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Green DayFather of All Motherfuckers (Reprise/Warner)I must confess that, for the first time in almost thirty years (that was the first time I heard Kerplunk and became a fan), the first new song I heard from Father of All Motherfuckers felt like a balk and not a hit to me. The first song I heard was the album’s title track, and it really took me by surprise; I had read that Billie Joe Armstrong really wanted to change up what...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Bowels of Earth LP by Entombed A.D. I have to confess that the last time I paid any attention to the members of Entombed was around 1993, when the band released Wolverine Blues. The truth is that I became interested when I saw an ad for it in an X-Men comic book, and Wolverine Blues became my first real introduction to death metal. Ironically, I’ve been pretty picky about anything I’ve...

What a year 2018 was! Were there great releases? Heavens yes – there were enough great albums released this year that bands normally regarded as mainstays on my best-of lists of ANY year (like the Eels, for example) didn’t just get knocked down the numbers, they got knocked clean out of my ten best. Regarding metal albums specifically, Cancer Bats’ sixth album arrived and proved once more that, sometimes, a band’s sixth album can stand as proof that a good...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Just Business” LP by Bass Drum of Death. Even upon one’s first play through Bass Drum of Death’s fourth album, listeners will quickly be able to note that its title is a complete fucking misnomer. Nothing about this album is “Just Business”; it’s impossible to not take this music personally because it is that good and does mark a spectacular potential turning point for the band. Simply put, “Just Business” rocks...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime LP by Family Of The Year. It’s funny how, as similar to one another as every Family Of The Year has been to date, Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime feels like a significant departure and/or move forward for the band. That Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime is the group’s first album for Reprise after enjoying a celebrated 2LP+1EP stretch at Nettwerk is irrelevant – Family Of The Year has...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Go Farther In Lightness 2LP by Gang Of Youths. For the nearly half-century since the genre’s inception now, one of the few steadfast foundations upon which punk rock has stood has been nihilism. Consistently, the spirit of punk has been one of “Fuck it all – strip the music down to the barest essentials and get emotionally dark and bleak – at least that way we’ll all beat the world at...

Without intending to overstate the point, what a year 2017 was. Throughout the last twelve months, the world has seen the most unlikely turn which brought power to President Donald Trump, mourned the loss of such fantastic musicians as Tom Petty, Chris Cornell and Chuck Berry, and saw an absolutely tremendous amount of new and exciting music appear on new release racks. Fans were absolutely awe-struck As some bands revisited their catalogues and capitalized on the recent renewed interest in...

Eagles Of Death Metal Nos Amis (Our Friends) (Blu Rae) (Shout Factory/HBO Documentary Films) I should confess that I delayed reviewing Nos Amis for as long as I could, before I say anything else in this review. The reason for that was almost entirely personal; during the release cycle for Heart On (EODM’s sophomore album), I had the good fortune of getting to interview and to know singer/guitarist Jesse Hughes – about as well as any journalist gets to know...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Best Of The Best” b/w “45” seven inch single by Roadside Bombs. It’s pretty uncommon for a punk band to publicly praise a music journalist (not that it never happens, just that it doesn’t happen regularly) so when Roadside Bombs doesn’t just praise a critic, they put his face on the A-side of a single and publicly promote him as being “The Best of The Best,” it begs attention.The critic in...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2LP edition of Legacy by David Bowie. On the surface, the existence of Legacy – the newest compilation of the greatest hits from David Bowie’s songbook – likely comes off as a little confusing. The set arrived almost two years to the day after Nothing Has Changed (a.k.a. The greatest hits comp which was curated by the artist himself) and, name-for-name, features a very, very (very – it’s about 75% the...