Sturgill Simpson A Sailor’s Guide To Earth Atlantic Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Country like it should be! Album Review: If like many, you’ve given up on modern country music, which these days sounds more like 80s AOR bands Foreigner and Loverboy than outlaw country icons Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and the like. … Read more
Mock Orange Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse Topshelf Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Mock Orange just might be the best band you’re not listening to right now. Album Review: Evansville, Indiana is not generally considered fertile ground for music elitists (such as myself) but Mock Orange couldn’t have come from anywhere else. An … Read more
Pity Sex White Hot Moon Run For Cover Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Pity Sex keep growing on their newest LP. Album Review: As an Ohioan, I’m not sure if I am allowed to admit that anything good comes out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. That good thing is Pity Sex. No, this is not a … Read more
White Lung Paradise Domino Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: White Lung have to be one of the more under the radar great female fronted rock bands currently on the scene today. The band gets better and better with each release and has once again topped their last, Deep Fantasy (2014), with Paradise. I enjoy … Read more
Car Seat Headrest Teens Of Denial Matador Records [2016] Fire Note Says: This is the indie rock record you need in 2016! Album Review: “I’m so sick of – fill in the blank” is the first line you hear out of founder and singer/songwriter Will Toledo’s creative brain from the excellent new long player, Teens … Read more
B Boys No Worry No Mind Captured Tracks [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: I for one am relieved the B Boys are not a retro outfit of dancers trying to recapture the glory of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Instead, I got eight tracks of very listenable indie punk rock. I have had the No Worry … Read more
Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool XL Recordings [2016] Fire Note Says: A Moon Shaped Pool shows Yorke and Co. working from the inside out. Album Review: After 2011’s The King of Limbs, Radiohead have finally returned! With them, they have brought their 9th LP entitled A Moon Shape Pool. Now I could go into the … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity ATO Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Once Nonagon Infinity starts it’s really hard to stop! Album Review: Ever since their formation, septet King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have always released something interesting. We originally got started with the heavy “connected” psychedelic jams of 2014’s I’m In … Read more
Big Ups Before a Million Universes Exploding In Sound Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: Big Ups 2nd LP, Before a Million Universes, is a post-hardcore juggernaut. No sophomore slump here for the Brooklyn-based quartet. It sounds like Big Ups have been listening to 90’s indie post-rock legends Slint and Rodan. Their first LP had … Read more
Kal Marks Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies Exploding In Sound Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: Boston’s Kal Marks sophomore effort, Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies, is brilliant. The album evokes and pulls you towards tones of deep and dark, murky then jangly, and emotions that are dour and anguished but somehow hopeful despite feeling … Read more
The Gloaming 2 Brassland Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Take a moment to sit still and enjoy The Gloaming. Album Review: The Gloaming makes beautiful traditional Irish music. I am not Irish, Irish American, nor well-versed in Irish music so I won’t pretend to try to fit The Gloaming into some kind of genre-specific context. … Read more
Wussy Forever Sounds Shake It Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Wussy delivers one of their best sonic experiences to date. Album Review: At this stage in their career you must give a standing ovation to Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker for Wussy’s growth. Forever Sounds is their sixth full length and is a testament to … Read more
Robert Pollard Of Course You Are Fire Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The Oracle of Dayton flips the script on his 24th(?) solo effort. Album Review: If ever there was a valid complaint about the Guided By Voices legend Robert Pollard’s solo output it is that over the course of his long and storied career … Read more
The Astounds The Astounds Self-Released [2016] Fire Note Says: Not surprised that Dean Wells has delivered yet another astounding, quick-hitting, lo-fi, power pop masterpiece. Album Review: Dean Wells is back. He has changed the name of the band, but there is no denying this is another Dean Wells’ project. Whether it is The Capstan Shafts, … Read more
Kappa Chow Kappa Chow Big Tomato Records [2016] Fire Drill Album Review: “Kappa Chow! Kappa Chow! Kappa Chow! One! Two! Fuck You!” So begins the immensely enjoyable opening track to Kappa Chow’s self-titled LP. This album quickly grabs you by the throat and does not let go. The New Brunswick-based Kappa Chow lay out a … Read more
Shearwater Jet Plane And Oxbow Sub Pop Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Shearwater’s new LP is deep and colorful. Album Review: Shearwater’s newest album (Jet Plane and Oxbow) has all that you ask for out an LP. It is engaging from beginning to end; it reveals new parts of itself with each listen; it has … Read more
David Bowie Blackstar Columbia Records [2016] Fire Note Says: There will only ever be one Bowie! Album Review: Released on his 69th birthday (1/8/16), and as fate would have it, two days before David Bowie would die, “Blackstar” finds the iconic rock chameleon staring down the Grim Reaper. In the album’s 10-minute title track, Bowie … Read more
Baroness Purple Abraxan Hymns [2015] Fire Note Says: Baroness is back stronger than ever! Album Review: You can talk about indie genres and bands all you want but when it comes down to it, all of us love a really good rock record from a bona fide rock band. Baroness is exactly that kind of … Read more
TRAAMS Modern Dancing FatCat Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: On their second full-length LP, UK band, TRAAMS have created post-punk, krautrock inspired perfection. Modern Dancing’s 11 tracks move along at a brisk and urgent pace. Each track has something to offer the listener; zero filler. It is a rare thing for me to hear … Read more
Girlpool Before The World Was Big Wichita Recordings [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: It always amazes me when simple wins. Take Philadelphia based Girlpool as an example. The two piece, made up of Cleo Tucker (Guitar) and Harmony Tividad (Bass), never move beyond playing several chords and barely turn up the tempo or volume at … Read more
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