Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Title sums it up nicely — “American Steel,” or this discontented, pure bred, fast and easy Rock n’ Roll animal roaming wherever the fuck it wants.  Driven by three chords, a taste for blood, and kick in the balls, their sixth record probably sounds much like their first—face it, there’s ...

Definitely a step out into the great beyond from what we’re used to from The End… and if this is really “The End” I trust we’ll have no trouble making our final peace.   Early moments indicate an Anathem-ic symmetry, nearly duplicative of the ambient closeness of said band’s later runs, ...

In the words of Bart Simpson, "I didn't think it was possible, but this [album] both sucks and blows." I shall take no mercy on the untalented and unaware and B Rich is by far both. This album just may be one of the worst albums EVER! I would give ...

There are two ways to perceive a band like Blitzkrieg.  The first is that since they were among the NWOBHM pioneers that broke the scene back in 1980 and helped forge the sounds of the true Metal revolution that’s continued to be felt and employed by countless bands worldwide, they’re ...

21 years after “The Best Of Blondie,” Debbie and the guys return with a righteous selection of remastered “Hits” spanning all of their seven records and generation bridging esteem.  Blondie, still very much an active band since reforming in ’98 for the well received “No Exit”, transcended musical borders at ...

Whatever happened to Three Doors Down?  Did they lose their key or something?  Or maybe it’s Breaking Benjamin who intercepted them somewhere around the Mason/Dixon line, bound and gagged ‘em at gunpoint and took their identity, not to mention their slant for choosing names that mean absolutely nothing to an ...

See what happens when you indulge the kid?  They end up producing immoral, indefinable, indefensible sour-faced records with ten tracks of total moral discontent, covering up with shit, flies, fiend-movie clips, and foul language that foams in the face of Sunday school decency.  And even better, they’re from the heartland, ...

These guys have been garnering high praise from fans and critics the world over for being this innovative underground phenomenon bore of a DIY ethic and ol’ schooler mentality.  Playing with reckless abandon, CKY’s “Volume 1” turned a lot of heads, nearly twisting them off with their circuitous jaunts in ...

The cool thing about a band like this is they could suck worse than any far fetched, flat out, fucked up breed of bluegrass bourbon soaked serial shitheads, but they’ll be fun to write about.  Now I’m not out to start an argument as to how bad they suck or ...

If Monty Python existed today, and considering their over the edge degree of distasteful antics that set the comedy world on its collective ass, this might be the aural equivalent of their artful form of superior quality juvenility.  Here’s this thing called Devilcake, where if the title’s any indication… Nah, ...

You have to hand it to Trent Gardner for bringing together another stellar cast of musicians for his second "Explorer's Club" effort, titled, "Raising the Mammoth." Between this project, and the "Leonardo -- The Absolute Man" album he helmed last year, Gardner has been busy with these side projects, but ...

The long awaited comeback by the UK’s favorite fallen angels finally arrives.  As with all things, there lies the danger of anticipation bearing in on objectivity, setting up the hard fall without benefit of the usual rationale.  I’m trying to set this up delicately because it’s a decent record but ...

Have you ever wondered what happened to the bands from the eighties that just had that whole soft and gentle but strong and powerful style? Did you ever think you would hear that style again? Well you can. I introduce you to Five A.M., a band on the verge of ...

From Safety To Where?  Danger?  Damned if I know.  There’s not a lot to do with “Safety” nor “Danger” going on this record… confusion and clutter, without question.  And as such we attribute to them, an “Emo” tendency at the core—a “Noise” core precursor that’s heightened with atmospheric melodrama and ...

After about a decade on the delta, Mr. Moore amps up and tightens the grip with a brand new trio and “Scars,” a Rock and Rollin’ end result from the guitar great that went the way of the hills (and far away) many a midnight moon ago.  Listeners expecting a ...

If you’re not familiar with GBH, don’t feel bad; at least you’ve still got your health.  And if you are, hear them again for the first time… and the second, and so on.  No surprises, sucks ups, or signs of sell out, some twenty years after their very first “City ...

I’m humbled… everything I was going to say was already written in the press release.  Okay, so now to get the creative juices flowing.   Hot Water Music’s got one of those thinking man titles that takes you as a listener to no one destination in particular—the vogue kinda thing today ...

And here’s one straight out of the tales of the unexpected… Four legendary Metal veterans, six songs, two “projects” and seven years ago… IR8 vs. Sexoturica—no it’s not the latest wave in futuristic Japanimation desecration; instead, it’s hailed as “old school” Metal music of a roots-driven kind.   IR8 features the ...

“Stanley Climbfall” comes away as more seasoned than sophomoric for the talented Pop/Rock trio, still experiencing life’s early going.  With a rather quick follow up to 2000’s “No Name Face,” the bands vibrant as ever, rarely retracing and cleverly resounding in the wake of a successful selling debut.   Rarely does ...

The album title’s not so difficult to grasp for its take on the pre-big screen Claire Danes weekly adolescent drama series, “My So Called Life.”  Any relation here?  Not really unless the taste for conjuring gruesome, tongue-in-cheek, parodies among titles and lyrics are in their make up… which apparently they ...

Not only is Louie DeVito the top selling US DJ, he is also the hardest working mix-master. Hot on the heels of his Dance Factory and Trance Sessions CD compilations, DeVito ends what was an ultra-successful year off with this, a double CD fifth installment in his N.Y.C. Underground Party techno ...

As of late, Missy Elliott has been garnering lots of ink for her new trim appearance. However, in the midst of the “E-Television” minded obsession to put celebs waistlines under a microscope, she has been burning up the charts as well as the calories.“Work It,” the first single from her ...

Innovation.With only their second release, Phantom Planet has set the standard in an all new wave alternative genre.The band has managed to create a gentle balance between their life encompassing lyrics and a number of retro-esque and unique beats.Finally, a band that honestly addresses defeat, ambition and love with a ...

Here are one of the more accomplished and eclectic bands you’ve never heard of and in terms of hit radio and single-driven studio time slack offs set about on sorry ass short term gratification, you’re not likely to find them gliding through the mainstream.  Porcupine Tree, a four-piece from the ...

Every so often there’ll be that rare find that sneaks up and bites you on the ass.  And here’s this band, Rancid Vat, been around twenty years… Twenty years!  Obviously living large in the underground, these guys.  And what a long strange trip it’s been… I’ll bet.   Originally an Oregonian ...