Author Archive
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – Lost Songs
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton …and You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead has had the unenviable job of spending the last decade of their career fighting to escape the shadow of their much-lauded 2002 release, Source Tags and Codes. To their credit, ToD have never tried to make Source Tags [...]
Posted in Miscellany, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Celebration Rock is the most aptly named album of 2012; a party record with a conscience, a celebration tinged with nostalgia. Calling it a party record actually requires a redefinition of the term.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Zeus – Busting Visions
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Unpacking Zeus’ second record, Busting Visions, requires more close listening than their debut Say Us – the energy is there, it just isn’t delivered as emphatically as on their first record.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Cloud Nothing’s second full-length effort, Attack On Memory, is impressive both in its affectation and its bite, improving on 2011′s self-titled debut across the board. Memory is the portrait of a band evolving and prospering in an age that is less than amenable to second albums
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Mastodon – The Hunter
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton In the months leading up to the release of The Hunter, Brann Dailor of Mastodon suggested that the album would move away from the grandiose, high concept prog-metal of their previous effort, Crack the Skye, and instead hearken back to Leviathan-era riff-centric rock. With that in mind, it’s [...]
Posted in Hard Rock + Metal, Music Reviews
Queens of the Stone Age – s/t
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Although Queens of the Stone Age’s debut record was originally touted as a group effort upon its release in 1998, it stands today as the closest example of how a Josh Homme solo album could be expected to sound. While Homme has unquestionably been Queens’ driving creative force [...]
Posted in Hard Rock + Metal, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Chad VanGaalen – Diaper Island
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Chad VanGaalen has a knack for writing soaring pop songs that are deceptively simple in their composition. On Diaper Island, VanGaalen plays to his strengths – wandering lead guitar lines walk hand-in-hand with intriguing and unique vocal melodies, all played over relatively simple chord progressions.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin’ On
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Creep On Creepin’ On is an aptly titled record that matches the sweet but naggingly sinister croon of principle singer-songwriter Taylor Kirk with a darker, denser and more confident approach to instrumentation than has appeared previously on a Timber Timbre album.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
