The Cold Beat / Movers & Shakers – Split 7″
Why on earth didn’t I write about this way sooner? I dunno, but I know I’ve been listening to this split from the Massachusetts guys in The Cold Beat and Movers & Shakers. Both bands play gritty rock that just sounds great with the clicks, pops, and hiss than comes from playing this 7″. Specifically, (Read more…)
Andrew W.K. – 55 Cadillac
Andrew W.K.’s 2001 album I Get Wet is a simple, primal, fun, and (quite simply) phenomenal album of overproduced chugging pop-metal party anthems. This album, 55 Cadillac, the new Andrew W.K. album isn’t exactly fun. It’s just kinda forgettable. Still, even though there are few albums less essential than this one, I’m glad Andrew W.K. (Read more…)
Recess Monkey – The Final Funktier
Not that I’m a kid (even though I oftentimes act like one) but my favorite new kids music band is Recess Monkey (get it?) from Seattle, Washington. Their latest album The Final Funktier is super fun for kids (and grown ups) of all ages. From my perspective they sound like some awesome amalgam of Ben (Read more…)
Against Me! – White Crosses
It would be stupid to review this album by comparing it to earlier releases by Against Me!, but it would also be stupid to pretend they didn’t happen. Look at this way, Against Me first released the Crime As Forgiven By EP in 2001 and when they released their full-length debut Reinventing Axl Rose, some (Read more…)
The Forecast – The Forecast
I think I started my review of The Forecast’s last album In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen in exactly the same way; Peoria is a blue-collar working-class town in central Illinois and where The Forecast calls home and the influence of their Midwestern roots is clearly evident in the music. Sometime between then and now (Read more…)
Geronimo! – Fuzzy Dreams
The guys in Geronimo are originally from Rockford (as is my brother-in-law), so I was hoping for a little more Cheap Trick, but hey, this is pretty awesome all on its own. The band’s first full-length album, Fuzzy Dreams, is full of (well) fuzzy guitar riffs, swirling solos, psych-pop vocals, and everything I wouldn’t expect (Read more…)
Allister – Countdown To Nowhere
Here we are some three-plus years after Allister originally called it quits, but right on the heels of the band’s recent performance at Bamboozle Chicago and I’m writing about their new (yes, new) album, Countdown To Nowhere. It’s the band’s fourth full-length album and first since 2005’s Before The Blackout. Countdown To Nowhere isn’t scheduled (Read more…)
Arliss Nancy – Truckstop Roses EP
Band: Arliss Nancy Album: Truckstop Roses EP Label: Death To False Hope Records RIYL: Hard driving Southern-tinged rock that’s got just enough grit to make a whiskey chaser necessary, Lucero, Two Cow Garage, DBT, etc… Get the EP for free here. MP3: Subscribe for testking 1Y0-A15 training sessions to guarantee pass ccda exam. Also get (Read more…)
Passenger Action – Passenger Action
Passenger Action’s self-titled full-length is full of driving, emotive, and technical rock music that has the base of something unabashedly catchy a la Taking Back Sunday or even Saves The Day as well as something more dynamic like Knapsack or Static Prevails-era Jimmy Eat World. There are good vocal harmonies, there is solid fretwork, and (Read more…)
