Records

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Good Night Tomorrow LP by NEEDLES//PINS. Such occurrences are rare, but sometimes all the tumblers align and a band doesn’t just produce the best damned music of its career, that music happens to get released in just the right place at the right time that the music catches a large amount of attention. There are too many variables at work to try and plan something like that; it pretty much has...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Unclean 7” by Tough Age. After they’ve gone through all three songs which comprise Tough Age’s new Unclean 7”, listeners may find that they need to take a moment and collect themselves – I certainly did. I needed to step back and collect myself because I had no particular desire to just spill ink and compliments all over a page; true, all three songs are great and effortlessly called out the...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Vine LP by Jen Gloeckner. Anyone who has ever gone to therapy knows that it can take years to accurately qualify, articulate and compartmentalize feelings like anger, resentment, isolation, love, affection, confusion and emotional unease and then begin to deal with them in a healthy manner. It’s all a process and, in that regard, Jen Gloeckner has arrived miles ahead of the game on her third album, Vine; after having slugged...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the We All Want The Same Things LP by Craig Finn. Saying that some musicians are just natural-born rock phenomena might sound unbelievable on the face of the statement, but let’s be honest – some rock singers/frontmen were built for the job and could not easily be seen doing anything else. Where else, for example, could anyone imagine seeing Jeff Tweedy or Neil Young but at stage centre in front of a...

Murray McLauchlan Love Can’t Tell Time (True North Records) When your body of work spans nineteen albums released over a 46-year period, it’s obvious that your love affair with music is a lifelong one. Such is really the only way it could be possible to take Love Can’t Tell Time, Murray McLauchlan’s newest release – by the singer’s own admission, the album is, “A great collection of songs I love to play when I have no other agenda than just...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Stadium Way’s self-titled 7” EP. While the idea of the members of punk bands starting side projects in order to express ideas which won’t fit the form of their main band is not a new one, few side projects in recent memory are quite as compelling as Stadium Way. Formed by Matt Henson and Kenny Dirkes as a getaway from their duties as bassist/singer and drummer in rough housing punk band Noi!SE,...

The Descendents Hypercaffium Spazzinate (Epitaph Records) The differences in the performance and presentation of Hypercaffium Spazzinate from every other Descendents album are subtle but evident from the moment “Feel This” screeches in to open the album. There, while the tempo of the drums and guitar are precisely at the speed fans would expect them to be (at that of an over-caffeinated blur, of course), the tone in Milo’s voice has changed to reflect a different demeanor from that of any...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Anti-State War Machine EP by Kriegs Legion. It’s impossible to listen to Kriegs Legion’s new EP and not flash on the crew of bands which came before them who didn’t exactly typify hardcore or punk rock in any manner, but did explode forth with a sound and vision all their own under those banners. Bands of this tradition included names like D.O.A., Cosmic Psychos, Negative Trend and Agnostic Front; a diverse...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the diecut “Carry On” single by Booze & Glory The catch about the genre that’s affectionately known as “street punk” is that those who make the music often do not make it for very long. The reason for that is simple: street punk is impoverished by nature – the best of the genre is made by penniless players who are making music either to entertain themselves or their friends – and loses...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Ancient Shapes’ self-titled debut LP. While Daniel Romano has found great success exposing his Country & Western inspirations over the last few years (both 2011’s Sleep Beneath The Willows and 2013’s Come Cry With Me got longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize in those respective years), it’s refreshing and relieving to hear that the singer has elected to turn up and speed up for the new project he has called Ancient Shapes....