Scot Lade 
Deerhunter Fading Frontier 4AD [2015] Fire Note Says: Just in case we weren’t already convinced, Deerhunter proves their greatness…again. Album Review: That Deerhunter has been on a roll is a bit self-evident and although there were some who felt their last album, Monomania, was a step backwards Fading Frontier leaves little doubt about the Atlanta … Read more
The nominations are in and once again fans get to sneer at the absurdity of the whole thing and wag their fingers while citing who’s been snubbed and/or why R&B and Rap artists are considered in the first place. The list of deserving bands yet to be inducted is large and often head-scratching. Some lack … Read more
Deafheaven New Bermuda ANTI- Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Deafheaven refuse to buckle under the weight of expectations. Album Review: So what does a young, up-and-coming band do after releasing one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade? Do they expand on all the things people found so intriguing about them in the … Read more
Ricked Wicky Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair Guided By Voices Inc. [2015] Fire Note Says: The third time’s the charm for this Robert Pollard side project. Album Review: Critical writings on Robert Pollard’s 21st century output have generally fallen into two groups: the True Believers for whom Uncle Bob can never err and those that … Read more
Metric Pagans In Vegas Universal Music Group [2015] Fire Note Says: Metric prove that selling out isn’t always a bad thing. Album Review: It really all started going sideways once Metric committed to doing the theme song for the third Twilight movie, Eclipse. That song, written by film score composer Howard Shore, bore zero resemblance … Read more
Battles La Di Da Di Warp Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Battles go purely instrumental on their taut third full length. Album Review: Battles is a band whose fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants approach can now be clearly segmented into three distinct, yet logically progressing, eras.
The Dear Hunter Act IV: Rebirth In Reprise Cave & Canary Goods/Equal Vision Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Casey Crescenzo continues the Dear Hunter story – with diminishing returns. Album Review: Since we last checked in with the titular character in The Dear Hunter series, mastermind Casey Crescenzo has tasted the sweet flavor of artistic … Read more
Spock’s Beard The Oblivion Particle Inside Out Music[2015] Fire Note Says: Album number twelve finds Spock’s Beard finally settling into their own skin. Album Review: Since Prog legend Neal Morse left Spock’s Beard in 2002 they have been struggling to find an identity. For four albums after that major defection, drummer Nick D’Virgilio, in true … Read more
Iron Maiden The Book Of Souls BMG Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The unapologetic British metal legends return with a vengeance. Album Review: I’ve always been quite fond of Iron Maiden. They were one of the very few bands that helped me get through that dismal musical wasteland of the eighties. Although the nineties were … Read more
Deaf Wish Pain Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Noisy Aussies find the right balance between clamor, chaos and beauty. Album Review: Let’s get this out of the way right up front: Deaf Wish like to make a racket. On the Melbourne, Australia band’s first album for Sub Pop they explore the full gamut … Read more
Yes: Rose Music Center, Dayton, Ohio – August 14, 2015 With the untimely passing of co-founder and bass player extraordinaire Chris Squire from a rare form of leukemia, witnessing a Yes show threatened to be more like a wake than a concert event. Ultimately, it was more a celebration of his life and artistry. His … Read more
Bully Feels Like StarTime Intl./Columbia Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Bully’s debut makes you wish the nineties never ended. Album Review: Alicia Bognanno has an itch to scratch. Although born the same year Nevermind was released, this particular itch seems to only be scratched effectively by emulating the music being made while still in elementary … Read more
Fine Points Hover Dine Alone Records[2015] Fire Note Says: Sleepy Sun side project deliver a sunny debut. Album Review: The dreaded side project. Often the product of ego (“My songs keep getting voted down”) or worse (“I always wanted to do a rap album”) they seldom come close to the quality of the music produced … Read more
METZ II Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Sometimes more of the same is more than enough. Album Review: Toronto punk trio METZ exploded onto the scene with their blistering debut album in 2012 – the fact that they had honed their craft for almost half a decade before releasing that self-titled gem may … Read more
Magic Pie King For A Day Karisma Records[2015] Fire Note Says: So good you’ll want more than just one slice. Album Review: Magic Pie are a Norwegian band that has been around for about a decade now and have been releasing some really solid music mixing seventies indebted classic and progressive rock with a modern … Read more
Matt Holliman and Evan Reiss are the twin guitar heroes of the Bay area band Sleepy Sun and they’ve teamed up for this side project which happily does not stray far from the mothership. Their sunny, reverb-heavy take on California psych-pop definitely recalls the ease of song craft found on last year’s Maui Tears. However … Read more
Yes Progeny: Seven From Seventy-Two Atlantic Records [2015] Fire Note Says: 7 complete concerts from 1972 recently unearthed, cleaned up and presented warts and all. Yes! Album Review: 1972 was a very good year for Yes. They had just released Close To The Edge and it was hailed as their masterpiece. After more than forty … Read more
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin The High Country Polyvinyl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Missouri’s finest band returns with gusto. Album Review: Way, way back in 2006 and the dawn of the mp3 blog era there seemed to be so many bands popping up from every corner of the universe and the only hope … Read more
The Helio Sequence The Helio Sequence Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Helio Sequence’s latest is long on atmosphere but short on surprises. Album Review: Over the course of five LP’s since forming in 1996, Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel have carved out a little niche in the Indie Rock scene by combining … Read more
Anekdoten Until All The Ghosts Are Gone Self-Released [2015] Fire Note Says: Anekdoten remain the champions of dark and brooding Prog. Album Review: There are a handful of bands that, way back in the early nineties, had the cojones to attempt a revival of the most scorned and hated genre of rock music ever: the … Read more
Robert Pollard Faulty Superheroes Guided By Voices Inc. [2015] Fire Note Says: Uncle Bob’s first solo LP since disbanding GbV (again) is also one of his best. Album Review: Hmmm… Let’s see: last time Robert Pollard pulled the plug on Guided By Voices he seemed intent on focusing all his considerable energies into creating as … Read more
The Tangent A Spark In The Aether Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Andy Tillison’s love letter to progressive rock hits all the right notes. Album Review: The Tangent is a strange beast of a band. If Yes were part of the Canterbury Scene of English bands back in the seventies (a clutch of … Read more
Built To Spill Untethered Moon Warner Bros. Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Long live the Pacific Northwest sound: Built To Spill is back. Album Review: Although they never really went away, it seemed like we’d never hear from Doug Martsch and his band of merry men again – or at least nothing approaching the brilliance … Read more
Speedy Ortiz Foil Deer Carpark Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Sometimes a band actually lives up to the hype. Album Review: Massachusetts quartet Speedy Ortiz began life as a solo project for poetry professor Sadie Dupuis and her decidedly nineties take on indie rock. Her lyrics came at you fast and furiously and she released … Read more
IZZ Everlasting Instant Self-Released [2015] Fire Note Says: IZZ continue making progressive dinner party music. Album Review: I imagine the place settings and flatware laid out just so. Fleshly cut flowers in crystal adorn the dining room table. The guests, carefully selected, have arrived and look splendid. They drove here in BMW’s and Audi’s. The … Read more