A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the White Stuff LP by Royal Trux. Listening to White Stuff (Royal Trux’ first album of new material since 2000’s Pound For Pound), I simply could not stop thinking about and drawing comparisons between it and Danny Boyle’s film T2 Trainspotting. In the film, all of the characters who survived the events which played out in Trainspotting have found life after heroin addiction and discovered new fascinations – be it crime, working...

Makaya McCravenUniversal Beings(photo: turntablelab.com) I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t get jazz. In a weird way, I’m sort of proud of it. The reason I’m so attracted to punk rock is because it’s a less heady kind of music. That’s not to say that I don’t know what I like. Maybe I don’t get jazz but I can appreciate Thelonious Monk’s Underground, Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool, and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme even if it’s only...

Stringer: A Reporter’s Journey in the Congoby Anjan Sundaram I have to keep looking at the cover of Stringer to make sure it’s not a novel. That’s the kind of vivid engrossing story Anjan Sundaram tells in this book. I took a chance on Stringer after seeing Sundaram on the Daily Show many years ago. I was captivated by his story so I thought I’d check out his book. I appreciate a good novel as much as anyone, but I...

WHO: Bob Mould WHAT: Sunshine Rock WHY: I have no clue what Bob Mould had been up to after Husker Du, but if these past two albums are any indication, it would be that the man is determined to rock himself into the stratosphere. Sunshine Rock is a perfect continuation of what made Patch the Sky so great: the songs are simple, catchy, rocking, and loud. It’s no wonder Mould had to crank his amplifiers to 11 with the high-energy...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Finally Free LP by Daniel Romano. After first appearing in front of a hardcore band about fourteen years ago, Daniel Romano has taken personal delight in jumping from music genre to music genre with an impunity which proved to be incredibly infectious. From hardcore to folk to country to rock and innumerable hybrids of all those sounds, Romano has proven to have a golden touch almost as pure as David Bowie’s...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Rancid’s self-titled 7” EP. At this stage of their career, it’s almost impossible to envision Rancid as anything other than the four-piece ska/punk powerhouse which has been responsible for songs like “Roots Radicals,” “Ruby Soho,” “Bloodclot,” “Fall Back Down” and “Last One To Die”; they are that punk-identified pop institution. At this point in their career, the band is inextricably linked with the sound of Tim Armstrong’s cracked vocal rasp, Matt...

What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution: A Marxist Analysis by Dan La Botz Banana republics are the greatest. I don’t know what the appeal is, but there’s something cool about jungle/guerilla/revolutionary stories. Maybe it’s because anything can happen in South and Central America. The population is just fearless that way. I really should stop romanticizing the Sandinista revolution. But, then again, I’m a Clash fan, so what can I do? My initial interest in Nicaraguan history led me to Kinzer’s...

Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)Jeff Tweedy I came late to the Wilco game. Maybe it’s because I associated them with an old girlfriend who tried getting me into them. I was just too engaged in punk rock to really care. I remember us driving from San Diego to Portland Oregon and her playing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in the car trying to impress me. Hoping it would get through to me. It wasn’t happening. On that trip she also...

Jon Spencer should be worshipped. There, I said it. But I think he should be worshipped in 30 years, because right now the man is too busy being an underappreciated living legend. How great is he? Well, when Marc Maron interviewed Steve Albini he specifically singled out Jon Spencer as a man who’s work ethic he admires. He knows exactly what he wants and knows how to get it. Another reason is that Jon Spencer is purely a music man....