MODEST MOUSE AN ERASER AND A MAZE GLACIAL PACE/VIRGIN RECORDS “Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.” ~ Charles Bukowski It was the beginning of Summer 2000, and Portland’s Modest Mouse had recently released The [...]
AUGUST BURNS RED SEASON OF SURRENDER FEARLESS RECORDS For the past 20 years, August Burns Red has never concerned themselves with rewriting the soundscapes they helped bring to metalcore. As they have braved the changes in the genre’s [...]
SHINEDOWN EI8HT ATLANTIC RECORDS Hard-hitting Florida rockers Shinedown have released their eighth studio album appropriately titled Ei8ht, and it packs just as much of a punch as over the past two decades with the band has. “Safe and Sound,” [...]
VIOLET GROHL BE SWEET TO ME AURORA RECORDS/REPUBLIC RECORDS Having sung backup vocals for Foo Fighters for nearly a decade, even making appearances on 2021’s Medicine at Midnight and 2023’s But Here We Are, Violet Grohl has emerged with her own [...]
PAUL McCARTNEY THE BOYS OF DUNGEON LANE MPL/UNIVERSAL It has been over five years since Paul McCartney’s last studio album, McCartney III, and McCartney has noted that during those years, he took his time with what became The Boys of Dungeon [...]
WIDEMOUTH NO GASOLINE URBAN SCANDAL RECORDS Chicago quartet Widemouth probably had other ideas (or maybe not?) when they named their debut album No Gasoline, but they somehow foresaw what is currently going on with it. At the same time, the [...]
PRIMULA NOTHING NEW FLAK RECORDS When somebody mentions that a certain indie band is including jazz elements within its music, the usual first impression is that of a few classic jazz elements brought into the usual pop or rock setting. Yet, the [...]
LEEROY STAGGER PILGRIMAGE CORDOVA BAY RECORDS So, is there a difference between Americana and Canadiana? Sure, musically, the two are like twins, but even with twins, there are visible (or in this case, audible) differences, and no matter how [...]
MAD IRIS MAD IRIS BA DA BING RECORDS Since 2024, Toronto’s Mad Iris has been releasing singles that play with a post-grunge meets shoegaze vibe. In the last year, the band has released three singles – “Daisy, Don’t Take My Baby,” “Poor [...]
THE ALARM TRANSFORMATION TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RECORDINGS This is a rather difficult review, not because there is any question about the quality of the music in the package, but because this is Mike Peters’ farewell. I bought The Alarm’s [...]
DOUBLESPEAK DOUBLESPEAK LONDON RECORDS Doublespeak is a supergroup of three influential and much-loved electrobeat artists from the past 40 years. Neil Arthur (Blancmange, Fader), Vince Clarke (Yazoo, Depeche Mode, Erasure), and Benge [...]
J.C. THOMAZ AND THE MISSING SLIPPERS J.C. THOMAZ AND THE MISSING SLIPPERS SLOVENLY RECORDINGS From Rotterdam, NL, comes the gritty punk/post punk of J.C. Thomaz and The Missing Slippers. Reportedly this debut album was two decades in the making [...]
THE CRANBERRIES EVERYBODY ELSE IS DOING IT, SO WHY CAN’T WE? (33rd ANNIVERSARY EDITION) ISLAND RECORDS There’s something achingly beautiful and achingly sad about hearing these songs all over again on the 33rd (a peculiar choice, but perhaps [...]
HUSH FOR DOLLY SIMONE RECORDS How do you craft a debut album to make exactly the right impact? Do you rush into it while the inspiration is red-hot, or do you take it slow to make sure everything sounds exactly as you envisioned? For Montreal [...]
FUTURE ISLANDS FROM A HOLE IN THE FLOOR TO A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH 4AD Has it really been two decades since Future Islands found their way onto the airwaves for the first time? It certainly has, and From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth is [...]
PETER FRAMPTON CARRY THE LIGHT UME It is a good idea to forget what you think you know about Peter Frampton before you listen to his new album, Carry The Light. This is an extremely important album for Peter Frampton. Not only is it his first [...]
SHAKEY GRAVES FONDNESS, ETC. DUALTONE RECORDS When you decide to go lo-fi, make a DIY record, and make it work, there has to be a set of very solid musical reasons (unless it is a question of being forced to go cheap) behind it, and those [...]
SHHE THALASSA ONE LITTLE INDEPENDENT RECORDS Your personal background comes into play at some point when you create music, and for the Scottish-Portuguese sound artist and producer Shhe (Su Shaw), for her new album Thalassa she references her [...]
CROWN LANDS APOCALYPSE CENTURY MEDIA Following a pair of experimental interludes released last year – Ritual I & II – Canadian progressive rock duo, Crown Lands, has returned. For their third studio record, and their first full album since [...]
RESTHAVEN PRELUDE DYSTOPOLIS ARTS Toronto is a place where local music can be found in abundance. Throughout the city, nearly every night, there’s a local performance or show that can be found if you know where to look. Metal music in particular [...]
THE WOGGLES STOP AND TAKE A MINUTE WICKED COOL RECORDS The Woggles’ debut album was released in 1993 (Teen Dance Party), since then they have released 11 studio albums and a number of singles. The singles are the stars of the show here, as a [...]
UNWED SAILOR HIGH REMEMBRANCE CURRENT TASTE I’m sitting at the park on a warm early spring evening, sun flirting and hiding behind sporadic cloud puffs, various walks of life grouped together with their beers in hand and joints passing, the [...]
AYRIA VICIOUS WORLD ARTOFFACT RECORDS Jennifer Parkin has been releasing music under the Ayria moniker since 2003 (Debris was Ayria’s debut album). Although she is the driving force behind the project, over the years she has had a number of [...]
THE LEMON TWIGS LOOK FOR YOUR MIND! CAPTURED TRACKS You can always count on brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario of The Lemon Twigs to deliver excellently crafted pop and rock gems with a fresh spin. They have become known for their amazing [...]
