Over the last ten years, the notion that being glib is the height of biting sarcasm and criticism has spread like a virus, been refined and finally honed to a flawless edge before being sent out to hack down the previous crop of next big things suddenly and brutally. The problem with such slash and burn tactics is that there just aren't that many bands coming up that are particularly good at it; because they all pass through so quickly...

It doesn't happen very often in the business of being in a rock n' roll band but, every now and then, it's reassuring to know that things happen on the time line that was originally projected. Such is the case with Endgame's release; earlier this year, Megadeth singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine went on the record saying that his band would have a new release on store shelves in September, 2009 and, lo and behold, Endgame has not only appeared on time,...

The Mars Volta are one of those bands that you either get or you don’t. For the ones that do, their barrage of aural explosions come at you like a meteor shower, but somehow your brain allows you to make sense of it all like after looking at a stereogram for a few seconds. The beautiful picture hidden in the sea of dots separates from the background and you can appreciate it for all its glory. For others, unfortunately, that...

tba   Downloads: "Headcrusher" – "1,320" –...

Since first appearing on record store shelves five years ago, Elliott BROOD has infiltrated the minds and hearts of listeners twice already, both times in a similar, but dramatically affecting, way: with a bit of the deep south in them and the shadows of the gothic craziness one can find there on them, they've started slowly and carefully, building with each successive track on a given record until, about halfway in, listeners discover they've been launched headlong into the most...

The are moments (this might be one of them) when one has to ask, “At what point does high concept become an enactment of self-indulgent drivel?” Sure – multi-passage songs are not unheard of in the context of concept albums – everyone from Pink Floyd to Ween to Green Day has don them in some capacity at one point or another and done them well – but when a band's album has to be a two-disc set because the first...

There are lots of ways to try and argue around it, but it's difficult to honestly deny that Cuff The Duke was one of the least likely inductees into the wave of Canadian rock that crashed against the US border about eighteen months ago, thus forcing the American market to accept the fact that they weren't the only ones in North America with a music community. The easiest way to say it is that the band stuck out like a...

When Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs first got in bed with each other and dove under the covers three years ago to re-examine the work of acts like The Mamas And The Papas, The Beatles, The Velvet Underground and Neil Young, the effect was a touch of magic. With sugary but both sweet and sour melodies, Hoffs and Sweet (occasionally known as Sid And Susie) gave up some inspired interpretations of some classic AM radio staples that did more than...

Andrew Jackson Jihad/Cobra SkullsUnder the Influence Vol. 6(Vinyl Collective, 2009)1. “Two-Headed Boy”2. “Subterranean Homesick Blues”Availability: Vinyl Collective will gladly sell you a copy. (www.vinylcollective.com ) Vinyl Collective has taken it upon themselves to give their artists some already-earned cred. And what better way to do this than by letting them cover their favorite bands? As was the case with the previous five installments of the Under The Influence series, Volume 6 once again features two bands and...

After it has been in place and thriving for a while, it's very easy to forget when a given institution wasn't there and punk rock is no exception. By now, it's a safe assertion that punk's presence has become virtually universal – there are a couple of kids making noise with three chords and something they want to say in even the smallest, most backwoods little town the whole world over – but that hasn't always been the case. After...