July 22nd, 2010 by Eric RexMickey out of Chicago wants to be dangerous rock n roll, but it comes across more like T-Birds rather than the Sharks or Jets. There’s a little too much Poison and not enough Dwarves for my tastes, but if you separate expectation of genre from what you’re actually hearing, there’s actually a good collection [...]
Category : album Review 
0 Comment » July 16th, 2010 by Eric RexRank / Xerox came highly recommended to me by Eric of La Corde. I ordered his band’s 7” and asked if there was anyone else I should check out in his neck of the woods. He rattled of a handful of bands I didn’t know, so I went and dropped some money. [...]
Category : album Review July 7th, 2010 by Eric RexI’m not going to lie to you, a combination of the three day weekend and the insane heatwave that we’ve experienced continuing from that weekend has made me feel quite lazy, to the point of not wanting to do ANYTHING much less write up music, but for you, I shall soldier on.
The Centerhits – City [...]
Category : album Review June 30th, 2010 by Eric RexSunpower sounds like someone loved the Dead Kennedys and tried to go out of their way to imitate them but have since pulled back away from that track and while the guitar tone and vocal style are still there, there’s enough of a distinction that allows you to enjoy Sunpower on their own merits.
Bondage is [...]
Category : album Review June 23rd, 2010 by Eric RexExtra Life is the current project of Charlie Looker, multi-instrumentalist composer who was in the “brutalist chamber group” Zs and worked with Brooklyn heroes The Dirty Projectors. Using what was described as a combination of “Medieval change, hardcore, dark neofolk abstract modernism and lush pop” there is a degree of intimidation up front, as [...]
Category : album Review June 18th, 2010 by Eric RexRebels Eat Apples album Body Popular is a bit of a hidden gem. A multi-faceted pop soaked lowest fidelity high tone hilarious bobby sock crotch rot great time. Filled with simple songs that flow in that stupid smart way that the best garage punk revivalists straddle.
Category : album Review June 8th, 2010 by Eric RexThe Men’s first full length album Immaculada entices and repulses. Relying on a lot of current tropes in the “best” of hardcore music right now it also injects a lot of now forgotten or ignored sounds back into the musical conversation which is the punk scene. This has the effect where half of [...]
Category : album Review May 25th, 2010 by Eric RexBlack Wine’s self titled debut is a combination of punk pop and late eighties early nineties alternative bands, there is the three chord sugarpop frenzy of bands like The Decendents and Agent Orange and the earnestness sound and structure of bands like Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, and other assorted 120 Minutes alums.
Like an episode of 120 [...]
Category : album Review May 18th, 2010 by Eric RexMystery by Daylight Robbery
When using the term adult punk, it makes me think of post-hardcore or post-punk acts, where bands like Fugazi tempered the elements of Minor Threat and Rites of Spring to generate a kind of controlled energy and lyrics less about how things “should be” and rather how things “are.” Though that’s [...]
Category : album Review May 11th, 2010 by Eric RexSlices’ first full length Cruising(Iron Lung Records) is an absolutely amazing piece of work. The twenty minutes of music is a great combination of hardcore, noise, and art tying rage at life and the joy in the act of creation together to create a band that has gone backwards, working from noise rock roots [...]
Category : album Review