A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Heavy Machinery EP by SLIP-ons. There aren’t many ways for a band to write songs which sound unmistakably similar to the work of another group without sounding derivative. The only way that it’s possible to walk such a narrow and treacherous line is to be completely ignorant of it; the band in question just has to bull their way in and boldly be themselves – and any similarity that the group...

I first saw Chelsea O’Donnell perform as Stress Dolls at the Bug Jar in Rochester, NY in April of 2019. That night, she performed solo; a woman alone on stage with an electric guitar. One song, “Noise,” particularly caught my attention – it started mellow but built to her screaming, “sometimes I just want to make noise!” How could I not love that? I started following her on Bandcamp and quickly found much more to love, especially her harder rocking...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Interference Patterns LP by Guest Directors. While the idea of well-known musicians reappearing in new bands with some new musical ideas isn’t particularly new at this point (OFF! revived Keith Morris’ stake in hardcore, Kathleen Hanna’s comeback with The Julie Ruin has been spectacular and Paul Leary’s appearance with The Melvins was excellent – even if it was frustratingly short-lived), Guest Directors have taken that idea in some unexpected directions on...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Plays Music For Airports LP by Psychic Temple. Whatever you think you should expect from the Plays Music For Airports LP – Psychic Temple’s third album, chronologically – you’re going to discover that you’re wrong. First, the recently released vinyl record is a limited-press reissue; Plays Music For Airports originally came out on Joyful Noise Recordings in 2016 between Psychic Temple II in 2013 and Psychic Temple III which was originally...

WHO: Sleaford Mods WHAT: UK GRIM WHY: Look, that CREEM profile on them this year made them look like real wankers, but I’m trying to find a reason to hate UK GRIM and I can’t do it. Maybe they’re faking it all for a big payout or maybe CREEM blew their coverage, but UK GRIM is still in a class of its own, with politically and socially charged lyrics, with topics focused on elevating the working class and bringing the...

The Case of Leon Trotsky: Report of Hearings on the Charges Made against Him in the Moscow Trialsby Leon Trotsky I knew I was a fan of the life of Leon Trotsky but reading The Case of Leon Trotsky really made me realize that I might just be a Trotsky-head (no pun intended). There, I wanted to see how many times I could fit Trotsky in a single sentence. Way back in the 1930s, it wasn’t as clear to everyone...

National Lampoon’s Vacation Hey, there’s a lesson I want to teach you. Get close. You’re listening? Always save your Word documents. Yes, because we’re always depending on our computers to autosave them, or we don’t think they’ll automatically reboot and lose your file, or you’re convinced there’s a way of recovering your files, or you yourself accidentally rebooted your computer forgetting you had an unsaved file. Why did you do that? Because clicking “save as” is SUCH a PAIN...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Ouroboros EP by Kirkby Kiss. It might sound unlikely, but working in the music press can be surprisingly frustrating. The reason for that is simple, really – most bands believe that what they’re doing is unique enough that they couldn’t possibly be forgettable or mistaken for any other band. The problem is that, at a certain level, the name of a release can be mistaken for a band’s name and has...

WHO: OSEES WHAT: Intercepted message WHY: The OSEES are an unstoppable monster. Every year, we are almost certainly graced with a new OSEES album and multiple John Dwyer projects. Although OSEES albums are always interesting and a welcome addition to any musical rotation, they tend to become a bit repetitive, monotonous and difficult to engage with. Intercepted Message is a breath of fresh air into their discrography by bringing a more synth-pop flavor to the songs and offering an easier...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the On Further Reflection EP by Wrong War. At this point, now decades since hardcore reshaped the face of punk rock, it would be easy for someone who isn’t a part of the punk community (isn’t a fan) to not understand how anyone could get excited about “another punk 7”.” Really, that there’s a form and structure in place is impossible to deny; guitars are distorted, songs are fairly simple, lyrics normally...