Tee Pee 4 Stars Our favorite Brooklyn-based stoner space rockers are back with their first proper studio album. The first of the four tracks found here starts off all folky for a minute, with strumming and singing that could be Comus or Devendra. before blasting into loud, distorted, truly TITANIC heavy instrumental psych-rock powered in part by some extremely proggy keyboard action. It’s like ELP jamming with Comets On Fire! -hubbard
Suburban Noise 4 Stars So-Cal rap-core legends return for another lethal dose of their special brand of G-punk. This album finds them returning to form, yet still growing creatively as a unit. The lead single brings to mind so many diverse influences ranging from Sublime, The Transplants, System of a Down and Mindless Self Indulgence. Insomnia is the perfect album for this schizoid generation who can’t pay attention to anything for more than 2 minutes...
Earache 3 Stars Still going strong after almost 20 years, the Florida-based death metal quartet’s latest release delivers vicious, soul-soiling riffs from start to finish. Glen Benton once again shreds the lining of his throat in the name of Satan, but the lyrics are mostly indiscernible, meaning you can enjoy the album’s ferocity and not feel damned for doing so. -ruvolo
Rhino 5 Stars For years and years Ronnie James Dio’s legacy in Black Sabbath was in disarray. Although he only recorded three albums with the Sabs, the work has really gotten better with age. Leaning heavily on the first two albums” Heaven & Hell” and “Mob Rules,” The Dio Years packs in all the hits like “Mob Rules,” “Neon Knights,” and “Sign of the Southern Cross.” While most bands release greatest hits packages with new...
So now they say pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with the pulley of a weight machine! Holy fucking shit. Did anyone just say “ROID RAGE?” Ok, everyone just did. No suicide note was found, but check this- apparently his son had needle marks in his arms! Apparently the boy had been given growth hormones for some time because...
Warner Brothers Jack White delves way deeper into mariachi-madness with the White Stripes latest effort, Icky Thump. Meg and Jack deliver 12 new tracks here and the obscure cover of the 1951 Patti Page nugget “Conquest.” Combining trumpets and distortion together “Conquest” sounds unlike anything the band has done in the past, yet feels somewhat familiar too. Maybe therein lies the power of The White Stripes. Their music always seems to have a great warmth,...
There has been a disturbing trend in American movies lately. I sure some of you have been feeling it too. What happened to the stupid catchphrases? Your, “Show me the money,” or your “Life is like a box of chocolates.” What the fuck am I supposed to say to people to convey that I am a sheep that needs herding? That I have no real sense of humor? or that I am not fit for...
I just read that ABC has greenlit a show based on the Geico insurance cavemen guys. WTF? These are neanderthals people. They couldn’t adapt 30,000 years ago, that’s why they died out. How can they expect to make it in Hollywood? They don’t even have a language, how are they going to write the script? I bet it’s going to another god-awful reality show. I bet you won’t even pay them scale will you? There...
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released on July 7th. I personally can’t wait, having read all the books and seen all the movies. “Is this normal for a thirty something,“ I ask myself as I stare into my Dora the Explorer mirror while cuddling my Shrek doll? Of course it is, you idiot! This is a classic coming of age tale set in the world of magic and mayhem. With...
4.23.07 @ MERCURY LOUNGE It took a lot to separate me from the TV and a VH1 classic rewind of Damn Yankees last week. Tommy Shaw’s stonewashed man shorts and Ted Nugent’s kill it and grill it self were about to rope me in for a second time. Anyway, I managed to escape, and catch the Noisettes at the Mercury Lounge. It’s always exciting to see a band with your own eyes, as the “next...
3.12.07 @ Webster Hall OK let’s get one thing straight. Ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon is the coolest guy ever! He even lights a cigarette better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He’s right out of a Godard film. Damon Albarn and his Bowery Boy top hat, led the charge along with Simonon and ex-Verve guitarist Simon Tong. Albarn’s collection of downtrodden yet somehow uplifting Dickens-like ballads captured the sold out room. The early 20th century carnivalesque...
As Always The Royal Flush Gang brought the heat down to the MoCCA Con this June in NYC.