmoker" CD Review (Southern Lord)

You have to “love” the major labels – in the frenzy to sign the next Nirvana, many bands were signed to labels that had no idea what the band was about or how to market the band to a mass-market audience. The sad thing is that many solid ‘underground’ bands wouldn’t have appealed to a mass-market (think Pearl Jam) audience in the first place. Recently reflecting on the band’s flirtation with Atlantic Records, J. Robbins from Jawbox said “As far...

Read More

Anvil - Live Photos from Maryland Death Fest, Baltimore, MD 5-26-12

In one sense, Anvil reminds me of doom-metal pioneers Trouble. Both bands have been around since the 70's, a significant number of well-know musicians cite them as influences but the 'average' music fan hasn't heard of either group. Below, Lars Ulrich does a nice job of describing Anvil's arrival on the metal scene in the early 80's.After coming close to fading into obscurity, Anvil rocketed back into the public eye with the documentary Anvil!...

Read More

Paul McCartney - "RAM" Special Edition CD Review

STREAM: Paul McCartney - "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (from RAM)When reviewing deluxe reissues, I generally don’t attempt to review the original album as, most often, there is little to add to the hundreds of reviews that have already been written. That being said, I don’t think I had heard Paul McCartney’s second solo LP RAM (originally released in 1971) before and was taken aback by how well this disc stacks up against today’s indie-pop music....

Read More

Francis Bowie - "Francis Bowie" CD EP Review

I’m innately suspicious of white singers with dreadlocks (though Perry Farrell was weird enough to pull it off) as most seem to be either pop tossers or trustafarians. Given these 'biases', Dutch painter/sculptor Francis Bowie’s new self-titled EP came as a pleasant surprise. The four tracks on this new EP (14 minutes) sounds like some of the more intelligent (pre-MTV) new wave/synth-pop that came out of the UK in the early 80’s. Bowie proclaims...

Read More

Steve Vai Releases "The Story of Light" on 8/14; Show at Best Buy Theater on 9/11

Virtuoso guitarist and visionary composer Steve Vai will release The Story of Light, a new solo album of original material, on August 14. The title comes out on Favored Nations Entertainment, the label Vai founded in 1999. The sprawling and expressive 12-song set continues a conceptual and cosmic narrative arc that began with the artist's most recent studio release, 2005's acclaimed Real Illusions: Reflections.Although The Story of Light is largely...

Read More

Athens, GA's White Violet (Nate Nelson) Post "Lays Around Lazy" As Free Download (from forthcoming disc Hiding, Mingling)

DOWNLOAD: White Violet - "Lays Around Lazy"White Violet is four young men from Athens, GA. Their names are Vaughan Lamb, Brad Elliott, Josh McCauley and Nate Nelson. Their debut album for Normaltown Records is named Hiding, Mingling (out 8/14/12). The Athens, GA-based band is the brainchild of Nate Nelson, who's known for both his production work, as a touring musician (he's played with Maria Taylor and Nik Freitas, among others), and for his solo...

Read More

The Hangmen - "East of Western" CD Review (Acetate Records)

PLAY: The Hangmen - "Homesick Blues" (from East of Western)I had completely forgotten about the 80’s cowpunk/gutter-rock band The Hangmen until the band’s latest disc, East of Western (Acetate Records), hit my mailbox. I remember the band as being a solid outfit but their “Jeffrey Lee Pierce meets X” sound was a clear case of ‘wrong time/wrong place’ during hair metal’s heyday on the Sunset Strip.With singer/guitarist Bryan Small as the only holdover...

Read More

Nehedar - "High Tide" CD Review

Nehedar’s Bio: Nehedar is the project of NYC based singer-songwriter Emilia Cataldo. Emilia has been writing and performing since 2001 and has been compared to Tracy Bonham, Emma Pollock and Aimee Mann.While spanning indie-rock, folk, jazz and pop genres, the music of Nehedar has continued to deliver her blend of deeply personal yet quirky lyrics, beautiful vocal harmonies, a variety of instrumentation, and momentary departures from strict chord...

Read More

At The Moment - "Monte Carlo" CD EP Review

Veteran musician Daniel Stampfel has been playing in bands on NYC circuit for quite a number of years but has finally released his first solo disc. Stampfel previously fronted The Inevitable Breakups, a power-pop quartet, whose debut album, No Wonder You’re So Beautiful, was produced by Richard Lloyd. One reviewer called Stampfel the “the reincarnation of Buddy Holly” and New York Press described the band as follows: “With a sound and infectious...

