A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the black vinyl 30th Anniversary reissue of Alice In Chains’ Jar Of Flies EP. After seeing the multitude of “deluxe” variants of Alice In Chains’ Jar Of Flies EP that have been released in celebration of its thirtieth anniversary (on multi-colored vinyl, on vinyl with little replica houseflies pressed into it and so on), it’s refreshing to see the record reappear remastered and reissued on the most apt color vinyl possible: on...
Pissed Jeans Half-Divorced (Sub Pop) Who says punk can’t be funny and bring the brutality at the same time? I’m thinking of a band that does this as successfully as Pissed Jeans and drawing a blank. And, I don’t count grindcore bands because no one can understand what they’re singing about. But with Pissed Jeans, the content is right there. You have to pick it out, but it’s surprisingly easy given Matt Corvette’s barking growl. At the same time, it’s...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the One More Time… LP by Blink-182. It would be easy to find a cynical angle to approach the existence and sound of One More Time…, Blink-182’s ninth studio album and first to feature singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge since 2015. Did DeLonge’s return have something to do with singer/bassist Mark Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis in 2021? Was it because everyone in the band had discovered the sting of post-Blink projects not performing as well...
METZ Up on Gravity Hill(Sub Pop) Sometimes I truly think something is the matter with me. I’ve heard about METZ for a while. Way back when their first album came out, they were all the rage. My friends were all talking about them. Especially how great of a live show they put on. Of course, I checked them out and I’m pretty sure I liked them, but I didn’t quite understand the buzz. They were interesting enough where I kept...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield 2LP. In the fifty-five years since their foundation, Judas Priest has seen no small number of changes to their form and style while still remaining an inimitable mainstay of the metal community. The band has never been afraid to re-evaluate their sound and style as they go, and that fact is very clear on Priest’s nineteenth album, Invincible Shield. Now, on one hand, that Invincible Shield is being...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Cold War Classics Vol. 2 LP by Alabama 3. Before anyone gets nervous about what they might have missed, it’s important to point out that Cold War Classics is not the first Alabama 3 album to feature the erroneous numeric identifier Volume 2 (2002’s acoustic experiment Last Train to Mashville was listed as a Volume 2 as well – although there was no “Part 1” in that case either) – they’ve...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 20 Years. A Frantic Effort 3×10” set by DeeCRACKS. Since vinyl has retaken the amount of interest that it has among music fans, a fairly impressive amount of time and money has been spent repackaging and reissuing records to let interested parties re-examine a multitude of songbooks – but such endeavors have never really seemed to be in DeeCRACKS’ wheelhouse. On one hand, it could be contended that choosing to release...
Gentleman Jesse Where Time Stands Still (7 Inch) (Drunk Dial #12) I came about Gentleman Jesse in an ideal way: through a recommendation from a respected source. Back in the day, before my day job and kids took up most of my attention, I would do band interviews (believe it or not!). The frontman to one of my favorite bands recommended Gentlemen Jesse and His Men (are they still called that?). That was all I needed. Gentleman Jesse checked all...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Leave Us A Loan Picture Disc reissue by The Low Budgets. Alright, the fact is that not every punk rock record is golden. Any fan of the music can begrudgingly admit that, and every fan should – because it is the definition or critical thinking. The first step to truly appreciating any music genre is recognizing that some shit is exactly that; it’s shit. That’s how we differentiate between poor records...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Drowns’ Blacked Out LP. While the number of ways that a band may choose to change their sound in the name of refreshing it or updating it are almost innumerable, what The Drowns have done on Blacked Out is genuinely impressive. This time out, the band has left most of the punk and hardcore are forms that the band has been developing and refining over the last few years behind and...