At a certain point, a band just has to get real when it comes time to make a new record. 'Getting real' just means being themselves; eventually, a band comes to realize that they don't have to be a dynamic force of nature or a spectacular phenomenon, they just have to remember what got them excited about making their own music in the first place, capture it on record and give it to fans. There's no particular timeline on which...

Depending on the day, it's very easy to love and very easy to hate the side project albums that members of well-known punk bands make. On the days when the average listener loves them, they'll appreciate the deliberate departures from their established comfort zones that artists make; sometimes it's fun to listen to Chuck Ragan get all folky or hear Chris Wollard take to the mic with the Ship Thieves. It can be fun, but none of that is really...

For some records, the quality of the songs on them is only part of their lasting appeal; the historical merit of the record coming along when it did is part of the story too, as is the personality of the band as it appeared at the moment the tape rolled. That all contributes to the make-up of a classic album but, more than that, there is something intangible about the music which causes it to continue standing out years after...

Since starting his Bootleg Series twenty-two years ago, Bob Dylan has proven that there is definitely lots of material left in the vaults which is worth hearing. There are demos, for example, of material from 1961 through 2006 which give indications of the songwriter's working process, and those have proven to be fascinating – as have the live performances which were not lost to the bulk tape erasers. The different facets of the Bootleg Series have all been very illuminating,...

It may have taken ten years for the band to really loosen up and allow itself to really feel the rhythm and possibilities in its music, but Franz Ferdinand has emerged as a new and finer outfit on Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – their fourth studio album. The difference between this and every other album in the band's catalogue is apparent right away as “Right Action” swaggers out and opens the record; while they were never strangers to...

Good day my troubled brothers and sisters!I have had an awakening! An epiphany! I have seen the error of my ways – seen the light – and wanted to share the good word with you! Life is worth living, and the singer who showed me the way was Zacardi Cortez. I included his song here today as a tribute of enlightenment – it is big and bold and beautiful, and is action-packed with strains which will certainly soothe your much...

In some cases, it's just impossible to appreciate something until you hear it. Such a claim may seem dubious, but it's true – and the proof is contained on Hawkeyes' new cassette, Poison Slows You Down. Yes, you read that right – it's a cassette. Recently, hipsters have been trying to convince the world that, for the value of their economical nature alone (they're virtually indestructible), cassettes are the most pitifully underrated format in human history. To be fair, the...

"Here's a story,” said Paul Westerberg during the reformed Replacements' performance at Riot Fest in Toronto, “Sitting on the stairs of the bus and I pass a paper over for a signature. James Osterberg writes back, "I owe you nothing" and hands it back to me. I think, "There's something there. I'm gonna use this.” And with that The Replacements launched into "I.O.U," the last song of their triumphant reunion show last night at Fort York, closing out the last...

Every now and then, we like to make an exception here at Ground Control for great albums which are not exactly current, but are so great we kick ourselves for not having been the ones that brought them to your attention in the first place. In this edition of the Vinyl Vlog, we bring you just that. Out of left field and completely outside of my radar comes the debut album by Ex-Cult (formerly Sex-cult). This garage punk band from...

Selena Gomez "just want to party all night/ in the neon light" ("Slow Down"), and she makes no excuses about it. Oh, wait, yes she does. "Tell them it's my birthday," she sings, "when I party like that" ("Birthday"). Stars Dance is supposedly the album where Gomez grows up. Or, at least, stops being a squeaky clean Disney queen. Which, apparently, means dance all night and, maybe, even have sex. As we have seen, the party all night is pretty...