Fast X Has the Fast and the Furious franchise jumped the shark? I know it’s a silly thing to say, because the whole franchise is a shark jump, but here, in its 10th iteration, the franchise seems to be double, tripling, octupleting down on its concepts and setups. But let’s back up a second and look at the whole thing. Fast X sets up the last trilogy of the series, meaning there’s going to be a Fast XI and...

I was excited to see the Sadies for many reasons, but mostly because of the opportunities it brought. First of all, it’s exciting to see a band you’re a fan of that you’ve never seen before. Then, I remembered I HAD seen them before. In 2007 in Madrid opening and then backing up Jon Spencer. Of course they made an impression because I’ve been a fan ever since. Another opportunity is to see a band who, mysteriously, released their best...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Drowns’ Blacked Out LP. While the number of ways that a band may choose to change their sound in the name of refreshing it or updating it are almost innumerable, what The Drowns have done on Blacked Out is genuinely impressive. This time out, the band has left most of the punk and hardcore are forms that the band has been developing and refining over the last few years behind and...

WHO: Pissed Jeans WHAT: Half-Divorced WHY: Punks can be scary and funny. They also cry. I’ve never heard a band that combines such fury, aggression, and rawness, with hilarious observational humor. Half-Divorced is only a half hour long (as albums like this SHOULD be), and frontman Matt Korvette barks about helicopter parents, the downsides of where we live, and of course, being happy that he’s ONLY $62,000 in debt. This stuff is aggro as shit but brings a smile to...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the For Family And Flag Volume 2 LP. While it took a little longer for Pirates Press to return to their For Family and Flag series than anyone likely expected , there’s no question that the label couldn’t have picked a more opportune time or angle of approach for a return, as one scans the track list on For Family And Flag...

Aquaman The Lost Kingdom You gotta give it up for Jason Momoa who’s made a career for himself being the handsome knucklehead. Also, you gotta give it up for him for bringing hope to the fledgling DC Snyderverse with Aquaman. Snyder’s run wasn’t exactly filled with highlights, but some of the movies in his run at least were successful. I don’t know how much I liked the first Aquaman, but I remember there being some great action sequence. But,...

Son Henry & T. Rogers Band Grace (Twang House Records) In 2009, American blues musician and lap steel virtuoso Son Henry arrived at a music festival in Estonia with only his lap steel. The rest of his equipment was stuck at Heathrow Airport, where it remained for six months. He was rescued by T. Rogers band, “a group of mad Hungarians,” as he put it. They loaned him equipment and gave him stage time. A lifelong connection was established. Ten...

WHO: Mary Timony WHAT: Untame the Tiger WHY: Timony might be considered a guitar goddess, but if that’s the case, she doesn’t let it on. Maybe it’s safer to say she’s a guitarist’s guitarist. That being said, anyone listening to her music can expect the guitar to be the highlight. Her newest solo record is the first one in over a decade and was written during tumultuous times: a breakup, and the loss of both her parents. But out of...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Complicators’ self-titled album. While it’s very easy for any critic to come off as surprised when a band reassembles a set of well-used, time-honored musical cliches and presents something which works, it’s far more difficult to find the flaw which ultimately causes that very familiar structure to fall apart and/or come off as completely irredeemable.How does one do it? How does one point to the problem which ultimately caused the house...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the This Is How Democracy Dies LP by Brigata Vendetta. Okay, after the last few years of pundits both educated and ill-informed questioning the health and longevity of democracy and looking at the concept so closely the eye-strain could easily be attributable to a migraine, the idea of another punk band stepping forward to declare, “Us too!” is almost laughable enough to drive this critic into a stress-induced mental breakdown. Happily though,...