REVIEWS

ARTIST: VENUE: Paradise – Boston, MA – 10/02/15 DATE: 10-06-15 REVIEW BY: Ollie Ottoman PHOTO: Ollie Ottoman Having moved away from the Philadelphia area to Boston four years ago, nothing brings a brighter smile to my face than seeing some great Philly band right here in beantown. I can’t help but feel proud about Kurt Vile not because he’s a true Philly artist (dude hasn’t been tempted to move to the more affluent music towns like LA, NYC or Nashville),...

ARTIST: James Leg – DATE: 09-13-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Below The Belt LABEL: Alive! Records It might be hard to believe or remember now, but the piano was once the go-to, working class compositional implement – not the classy, poppy flavor-addition it often is now in the twenty-first century. In fact, it has really only been within the last eighty-five years or so that the instrument wasn’t everywhere; at one time – in addition to being the...

ARTIST: Fidlar – DATE: 09-13-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Too LABEL: Mom + Pop/Dine Alone   It isn’t intended to sound condescending when I say that Fidlar has secured their seat at the head of the table where all of the unapologetic goofs in rock dine (they kicked the chair out from under Bunchofuckinggoofs) with their sophomore (and a little more sophomoric) effort. Too is the perfect kind of follow-up for a band like this; it’s loud (the...

ARTIST: The Fratellis – with free mp3 download for ‘Me and The Devil’ from Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied by The Fratellis DATE: 09-13-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied LABEL: Cooking Vinyl/Pheromone What’s a band to do when they discover that the “coolness” quotient of the musical trend they rode in on has faded, but they’re not feeling done quite yet? Well, if you’re in The Fratellis, you look for redemption with the help of some...

ARTIST: Dr. Dre – DATE: 08-25-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Compton LABEL: Aftermath/Universal Music It’s not easy to know how to feel about Compton, Dr. Dre’s first new album since 2001 came out in 1999. On one hand the excitement that even the mention of a new Dre album generates makes it deserving of attention but, now well over a decade since the emcee really did anything important anywhere other than behind the mixing board, it’s hard to...

ARTIST: Primus – DATE: 08-15-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Primus & The Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble LABEL: Prawn Song/ATO/Maple Music Recordings Even before they hear a note of music, sometimes listeners already know why a band elected to cover an album/film score/collection from front to back: it just makes sense that they’d do it. Sometimes, it’s almost like both the band and its members were born to cover that particular piece of music, and the only...

ARTIST: Ex Cops – with free mp3 download for ‘Black Soap’ from Daggers by Ex Cops DATE: 08-12-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Daggers LABEL: Downtown/Fontana North/Universal Music It might seem a little dubious but, in listening to Ex Cops’ sophomore album (and also keeping the band’s sensational 2012 debut in mind), it’s hard not to feel as though the band is earnestly trying to establish some roots by rebuilding the progression of punk’s development into new wave in...

ARTIST: Benjamin Booker – DATE: 08-11-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: s/t LABEL: ATO Records/Maplemusic The thing which has been missing from both pop and rock for the last few years has been a sense of spontaneity. With the “digital revolution” has come a terrible epidemic of artists thinking too much and/or treating their work with too gentle a hand; they build (and build upon), develop and activelyproduce ideas rather than simply walking into a recording studio, plugging in,...

ARTIST: Finger Eleven – DATE: 08-06-15 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Five Crooked Lines LABEL: Bicycle Music Company/Concord/Universal Music It was very reasonable to assume that Finger Eleven had totally sold out years ago. Back in 2003, the success of “One Thing” – a mid-tempo, melancholy and balladesque number found in the late-playing of the band’s fourth album – dangled the gold-plated chain of pop prosperity before the group and they took it. After that, they jumped from point...

ARTIST: Best Coast – DATE: 08-05-15 REVIEW BY: G.Murray Thomas ALBUM: California Nights LABEL: Harvest/Universal Are Best Coast trying to be the new Ramones? Not by copying their music, but by repeating their career model. That is, by developing a signature sound and sticking with it album after album. Both bands have a style which is both catchy and hard edged; where the Ramones crossed the Beach Boys with Stooges, Best Coast blend Phil Spector with grunge. It’s a...