ALBUM REVIEW: Timelost – Drained


It’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of music genres and what defines a band; what they can and can’t be, are and are not, and what makes them “good”.

Strangely, subjectivity has taken a backseat to this artform. If it’s not pristine, perfect, polished, and full of impressive instrumental or vocal acrobatics, it’s boring. Worse, it’s bad. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Menzingers – Some Of It Was True


 

When a band captures a perfect creative moment like The Menzingers did with their sixth album 2019’s Hello Exile, they find themselves in a position of having to measure up to it. While Hello Exile was a creative high mark met with deserved praise from music critics such as myself, its success in terms of dollars and cents was relative as it hit 89 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts.

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Louder Than Life Festival Announces Set Times – ft. Foo Fighters, Green Day, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Pantera, Queens Of The Stone Age, Weezer, and More!


Louder Than Life—known as America’s Biggest Rock Festival—returns to Louisville, Kentucky in just three weeks. And now fans can get ready for the nonstop four-day weekend with the announcement of music performance times and additional onsite entertainment. Taking place September 21, 22, 23 & 24, 2023 at the fest’s home at Highland Festival Grounds At Kentucky Exposition Center, this year’s event—produced by Danny Wimmer Presents—promises to be one of the top music events of the year. Check out the set times now!

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Dirty Nil – Free Rein To Passions


 

Ah, the age-old balance between the jagged, dirty edges of rock and the polish, apparently, required to make a commercial success of this left of mainstream universe we all inhabit. Get it right, and radio and playlists and such stardom-related “things” await… yet, to play that game too much and for too long is to risk losing the soul and joy that is at the heart of the art that got you there in the first place. So, seemingly as a response to the more contrived, collaborative, and involved process that led to their predecessor Fuck Art, alternative rockers The Dirty Nil have given themselves over to their natural instincts, indulging a Free Rein To Passions (Dine Alone) on their fourth album.

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Louder Than Life 2023 Books Foo Fighters, Green Day, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, and More!


After cementing its title as America’s Biggest Rock Festival with a record-breaking attendance of over 170,000 in 2022, Louder Than Life returns bigger and better than ever on September 21, 22, 23 & 24, 2023 to Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. One of the top music events of the year, Louder Than Life will feature performances from a spectacular list of rock artists including Foo Fighters, Green Day (making their DWP festival debut), Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Pantera, Queens of the Stone Age, Weezer, Limp Bizkit, Megadeth, Turnstile, Rancid, Falling In Reverse, 311, Pierce The Veil, Run The Jewels, Corey Taylor, Coheed and Cambria, Royal Blood, Parkway Drive, Bad Omens, BABYMETAL and many more. General Admission And VIP Passes are on sale now starting at $10 down at the link below. Watch the teaser video here:

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EP REVIEW: Snayx – Weaponised Youth: Part 1


 

Weaponised Youth is the new self-released EP from Brighton-based two-piece Snayx, a band who are fully engaging the cheepy- chappie Electro-Pop-Rock sound that fits right in with the weekend vibe of their seaside hometown. The idea for Snayx was initially bubbling away in conversation between friends Charlie Herridge and Ollie Corner, when the opportunity arose for them to support local south-coast punks Kid Kapichi and the two decided they’d better get some songs together.

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Weezer Announces Indie Rock Roadtrip with Modest Mouse, Future Islands, Spoon, Momma, Joyce Manor, and White Reaper


 

Weezer has announced a huge summer tour sure to make Alternative and indie Rock fans happy! Weezer’s Indie Rock Roadtrip will feature support from Modest Mouse, Future Islands, Spoon, Momma, Joyce Manor, and White Reaper on a 30-city run of dates. Tickets are on sale Friday, March 3rd at 10am local time. Full dates and ticket on-sale links for Weezer’s Indie Rock Roadtrip are below.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Narrow Head – Moments Of Clarity


 

With their third outing Texas-based Narrow Head have created a body of music that if you were there, will well and truly spin you back in time to the mid-nineties. And if you weren’t there but nonetheless love the alternative rock sound of the time, then you’ll also find yourself intriguingly transported back to the era when baggy clothes and dirty scuzzy guitar riffs were the sign of the times. And on top of that Moments Of Clarity (Church Road Records) may well be considered a classic today, was it released some 25-30 years ago amongst the influences that it clearly wears on its sleeve.

