Oh pop punk, why do I love thee so and why/how do I keep finding good and entertaining bands to listen to? I almost can’t take it anymore. My brain’s on overload. Backseat Virgins are just that sort of band. They’re a bubblegum pop punk band from Birmingham, Alabama complete with [...]
Music & More Since 2005
Tag Archive: album reviews
Arms Aloft – Comfort At Any Cost 7″
I happened across Arms Aloft and their four-song 2008 7” Comfort At Any Cost when I saw them open for Banner Pilot at Ronny’s in Chicago this past summer where I couldn’t really hear ‘em too well, but I can say with authority that this record is great. It’s the sort of music that [...]
Barrel Roll – It’s A Gold Mine Down There
I don’t know much about the band and despite telling me they’re from Greenville, IL (where the fuck is Greenville?), their Myspace page doesn’t say much. On their album, It’s A Gold Mine Down There, however, Barrel Roll plays a really weird combination of fast southern California pop punk, east coast hardcore, and crazy [...]
Heartsounds – Until We Surrender
My wife and I were listening to Strung Out’s Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues the other day and commenting just how great that record is, and while Heartsounds might not sound exactly like Strung Out, it’s easy to listen to their debut album, Until We Surrender, and hear the similarities. The record is full of [...]
Latin For Truth – Eleven Eleven
Latin For Truth and their album Eleven Eleven is really really good but flawed. It’s like a combination of Living With Lions, New Found Glory and some good but semi-ridiculous pseudo-heavy East coast-y hardcore parts. I guess it’s posi popcore. There’s some great riffage and some killer melodies, but on more than [...]
Four Year Strong – Explains It All
Does an entire covers album full of 90’s alternative radio hits sound like a good idea for a hardcore-influenced pop-punk band? I didn’t think so either, but that’s exactly what Four Year Strong’s latest release, Explains It All is. Bad move space cadet. Now before you judge me, know that this isn’t a [...]
Jeff Caudill – Had To Be There EP
Everyone that reads this blog should know that I’m a big Jeff Caudill fan and if you don’t then you haven’t been paying attention and I need to ask, “What are you even doing here?” How’s that for disclosure? Anyhow, last year Jeff released the full-length Try To Be Here and has “officially” followed [...]
Teenage Bottlerocket – They Came From The Shadows
If you like pop punk and you aren’t listening to Teenage Bottlerocket, my questions for you are then, “Why the hell not,” “Are you crazy,” and, “You’ve gotta be smoking crack, right?” In short, the new album from these Laramie, Wyoming punks, They Came From The Shadows, shows exactly why they are the best [...]
The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
I do believe that The Low Anthem may be the first band from Rhode Island that I’ve ever heard and if they are any indication what that state has to offer musically, we’d all better start looking for more. On Oh My God, Charlie Darwin The Low Anthem starts off sounding like an amalgam [...]
The Mercury Program – Chez Viking
I saw The Mercury Program at the Fireside Bowl years ago with The Firebird Band and swiftly grabbed a hold of almost their entire discography to that point, and then… nothing. A whole lot of nothing coming from the band. So just imagine my surprise when I found out the Gainesville, FL band [...]
