Six Finger Satellite Severe Exposure Deluxe & Expanded Edition Trust no one when it comes to music. Well, trust your sources. I mean, trust sources who’ve been a good guide to you in the past. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, you CAN trust people when it comes to music. But, be cautious. There’s nothing worse than following the advice of people who know almost nothing about music. Like, you know Geese? That album they put out...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Ponderosa Bunchgrass and the Golden Rule LP by The Oot n’ Oots. I confess that I have sat on this review (or rather, have dragged my feet on writing this review) for an unreasonably long time. A lot of that had to do with the fact that I honestly had no idea how to approach it; The Oot N’ Oots (the band itself) and Ponderosa Bunchgrass and the Golden Rule (the...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Fantasy > Reality LP by MOVIESTARZ. Over the last fifteen years, those working within the punk genre have gone to great lengths to try and reinvent it – but everyone has always come up a little short on achieving something which has felt brand new and exciting. When VICE Records made the leap and attempted to reinvent hardcore with OFF! on their First Four EPs release, the results were fine and...

WHO: Radioactivity WHAT: Time Won’t Bring Me Down WHY: Because, it’s Jeff Burke and the name Burke is synonymous with quality. Time Won’t Bring Me Down is a sentimental pop punk album, in spite of its name. If you’re a fan of the Marked Men, then you already know about this band, and if you don’t, now’s your chance to get on the bandwagon. This album shows that pop punk  can still feel relevant, edgy and beautiful, and the trio...

I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alanby Steve Coogan, Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons I never thought I’d go down the Alan Partridge rabbit hole to this degree. Years ago, I watched the This is Alan Partridge show, liked it, then forgot about it. But then, the Steve Coogan/Rob Brydon “The Trip” series started popping up on my radar, and after watching all of them (in series form, not movies – I’m a cultured man), I then started mining the...

Young WidowsPower Sucker Sorry to get heavy on everyone but I want to start this review with a question: “Why do we listen to music?” Deep, huh? The answer, of course, varies from person to person. Some listen to music to fill the silence, some for convenience, some unintentionally. My father even said once that he doesn’t like music. “Too noisy,” he quipped. He nailed it! I listen to music as a way to connect. These sounds – these organized...

A Christmas Caroland Other Christmas Writingsby Charles DickensIntroduction and notes by Katherine Kroeber Wiley It’s a tale as old as time… if we started counting about 175 years ago. Seriously, I couldn’t believe it when I looked it up. A Christmas Carol was published in 1843. Isn’t that nuts? Even I thought it was around the late 1800s, like around the Jack the Ripper times. It’s a great story, anyway. One that’s withstood the test of… time? Everyone has their...

The Dark Knight Strikes Againby Frank Miller Isn’t this what everyone wanted? We all loved The Dark Knight Returns. I think at the time we saw it as an edgy dark take on a beloved superhero. A recent reread kind of puts the story, and Frank Miller, more in perspective. It’s super simplistically libertarian, man. Just, WOW. I don’t know if Miller is capable of being self-aware. One thing for sure is, he definitely doesn’t think it’s fascism if the...

Photo: Kay Davila You know, sometimes life gets the best of us. Like being overworked, or started a new job (work!) or just family obligations. My “distraction” was vacation. I went to Aruba. Sue me, OK? But, I deserve it. Also, I loved it. But I mention this because right before I left, I had the great pleasure of seeing Jon Spencer’s band live. I’m talking the DAY before. And since I left, I can’t stop thinking about this show....

Photos by Kay...