How about this one for a throwback? Back when I didn’t have much of a fashion sense (not that I do now) and so only wore Nike trainers, tracksuit bottoms, and baggy hoodies, Original Pirate Material was my kind of record. I think of my rundown hometown in the early 2000s when kids used to walk around… Read More Record of the Day #24 – The Streets, Original Pirate Material
I had my first university seminar of my Master’s degree yesterday, and we spent a good amount of time discussing inspiration – what inspires us, how we inspire others, and how we seek out inspiration. I avoided mentioning that inspiration normally finds me at its most poetically potent after a drink or five, so instead… Read More Record of the Day #22 – Somos, Temple Of Plenty
I don’t normally pick up soundtracks, mostly because I don’t assign them the same value as my other records. I find it a lot harder to invest the time or develop an emotional connection with a soundtrack, especially when the tracklist exists as fragments or snippets of a movie. I find that with most soundtracks… Read More Record of the Day #18 – Whiplash OST
Melbourne’s The Smith Street Band are great, and you’re missing out if you’re presently unaware of them. I suggest you go and look up some of their songs instead of reading this glowing endorsement of their fourth record. You could also read this interview I did with frontman Wil Wagner back in June (if you… Read More Record of the Day #12 – The Smith Street Band, More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me
Man, here’s one for the books – Silverstein’s Arrivals & Departures. I used to love this record, like, really fucking love it. I walked home from school every day when I was thirteen and had this record on constant repeat, the album occupying the entire journey and occupying it well. I’m pretty sure that I adored Arrivals… Read More Record of the Day 11 – Silverstein, Arrivals & Departures
I’ll have to keep this one brief, like the actual record itself. Trap Them’s debut LP Sleepwell Deconstructor clocks in at just over twenty-one thunderous minutes, twelve tracks of gritty hardcore punk/grindcore/hardcore. However you want to classify it, it shreds, a devastating record produced by Converge’s own Kurt Ballou. This thing is fierce, and its a record… Read More Record of the Day #10 – Trap Them, Sleepwell Deconstructor
I don’t buy many seven-inch records, and I’ve wondered often about why that might be. I think it’s a matter of quantity, knowing perhaps that I’d rather sit down and listen to a record for a full half hour than for only ten or fifteen minutes. I like the size of a twelve-inch record also… Read More Record of the Day #9 – Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, Bittersweet
The Used dropped a new single this week, titled Over and Over Again, and some people aren’t feeling it. The single, taken from the bands upcoming seventh LP The Canyon is decidedly pop, and this pop sound continues to divide fans of the band. I’m not sure why, because The Used have been a band leaning… Read More Record of the Day #8 – The Used, Lies For The Liars
I wrote yesterday about what I’m pretty sure was the fourth record I ever bought. Today I’ve turned my attention to the third record I ever bought – Gospel by Fireworks. When I think of pop-punk records I hold particularly dear, I think of Gospel. As far as I’m concerned, the Michigan outfit released a near-perfect sophomore record… Read More Record of the Day #7 – Fireworks, Gospel
I started buying vinyl records way back in 2013 and started off by picking up a few essentials, and a few under-the-radar additions. American Radass (this is important), if I remember correctly, was the fourth record I ever bought, purchased on a whim from the new extinct Distrosauras Rex. Distrosauras Rex was a very small… Read More Record of the Day #6 – Dads, American Radass (this is important
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t start listening to Fuck Buttons partly because I liked their name. It’s a good name. I remember picking Tarot Sport up on Amsterdam and the ensuing look on my mother’s face when she asked me who’d made it. Fuck Buttons. A bit of a taboo, a bit of fun,… Read More Record of the Day #5 – Fuck Buttons, Tarot Sport
It’s very easy to state that Every Time I Die are the best band in modern metal and mean it. The New York natives have never released a bad record. Honestly, never. That’s my opinion anyhow, and I know it’s an opinion shared by many others. Every Time I Die are as consistent as they… Read More Record of the Day #4 – Every Time I Die, New Junk Aesthetic
Earlier this year I sought press approval for popular UK festival ‘Slam Dunk,’ and was eventually rebuffed in my approach. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed to be missing the festival itself, but I was disappointed to miss the chance to see Enter Shikari play their classic debut album Take To The Skies in full. It was something… Read More Record of the Day #3 – Enter Shikari, Take To The Skies
The World Is A Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid To Die have never been a band afraid to push the envelope. Even their very name seems a challenge to the listener, an obstacle of sorts to overcome as a way to gain a greater appreciation for the music produced under the moniker. With… Read More Record of the Day #2 – The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Between Bodies
I wanted to kick things off with a 12″ single, a single that I love, but perhaps shouldn’t as much as I do. In R.E.M’s extensive discography, no song divides fans quite as much as Shiny Happy People, and listening to the song it’s easy to see why. It’s different, the standout departure on a record… Read More Record of the Day #1 – R.E.M, Shiny Happy People (12″ single)
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