Toe To Toe were the primary band at the most terrifying gig I went to aged 16. So it was was fun to review their new album Rise Up, which unsurprisingly is chock full of brutal, run-through-a-wall hardcore. You can read my review of Toe To Toe’s Rise Up for Rolling Stone right here.
Rolling Stone kindly let me write about At The Drive-In’s comeback album, in•ter a•li•a… which was a) very nice of them, and b) awesome to listen to. It’s not as good as Relationship of Command, but then, like, five albums ever are.
Anyway; read my review of At The Drive In’s In ter a li a here at Rolling Stone.
King Cannons were really good: their Clash-debt was high, but their frontman Luke Yeoward’s voice nailed all the necessary Joe Strummer-isms with a verve that’s hard to pin down. Which is why Yeoward’s solo record comes as such a pleasant surprise; it’s similar to Strummer’s solo stuff… but also wheels down some Elvis Costello soul-pop roads… then goes for a fun dip with some island/reggae vibes. It’s flat out delightful. Find out what else I had to say about Luke Yeoward’s Ghosts right here, for Rolling Stone.
Bad/Dreems might be the best Australian band since Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Well, them or Royal Headache. Or Smith Street Band. Whatever.
ANYWAY. Their new album Gutful is nigh-on perfect… (as I say) it “rumbles with the malevolence of Rundle Mall at 2am, spitting and kicking at a ruling class and confused culture fixated on self-interest and enrichment rather than insight and empathy.”
Read the full review of Gutful for Rolling Stone right here…
And make sure you buy it twenty minutes ago, and tell me just how great “Nice Guy” is.
Things that are good: the mid-’90s Seattle Supersonics, the bit in Independence Day when you realise how fucking nuts Randy Quaid ended up being, and Atlanta metal Mastodon.
You can find out just how good I think they are in my feature review of their new album Emperor of Sand for Rolling Stone — in length — right here.
Hint: Go and listen/buy it right now.
jaymz clements 