by Nick Sessanna | Nov 7, 2023 | Album Review
James Bannon is a New Jersey-based act who just released the six-song EP Heat Ghosts (HG). Full of folksy strumming and plenty of 90s-era adult contemporary flavors, HG tells several poignant stories of love, loss, and human connections. Album opener “Kitchens...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 22, 2023 | Album Review
Playing With Fireworks (PWF) is the moniker of Luke Underhill. The Chicago, IL native is here with a new sound, shedding his singer songwriter roots for something a bit more lush and expressive. The result of this new identity is a fresh, new EP, Runaway, a four-song...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 21, 2023 | Album Review
Vast Robot Armies (VRA) has existed for the better part of a decade, an impressive feat for any band. VRA rose from the ashes of many respected projects, think The Life and Times; Sometimes Why; Shiner; Failure; and Sundiver – bandleader Jason Thomson used his...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 15, 2023 | Album Review
A few months ago, we reviewed Chris Portka’s Trash Music (you can read our original review here) – as a creative, challenging, and utterly unique work of art, Trash Music goes down, at least in our annals, as one of the most left-field recordings...
by Nick Sessanna | Sep 30, 2023 | Album Review
The story of Chief Broom (CB) is sadly a tragic one. Centered around the songwriting of Shadrach Tuck, this revolving cast of Boise, Idaho natives create songs that focus on “the fragility, monotony, beauty and horrors of everyday life.” Crafted in the...
by Chris Miller | Sep 22, 2023 | Album Review
Casual Confrontation is the stage name of Frankie Diez, a Romanian born artist who grew up in Puerto Rico and Miami before landing in Nashville. He’s here with his latest album, Marriage Culture, a sprawling and expansive 17-song offering that promises a look at...
by Chris Miller | Sep 20, 2023 | Album Review, New Music
Sandbox is a seven song EP from Whitewater, Wisconsin-based one man band Idledaze, released in anticipation of a full length album due out spring of 2024. Idledaze performs as a solo act but also does cover projects as a the Idledaze Trio with a setlist that spans...
by Nick Sessanna | Sep 5, 2023 | Album Review
When you get a heads up that an album you’re about to enjoy is classified as “absurdist noise folk,” you kind of already know what you’re getting yourself into… Or maybe, its more likely that you don’t actually have any possible...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 30, 2023 | Album Review
James Beastly. The man, the myth, the legend. One listen through the blistering punk/alternative/slacker/??? vibes of his latest album, Junk Values, and you’ll be thinking the same thing. He’s self-described as “too indie to be punk and too punk to...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 22, 2023 | Album Review
Couch Cult started the same as many new acts – a passion project that rose, like a phoenix, out of the ashes of the pandemic. This particular trio watched, ostensibly, from a basement window as the world woke up again. This re-awakening of the world inspired...
by Chris Miller | Aug 18, 2023 | Album Review, New Music
Made of Mana (MoM) is a jazz-infused quartet from San Francisco, and their self-titled EP was recently released July 28 – in anticipation an LP coming later this year. MoM is made up of four lifelong friends (Phil, Sean, Dane, Alec) who have worked together...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 15, 2023 | Album Review
Midlife Crisis Vanity Project (MCVP)… Without even writing any words of my own, the title kind of says it all. Unca John is a Baltimore-based singer-songwriter hiding behind his secret identity as an economics professor. He’s emerging out of the shadows to...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 13, 2023 | Album Review
St. Petersburg based act Liquid Pennies specialize in an indie-psych sound that toes the oh-so fine line between concise and abstract. After hammering out a new batch of tunes on stage, in between shows, and even on a live radio performance, they’re back with a...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 4, 2023 | Album Review
Porcelain Tongue is here to talk about loss – the tellingly-titled Goodbye Peggy is their latest offering, a stark title for a hard look at what it means to lose somebody you love. The sophomore release from this Boise-based quartet is a shoegaze-tinged approach...
by Nick Sessanna | Jul 31, 2023 | Album Review
It’s hard to believe that the 90s were 30+ years ago, but here we are in 2023… And that means grimy punk rock act The Cast-Iron Canaries are celebrating a milestone anniversary of their 1993 EP, Propagaga. Although the band thought their work had been lost...