The Singles Club: The Libertines / Velociraptor
The Libertines – Gunga Din Justin Edwards: I could always understand the appeal of The Libertines in 2002/03 but also considered that they managed to peak between albums with the post-first album Don’t Look Back into the Sun and the pre-second album Can’t Stand Me Now. In 2014 I can’t really understand the appeal of […]
White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again (Polyvinyl)
Damn you, White Reaper. Look at you, with yr catchy 60s-styled garage tunes, and yr tried-and-true hooks, and yr Ramones-y gallop. Look at you guys go. You’re like all the parties I’ve never been to, the ones where everyone is twisting by the pool and some lucky couple’s making out in their cherry red Corvette […]
Shoegaze Showdown – FOREVR vs. Deafcult
Before we begin, let’s review the rule book. HOW TO REVIVE SHOEGAZE IN 4 EASY STEPS 1. Get a chick. 2. Figure out how to make that bendy guitar string sound. 3. Lay down some woozy vocals. Sing as soft as you can. It’s best if you can’t understand anything later once you add in […]
Refused – Freedom (Epitaph)
Whatever [Joseph] Conrad’s problems were, you might say he is now safely dead. Quite true. Unfortunately his heart of darkness plagues us still. Which is why an offensive and deplorable book can be described by a serious scholar as “among the half dozen greatest short novels in the English language.” And why it is today […]
Spray Paint – Punters on a Barge (Homeless)
So. Wanna feel the ground squirm under your feet like a thousand worms? Wanna feel your mind melt ever so slowly into tie-dye colored goop? Wanna feel NOTHING? Punters On A Barge by Spray Paint GOD FUCK. Think the sheer metal alien attack of Chrome, fused with steamrolling kraut beats, and Flipper’s absolute denial of […]
Girlpool – Before The World Was Big (Wichita Recordings)
How is a girl supposed to “mature”, anyway? Or, for that matter, how does a band “mature” after rocketing to fame with a tape about sex and female desire? Girlpool did that rare thing that not all bands do (*coughJoannaGruesomecough*) – they figured out what the press wanted them to be, and thus became something […]
Frog – Kind of Blah (Audio Antihero)
Oh, god. Help me, words. Help me convey what a blessing Frog is. The moment the guitars trickle in on “All Dogs to Heaven”, I am transported. The warm twang that rings throughout the LP sounds woody, tangible, distinctly not modern. I think about “Ventura Highway”, and I try to remember when that sandy southwestern […]
SOTD #697 – Public Likes Pills
OH HI THERE. What have I been up to lately, you ask? Oh, nothing, really. No, I’m not hiding a knife behind my back. And no, I swear, I haven’t been cheating on you. Honest. In fact, I can assure you that I’ve never wanted to fuck anyone. No need to. Haven’t you read Ballard? […]
Viet Cong – Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar)
I am nothing. I’ve figured that out lately. See, I used to wear colors, but now I wake up in the morning and I think, “fuck, I don’t deserve that shit.” Black it is, then. Friends? Ha. Don’t make me laugh. I mean, yeah, my roommate and I get along. Most of the time. But […]
Jimmy Whispers – Summer In Pain (Moniker)
I’m not out to shoot down folks that wanna sing with their synths. It’s not in me to be cruel. I have to imagine Jimmy. Would he sit in the corner of the club after his gigs, afraid to talk to anyone lest his tongue locks up at the worst time? Is he a chatty […]
