A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Monstervision LP by Round Eye. Since first appearing as the “band on the other side of a split album with Libyan Hit Squad” a couple of years ago , Round Eye has always been upfront regarding its’ affinity for vinyl releases, but...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Harrington Saints’ “Red State” 7” single. It’s not uncommon for punk bands to tackle political subject matter, but it is unusual to hear the language of Republican politics appear in a punk song. That’s what makes the title track from Harrington Saints’ newest 7”, “Red State,” so compelling; while the song itself is not actually “red,”it utilizes the language as a discussion point in order to uncover the politics and psychology of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Goodbye Love” LP by Dirty Fences. After taking four years to let their sound season with the help of regular touring and new releases (it’s really easy to chart the development Dirty Fences has undergone between their debut album, Too High To Kross, and their sophomore effort, Full Tramp), there’s no question in listening to “Goodbye Love” that the band has arrived and are ready to take over the world. This...
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Nick Bertozzi It’s comic books like these that I love writing about. Partly because it helps fuel the fire of the flame I’m stoking about how mainstream superhero comics are now irrelevant. Also, because The Good Earth is a fantastic book that I want to tell everyone about. Yes, I know it was a novel long before it was a comic book, so hold your horses. Instead of dealing with flying capes and...
Back To The Future Part II – Original Score 2XLP By Alan Silvestri More complex movies do exist of course, but few are as transcendent or as satisfying as Back to the Future. It’s been said that the script is like a Swiss watch: so well crafted. The BTTF trilogy is such a monument to cinematic achievement that collectively we know all the parts to the movies, but still haven’t seen them enough to truly merit such academic scholarship. The...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Chew LP by Muskets. As bands like Able Baker Fox, Into It. Over It., Citizen and Tiger’s Jaw have appeared (or reappeared, in some cases), discussions around the re-emergence of emo have become a discussion point, but longtime fans have been very, very careful to get on board with it, to this point. A lot of that has to do with the fact that fans know this has been a thing...
Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur Think back to the morning of November 9th, going to work and thinking “How exactly did this happen? How could we not have seen this coming?” Now imagine you’re journalist Katy Tur, on the campaign trail for 500 days, and on election night wondering the same thing. It wasn’t until it was too late that she realized what was going to happen. By then it was...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Undivided Heart & Soul LP by JD McPherson. The beauty of JD McPherson’s new album is that calling it a “classic” or “fantastic new album” is definitely apt and accurate, but neither phrase affords the album the distinction it deserves. From note one, Undivided Heart & Soul employs a directory of time-honored songwriting and performance staples which have historically spun yards of platinum for those who have used them previously. At...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Bubblegum Brainwaves LP by Weird Owl Weird Owl is a genuine anomaly in the music industry in several ways: since forming in 2004, the group has not let anything – not lineup changes, not label changes, not changes in focus or sound – deter them from keeping a consistent release schedule. The band’s fifth full-length (sixth release) finds the band nailing a genuine and true presentation of psychedelic rock – that...
Katy Perry Prism Photo:Turntablelab.com I remember the summer of 2010, on route 22 in Harrisburg driving in a car with friends and talking about Katy Perry. At this point, she had already begun to win me over as a listener and during our discussion of her music and her newest music video for California Gurls, someone mentioned that it was inarguably the song of the summer. “I bet we could look for it on the radio right now and find...