Helen Earth Band – Our Own Ghost City
Helen Earth Band is from San Diego and (although they aren’t quite as abrasive as some of their peers and predecessors) they do have more than a little of that city’s angular and mathy post-hardcore sound. The 13 songs on Our Own Ghost City are full of complex rhythms, interlocking guitar lines, and pleasantly melodic (Read more…)
Minus The Bear – OMNI
Another album that has sorta turned into the summer (slow) jam of the year is Minus The Bear’s latest, OMNI. This band never ceases to amaze me with the way they weave whatever it is they do. Some history should include that my wife and I both love the band’s 2005 album Menos el Oso, (Read more…)
Sleep Bellum Sonno – Judge Us By How We Lived Our Lives, Not By How We Made Our Living
Sleep Bellum Sonno is from Long Island and their sophomore album, Judge Us By How We Lived Our Lives, Not By How We Made Our Living, is a complex and ambitious collection of songs that is as well executed as it is carefully composed. As far as concept albums go, this one is a doozy. (Read more…)
Pianos Become The Teeth – Old Pride
On Old Pride Baltimore, Maryland’s Pianos Become The Teeth puts an interesting and refreshing spin on screamo by fleshing out their chaotic bursts and screamed vocals with atmospheric post-rock and what could almost be called straightforward hardcore (or at least post-hardcore) with moments that even remind me of what you might hear on early 90’s (Read more…)
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 just released (Read more…)
Early Day Miners – The Treatment
On their sixth-full length, The Treatment, Indiana’s Early Day Miners have somewhat changed directions without really changing at all. There are still the repetitive and atmospheric elements of the band’s sound full intact, but there’s much more melody here than I expected. Despite the bands new found focus on a poppier sound, Early Day Miners (Read more…)
Castevet – Summer Fences
Castevet is a group from Chicago that I’d never heard of until Will from Beartrap sent me their album a few months ago and (now) I regret not spinning this one sooner. Summer Fences is a strange (but awesome) combination of gruff shouty vocals and twinkly atmospheric post-rock guitars that are held together by a (Read more…)
Gray Young – Firmament
Playing cinematic post-rock can be a slippery slope to navigate, but on their first full-length, Firmament, the Releigh, NC trio Gray Young manages to escape much of what plagues the generally overwrought genre. Instead of going for the grandeur that many of their peers aim for and fail to attain, Gray Young does the unthinkable, (Read more…)
