Guyana Punch Line Maximum Smashism Prank By: Eric G. This is no ordinary punk rock: Guyana Punch Line is just as much concept as content, using blatant, in your face hard core as a platform for its biting social commentary. The band slays with an abrasive onslaught of melodic guitars that transform into a brutal […]

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Kristin Hersh Sky Motel 4ad By: Eric G. Kristin Hersh’s solo albums in the past have been haunting yet subtle displays of bare bones emotions and manic terror, all three of which were acoustic. Sky Motel marks the fist time Hersh has played with a full band since the final Throwing Muses album, 1996’s severely […]

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Holiday Matinee (Various Artists) Pedal Faster Bicycle Rider Accident Prone By: Eric G. The trouble with genre music is that bands get really lazy because it doesn’t take much to fit in, so if you dress the part and sprinkle your sound with the tell-tale signs, you’ve got it made. There are too many suckers […]

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Idlewild Hope Is Important Odeon By: Eric G. Idlewild is a quartet from Edinburgh, Scotland that made its name through a series of blistering live shows in 1995, where the band is said to have evoked the ghosts of Husker Du and early Jesus Lizard. Hope Is Important is the band’s second full-length but first […]

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Jessica Bailiff Hour Of The Trace Kranky By: Eric G. You don’t have to read her bio to figure out that Jessica Bailiff hails from the school of slow-core typified by bands like Low and Codeine. From the first droning notes of Hour Of The Trace, Alan Sparhawk’s influence is evident, almost overpowering as he […]

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Joy Division Preston 28 February 1980 Factory/NMC By: Eric G. The liner notes defensively and adamantly assure us that this is not an attempt to cash in on Joy Division one more time; it is merely a gig. After the comprehensive boxed set, Heart And Soul, released two years ago, it’s hard to imagine what […]

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The Red Krayola Fingerpainting Drag City By: Eric G. The Red Krayola prides itself on being uncategorizable, and that, in and of itself, is an impressive feat for a band that’s evolved through three decades and countless line-up changes. The only original member to sustain all of the band’s incarnations, though, is Mayo Thompson, whose […]

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