Buy Funeral Funeral is a dramatic, coming-of-age album which deals with the range of emotions surrounding death and the end of innocence. This impressive 2004 debut album by Canadian rock group Arcade Fire crafts songs from the darkest moments while still searching for the slight light of optimism. The theme of this album was by … Read more
November 23, 2014 by Ric Albano Buy Golden Road Golden Road is the 2013 debut album by Florida-based Americana singer-songwriter Laney Jones. This album is filled with tracks built on authentic instrumental arrangements, warm vocals, and a great variety in the sub-genres used for the approaches of each track. So, while this young songwriter is … Read more
November 12, 2014 by Ric Albano Buy Shiver + Shake Made up of mainly pure, straight-forward, direct jams, Shiver + Shake contains few songs which exceed four minutes in length. Still, this second full-length LP by the Seattle-based duet, My Goodness, is packed with variety and movement, with thick, riff-based guitars and thundering drums. The … Read more
The group Mumiy Troll is a rock and roll institution in Russia and neighboring countries and is now poised to expand deep into the Western world in 2015. Originally formed in 1983, long before the fall of the Soviet Union, the band is led by composer and frontman Ilya Lagutenko, who defines his group’s unique … Read more
Buy Snakes and Arrows Rush delivered on their strongest album in decades with the 2007 masterpiece,Snakes and Arrows . Produced by Nick Raskulinecz, the album was recorded at Allaire Studios in the Catskill Mountains of New York and found the group employing atypical sonic textures and instrumentation. This was especially true of guitarist Alex Lifeson, … Read more
October 15, 2014 by Ric Albano Based in San Francisco, California, Steakhouse has forged a unique fusion of modern and classic styles on their self-titled debut LP. Steakhouse contains music that seamlessly marries synthesized techno motifs with a solid Country and Western rhythm, along with long lyrical narratives that bring the listener to some dark … Read more
Buy American Idiot You could not escape American Idiot in 2004. No matter your age, if you were around a radio at any point of that year you heard something from this album. It was particularly well received by teenagers who rallied behind its anti-establishment pop rock sound. The album also came out at a … Read more
September 24, 2014 by J.D. Cook & Ric Albano A name like “Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentleman” will probably manage to grab some attention. But what really matters is the music. Does it grab the ear’s attention? Is there a nice balance of originality and accessibility? Will the songs still be relevant years from … Read more
September 14, 2014 by Ric Albano Purchase Mushaboom Hailing from the great white north of Finland, the dynamic rock quartet, Mushaboom, produced a very impressive self-titled debut album. Released in mid 2103, this classic-rock flavored album is loaded with tracks that paint vivid pictures through simple, straight-forward lyrical lines, themes, and phrases, while the exceptionally … Read more