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OOIOO Blast Out of Lengthy Hiatus with Brash and Beautifully Unpredictable 'nijimusi'
Revered experimental Japanese noise/punk/jazz band, OOIOO are back with a typically intense and brilliant new album, nijimusi.
17 Jan 2020
Music
Noise Rock's Buildings Urge You to "Sit With It" (premiere)
Minneapolis noise rock band, Buildings return with a new album and a new cut that speaks to the frustrations we face every day. Buildings make boredom sound (almost) fun on "Sit With It".
13 Nov 2019
Music
Sunn O))) Revisit the World of 'Life Metal' with 'Pyroclasts'
The companion piece to Sunn O)))'s masterful Life Metal completes the most organic and minimal chapter in the drone masters' journey.
08 Nov 2019
Music
Going Off the Rails But Knowing Where to Land: ESSi and the Art of Noise Rock
After more than three years together, Brooklyn duo ESSi finally released their first full-length album. PopMatters caught up with them before a show to discuss their effects-laden punk sound, New York's vibrant DIY music scene, and how Craigslist saved them more than once.
24 Oct 2019
Music
MetalMatters: October 2019 - What's That Noise?
October is dominated by heavyweight returns from noise rock pioneers Swans and Lightning Bolt, while also filled with the black metal bleakness of Blut Aus Nord and the Great Old Ones, while Vastum continue 20 Buck Spin's death metal master class streak.
22 Oct 2019
Music
Lightning Bolt Are Back and As Loud as Ever on 'Sonic Citadel'
Lightning Bolt's Sonic Citadel is both punishingly noisy and, at times, surprisingly tuneful. People who are on Lightning Bolt's exceedingly loud, improvisational vibe will find plenty to like here.
07 Oct 2019
Music
'Hand It Over' Is Dinosaur Jr.'s Magnum Opus -- Too Bad It Was Too Late
The last in Cherry Red Records' four Dinosaur Jr. album reissue series, Hand It Over, makes a clear case for the appraisal of an album that deserved far more than it received.
27 Sep 2019
Music
Dinosaur Jr.'s 'Without a Sound Deserves' - and Gets - a Fresh Listen with Cherry Red's Reissue
Dinosaur Jr.'s last chance to bite at the apple of fame came in late 1994 with their album, Without a Sound. This expanded edition from Cherry Red Records makes the case for hearing it free of the baggage of that alt rock era.
26 Sep 2019
Music
Dinosaur Jr.'s Reissued 'Where You Been' Is a Rough-Cut Diamond
One of alternative rock's key statements arrived in 1993 with Where Have you Been. It receives the definitive treatment from Cherry Red Records in the second of a four album reissue series encompassing all of Dinosaur Jr.'s major label releases.
25 Sep 2019
Music
Dinosaur Jr.'s Reissued 'Green Mind' Is the Sound of a Singular Talent
A long-overdue reissue of Dinosaur Jr.'s Green Mind from Cherry Red Records wraps a superb album in top-notch outtakes, scorching live renditions, liner notes worth the price of admission, and great artwork.
24 Sep 2019
Music
Fox Medicine Find Magic in "Comfort Pony" (premiere)
Portland duo Fox Medicine recall the intersection of environmentalism and wicked humor in the earliest grunge, and offer up their own brand of "bubblegum doom" on "Comfort Pony".
12 Sep 2019
Music
Palm Haze's "Almost Soon" Is Noisy, Shoegazey, and Delightful (premiere)
Brazilian-born, Canadian-based duo Palm Haze deliver a deliciously weighty bit of goth-cum-shoegaze that feels like this could be one of your new favorite bands.
25 Jul 2019
Music
Post-Metal Outfit Pelican Returns with More Dark Moods and Inventive Instrumentals
On Nighttime Stories, instrumental quartet Pelican make the most out of working without a singer, proving that some narratives are best built without words.
18 Jul 2019
Music
Guitar Wolf Is Still Loud and Fast and Hungry in 'Love and Jett'
Guitar Wolf, Japan's answer to the Ramones, has proudly kept their shtick going for 32 years, and the ravenous pack doesn't let up in their latest, Love and Jett.
25 Jun 2019
Music
Black Midi's 'Schlagenheim' Is Technically Proficient But Emotionally Shallow
Like their namesake, Black Midi are a restless, unstoppable force that push their members and listeners to their limits in Schlagenheim.
24 Jun 2019
Music
People Are Going Bananas: An Interview with Cherry Glazerr
Cherry Glazerr's singer, main songwriter, and guitar player Clementine Creevy is not one of those artists who wishes everyone would leave her alone. She's made a big rock star album in Stuffed and Ready and she's having a blast playing sold-out shows.
Jennifer Kelly
15 Mar 2019
Music
The Unspeakable Horror of Daughters' 'You Won't Get What You Want'
There's an 'exorbitant' something that might be considered the implicit subject of Daughters' You Won't Get What You Want, in which it's never entirely clear if the threat is invasive, exerted from outside, or the confession of internal struggle.