 

And the record stands out today, as it lulls you into a sense of security before changing style and introducing heavier elements where the band sounds on their peak for me, before then throwing in a highly experimental closer. So the album opens with ‘The Real’ and a fuzzy grunge riff, with the vocal of Jacob Duarte sounding somewhere between an early Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, and an early Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan. There is a lighter nineties indie alternative rock style to the sound, which continues into ‘Moments Of Clarity’ invoking memories from the likes of Weezer, Placebo, and The Lemonheads. It’s clear from the first couple of tracks that Narrow Head can write one hell of a catchy riff with highly engaging vocal hooks, and then on ‘Sunday’ they introduce a Deftones-esq riff which more than hints at what’s to come.

 

‘Trepnation’ kicks like a mule with dirtier down-tuned guitars and a heavy chugging bass, and my attention has well and truly been captured by the change in tone. ‘Breakup Song’ is melancholic with a lovely entwine between the main riff and a rolling bass, while ‘Fine Day’ is another sweet heavy cut with crunching guitars.

 

On ‘Carline’ Narrow Head reverts back to the more melodic feel of the album’s first quarter, but from here it changes tact once again with the darker muddy sounding ‘The World Sunday’ and the explosive ‘Gearhead’, which slams into a late-nineties era Deftones style, with Duarte channeling a shoe-gaze Chino Moreno vocal. And with the first screams on the album laid down before a furious outro of impressive drumming and heavy distortion … More of this, please!

 

 

And the band delivers on ‘Flesh & Solitude’ with the further subtle use of screams in amongst the heavy intoxicating music with a beautiful outro of avant-garde percussive cacophony. The aptly titled ‘The Comedown’ follows with lush strumming and kind of a Pearl Jam flavour, which gradually builds to the climax of ‘Soft To Touch’ where a mischievous guitar line perfectly plays over electronic beats. I love the way this album twists and turns from the indie rock style into a heavier alternative beast, before turning full circle and then going completely leftfield with the use of electronica. And these changes in tone create a real album experience which should definitely be absorbed as one. This is where rock music needs to be, for me, in 2023.

 

Buy the album here:

https://www.runforcoverrecords.com/artists/narrow-head/products

 

8 / 10

ABSTRAKT_SOUL_

 


ALBUM REVIEW: Puppy – Pure Evil


It feels as if it has been a long, long time since Puppy released their debut album, The Goat to the world – although the pandemic may have something to do with that considering it has only been three years. When the album was first released, the trio stunned us with an eclectic mix of heavy sludgy, grungy riffs combined with even more eclectic vocal harmonies you’d find somewhere on a Weezer or a Wheatus release. The combination of the two has allowed the band to access the best of both worlds, appearing on some heavier lineups, while still being able to go onto support acts like Creeper. Whether the three-piece will be able to keep this up with their sophomore release is another matter.Continue reading


Nine Inch Nails to Replace Foo Fighters at Boston Calling, Full Daily Lineups Revealed


Boston Calling, the acclaimed three-day festival poised to make its triumphant return to Allston, Massachusetts this Memorial Day Weekend, May 27 – 29, 2022, announces its full daily lineup today. Headlining the festival are rock and roll icons Metallica alternative rockers The Strokes, playing their first show in Boston since 2006; and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers Nine Inch Nails. NIN is replacing Foo Fighters, the orginal headliner. These three powerful rock bands will lead a lineup of over 50 performers, including the largest collection of regional talent ever to take the stage at Boston Calling. The 2022 bill features an incredibly diverse mix of globally recognized music stars, including Rüfüs Du Sol, Weezer, Haim, Run The Jewels, Glass Animals, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Avril Lavigne, Black Pumas, Modest Mouse, Goose, Cheap Trick, Oliver Tree, Earthgang, Orville Peck, The Struts, and many more.

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