Reviews

Following one of the most rousing debuts by anybody anywhere, Vanguard of the Young and Reckless, Nova Scotia’s Stanfields keep their foot on the gas with the new album Death and Taxes. Producer Mike Fraser (Bryan Adams, AC/DC), with his smooth Vancouver layers, manages to let Scottish lilt and Ramonesian drive burn through. Along with […]

Nova Scotia’s astounding crop of female singer-songwriters keeps on giving. Jennah Barry arrives with a lively collection of songs recorded at the Old Confidence Lodge in Riverport. It sounds like the room is full of players, though not so dense that timely “wooo-oo-ooh”s by Barry won’t considerably sweeten a tune. Icy of heart, “they fight […]

On its second physical release, Special Costello digs up the dirt and hollows out a craggy, fuzzed-out bunker somewhere in outer-space. The shifting, boisterous clusters of song rumble with filthy bass and lash out with clanging drum patterns. Singer Jeremy Costello’s majestic vocals get the Dr. Frank Poole treatment: floating around suffocated somewhere out in […]

Ready to get punched in the face with sound? No, no, not that harsh metal kind of sound—this is the head-bopping indie-rock with a touch of electro-pop surging through your speakers kind of sound. With sing-a-long lyrics that catch you on the first listen and peppy beats, Walk The Moon is tailor-made for front seat […]

When supported by the Danish National Orchestra, the strange beauty in Antony Hegarty’s voice becomes more beguiling than bizarre. It’s a wind instrument somewhere between oboe and clarinet more than one caught between genders, though it’s that too. Most of these songs appear on earlier releases with somewhat less dynamic backing. One hurdle is “Future […]

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ second album, Here, is no sophomore slump. With just as much bluegrass-folk fun as Up From Below, you’ll be stomping your feet to the beat. This album shows a perfecting of layering of the banjo, accordion and trumpet. Jade Castrinos and Alex Ebert are as charming as ever in their […]

This debut cassette scrambles my brain. It’s like one of those black- and-white drawings that looks like a wistful old woman wearing a pearl necklace; then, when you return to it, it looks like an eagle soaring over a lake of fire. The presentation is deceptively simple, the lines are nuanced and multi-dimensional. The spindly […]

Canada’s own new wave of British heavy metal revivalists, Black Moor, return with their sophomore album Lethal Waters, a collection of high-octane tracks that resemble the punishing ferocity of early Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and speed-metal-era Metallica. Starting off with the Rob Halford-inspired wails on album opener “Hellraiser,” the band charges forward with galloping guitar-chugs […]

For some, the rap on Patti Smith has been that she avoids singing melodically to remind people she’s a poet. The surprise on Banga is how well she combines singing and reciting and how snappy the pop element is. Old CBGB’s colleague Tom Verlaine (Television) pitches in with loyal Lenny Kaye to weave guitar magic […]

Looking 4 Myself is the seventh studio release from the fella who introduced the world to the Biebs, Usher Raymond. Clocking in at a little over an hour, 18 tracks of Usher’s brand of pop-infused R&B is fairly grating by the end of the record. The first three singles “Climax,” “Scream” and “Lemme See” are […]

Releasing his debut EP Back to the Wilderness, Morgan McDonald’s country-folk tracks—sprinkled with a healthy dose of lap steel—are impressive. Although at times he seems to use those country crutches as filler instead of as additions to the songs, with the help of producer Paul Aucoin and paired with an obvious knack for storytelling (“Blood […]

If your head bangs more than your toe taps—that’s a high noise to melody factor. If the ratio’s just under infinity, does that make it math rock? This Halifax trio is well set to spread its reach, the second album landing on a national label. Tim Wheeler of Ash adds his endorsement in the form […]