After 15 years, five full length albums, and a rotating roster of musicians, the Mad Caddies are pulling out all the stops and are finally releasing a “best of” album. Consensual Selections features 22 cuts from the Caddies past plus two new tracks. For those unfamiliar to the the Caddies’ sound, their eclectic ska-punk sound [...]

After 35 years of being a staple of the English punk rock scene, The Adicts are still tearing it up. Amazingly featuring all original members, they’ve released their eight studio record Life Goes On. Being only familiar with their older material (mainly their infamous album Songs of Praise), I have to admit that this new [...]

Shortly after winning his Best Actor award at this year’s Academy Awards for his performance in Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges was asked this question by the press:
“As we’ve seen tonight, for a lot of your career you’ve been defined by one movie: The Big Lebowski. Will this put that to rest, and how have you felt [...]

A little bit of Iggy Pop influenced vocals, some driving garage rock beats, and some prevalent four-part harmonies make up the main ingredients for the debut album from Univox. This four-piece band from Philadelphia gives the listener a sound so intermixed in various musical styles it’s hard to categorize their tone.
The album opens up with [...]

I became familiar with Noel Vinson’s (AKA V.I.T.A.L. Emcee) work while checking out the Southern California hip-hop group Seekret Socyetee. The group, which also features Matt Embree of RX Bandits (founder of MDB Records) and Maylay Sage was one of the first hip-hop acts to be featured on MDB’s roster of artists.
V.I.T.A.L. released his debut [...]

In the span of only five years, The Morning Benders have had a total of eight releases.  Their newest effort, Big Echo, reveals a mix of jaunty tunes filled with handclaps, tripped-out guitar effects and forceful drum beats.
The album starts off with the song “Excuses,” an acoustic guitar- and drum-driven tune that has a very [...]

The year was 1980. Motorhead released the iconic album Ace of Spades. The US Olympic ice hockey team defeated the powerhouse Soviet Union squad in the infamous “Miracle on Ice” game.  Ordinary People wins best picture at the Academy Awards, and Americans elect California governor and former movie star Ronald Reagan to be the 40th [...]

Back in 2008, The Dallas Morning News named The Slack as one of the “Next Big Names in Texas Music”. After listening to their sophomore release The Deep End, I would tend to agree. The four piece act from Dallas has a unique sound that touches a wide range of influences in a quirky way [...]

What good are lyrics when you can’t understand them? Within the genre of metal and hardcore, it’s an all too common problem these days: musically talented groups releasing well-played music that’s fast and furious but spoiling the sound with gut-wrenching vocals that sound like utter crap. This is the case of Through the Eyes of [...]

Die Among Heroes is out to prove that diversity is an appealing element in music. Remember those monster ballad ads on TV proclaiming that “every bad boy has a soft side?” It appears that the boys from Austin have taken that motto to task with this eight-track self-titled album. To be fair to the readers [...]

Driving melodic punk rock is what The Reveling is all about. Hailing from Brooklyn, their sound is filled with a certain working class rawness that fittingly represents their hometown environment.
Within the four songs featured on this EP it’s clear we are hearing the works of a musically tight band…

Karen Page’s music hits you like a schizophrenic grandparent: one second they are pinching your cheek and telling you how proud they are of you, and minutes later they’re swinging a broom with hate and disgust. A barrage of rapid-fire guitar licks, thunderous beats, and ferocious vocals are met with unusual tempo changes that throw [...]

In 1999, Hopeless/Sub City Records released the first Take Action compilation with a slew of quality musicians lending their support to the cause. Bands like Alkaline Trio, Hot Water Music, TSOL, and Link 80 dominated the 28-track lineup. It was good music for a good cause (to date, $450,000 has been raised for several charities [...]

I must make a confession. As I do with most albums I review, I listen to them while doing various things around the house. Maybe do a little cleaning, wash some dishes, or partake in some online poker. I noticed that while taking in the sounds of Evil Never Dies, I would stop what I [...]

With the reissue of their sophomore release Hell on Earth, Toxic Holocaust returns with their brand of fast paced thrash metal. Like on their debut album, Joel Grind and his band of metal misfits jam out 10-plus tracks dealing with dark and morbid subjects like death, war and hell. Reflecting on their debut album Evil [...]