Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Band (previously A Silver Mt. Zion, previously Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band etc) melt a hole through the heart of the post rock genre. Magnificently sculpted melodies and classical, driving crescendos rolled out across seven tracks, all as significant as the last.
It feels arbitrary at [...]

I recently went to see Vanilla Pod play at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston.  While there I remarked on the following points to people I saw:  Seeing Vanilla Pod in Kingston seems like being in a time-warp (as this is my home town and the site of many Vanilla Pod viewings, just not in the [...]

Alkaline Trio are one of my favourite bands. When I was 16, I got a friend to draw me an Alkaline Trio tattoo design on tracing paper, which I planned to get tattooed across my shoulders in whatever studio would turn a blind eye to inking under-age girls. While I am quite relieved that my [...]

This is the latest release of Aberdeen’s punk/hc outfit Escape To Victory, who got together in 2006 to create “a quad vocalled, Œin your face style of melodic hardcore punk that was lacking in Aberdeen”.

Musically this is a mix between The Misfits, Devo and The Ramones, which made me feel quite excited throughout the first two songs. Unfortunately, the whole concept of short, electro-fused late 70s punk gets boring pretty quickly…

I remember listening to The Lawrence Arms last full length album ‘Oh! Calcutta!’ for the first time in a record shop and being blown away. Previously I had considered them to be just another ‘Fat Wreck Chords’ band with mid pass drums and repetitive harmonies but this album was something different. It soon became a [...]

A lot of critics & fans seem to feel “Axe To Fall” is Converge’s best album since the behemoth that was Jane Doe – to be perfectly honest, I’d go beyond that and say it’s my personal favourite release of theirs to date.
The production values and sound of the album are truly superb. Guitarist Kurt [...]

So its the latest offering from Stza and co. Which runs very much along similar territory to previous efforts. The welcome addition with the Star Fuckin Hipsters (SFH) project was the addition of female vocals – something distinctly lacking in bands no matter what genre you look at – but this aspect seems a bit [...]

For the uninitiated, Vic Ruggiero is best known for being the charismatic frontman of New York ska band The Slackers. He’s also written for, recorded with or produced a plethora of side-projects and other acts including the Stubborn All-Stars, Rancid, Kepi Ghoulie and Pink. He continues to keep himself busy (does the man never rest?) [...]

I don’t know why I’ve never reviewed this CD, in fact I don’t even know if it is still available (but it probably is). However if you really want to hear it and it’s not still available, by some happy chance I have two copies so hit me up for one. This record is so [...]