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On IDLES' Danceable Relatable Battle Hymns

It is not in IDLES' oft-derided lyrics but in their visceral performances that they connect with listeners.

                                      
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It is not in IDLES' oft-derided lyrics but in their visceral performances that they connect with listeners.

On their self-titled debut, Human Impact provide a soundtrack for this dislocated moment where both humanity and nature are crying out for relief.

Imagine an orgy scored by rusty industrial equipment blasting New York City noise-rock, something like Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, or Swans in their wicked primes. That's the noise-rock supergroup, Human Impact.

Lyricist Aaron Weiss of post-punk Christian band mewithoutyou used the F-word in a song and it got banned from radio and the album got pulled from record stores. Meanwhile, his fans ponder his parodying of cultural mores.

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's X: The Godless Void and Other Stories, just like many of its predecessors, must be digested in one sitting to grasp its magnificent inventiveness and ideas.

Taking Back Sunday continue to celebrate 20 years together throughout 2019 with their recent compilation, Twenty, tour dates stretching into autumn, and a video series about each of their albums.

Brits in Hot Weather features five of the best new British songs. In this edition, we have trap-infused indie from 13XL, the compelling electronics of Le Module, anthemic indie from the Polarity, barrelling post-hardcore from Cagework, and sunshine filled house from Disciples.

Veteran post-punk group Enablers are releasing their sixth album on 14 June amid the clanging clatter of the aggressive new track, "Bill, In Consideration".

In this edition, we have the talents of London-based producer Swindle, the slow-burning new song from Team Picture, minimalist electropop from Sasha, bruising post-hardcore from I Cried Wolf, and a little Christmas ditty from Dirty Nice.

Fucked Up's Dose Your Dreams compensates for its conceptual emptiness with a sound that blasts on all fronts.

Canadian extreme hardcore act KEN mode makes a return to its proper, overwhelming form with their sardonically nihilistic new record, Loved.

Unruly post-hardcore band NEEDS from Vancouver, BC, hijack the hijackers in their new video for the Limitations track.

Artificial Selection is a fine addition to not only the Dance Gavin Dance catalog but the entire stylistic landscape to which it belongs.

Drift is the first true curveball from Brooklyn band the Men in their ten years together.

While the gold standard for tour diaries may still be Rollins' Get in the Van, Turner's memories of more than a thousand gigs in The Road Beneath My Feet are entertaining and heartfelt.

Dead Reflection shows the band’s development in a subtle manner, carrying tropes and images with crowd-pleasing lines rather than intense guitar riffs.

Post-hardcore outsiders reconvene to unleash a harsh and harrowing assessment of modern society.

The Pennsylvania post-hardcore band Balance and Composure have changed a bit. Is it a slick and successful movement toward a fresh sound, or is it an awkward stumble?

HEIRSOUND's new EP is radio-ready alt-pop with a heavy coat of pop-punk, taking the best of every world in which it dabbles and layering extra energy on top until everything screams.

Before a Million Universes might at times sound like Slint, but Big Ups have their own union and calamity to make their bleakness something of their own.

The latest Senses Fail album is a journey from the heart of darkness to the heart of the sunrise.

Something I learned today: Black and white is always grey. And this week's Counterbalance takes a look at a 1984 turning point in punk. Turn on the news for the 219th most acclaimed album of all time.

The record may not stand up to the closest of scrutiny, but it is pleasantly engrossing in its own way.

Just as its title implies, this is metal wearing a disguise.

If there’s anything to be said of Rescuer, a Tampa-based band, it's that they certainly play LOUD.

Two is certainly a good album, and it’s absolutely the one Owls wanted to make. It’s just not always a record I want to listen to.

Despite the borrowed influences, the band manages to sound fresh and daring in one nearly half-hour burst – silly band name be damned.

Far from "bowing their heads and leaving out the back", the Los Angeles-based post-hardcore/screamo outfit Touché Amoré is doubling down on its clean guitar/screamed vocal contrast, and successfully so, at that.

A vital, though for fans only, box set of early Unwound recordings.

KEN mode's noise-rock growl is unmistakable, but Entrench's 11 songs favor a crueler, more cantankerous metalcore sound -- with the album's lyrical themes of perseverance and doggedness reflected in its fighting stance.

It's not difficult to admire ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's tenacity ten years after Source Tags & Codes, but it's still evident that they haven't found their footing since.

This album's a train wreck. Or at least about a train wreck. And it's very good.

Instead of fading away, the Used have returned from the brink of irrelevancy with their best outing in 8 years.

Alesana provides a good example of why it's pleasant to remember the past, but not to live in it.

Skin the Pig's debut, Article XIX, makes for a frustrating listen, as the band's obvious talent is undermined by a lack of cohesion.

Washington, DC, punk heroes Fugazi called it quits 10 years ago, but the band's legacy as the finest of its generation remains untouched. A Herculean task, sure, but here we go: narrowing down Fugazi's catalog to its finest 10 moments.

J. Robbins' new project Office of Future Plans arrives in full-throttle mode, while Government Issue's self-titled fourth LP finally re-surfaces after two decades!