Deap Vally | Femejism | Rating: 8/11 | If the title of Deap Vally’s new record doesn’t make things clear, let me help you out: Deap Vally are not here for your foolishness. No, sir. They’re here to blow up the outside world from the delicate and ladylike perch of their womanhood, wrecking any and all absurd patriarchal tendencies lingering […]
Against Me! | Shape Shift With Me | Rating: 9/11 | On 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues, we found Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace (and she “found” herself) growling and belting her freedom in gutsy, visceral glory. It wasn’t pretty but it wasn’t supposed to be: it was an honest engagement of the noise going on between the head and heart, […]
Empty Houses | Daydream | June 10, 2016 | Rating : 11/11 Empty Houses delivers a bold introduction with Daydream, their debut album produced by Graham Marsh (Bruno Mars, CeeLo Green, Common) and filled with a vast range of songs from upbeat, sincere love songs to sensual, spicy tunes like “Mercy.” You know you have a good album in your hands when each […]
Dorothy | ROCKISDEAD | Rating: 8/11 | Handclaps, nasty guitar licks and a biting growl delivering the provocative taunt of “Kiss It” is your official introduction to ROCKISDEAD and, safe to say, it’s the weakest track on the album. While a serviceable and fairly straightforward (yet Bo Diddley-sque) opening volley, it hardly preps you for the far more muscular bangers […]
The Virginmarys | Divides | Rating: 9.5/11 | After, let’s say, three listens to The Virginmarys’ sophomore album, Divides, what becomes clear as crystal is the fact that Ally Dickaty (vox/guitar), Danny Dolan (drums), and Matt Rose (bass) have grasped the art of harnessing one’s emotional capacity for anarchy. Their 2013 debut, King of Conflict, laid a solid bit of track upon which […]
Big Black Delta | Trágame Tierra | Rating: 8/11 | If nothing else, life can be a series of happy accidents…or a series of truly fucked up shit that you simply summon enough intestinal fortitude to suck it up and do what you can (and more) with what you’ve got. Feel free to make a “lemons to lemonade”/Bey inference if you have to. Go […]
Lights | Midnight Machines | Rating : 10/11| As the name implies, Midnight Machines is a gentle lullaby of an album. Imagine a nighttime breeze whispering dreams into your ears, revving up your imagination with delightful stories. Throughout her career, Canadian artist/synth-rocker Valerie Poxleitner (aka Lights) has proven that her songwriting is so strong that it can be showcased in two completely different genres: […]
