Album Reviews

Rosetta West – Labyrinth

May 2, 2024

Illinois blues-psych band Rosetta West originated in the 1990s and has spent the last three(!) decades building up a respectable fanbase around the world. With a bevy of independent releases under their belt, they’ve returned with Labyrinth, a fourteen(!) song magnum opus that blends elements of rock, blues, and psychedelia into the type of band you’d find playing in a sweaty dive bar at 2am. Certainly informed by the decade in which they formed, Rosetta West has unmistakably channeled their thirty years of experience into Labyrinth, sludging and slamming through these songs with a simmering fury and a touch of nirvana (pun partially intended). Album opener, “Red Rose Mary Bones,” is a perfect introduction to the album – its muddy bass backbone twisting and turning underneath lava-lamp guitar lines. Lyrics like “resurrecting my blood, images twisting through my mind, and in a blurry vision I can see every hidden side” embody the music[...]

Surtsey – Nothing Doing

April 27, 2024

Surtsey is a quartet from the US Midwest that’s been kicking around since the late aughts. They’ve just released their latest EP, the five-song Nothing Doing – recorded in St. Louis MO, their songwriting was strongly informed by their attendance at the School of Song, specifically under the instruction of Buck Meek (of both Big Thief and solo fame). The result is an interesting and beautiful collection of songs, rooted in country and folk sounds but with indie rock experimentation, thoughtful lyrical cadences, and sweet melodies peppered throughout. Opening song, “Stick” is a confident declaration of where Surtsey is as a songwriting unit. Right away, they hit you with the phrase “Buffalo nickel,” settling the scene with distinctly Midwestern imagery and honing in the vibes with a sense of vague, history-inspired nostalgia. They double down with a sighing steel guitar lead, woven seamlessly into the song like a ghostly presence.[...]

The Ballroom Thieves – Sundust

April 25, 2024

Maine-based duo The Ballroom Thieves are fresh off the release of their latest LP, the stunning and aptly-named Sundust. Composed of Callie Peters and Martin Earley, the two have crafted a deeply personal album full of gentle folk with a specialization in dazzling harmonies that circle around a central theme – “What if we were all just a little more tender?” In a world that is often unforgiving, cold, and ugly, Sundust stands as a bastion of human kindness – a heartwarming batch of ten songs that dares to look at the potential beauty buried deep inside of us all. To create Sundust, Martin Earley and Callie Peters, the two masterminds behind The Ballroom Thieves, holed up in their home studio somewhere in the boondocks of Maine. They challenged themselves with a conscientious decision to record outside of a typical studio – the result is an incredibly intimate collection of sounds,[...]

Red’s Motel – Chapters End

April 17, 2024

Red’s Motel has spent the better part of the last year brewing up their debut album, Chapters End. The band, led by the enigmatic Red Hawes, is a three-piece indie/alternative rock act based in Maryland who have been making plenty of waves in their local scene, including some stints at Ram’s Head and Merriweather Post Pavilion. Their hard work and grinding has paid off; Chapters End is a stunning offering of riff-driven alternative rock with an emphasis on interesting compositions, nimble fingerwork, and endearing melody. The album opens with the epic and cinematic instrumental “The Curse I Bear.” Here, the band flexes some post-rock muscle, pairing ethereal guitar work, moaning swells, and chunky blasts of distortion to set the mood for the entire album. It acts as a wonderful crescendo, slowly building into something more and more epic before blending seamlessly into song two, “Amber Ashes.” On “Ashes”, the band truly[...]

Davis Gestiehr – I’m Always Lying… Make Me Famous

April 14, 2024

Twenty-three year old Davis Gestiehr is spring-loaded with youthful energy, evident on his latest release, I’m Always Lying… Make Me Famous (IALMMF). The four song EP finds the wunderkind exploring various sounds reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys, The Replacements, and The Black Keys. IALMMF blasts into your eardrums with the one-two punch of opener “CCTV.” Here we start hearing the hallmarks of Gestiehr’s sound – a jittery bass riff pounds out a jaunty rhythm while guitars chime out in frenzied unison. Drums sounded like they were recorded in the tiniest room possible hammer out a neurotic-but-apt beat here, complimenting the song’s ultra tight feel. Lyrical motifs also start to form here, as Gesteihr sings: “I used to think I was hot shit, got a degree so I could fuck around. My arteries are carotid, there’s only one way to get famous now – I want to be on CCTV” Whether Gestiehr[...]