Read More

MonstrO to Support Danzig on the Way to Bonnaroo

Atlanta, Georgia’s MonstrO will be rolling into Bonnaroo in a few weeks with a handful of impressive warm up dates under their belts. The four-piece will be headlining the fabled Whisky in Los Angeles this Friday before opening for Danzig starting May 26 and making their way eastward to wind up in Manchester, Tennessee for the Bonaroo Music Festival on Thursday, June 7. MonstrO has previously toured with Kyuss Lives! and recently wrapped up a national...

Read More

Despite Exile - "Re-Evolve" CD EP Review

<p><a href="http://despiteexile.bandcamp.com/track/mechanical">MECHANICAL by Despite Exile</a></p>In an interview with Metal Shock Finland, Italian metalcore crew Despite Exile described their songwriting process as “every song must be like a train that hits you in the face”. The band’s new EP, “Re-Evolve”, holds true to this promise and the disc’s three tracks...

Read More

Crocodiles - "Endless Flowers" CD Review (Frenchkiss Records)

You have to love a band like San Diego’s Crocodiles for being able to channel their obvious influences (Jesus & Mary Chain / Echo & the Bunnymen / Spacemen 3) into creating a sound that mines this genre without sounding derivative. San Diego’s Crocodiles are releasing their third disc, Endless Flowers, on June 5th on Frenchkiss Records which is a ten-track (42 minute) slab of psychedelic, fuzzed-out garage rock. Note: for vinyl junkies,...

Read More

The Doc Marshalls Release New LP on May 29th / Show at Mercury Lounge on June 10th

DOWNLOAD: The Doc Marshalls - "Here They Come"The Doc Marshalls’ front man, Nick Beaudoing, has arrived in Nashville armed with an album that still reeks of Brooklyn, his former home. Whereas previous releases evoked a humid musical landscape along the Texas-Louisiana border, the Doc Marshalls’ new album, Look Out, Compadre, sheds the honky-tonk and Cajun two-steps in favor of crooked, shimmering folk reminiscent of Bonnie Prince Billy and A.A. Bondy....

Read More

In Cages - Self-Titled CD EP Review (Modern Rock)

DOWNLOAD: In Cages - "Dirty Water" (Requires email)In Cages is a new quartet based out of Hillsdale, NJ and the band’s self-titled debut EP (which drops June 23rd) is a solid slab of 90’s post-grunge “modern rock”. The four tracks (13 minutes) on this disc are melodic, guitar-driven numbers that bear more than a passing resemblance to bands like Fuel and Hinder crossed with the melodic hooks of the Foo Fighters. On the disc’s leadoff track, “Dirty...

Read More

Future of What Release "I Wait For You" from Forthcoming EP / Release Party at Cameo Gallery on June 21st

<p><a href="http://futureofwhat.bandcamp.com/track/i-wait-for-you">I Wait for You by Future Of What</a></p>Brooklyn, NY's Future Of What will release their debut EP "Moonstruck" on June 26th, 2012 and the band is throwing an EP release party at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn on June 21st.The four-piece band - Blair (Gimma), Sam Axelrod, Max Kotelchuck, Seth Waldstein...

Read More

Tu Fawning - "A Monument" CD Review (City Slang) / Show at Glasslands on August 3rd

Portland, OR’s Tu Fawning released their sophomore album, A Monument, today on City Slang. This album marks the first release written and recorded collaboratively as a four-piece. This time out, band leaders Corrina Repp and Joe Haege are joined by Liza Reitz (piano, organ, violin, percussion, vocals) and Toussaint Perrault (synth, trumpet, percussion, vocals). The nine tracks on this new disc are layered and musically dense and show the band...

Read More

The Buddies Release Video for "All the Beer is Gone", Directed by Ryan and Eric Henriquez

Last year, the video's co-director Ryan Henriquez was directing a web series on the making of Deer Tick's last album Divine Providence in Providence, RI. Ryan spent several days with the band and the album's two producers, Adam Landry and Justin Collins, both of whom were interviewed for the series. During a break from recording, Justin Collins played Ryan the demo for "All The Beer Is Gone" by The Buddies, a band in which Justin sings and plays...

Read More