Paul Orwell Blowing Your Mind Away Heavy Soul! Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Plug in the organ and dust off the tambourine as Paul Orwell’s debut hits you fantastically in the face ’60s style! Album Review: “This Music Should Be Played Loud” is the bold statement you will first see on the back jacket of … Read more
Ty Segall Ty Rex Goner Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Wow – I will just say it. I fucking love Ty Segall! I am not even sure what it is exactly but everything he touches, plays on, produces or talks about turns out great. He is raw, rough, focused and sometimes simply all out … Read more
The Jam Fire And Skill: The Jam Live UMC/Polydor Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: It always mystifies me a bit when I hear the younger generation discussing early era British punk rock and rightfully so, groups like The Clash, Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols are blurted out quickly but I hardly ever hear anyone … Read more
The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die Harmlessness Epitaph Records [2015] Fire Note Says: A surprise candidate for Album Of The Year emerges from the post-emo scene. Album Review: I was first drawn to this band by all the hype surrounding their debut album, Whenever, If Ever. The … Read more
Majical Cloudz Are You Alone? Matador Records [2015] Fire Note Says: An album that searches for sincerity in a space that has been salted with cliché, Are You Alone? builds an immersive world around love and loneliness. Album Review: When my infant daughter couldn’t sleep in the depths winter, I’d sometimes let her lie on … Read more
New Swears Junkfood Forever, Bedtime Whatever Dirt Cult Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: There’s no way that Ottawa’s number one party band can possibly top their last album, the audio equivalent of a kick-ass blaster that was Funny Isn’t Real, right? Wrong, they can top it, and in fact they not only topped it, … Read more
SPORTS All Of Something Father/Daughter Records [2015] Fire Note Says: SPORTS pulls out a winner with sophomore record All of Something! Album Review: SPORTS is a basement rock band, started in 2012 at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The group has had all the normal up and downs of beginning young bands but on its … Read more
Drive-By Truckers It’s Great To Be Alive! ATO Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Southern storytellers weave their ultimate tale on epic 35 song triple live album! Album Review: A convincing argument could be made that the Drive-By Truckers are the best American rock band of the past 15 years or so. DBT seems to be … Read more
Graham Repulski Success Racist Self-Released [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Success Racist, the latest offering from Graham Repulski, is a 17-track time machine with its destiny dials set for 1993, a golden era for lo-fi music. Graham Repulski’s music is akin to the lo-fi aesthetics that can be found on early 90’s Guided by Voices, … Read more
Riverside Love, Fear And The Time Machine Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Polish progressive metal band drops the metal and releases a gem. Album Review: If you’re like me you’ve probably never heard this band, let alone delved into their back catalog. So enthralled am I with this record that I went back … Read more
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
Motel Beds Mind Glitter Anyway Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Mind Glitter is full of harmonic gold! Album Review: Motel Beds are easily one of the best bands to come out of Dayton, Ohio in some time and they back that statement up with their new release; Mind Glitter. The record has slowly been simmering … Read more
TUNGS You Could Call This Art Bad Grrrl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: I Will Call This Fantastic! A welcome display of talent and quirky rock sensibilities. This band deserves your attention. Album Review: Richmond, Virginia rockers, TUNGS’ new album, You Could Call This Art, is an excellent album. It is a brilliant follow up … Read more
The Bottle Rockets South Broadway Athletic Club Bloodshot Records [2015] Fire Note Says: South Broadway Athletic Club is what maturity looks like. Album Review: It’s been 6 years since the last studio album of originals for Bottle Rockets, but 23 years into their recording career the St. Louis Americana quartet remains true to their classic … 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
Kurt Vile b’lieve i’m goin’ (deep) down… Matador Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Kurt Vile is back with another great sounding storybook. Album Review: Like bands, the singer/songwriter can be broken down into categories. You have your super voices grouping that I still use Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith as the bar for comparison, there … Read more
The New Old-Fashioned Low-Down Dirty Summer Nights Self-Released [2015] Fire Note Says: The New Old-Fashioned knock it out of the park on their second album Album Review: Some albums just hit you at the right moment—lyrics, songwriting, and arrangements combine in a way that connects with you, and become more than the sum of their … Read more
Girl Band Holding Hands With Jamie Rough Trade Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Brutal noise rock that dares you to like it. Rewards await those that can get past the initial layer of ugliness and brash noise. Album Review: Girl Band, a quartet from Dublin, have been wowing me over the past year through various … Read more
Radkey Dark Black Makeup +180 Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Radkey’s full-length debut is fast and furious. Album Review: Beware the speed when listening to Radkey’s debut album, Dark Black Makeup. I found this out the hard way when recently traveling down the highway. The album was blaring in my car and within seconds I … 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
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
Brother O’ Brother Show Pony Fonoflo Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Get your rock blues groove on with Brother O’ Brother. Album Review: This has been a year that finds many in the music critic world asking questions like; are there any new sounds out there?, is everything new really a rehash?, and is that … Read more
Eric Gaffney A Cassetterospective Joyful Noise Recordings [2015]
Flotation Toy Warning Bluffer’s Guide To The Flight Deck Talitres Records [2015]
Haynes Boys Haynes Boys Slab / Re-Vinyl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Haynes Boys debut should be in your collection. Album Review: How about I introduce you to one of the best roots rock records you never took for a spin? An alt-country / Americana staple before the genre was really defined. That would be … Read more