Kings of Leon WALLS RCA Records [2016] Who: Three Tennessee brothers and their cousin. Grizzled veterans of rock. Sound: Southern arena rock. TFN Final Take: Kings of Leon were so close last time! Perceived band discord led to an album, Mechanical Bull, that felt fresh after a few albums of retreads. WALLS sees Kings of … Read more
Tony Molina Confront The Truth Slumberland Records [2016] Who: Since 2002, veteran Bay Area musician Tony Molina has played in several bands including Dystrophy, Ovens, Lifetime Problems, and Caged Animal but his recent solo work has really spotlighted his indie talent especially with the release of his excellent Dissed And Dismissed (2013) record. Sound: Molina … Read more
Jimmy Eat World Integrity Blues RCA Records [2016] Who: Jimmy Eat World, best known for their 2001 single “The Middle,” have just released their ninth studio album Integrity Blues via RCA Records. Sound: The Arizona band now finds themselves in veteran status but have always been labeled somewhat an Emo band. The group progressed into … Read more
Teenage Fanclub Here Merge Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Teenage Fanclub return with a familiar power pop sound. Album Review: Scottish alternative rockers, Teenage Fanclub, are best remembered for breakout albums like Bandwagonesque, Grand Prix, and Songs from Northern Britain, which all appeared in the band’s 90’s heyday when their brash power-pop instincts were in … Read more
Personal Space Ecstatic Burbs Tiny Engines Records [2016] Who: Brooklyn, NY’s Personal Space have just released their debut full-length, Ecstatic Burbs, which is a follow up to the band’s debut EP release from 2014, The Early Universe Was Entirely Opaque. The EP is available for a name-your-price download on Bandcamp. Sound: Ecstatic Burbs is a … Read more
The Radio Dept. Running Out Of Love Labrador Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The Radio Dept. gets political. Album Review: The Radio Dept. have been around for almost twenty years, yet they’ve only put out four albums in that period. That fact is in part due to trouble with their previous label; nevertheless, you can … Read more
Real Numbers Wordless Wonder Slumberland Records [2016] Who: Minneapolis band Real Numbers follows up several popular 12” EPs and a single with their debut full length, Wordless Wonder. Sound: DIY production with quick guitar melodies and an English twitch that is a throwback to the post-punk of the Television Personalities. TFN Final Take: Real Numbers … Read more
Cheena Spend The Night With… Sacred Bones Records [2016] Who: Cheena are a NYC band that just released their debut LP on Sacred Bones Records. Sound: Cheena are a throwback to the New York gutter and glam days. TFN Final Take: Cheena have all the making of a great band as their debut is raw, … Read more
Green Day Revolution Radio Reprise Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Keeping it real even though we all have grown older! Album Review: “I’m like a child looking off in the horizon,” sings punk trio Green Day’s singer/songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong at the midpoint of the band’s new album. “I’m like an ambulance that’s turning on … Read more
How To Dress Well Care Weird World/Domino Records [2016] Fire Note Says: How To Dress Well plays with new toys with mixed results. Album Review: Tom Krell is back for his fourth full-length album under the moniker How To Dress Well. So far, his first three albums have fit nicely into a specific theme: the … Read more
Kishi Bashi Sonderlust Joyful Noise Recordings [2016] Fire Note Says: Kishi Bashi takes some chances and expands on his sound three albums in. Album Review: Kishi Bashi (Kaoru Ishibashi) has released his third full-length album and it’s quite a departure for the artist. Kishi Bashi’s first two albums have been hybrids of chamber pop and … Read more
Thee Oh Sees A Weird Exits Castle Face Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Like a tentacle from the warp hole, The Oh Sees latest is a spacy, slimy decay that beckons from beyond. Album Review: Friends, I really apologize for the delay. It wasn‘t my intent to let this important album slip through my fingers, … Read more
Glass Animals How To Be A Human Being Harvest Records [2016] Fire Note Says: A strong follow up record from Glass Animals. Album Review: Following that path of previous singles like “Black Mambo” and “Gooey,” Brit-pop quartet Glass Animals have dug deeper on the songs for their sophomore album, How to Be a Human Being, … Read more
Angel Olsen My Woman Jagjaguwar [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: Angel Olsen’s third album makes a loud, brash entrance; My Woman’s first three tracks are top notch, including the remarkable “Shut Up Kiss Me.” That track will make you stop what you’re doing and take notice. It sounds like a Blondie song with its in-charge … Read more
Thrice To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere Vagrant Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Thrice still bring an edgy melodic crunch. Album Review: Fresh from it’s hiatus of a few years, the alt rock/post-hardcore West Coast band Thrice is raging against the machine; with an apparent war on the horizon, they’re prepared to do battle. … Read more
The Kills Ash & Ice Domino Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The Kills combine familiar sentiments and musical grooves into an intimate package. Album Review: The classic female/male duo The Kills – made up of singer Alison Mosshart and multi-instrumentalist James Hince, much like similar duos The White Stripes, The Ravonettes, Phantogram… maybe, The Carpenters … Read more
M83 Junk Mute Records [2016] Fire Note Says: M83 loses some of their style and wonder on latest Junk. Album Review: It’s tough to follow up a groundbreaking, critically acclaimed piece of art. That it took Anthony Gonzalez and company five years (and a few side projects) to release Junk, after the seminal Hurry Up, … Read more
Descendents Hypercaffium Spazzinate Epitaph Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: One thing you can say about the veteran band Descendents is that they can deliver a consistent punk record no matter if the year is 1982, 1996 or 2016. Of course, if you have no idea what I am talking about then here is your … Read more
Deerhoof The Magic Polyvinyl Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The crazed fun keeps coming at you and so yes – it’s another Deerhoof album. Album Review: Over the course of Deerhoof’s long and strange run of thirteen albums in twenty-two years, they have carved out a unique space under the Indie firmaments. They are one … Read more
ORB Birth Castle Face Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Question not why ORB has come. Only submit and follow their smoke to the riff filled land. Album Review: Castle Face and company have always had a penchant for stony longhairs, proto-metal, and riff filled ragers. If you’ve followed the label then they may have introduced … Read more
The Monkees Good Times! Rhino Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Good Times! delivers on the joy from the golden era of rock & roll. Album Review: By the mid-60’s, Liverpool, England’s The Beatles had gone from Tiger Beat/Teen Mania “Top of the Pop’s” stars to a credible rock & roll band, buoyed by Lennon & … Read more
Free Pizza Berlin, DE BUFU Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: If you have 14 minutes then you have enough time to check out this mini 7 song album from Boston’s Free Pizza. This disjointed slightly off-kilter delivery reminds of classics from The Cleaners From Venus and Television Personalities, as the songs have a very … Read more
Gold Panda Good Luck And Do Your Best City Slang [2016] Fire Note Says: Gold Panda’s new album reveals more secrets after every play. Album Review: Good Luck and Do Your Best feels like an object of value. It’s not that it’s a great album, but it is very good in parts. Nor does it … Read more
Garbage Strange Little Birds Stunvolume [2016] Fire Note Says: Strange Little Birds is, first and foremost, a fine modern pop record. Album Review: It’s always a fun, noisy, modern pop/rock explosion when we get a new record from Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson and her band Garbage, made up of mid-American studio hounds into punk, electronica/techno, … Read more
Paul Simon Stranger To Stranger Concord Music Group [2016] Fire Note Says: Paul Simon continues to bring a certain rhythmic sensibility to life’s more perplexing realities. Album Review: Paul Simon has already had several huge careers as both a songwriter and performer. With Art Garfunkel, Simon contributed numerous classics to the Great American Songbook: “Sound … Read more