A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the clear, colorless 2LP pressing of 5EPs by Dirty Projectors. From the very first instant I heard the music contained on 5EPs by Dirty Projectors, the clear and colorless 2LP set gave me pause. True, I had heard the group’s music before (the first album I heard was Swing Lo Magellan in 2012, and it really won me to the band’s banner), but 5EPs featured a sound so captivating that, the first...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Fat Possum reissue of the Catholic Boy LP by the Jim Carroll Band. Readers need to know that, first, I did not sleep on this review – the truth is that I’ve written and then started over with this review a multitude of times, but it has always stalled at one point of another, and caused...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Existential Reckoning LP by Puscifer. Ever since Maynard James Keenan first appeared on the rock radar, the singer’s depth as a creative entity has never been questioned or debated. The singer has always been so prolific that his muse has required three bands to be contained and satisfied; Tool came first and accommodated the heavy/mathy/stoic root of the singer’s output, A Perfect Circle arrived next to satisfy the singer’s poppier, “rock...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Oi – 40 Years Untamed compilation from Pirates Press Records. I confess that, when I first heard the punk subgenre known simply as Oi!, it was pretty far from my favorite thing. At the time, the music just didn’t seem to be too interesting to me – and it didn’t help that a couple of my friends insisted on playing Dropkick Murphys’ “Barroom Hero” constantly – often dedicating it to another...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Oi! This is Streetpunk! 2020 compilation from Pirates Press Records. This far into the evolution of punk rock, it has reached the point where the myriad sub-genres that punk produced are easily able to stand on their own as well as having a dedicated, autonomous fanbase which doesn’t necessarily rely on crossover appeal to get over with listeners. Simply said, hardcore bands don’t have to hope for some runoff fans from...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2LP, black and blue pressing of (MIA) by The Germs. There’s a certain perfect irony about the fact that, upon opening my vinyl copy of The Germs’ (MIA) reissue , I found that the sticker on the C-side of the album was mangled and torn in a manner which, while it was recognizable,...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the For Family and Flag Volume 1 compilation album. After the 3LP, red-covered release entitled One Country, One Flag was released two years ago, the idea that punk rock compilations were still a viable format (by then Punk-O-Rama had been retired by Epitaph and so had most of the other compilations that used to get given away for free at Warped Tour – only Fat Music For Fat People was still sort...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Agricultural Tragic LP by Corb Lund. It’s genuinely hard to believe that Agricultural Tragic is Corb Lund’s tenth full-length album (fifth for New West). Since first appearing in 1995, the Alberta-based band has maintained a release schedule which has managed to illustrate consistent growth and improvement on a timeline which it’s almost possible to set one’s watch to. Not only that, when fans hear that Corb Lund has a new album...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Same Old Line LP by The Spyrals. Ever wondered how much differently a record could possibly turn out when you consider the elements which went into it, reader? It might sound like a silly question, but really think about it; factor in a band’s region of origin, the tastes and sensibilities of the group’s members, the talents they have as well as the impression that they wish to leave, and the...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Jaime Wyatt’s Neon Cross LP. After having watched all the sonic and stylistic directions in which the artists on New West’s roster have gone, it feels more than a little reassuring to see that at least some artists are signed to a country music label because they want to make country music – and not necessarily just make music which happens to have a couple of C&W inflections in hand as that...