A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Sleeping Through The War LP by All Them Witches. They might not actually be from the desert (in fact they’re from Nashville, TN), but that doesn’t mean All Them Witches haven’t channelled the heat, aridity and all the weirdness normally associated such a landscape and front-loaded it onto their fourth full-length album, Sleeping Through The War. This time though, no introductions get made (none are really necessary – the band had...
The Gun Club Fire of Love (Porterhouse Reissue) If you’re serious about your music you know that listening to it can be one of two things: pleasure or homework. There are those times when you listen to music purely for pleasure: a new band you’ve heard of, or an old record you want to revisit. Other times, listening to music takes the form of homework: there are these gaps in your knowledge that need filling, or a reference you need...
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 vinyl reissue of the Labyrinth soundtrack by David Bowie and Trevor Jones. While his career was characterized by no small number of unusual events, arguably the greatest concentration of weirdness about David Bowie’s career can be found in the 1980s. Within those ten fateful years, Bowie released albums which have come to be regarded as some of his finest (Let’s Dance was the album which broke the singer into the Top...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Freeze Me” flexi-disc by Death From Above. It might not really need saying, but listening to the new flexi-disc from Death From Above really reiterates what a creatively fertile period the last few years have been for the group. The appearance of The Physical World in 2013 marked the beginning of a new era for the band; on that album, the group better developed their sound so it functioned well beyond...
The Fifth Element Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mondo) Eric Serra It’s going to take a lot for me not to start yammering on like Ruby Rhod when I talk about the Fifth Element. I’ve been in awe of it ever since I saw it as a kid. From the story, to the characters, to the sets, to the outfits, everything in the Fifth Element is executed at an absolutely stellar level. Surprisingly, all this has not prevented the movie...
ALL Pummel (Porterhouse Records) I think it goes without saying that in the ALL/Descendents camp, ALL will always be the more underappreciated group. It’s strange to think that, out of the two, the band that’s considered the part-time project (Descendents) will always get all the glory. Not that ALL has had a stronger musical output, mind you (though after the Descendents’ Hypercaffium Spazzinate that gap might be closing in), but the fact remains that when the cards are...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Family Hangover LP by Walrus. When one considers Walrus’ debut LP, Family Hangover, the first stumbling block which comes up is where the music came from. As one listens, it quickly becomes easy to pick out little bits of ideas which were obviously originally the work of artists who initially inspired the band and, because those stylistic breadcrumbs are so easy to spot, one will quickly begin to wonder just how...
Mastodon Emperor of Sand There’s a reason why Mastodon is currently one of the biggest metal bands that still matters. They don’t pack in stadiums, I know, but they’re not playing tiny venues either. They’re big enough to play all the late night shows (I’ve seen them on Letterman, Kimmel, and Fallon), and even occasionally do the oddball appearance (remember when they were on the Human Giant show?). Also, they have a sense of humor about themselves. These are...