Album review
Pool Kids
Pool Kids
Pool Kids bring strong melodies and intricate playing together on their second album. The guitars and drums can be busy, but the arrangements keep Christine Goodwyne's voice c…
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Reviews
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Album review
Outta Here
The Gories
Outta Here gives the Gories' sound more body without removing its mess. Two guitars and simple drums clearly remain the foundation. Mick Collins brings a forceful blues voice,…
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Album review
Living Proof
Drain
Living Proof keeps Drain's heavy hardcore concise and energetic while allowing a few useful changes of direction. The fast guitar playing and substantial breakdowns remain cen…
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Album review
Sorrow and Extinction
Pallbearer
Sorrow and Extinction needs only five songs to create a complete world. Pallbearer play slowly and heavily, but give melody as much attention as the weight of the guitars. Bre…
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Album review
One Drop of Truth
The Wood Brothers
One Drop of Truth finds The Wood Brothers moving comfortably between blues, folk, country and soul. The playing has an easy rhythm, but the songs have enough changes in mood t…
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Album review
Y
The Pop Group
Y makes its tension physical. Bruce Smith’s drums and Simon Underwood’s bass can lock into a strong funk rhythm, but the surrounding sounds refuse to stay neatly in place. Gui…
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Album review
Tomorrow Is My Turn
Rhiannon Giddens
Tomorrow Is My Turn brings together folk, blues, country and gospel through the strength of one voice. Rhiannon Giddens treats these songs as material with something left to s…
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Album review
Us and Them
Shinedown
Us and Them gives Shinedown's guitars more to do alongside Brent Smith's powerful singing. The second album works within familiar hard rock structures, but its southern rock t…
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Album review
Charcoal Grace
Caligula's Horse
Charcoal Grace asks for more patience than a collection of short, direct rock songs. Caligula's Horse build their sixth album around a four-part central suite, with long openi…
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Album review
Wanderer
The Intersphere
The Intersphere keep their songs compact on Wanderer. The German band combine alternative rock with progressive details, but the ten tracks favour clear melodies and immediate…
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Album review
Flying in a Blue Dream
Joe Satriani
Flying in a Blue Dream gives Joe Satriani's guitar music a wider range of settings, including several songs with his own vocals. The instrumental melodies remain the strongest…
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Album review
The Cleansing
Suicide Silence
The Cleansing chooses a hard, direct approach immediately. Suicide Silence place low guitars, fast drums and slower eruptions close together. Mitch Lucker's voice moves betwee…
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Album review
Surfing with the Alien
Joe Satriani
Surfing with the Alien makes its technical guitar playing easy to enjoy through clear melodies. Joe Satriani can move quickly across the instrument, but the strongest pieces g…
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Album review
Another Language
This Will Destroy You
Another Language makes a strong case for texture as the main voice of an instrumental band. This Will Destroy You combine heavy guitars with blurred electronics, quiet keys an…
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Album review
The Last Days of Oakland
Fantastic Negrito
The Last Days of Oakland makes blues feel urgent and closely connected to the world around it. Fantastic Negrito brings rock guitar, soul singing and strong rhythms into songs…
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Album review
The New Normal
Cog
The New Normal gives heavy rock time to grow. Cog build their songs around thick guitar riffs, active bass and drums, and Flynn Gower's direct singing. The music has some of T…
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Album review
Heart
Eric Church
Heart brings Eric Church's country-rock writing into a concise nine-song sequence. There is room for driving guitars and large choruses, but the album spends just as much time…
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Album review
Mr. Misunderstood
Eric Church
Mr. Misunderstood gives Eric Church's country-rock sound a more concentrated shape. The ten songs move easily between guitars, soul and quieter reflection, with Jay Joyce keep…
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Album review
Sci-Fi Crimes
Chevelle
Sci-Fi Crimes gives Chevelle's heavy rock a darker, more varied setting. The thick guitar sound and large choruses remain familiar, but Pete Loeffler explores a wider vocal ra…
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Album review
Unmaker
LLNN
LLNN get to the point quickly on Unmaker. The Danish band’s third album combines rough guitars, heavy bass and drums with electronic sounds that make the music feel even more …
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Album review
Jolene
Dolly Parton
Jolene is most convincing when Dolly Parton's clear, expressive singing meets a song with an equally direct emotional purpose. The production gives her a rich country setting,…
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Album review
Endangered Species
Flaw
Endangered Species gives Flaw's heavy sound a smoother, more melodic direction. Chris Volz's voice remains the main attraction, but the arrangements allow the singing to carry…
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Album review
Digimortal
Fear Factory
On Digimortal, Fear Factory make their music more compact and easier to approach. The tight rhythms and heavy guitars remain clearly present, but the songs reach their choruse…
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Album review
Saturate
Breaking Benjamin
Breaking Benjamin sound impatient on Saturate. Their debut puts heavy guitar riffs and sharp changes in vocal intensity ahead of subtlety, but it also shows a clear instinct f…
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