| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Injury Reserve looked destined to elevate themselves to alternative hip-hop legend status in the mid to late-2010’s. They had one of the best streaks of releases of any group or artist at the time, rivalling contemporaries like Brockhampton with more than half the members. ‘Live From The Dentist Office', ‘Floss’, their ‘DriveContinue reading "Picking up where they left off: By Storm – My Ghosts Go Ghost *ALBUM REVIEW*"
An industrial thrill-ride: Mandy, Indiana – URGH *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Your first impression of Mandy, Indiana’s sophomore album ‘URGH’ will either make or break your experience. Given industrial music’s mini-resurgence in recent years, particularly thanks to bands like Model/Actriz and Fat Dog making it cool to get sweaty and abrasive again, it should come as no shock that Mandy, Indiana have aContinue reading "An industrial thrill-ride: Mandy, Indiana – URGH *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Paracosm’s Blackpill: REDUX | THEATRE REVIEW
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | It’s a never-ending story. Romantically disenfranchised men with deep insecurity and misplaced anger channel their own shortcomings, perceived or real, into an ideology that projects their lack of personal success onto the women that use their agency to decide for themselves. The excuses are always the same too. They don’t know whatContinue reading "Paracosm’s Blackpill: REDUX | THEATRE REVIEW"
Groove-centric: Horse Lords – Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐✨ | 2020’s ‘The Common Task' felt like a bit of a watershed moment for Horse Lords. In stumbling upon the kind of jerky, psychedelic math rock that has since become such a staple of their identity, they seem to have made it a mission to test the absolute limits of reiteration. It becomesContinue reading "Groove-centric: Horse Lords – Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Musical purgatory: Office Dog – Prime Corner *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐ | Auckland-by-way-of-Dunedin band Office Dog are searching for something on their latest effort ‘Prime Corner’. Is it answers? A place to finally belong? Love? Whatever it happens to be, they don’t necessarily seem any closer to finding it on this release. Might they get close? I have a lot of questions for someoneContinue reading "Musical purgatory: Office Dog – Prime Corner *ALBUM REVIEW*"
A deeply Australian album: Pond – Terrestrials ALBUM REVIEW
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | When it comes to musicians making a move into global waters, the Australian music industry seems to have a chronic tendency to file all of its strongest talent overseas in order to guarantee maximum profit. I suppose this has always been endemic to the international music business, but it is particularly heinousContinue reading "A deeply Australian album: Pond – Terrestrials ALBUM REVIEW"
Juxtapositions: Olivia Rodrigo – you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Since Olivia really came into her own on 2023’s ‘GUTS’, the bar has not only been set high, it’s practically created a makeshift skylight. Rodrigo’s heavy lean towards young love and heartbreak was given the rowdy urgency it needed on her breakout, and marked her down as a definitive threat for anyContinue reading "Juxtapositions: Olivia Rodrigo – you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Genuine melodicism: Iceage – For the Love of Grace & The Hereafter *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Denmark’s own Iceage have found themselves on a pretty remarkable trajectory. The unruly punk rock of their initial work resembles very little of their music to come. A creative peak was attained in 2014 with the grand artistic statement of ‘Plowing The Fields of Love', with a newfound orchestral bent to theirContinue reading "Genuine melodicism: Iceage – For the Love of Grace & The Hereafter *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Serotonin deficiency in music form: feeble little horse – Bitknot ALBUM REVIEW
| ⭐⭐⭐ | A breath of fresh air like Pittsburgh’s own feeble little horse only comes around once in a blue moon. Their 2023 breakout album ‘Girl with Fish' was a blindingly vibrant mesh of shoegaze, twee pop, indie rock and noise pop. Guitars were blown out into white noise, the leads were dagger sharp.Continue reading "Serotonin deficiency in music form: feeble little horse – Bitknot ALBUM REVIEW"
Flanderisation: JPEGMAFIA – Experimental Rap *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐✨ | Peggy has always been forthright. Anyone who’s fraternised with his music could tell you that just from the first few bars of any given track. His inability to mince words has been one of his greatest strengths, and has given him a freedom with his commentary that would be the average rapper’sContinue reading "Flanderisation: JPEGMAFIA – Experimental Rap *ALBUM REVIEW*"
A mildly passionate experiment: Rostam – American Stories *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐ | The ex-Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist melds folktronica and Americana for a project that is suitably warming, though is perhaps strongest in its most pared-down moments. His third studio album since his departure from the band, it is a relatively sharp left turn into a more subtle approach. As much Grizzly Bear in thisContinue reading "A mildly passionate experiment: Rostam – American Stories *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Brief, but potent: Lip Critic – Theft World *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐✨ | Having been on the rise for much of the 2020’s now, Lip Critic seem to be as baffled by their own continuing insanity as the rest of us. Their music appears to have a strange mind of its own, darting from one schizophrenic piece of instrumentation to the next. Voice-like sounds emergeContinue reading "Brief, but potent: Lip Critic – Theft World *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Necessary political bluntness: Genesis Owusu – REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ | Australia has a serious treasure at its disposal. Kofi Owusu-Ansah, known by his pseudonym Genesis Owusu, has been methodically moving up the music industry ranks since he debuted back in 2021. The dizzyingly diverse 'Smiling With No Teeth' proved to people who were clued in that Kofi was no mere novice. ToContinue reading "Necessary political bluntness: Genesis Owusu – REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE *ALBUM REVIEW*"
Dan Will Review 