Posts under ‘Music Reviews’

[Best New Music]
For a debut album, Summer Months by Joie De Vivre has received a generous amount of attention (Must be their excellent PR company!- Will). Fortunately, it’s well deserved. Simply put, Joie De Vivre fills the void left by 90s emo bands such Mineral and Christie Front Drive. Drawn-out, earnest vocal delivery of honest […]

Speaking In Tongues 7″

There’s been a lot of drama in the Teenage Cool Kids camp since the release of their fine debut, Queer Salutations. They recorded this fine piece of wax, a brand new LP and oh, they were sued by that shitty rap band, Cool Kids for name/copyright issues. Oh, the glamorous life of […]

This is a good band held back by poor production. Cold Blooded would be a superior release if not for the ska-sounding “pop” of the snare drum and the thinness of the guitars. Actually, they could just do with another guitarist in general. Fix these things and you fix Anchor Arms, but I guess I’m […]

Sharks And Sailors hail from Houston, TX and play a pleasant mix of mathy indie rock post-hardcore. If bands like Shiner, Chavez or Hum float your boat then Builds Brand New is an album you should have on your radar. Characterized by meaty riffs and deceptive melodies, Sharks And Sailors debut has a tendency to […]

Hoist Me Up! 7″
[Best New Music]

(I reviewed the band’s Demo CD-R back in October of 08. Salinas was kind enough to still send me the vinyl release recently so I thought I would re-post my review. The release was in my Top Ten EPs of 2008.)
From the ashes of Each Other’s Mothers and Tin Kitchen, […]

Let’s get one thing straight; The Casting Out is a great live band. They’re performances are high energy and they completely sell the show. Unfortunately, this is a review of their debut full-length, Go Crazy! Throw Fireworks! With that in mind, here are a few notes to familiarize you with the subject at hand.
The Casting […]

[Best New Music]
Some bands are just not meant to be caged in. If you follow the trajectory of My Heart To Joy’s output, the band’s full-length debut, Seasons In Verse, might come as a surprise at first. But, when studied closer it is in fact the logical culmination of a burning that has noticeably been […]

Pilgrim is the first full length release from the Durham, NC quartet Red Collar. Invoking the spirit of bands like The Clash, The Replacements and yes, even Springsteen, Red Collar attempts to remind people of the salvation of simple rock songs and the “lost art” of the live show. Unfortunately, Red Collar […]

You are gonna know right away if you like this. Fan of the Drive-By Truckers? How about the more country twinged Replacements stuff? Dig scruffy-voiced dudes singing about the day-in, day-out trials of love? Yeah, me too. Will asks us to suggest a track, so I’m going to recommend a shit-kicker (there are two types […]

Lesson #1: Don’t start an EP off with an acoustic sing along! A lot of people really hate those acoustic sing alongs and might throw out your disc before even giving the other songs a chance. Ok, now that we have gotten that established, Man Overboard, despite starting off on a bad note, came back […]