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Devil's Brigade - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:24:59 PST

ARTIST: Devil's Brigade - [Album]
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Where does the line between 'art' and 'farce' get drawn? That might sound like a cynical or priggish question, but it becomes perfectly valid when one considers the idea of side project endeavors made by the members of an established band. The question is further legitimized when the number of side project [view more]

Blacklist Royals - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:17:48 PST

ARTIST: Blacklist Royals - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Church Bells Are Ringing' from Semper Liberi by Blacklist Royals
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
It sounds contrary to contend this, but some musical mixtures are more easily imagined than executed and, most often, the simplest and most straightforward combinations are the most troublesome to successfully carry off. A perfect example of an idea that seems simple in theory but proves not to be so simple in practice is the mixture of rock, [view more]

Luke Doucet and The White Falcon - [Album]

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:43:39 PST

ARTIST: Luke Doucet and The White Falcon - [Album]
DATE: 08-30-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
The frustrating thing about semantics is that, as clear and straightforward as one might try to be, it may still be taken the wrong way. As an example of just how a term may be misunderstood, take the phrase 'classic rock record.' For some readers, seeing the words 'classic rock record' will call to mind images [view more]

Everyone Everywhere - [12'' LP]

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 08:22:03 PST

ARTIST: Everyone Everywhere - [12'' LP]
DATE: 08-29-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Remember when, about seven years ago, Yellowcard decided to take songs-about-girls punk the extra mile, added a violinist as a full-time member of the band and made all the 'tween punks in training bras a little misty? It was fantastic timing and Yellowcard lived high on the hog for a little while. The Yellowcard phenomenon was [view more]

The Great Explainer - [10'' EP]

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:09:43 PST

ARTIST: The Great Explainer - [10'' EP]
DATE: 08-28-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Some questions simply require answers – no matter how hard people contemplate them. Like, doesn't everyone want to know what purpose Stonehenge serves? Doesn't everyone want to know if we're alone in the universe? Is there a god? What happens to us when we die? All of those are perfectly valid questions, but my [view more]

Bars Of Gold - [12'' LP]

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:41:33 PST

ARTIST: Bars Of Gold - [12'' LP]
with free mp3 downloads for both 'The Hustle' from ''Of Gold'' and a full concert bootleg from one of the band's first shows!
DATE: 08-27-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Remember when punk rock was a lawless, 'anything-goes' province that was more about personal expression than it was about stringing together just the right set of power chords? It's okay if you don't – it was a long time ago – but that torch still burns and Bars Of Gold have picked it up and [view more]

Eels - [Album]

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:04:29 PST

ARTIST: Eels - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Looking Up' from Tomorrow Morning by the Eels
DATE: 08-24-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
It is said that the night is always darkest before the dawn and, for his band's last two albums, Eels singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett has followed that adage to the letter. First, on Hombre Lobo, Everett got excited about love and every aspect of it – the chase or pursuit of it, the promise of it, the [view more]

Baby Eagle - [Album]

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:19:43 PST

ARTIST: Baby Eagle - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Day of our Departing' from Dog Weather by Baby Eagle.
DATE: 08-18-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Ever been present and able to recognize when you're witnessing an exceptional moment? It's not always easy to do because, nine times out of ten, you're usually doing nine other things at the same time so you're only able to catch it peripherally but, when it happens in plain view, the sensation can be elating; [view more]

Dayna Kurtz/My Brightest Diamond - [Split 7'']

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:43:44 PST

ARTIST: Dayna Kurtz/My Brightest Diamond - [Split 7'']
DATE: 08-18-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
You have to respect the chutzpah of an artist who chooses to work in the 7” vinyl medium. Think about it; basically, a band has little choice but to offer just two songs in hopes of establishing itself in a listener's mind. Even more daring are the groups who enter into a split 7” arrangement with another artist; then [view more]

NoFX - [Album]

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:32:58 PST

ARTIST: NoFX - [Album]
DATE: 08-18-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams

By now, it must be common knowledge that NoFX is one of the best EP-producing bands in modern rock – if not the best. Since the band first came together in 1983, NoFX has kept up a long tradition of releasing EPs, and has seemed to relish specifically in the 7-inch vinyl format; in twenty-seven years, the [view more]

