rock

Weyes Blood And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop Records) In her current incarnation as pop songstress, musician Weyes Blood may have produced the definitive post-Covid album. Sweet melodies, lush orchestration and a beautiful voice combine to express the relief and pleasure of passing through the crisis. The instrumentation is standard pop — piano, guitar, synthesizer washes, arranged into sweeping waves of music. Weyes Blood has claimed “church music” as a great influence on her work, which is a...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Lies They Tell Our Children LP by Anti-Flag. After thirty-five years in circulation documented by twelve full-length albums, eleven EPs, a multitude of singles, videos, split releases and other releases in addition to innumerable miles logged on the road, it goes without saying that Anti-Flag has paid its dues – but Lies They Tell Our Children proves that, at least in their own eyes, the band still has something to prove...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Lost Boys Of Suburbia” b/w “One More Time” split 7” single by The Drowns & Plizzken. It doesn’t feel as though it happens very often, but some releases (and their contents) defy explanation. Like, how does a song appear on a single and nowhere else – particularly when the song in question features such a high quality level? It might not feel like it makes sense, but it happens – and...

Anti-Flag Lies They Tell Our Children (Spinefarm) It might sound a little counter-intuitive but, throughout their career (which has run for thirty-five years now – as of this writing), Anti-Flag has always proven to be at their best when people have already counted the band out – that’s when they have something to prove and that’s when they shine. Most recently, the band shone after they’d finished their two-record contract with RCA and the band released The People or The...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Raw and Primitive Sound of The Christian Family LP by The Christian Family. With the success of bands like The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Death From Above and Japandroids in hand, making a guess about the probable sound of The Christian Family – another two-piece American band – seems like it should be simple: they’re going make liberal use of drums and guitar, factor the use of volume to create...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Humble Quest LP by Maren Morris. It’s funny how, as good as each of the eleven songs on Maren Morris’ Humble Quest are, trying to pin down their appeal will probably take listeners a minute. For example, when “Circles Around This Town” opens the A-side of the album, listeners will be able to appreciate the “hard work will pay off” root which informs the song as well as the pop-country heart...

Reverend Beat-Man and The Underground It’s A Matter Of Time (Voodoo Rhythm Records) It doesn’t happen every day but, every now and again, an album sometimes comes along which is just so fucking weird and good that it totally short circuits listeners’ synapses and leaves them wide open to the possibility of being both won over and perverted all at the same time. Such an idea may leave those unfamiliar with the potential value of such albums with the impression...

The Christian Family The Raw and Primitive Sound of… (Voodoo Rhythm Records) While it would be easy enough to spill plenty of ink on the fact that The Christian Family is pretty evidently a kindred spirit to such popular “dirty shirt rock n’ roll” bands as The White Stripes, Boss Hog, Royal Trux, The Black Keys and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, actually making such comparisons is entirely too convenient and doesn’t actually do anyone any favors. Stripped even more...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Lunatics EP by The Drowns. It would be easy enough to curse The Drowns out for what the band has done with the Lunatics EP. Not unlike what innumerable other acts have done, over the years (Hot Water Music, NOFX and John Lennon all leap to mind), The Drowns have elected to take a moment that they’re capable of stretching out from their musical comfort zone (which has tended to stay...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the reissue of The Lorrainas’ Party ‘Til It’s Dark LP. Sure, this vinyl reissue of Party ‘Til It’s Dark – The Lorrainas’ first and only full-length studio album – may seek to re-introduce material which is now seventeen years old, but anyone who hears it will excitedly admit that the music sounds one hundred per cent fresh; after the rush of endorphins which come with the music initially begin to fade. The...