Thursday, September 28, 2017

QUICK SPINS



The Horrors V

With each album, The Horrors find a way to gradually reinvent themselves but stay true to the common core of who they are as a band. The English rockers return with V, their fifth record and their best since 2011’s Skying. The band find groovy undertones will flirting with industrial and new wave on a record that not only hears them mature over time but show they are here to stay.
FINAL GRADE: A-


LCD SoundsystemAmerican Dream

This was a record that should be loathed considering the news that James Murphy and co. staged their infamous 2011 to sell tickets but the truth of the matter is, their “comeback” record is fantastic. It is a ton of fun to listen to and the band find their footing in the years they were away on what is the best LCD Soundsystem album.
FINAL GRADE: A-


The National Sleep Well Beast

The National have become such a massive phenomenon that they no longer stay near each other like they once did in Brooklyn. Singer Matt Berninger has moved to the West Coast and the rest of the band is scattered across the New York tri-state area but after their frontman almost went through a divorce, they gathered in Upstate New York to record one of their most progressive records to date. What makes Sleep Well Beast a National record, aside from the obvious that the band did it, is that it keeps the dark undertones they are known for, however, they push things beyond what anyone expected as they dabble with samples, additional percussion, electronica, and even some industrial sounds to create a chaotic but hypnotizing album. It certainly is the most interesting record in their catalogue but also the hardest to digest.
FINAL GRADE: A-



Wolves in the Throne Room Thrice Woven

The comeback record from one of the most brutal bands of the 21st century does not disappoint. If you want your ears to bleed and heart to pound, this is the record.
FINAL GRADE: B+

Metz Strange Place

The Canadian garage punks return with more thrashing rhythms and chords that just make you want to go out and break something.
FINAL GRADE: B+

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – The Punishment of Luxury

The new wave icons return with new material that will be enough to delight their fanbase but they fail to capitalize on trying to make any progress in keeping with 2017. While that is not a bad thing, it would have been nice to hear OMD push themselves a bit more.
FINAL GRADE: B

The Black KidsRookie

After a decade apart, the once indie it band is back with their sophomore album. As they try to win back old fans they manage to show off that they are a new band that still knows how to have fun with the basic elements of rock and roll.
FINAL GRADE: B

Gary Numan - Savage (Songs from a Broken World)

Given the state of the world, it was the perfect time for Gary Numan to come around with new music. Numan has crafted a concept album centered on the blending of Western and Eastern cultures in a post-apocalyptic world that has become a desert as a result of global warming. Given the way things are going, he might have made a soundtrack to what might come.
FINAL GRADE: B

Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers

The Canadian experimental ensemble returns with more demonic and dark prowess to scare the shit out of you.
FINAL GRADE: B

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High ClubSketches of Brunswick East

The hardest working band of the year has released their third and final album of 2017 and this time get some help from fellow Australian’s Mild High Club. Their latest is a love letter to the town they grew up in and is easily the most accessible album for non fans of the band and showcases that King Gizzard can do other things aside from amazing weird shit.
FINAL GARDE: B

Death From AboveOutrage! Is Now

Death From Above have officially dropped 1979 from their moniker and are back with their third record. While Outrage! Is Now has the rawness of previous efforts it fails to back a punch like its predecessors.
FINAL GRADE: B- 

Tori Amos Native Invader

The chamber pop princess returns with a record based off of the cycle of life and death and sticks to the infamous script that has gotten her acclaim and devotion over the years.
FINAL GRADE: B-

Living Colour Shade

On their first album in nearly a decade, the Brooklyn metal funk icons return. Living Colour are a national treasure – an underrated one at that and are total unique to the American experiment and experience. They have the best rhythm section in music with one of the greatest living guitarists and singers. Shade, a record about being black in America in 2017 is not only poignant but mandatory listening.
FINAL GRADE: B-

Ted Leo The Hanged Man

The indie icon is back and this time is on a solo mission to show off that he can do all of it on his own. Spoiler alert! He does.
FINAL GRADE: B-

Pains of Being Pure at HeartThe Echo of Pleasure

Four albums in, the New York City darlings are back and continue to make solid indie pop that not only fits into a Michael Cera movie but the soundtrack to your life.
FINAL GRADE: B-

Neil FinnOut of Silence

The former Split Enz and Crowded House singer returns with a brand new solo record that shows like a fine wine, he gets better with age.
FINAL GRADE: B-

Foo Fighters Concrete and Gold

The Foo Fighters were expected to take a longer hiatus than two years when they said they needed a long time off. When the announcement that Concrete and Gold was coming, fans were thrilled but also stunned. The record, which weighs heavily on Dave Grohl’s love of The Beatles, feels rushed at points but also hears them doing things that are unexpected like harmonizing, letting some of the music breathe and not competing with one another. Yet, all of this should make for a fascinating Foo Fighters record but in some areas some of the songs sound flat and rushed while others sound lush and evocative.
FINAL GRADE: B-



The Killers Wonderful Wonderful

There was a time when The Killers were one of America’s most exciting and creative bands. That time has come and gone and over the years, it feels as if the Vegas glam rockers are now just making records for the sake of making them which should never be the case for any band to make music. Wonderful Wonderful not only sounds evident of that theory but is easily forgettable.
FINAL GRADE: C

Ringo Starr Give More Love

While no one asked for a new Ringo record, it isn’t going to stop the iconic drummer. However, what shines on Ringo’s record everyone but him as Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Dave Stewart, Gary Nicholson, all play on the record and elevate his sound.
FINAL GRADE: C

Prophets of Rage

20 years ago, the concept of ¾ of Rage Against the Machine teaming up with Chuck D and B-Real would have been something to love. However, the world doesn’t need this version of Rage, they need RATM. Chuck D’s booming bass vocals can’t keep up with the raw power of what the Rage musicians have in store for him and B-Real, while his flows match, isn’t the lyricist that D or De La Rocha are, therefore the whole record and project sounds disjointed and disorganized.
FINAL GRADE: D