The Who - [Album]

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 17:48:46 PST

ARTIST: The Who - [Album]
DATE: 08-08-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
At some point in its' career (if it has taken off and become successful), a band will start to realize who it is; whether it's because they're eating better or have a little extra money to throw around. At that point, they get a little bit confident and why shouldn't they? They paid their dues, left pints of [view more]

Lost In The Trees - [Album]

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 10:12:34 PST

ARTIST: Lost In The Trees - [Album]
DATE: 08-07-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Ever spend a day looking at different things with a magnifying glass when you were a kid? It can utterly change your perception of te world; suddenly pristine surfaces get rough and abstract-looking, simple things appear very complex and complicated and a whole other world of possibilities opens up right before your eyes upon close examination. [view more]

Laura Stevenson and The Cans - [Album]

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:58:29 PST

ARTIST: Laura Stevenson and The Cans - [Album]
DATE: 08-07-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
It sounds too simple to say that something is “pretty” anymore. The beauty and the curse set upon those who speak English as a mother tongue is that it is very much a pack-rat language; there are a hundred and one synonyms for everything and the common misperception is that the more “expensive” a synonym [view more]

The Hot Toddies - [Album]

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:04:02 PST

ARTIST: The Hot Toddies - [Album]
DATE: 08-05-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
There are few things quite so endearing to a dyed-in-the-wool indie boy's heart than an all-girl indie pop group making twee, surfy songs. Not to sound condescending, but they're just so cute! Such was the case when The Go-Gos attempted to be trashy but came up with Talk Show, when The Runaways spat out [view more]

Mad Caddies - [Album]

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:57:48 PST

ARTIST: Mad Caddies - [Album]
DATE: 08-04-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
In order to understand why exactly Mad Caddies merit a “greatest hits” or “Best-Of” compilation (even the band itself admits in the liner notes of Consentual Selections that, in the strictest of terms, there aren't any “hits”), one has to recognize just how [view more]

Revolver - [Album]

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:23:18 PST

ARTIST: Revolver - [Album]
with free mp3 downloads for 'Birds In Dm (Joakim mix)' and 'Get Around Town' from Music For A While by Revolver.
DATE: 08-03-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Former British Prime Minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.” The statement is a little ironic in his case, given some of the strained political relationships he created during his time in office, and it's surprisingly heated given that Disraeli [view more]

Thieves And Villains - [Album]

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:09:25 PST

ARTIST: Thieves And Villains - [Album]
DATE: 08-02-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Remember when things in and about punk rock were simple? The last time it was possible to say that was around 1996, and that was a wonderful time. That was a time when all things punk were simple to define and easy to qualify – either a band was punk (like Rancid), hardcore (hard and fast like Bad Religion or Agnostic Front), melodic [view more]

Queens Of The Stone Age - [Album]

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:04:14 PST

ARTIST: Queens Of The Stone Age - [Album]
Rated RX - Tenth Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Rated R 2CD
DATE: 07-30-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
The thing about Queens Of The Stone Age's music which has always managed to capture and hold listeners' attention is that it is nearly impossible to qualify. Of course, there's no arguing that the band's music falls squarely into the 'rock' idiom but, after Nirvana broke and the [view more]

Laurie Anderson - [Album]

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:17:05 PST

ARTIST: Laurie Anderson - [Album]
DATE: 07-29-10
REVIEW BY: G. Murray Thomas
Laurie Anderson is known for her storytelling – for elaborate, album-length cycles of stories – however she seems more concerned with the music than her storytelling on Homeland, her first album in over eight years. There are only three pieces here which could be called narrative, and only one of them [view more]

Ted Nugent - [Album]

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:56:58 PST

ARTIST: Ted Nugent - [Album]
DATE: 07-26-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
While some records can fade, images live forever and, in Ted Nugent's case, those images are what have always preceded their inevitable soundtrack. Think about it – virtually everybody knows Ted Nugent from television as the NRA-endorsed, gun-toting, wild-eyed Motor City maniac with charisma to burn – even if [view more]