When a punk release gets likened to classic Circle Jerks and early Black Flag, it’s almost certainly worth checking out. There’s something timeless about those early American hardcore records, and bands that take influence from them often manage to be thrilling, no matter how many years pass since the release of works like ‘Group Sex’, Germs’ ‘GI’, and the Adolescents’ debut.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
CHRIS MARAGOTH – Tales EP
Chris Maragoth, a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Germany, made his early musical steps as a member of various short lived bands and as producer of black metal act Draug. In many ways, though, his solo career has been a factory reset in both terms of melody and the potential to reach a wider audience.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Pink Floyd “Fans” – Get Over Yourselves
Yesterday, David Gilmour announced that Pink Floyd had reconvened with a new line up to record a new single for charity. Understandably, many of the band’s more open minded fans were overjoyed. Some of their more vocal supporters, bizarrely – though not entirely unpredictably – expressed an extreme displeasure.
THE GENTS – Chop The Rot EP
Taking the grubbiness of classic Mudhoney and injected it with the spirit of old school punk and a pinch of early Motorhead, German punk ‘n’ roll trio The Gents whip up a speed driven storm on their 2022 EP ‘Chop The Rot’. Although speed is often the key to bringing a genuine excitement to their material, also a great pleasure to be had when hearing the band approaching most of their work at full volume. This results in the kind of release that would appeal to a broad spectrum of punk fans.
FORTUNE – Level Ground
At the peak of AOR’s popularity in the 80s, there were a lot of great bands and artists whom, for whatever reason, never quite made the big time. They had the major label deal; they had the songs, and yet, struggled to make it into the first division with Journey and Survivor, and secure that place in record buyers’ long term memories. Perhaps it was just that in those days the melodic rock scene was over subscribed. The lack of sales for albums by Aviator, John Philip and Baxter Robertson – to give just three examples – certainly had nothing to do with a lack of talent.