The Evens The Evens Dischord By: Eric Greenwood Despite his intimidating pedigree in counter-culture music, Ian Mackaye is very easy to talk to. There was no awkwardness in my recent telephone conversation with the punk rock icon. Mackaye's eagerness and passion to discuss music is palpable. He returned every question I asked him with thoughtful, […]

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The Blood Brothers Crimes V2 By: Eric Greenwood Depending on your perspective, The Blood Brothers are either musical terrorists or the punk equivalent of Terrance and Phillip. It's a tough call. But, then again, any band that polarizes on extreme levels is doing something right. It's better to be either loved or hated than not […]

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Spoon Gimme Fiction Merge By: Eric Greenwood Britt Daniel’s minimalist hooks and snarling vocals (think Elvis Costello without the pomposity) have evolved past the imitative on to the inventive on its close to perfect, fifth album Gimme Fiction, which drops some of the dilettantish electronics for a more tribal yet eclectic rock punch. In its […]

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Sleater-Kinney The Woods Sub Pop By: Eric Greenwood Returning from the creative slump of One Beat, Portland, Oregon's Sleater-Kinney has jumped from long-time label, Kill Rock Stars, to almost-major-label, Sub Pop, and surprisingly churned out its most explosive album in years with The Woods. Even if Corin Tucker's flailing vibrato wail grates on your nerves […]

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Oasis Don't Believe The Truth Sony By: Eric Greenwood Idiotic album titles aside, the music is even worse (I still can't shake the grammatical fiasco of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants). Mediocre melodies ride atop formulaic songwriting on Don't Believe the Truth, Oasis' latest bombastic trash. Liam Gallagher's voice has even lost its patented […]

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Gorillaz Demon Days Virgin By: Eric Greenwood It must feel strangely ironic for Damon Albarn finally to find success in America with his fluke cartoon side band Gorillaz, while his true love, Blur, struggled for a decade only to make a commercial dent with that “woo-hoo!” song ("Song 2" off 1997's Blur), which now only […]

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Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Of Natural History Mimicry By: Eric Greenwood At heart, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is a metal band, but your typical mullet-headed Metallica fan would probably not agree. An easy and honestly lazy reference for the band is Mr. Bungle, whose brand of artsy, pretentious, metal-tinged prog-rock made musically adventurous yet technically superior metal […]

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