Soft Mothers – Hysterical Love

April 12, 2024

San Antonio’s Soft Mothers (SM) were formed in 2016 by Luis Rocha. Since then, they’ve released a steady stream of alternative-rock flavored music full of angsty guitar energy, heavily inspired by mid/late ’90s and early 2000’s post-hardcore and grunge. Their latest offering is the quasi-full length release, Hysterical Love – an eight-song LP that has plenty in common with all of your favorite throwback acts with enough gritty, basement-show vigor to feel fresh. There’s lots to dive into here – you’ll hear hints of acts of various intensities, ranging all the way from At the Drive In through Citizen through Pedro the Lion. Hysterical Love opens with “Leave Me;” guitar chords ring out in a dirge-like pace, soaked in lovely shimmer effects. SM leans into this crawling tempo, allowing the song to breathe as it crescendos into a roiling bridge. Here, the drums pick up with jazzy snare hits and rolls around the[...]

Jovi Skyler – Call It A Day

April 5, 2024

Last time we checked in with Sydney’s Jovi Skyler, we were reviewing the ten-song LP Nothing To Do, full of Jovi’s unique blend of punk and psychedelic rock with a fun, raw approach. Having embodied the spirit of the ’90s with a DIY twist, we found his music to be charming underneath all the grit and wild, mind-bending antics and visuals. Jovi’s back with a brand new EP, the succinct, four-song Call It A Day, which finds the Sydneysider vegetarian punk-rocker singer-songwriter experimenting with more traditional song structures, sharper mixes, and a honed-in approach on straight up punk fervor. Jovi opens the EP with the four-chord onslaught of “Asshole.” A four-on-the-floor tom beat pummels your ear drums as a swarm-of-bees guitar jams a simple chord progression down your throat. Jovi seems to have foregone the psychedelic influence of his last offering in favor of candid songwriting simplicity. Reminiscent of early[...]

Stinkus – 23

March 29, 2024

Stinkus (aka Tyler Thompson) is gearing up to release their first true body of solo work, a magnum opus of hazy bedroom-pop-meets-slacker-rock called 23. Having previously had success with their other bands WILD and girlhouse (and some stints producing for other bands like Smallpools, The Mowgli’s, Timothy Edward Carpenter, and Jon Bryant), Stinkus is no stranger to songwriting. If you’re like me, you may have incorrectly assumed that 23 was a reference to Stinkus’ age. In actuality, Stinkus’ inspiration for this album came after a split with their fiancé of seven (7) years. And while Stinkus is surely tapped into the zeitgeist of warmly-produced-indie-folk-with-quirky-lyrics that fits in so well now in 2024, their songcraft dives so much deeper. There are plenty of metaphors referencing mental illness, drug abuse, and the like… But at its heart, especially musically, 23 is just Stinkus finally being Stinkus. And it rips. “I am” introduces the[...]

Summer Like The Season – Aggregator

March 19, 2024

We’re not sure if we could consider “outsider rock” a burgeoning genre, but it’s no longer reserved for left-field listening parties and music lovers looking for a challenge. Continuing in the footsteps of The Shaggs and Mort Garson (or maybe more like Marnie Stern and Liz Phair), Summer Like The Season (SLTS) is here with their latest album, Aggregator. Filled with flamboyant ideas that all fall somewhere between beautiful and bonkers, Aggregator is a modern-day enigma that will leave you feeling bewildered. It’s full of outsider rock ideas that are performed with an indie-pop mindset, replacing out-of-tune guitars and atonal howling with stunning melodies and genuinely novel ideas. Aggregator starts out innocently enough – ambient sound and gently plinking tubular bells greet your ears before dropping into an innocuous ’80s-inspired electronica texture. Here’s SLTS’s first trick – they blast into one of the most supremely catchy synth-pop choruses I’ve ever heard. Singer Summer[...]

SEER SEEKER – TO THE CORE

March 11, 2024

Virginia indie-hip-hop act SEER SEEKER is here with an electrifying blend of genres on their debut release, the eight-song TO THE CORE. Blending hardcore intensity with a hip-hop core (and more than a bit of glorious late ’90s/early ’00s nu-metal nostalgia), this batch of songs pairs dank guitar sludginess; emotive vocals; and filthy bass tones with shiny and intense electronic production. This is truly a genre-defying effort – whether you’re a fan of hip-hop or guitar-driven music, TO THE CORE would fit perfectly on a shelf next to your favorite Linkin Park, Orgy, and Papa Roach records. The opening few moments of TO THE CORE are laden with piano twinking and a fuzzy, vinyl record effect. Called “Starlight,” this song is reminiscent of the iconic intro of “In The End” by Linkin Park; it’s an apt beginning to an album full of emotional turmoil; epic twists and turns; and theatrical buildups. Soon,[...]

