Kiss KissThe Meek Shall Inherit What’s LeftEyeball Records With their sophomore album, Kiss Kiss attempt to meticulously orchestrate the sound of teen angst. The finished product sounds like a symphony of chaos, abrasively morbid and hauntingly catchy. Although the release is unquestionably fetching, at times it does all sound a bit juvenile, like the soundtrack to a nervous breakdown brought […]
The Rural Alberta AdvantageHometownsSaddle Creek As their name implies, there had to be some advantage to growing up in rural Alberta. And there is: it apparently inspires A+ indie pop. The Rural Alberta Advantage’s debut album, Hometowns, finally available to the masses on Saddle Creek, has the band sounding like a poetically hung-over Pixies. The album ranges from hipster mountain […]
Sex SlavesWasted AngelWasted Angel is the sound of the Sex Slaves emerging from the glittered grime of the NYC underground to infect the masses. After traveling through every corner of America, the band seems to have picked up a thing or two from every kind of local, from the zombie-fied Goth rockers to the synthetically-inclined scenesters and the retro sleaze […]
Miss DerringerWinter HillTriple X Records Miss Derringer’s third album plays like the soundtrack to a Western-themed burlesque directed by John Waters. Fashionably kitsch and playfully badass, Winter Hill is likely the year’s most infectious release and the best thing to come out on Triple X Records since Jane’s Addiction’s debut. The group’s sound is, at times, a chic brand of […]
Adios… Puta Madres: Ministry’s Final World TourDirected by Hector Saenz13th Planet Records On a list of those who you’d expect to leave you with a tear-inducing farewell, Al Jourgensen falls somewhere between Count Chocula and Charles Manson. But alas, as Mr. Jourgensen belts out “What a Wonderful World” and balloons fall onto a capacity audience to close out the final […]
The Sweet Hurtwww.thesweethurt.com As if being part of musical ventures that have been described by your humble narrator as “both pleasantly avant-garde and accessibly chic” (Obi Best) and “the most perfectly progressive act of the decade” (The Bird and the Bee) wasn’t enough, Wendy Wang’s musical splendor doesn’t stop there. Those of you who have indulged in the brilliance of […]
Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock MusicBy Greg PratoECW Press If you still can’t believe that The Fastbacks and Green River haven’t made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then Greg Prato’s Grunge is Dead will be a literary wet dream of biblical proportions. However, if you don’t fall into that category, the book […]