06 Mar 2019
Music
Royal Trux Return in True Rock 'n' Roll Fashion with 'White Stuff'
After 19 years of silence, Royal Trux returns rejuvenated and unleashes an old-school, energetic, and fun ride in White Stuff.
26 Feb 2019
Music
Cherry Glazerr Perfects Noise Pop Blend on the Incendiary and Vital 'Stuffed & Ready'
With its personal perspectives on the effects of the current cultural zeitgeist, Cherry Glazerr's Stuffed & Ready is not simply a great rock record, but an important document in the early days of 2019.
01 Feb 2019
Music
Extreme Music Fiends ENDON Return with Another Chaotic Offering in 'Boy Meets Girl'
On Boy Meets Girl, Japan's ENDON carry down the same path of aggression tilting towards their hardcore-esque origins.
25 Jan 2019
Music
After an Eight-Year-Long Hiatus Daughters Reach Their Peak
Noise rock, mathcore veterans Daughters make a fantastic return to the extreme, experimental scene with the highly potent and verging on sadistic You Won't Get What You Want.
22 Oct 2018
Music
OddZoo Introduces Listeners to 'Future Flesh' (album stream)
European trio OddZoo taps into sounds that will appeal to fans of the Soft Moon, M83, A Perfect Circle, and Cult of Luna.
10 Oct 2018
Music
Younger Then Celebrates Salvation Through Music Via "Bad Life" (premiere)
Buffalo, New York band Younger Then delivers a powerful slice of the positive via the title track from their upcoming sophomore album.
04 Sep 2018
Music
KEN mode Turn Back the Clock with 'Loved'
Canadian extreme hardcore act KEN mode makes a return to its proper, overwhelming form with their sardonically nihilistic new record, Loved.
29 Aug 2018
Books
The Story of Swans by Those Who Lived to Tell
Nick Soulsby's oral history of Swans digs deep in and around the trenches of Michael Gira's twisted musical world.
21 Aug 2018
Music
Uniform Carry on Their Death March with New Album
Industrial/noise rock act Uniform adds drummer Greg Fox to its line-up, shaking up some core elements of their sound on The Long Walk.
13 Aug 2018
Books
Nick Soulsby Reads from His Oral History, 'Swans: Sacrifice and Transcendence'
Swans' story is a story of artistic near-death, defiance, and resurrection. This excerpt brings forth the band's challenges during the Swans Are Dead Tour of 1997.
02 Aug 2018
Music
Body/Head Rip Up the Playbook with 'The Switch'
The new studio offering from Kim Gordon and Bill Nace offers an experience that's less tied to the raw emotions of the past and more focused on the exacting, brilliant technical and compositional skills of its creators.
30 Jul 2018
Music
The Oxford Coma Contemplates "Smack & Temporary Enlightenment" (premiere)
The Oxford Coma has a penchant for blending heavy music in the vein of Neurosis with post-rock sensibilities, flashes of grunge and doses of noise, as heard on "Smack & Temporary Enlightenment".
Jedd Beaudoin
08 Jun 2018
Music
E Find Some Dark Places in Their 'Negative Work'
With entwined chaos and a compelling attack, E offers plenty of intensity to enjoy on Negative Work.
05 Jun 2018
Music
Ricarda Cometa Combines Latin, African and Asian Influences With Noise, Math Rock on 'Ricarda Cometa 2' (album stream)
Argentine-Peruvian duo Ricarda Cometa prepares for a European tour with the release of a new album filled with adventure, Ricarda Cometa 2.
Jedd Beaudoin
31 May 2018
Music
White Hills Returns with New Video, "End of the Line", Celebrating Martin Bisi's BC Studio (premiere)
Extracted from a larger performance, White Hills' "End of the Line" arrives ahead of a new tour from the band and new compilation for producer Martin Bisi.
22 May 2018
Music
Jarboe and Byla's 2007 LP 'Viscera' Gets Reissue Treatment From Translation Loss (album stream)
Still ahead of its time one decade on, Jarboe and Byla's Viscera moves to vinyl for the first time on 20 July. Listen now.
Jedd Beaudoin
18 May 2018
Music
Danish Punk Band Iceage Up the Ante on 'Beyondless'
On Beyondless, Iceage feels as if they've arrived and the stage is all theirs.
09 May 2018
Music
Waveless Dream Up Their Escape on "Second Lot" (premiere)
Minneapolis noise-gaze trio Waveless seethes and soothes with discord and distance on their new album, As One More Folded Paper Crane.
23 Apr 2018
Music
Father Murphy Call It Quits Via a Requiem in 'Rising'
The Italian cult duo's final album is part rock record and part religious ceremony, built on natural texture and stark mysticism.
17 Apr 2018
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