Cipriani – Meek

March 4, 2024

Swiss singer/songwriter Claudio Cipriani is hot off of the release of his latest offering, Meek (February 29, 2024). If the auspicious leap year release date wasn’t indication enough of this EP’s transcendent qualities, a full listen through Cipriani’s work will have you feeling lighthearted and free. For the past three decades, Cipriani has been crafting music that can be described as enchanting and captivating, encapsulating the beauty and joy of life in a world that almost forces you to look past. His work is deeply inspired by the beauty of nature and showing kindness to others – the blend of instruments here embodies that mindset, with flashes of piano, violin, plunking basslines, and Cipriani’s breathy baritone delivery. Here’s Cipriani himself explaining the central thesis of Meek: “‘Meek’ is an EP about the struggles of our lives in our present times trying to lift us above the mists of negativity to[...]

Jared Bill – Mystery Man

February 29, 2024

There’s something intangible about the latest album from country act Jared Bill… Or maybe the word I’m looking for is tongue-in-cheek? Either way, the rock-tinged country of his sophomore album, Mystery Man, is a compelling journey of flavorful storytelling, fun anecdotes, and a surprisingly touching core that never takes itself quite too seriously. With such a wide-arching spectrum of topics, there’s something here for everybody… Even corgi lovers. Opening track, “The Jared Bill, Pt. 2,” is an acoustic-laden country western song that acts as a sort of biography or origin story of the character of Jared Bill. Deeply narrative lyrics evoke feelings that you’re about to rob a train sometime in the 1800s. The rich story certainly helps to kick off the album, a simple-but-effective style that would sound right at home in your favorite local saloon or dive bar. With nimble piano twinkling, spry guitar noodling, touches of female[...]

The Daze – Methomania

January 24, 2024

Winters in the Northeast are no joke – I surely don’t need to tell any of our Buffalonian readers that. Our neighbors across Lake Erie in Cleveland might know a thing or two about how to get through a brutal winter, too… Something like: watch your football team lose in heartbreaking fashion and promptly go back to drinking and shoveling for the next four months, and somewhere in that time span maybe write a song or two. Cleveland-based act The Daze know this exact pain. The rock n’ roll duo (Eddie Grier on vocals, guitar, bass, and keys and Basil Johnson on organ, drums, and percussion) channeled their teenage angst into a gritty ten-song album they’re calling Methomania. While Methomania is a term that is archaic for “alcoholism,” the album also touches on themes of addiction, growing up, and anxiety. The Daze was formed by a group of high school[...]

Jenny Rubicon – Greedy

January 15, 2024

Jenny Rubicon (JR) is a fresh-faced indie rock act hailing from NYC composed of James Bannon and Max Chomet – the duo’s evolution from collegiate friends with differing musical opinions to co-songwriters in a band is a wild one, but it’s these unlikely pairings that often create the best artistic results. A decade into their friendship (which has since blossomed considerably), they’ve crafted a brand new album titled Greedy. At nine songs long, Greedy is the sound of their growth as musical partners AND friends encapsulated into something tangible. Not only is it a fun-sounding, punchy, and crunchy batch of guitar-based power-pop that is perfect for any listening occasion, but it also touches on themes of moving on, growing up, and evolving as time goes by. Album opener “Dinner Party” introduces the listener to the hallmarks of Jenny Rubicon’s sound; think chunky guitar distortion, upbeat tempos, and heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics delivered[...]

Into The Light – Into The Light

December 27, 2023

Rochester-based act Into The Light formed in 2022 and boasts an impressive pedigree of Rochester talent – think members of Bad Bloom, Union, Hard To Know, The Silence Broken, and Achilles. This particular crew is influenced by shoegaze, indie rock, and post-hardcore like Failure, Catherine Wheel, and Quicksand; said influences come through strongly on their debut EP, the self-titled Into The Light (ITL). The quartet worked with record producer Steve Sopchak (of Motionless in White and Ice Nine Kills fame) to create a gritty, guitar-forward album full of raw aggression, chugging chords, and cathartic emotions. It has just as much in common with crushing ’90s grunge like Soundgarden, your favorite Deftones album, and modern-day acts like Superheaven and Teenage Wrist. Album opener “The Thorns of Life” introduces you to the hallmarks of ITL – expect spindly guitar leads laden with thick distortion tones; a rock-steady bassline that’s just as nimble; and[...]