Album Review: Protomartyr– Relatives in Descent

October 2, 2017

Relatives in Descent, Protomartyr’s third full-length record reads like an existential crisis, full of the bitterness and anger we have come to expect from their style of post punk. Anxiety and frustration rides high on this record, and brings with it a tension that gives their sound form. At the front of it all is vocalist Joe Casey, who’s mumbled crooning is delivered like the venomous philosophies of a drunk and angry step dad.

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Album Review: Bryce Merritt: Chroma II

August 1, 2017

Last November, we spoke to Oklahoma native Bryce Merritt, a singer-songwriter and YouTuber, who had released his first album CHROMA I at the time. Growing up, Merritt had thought only country music existed since that’s all his parents listened to in the car, and began to write country songs. Upon getting his own car and picking his own stations, he discovered Motown and other genres which pushed his songwriting into a Pop direction. Merritt’s follow-up, CHROMA II, is a continuation into pop music, but it’s still a really good album.

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Album Review: Kris Lager Band – Rise and Shine

April 3, 2017

Rise and Shine is another big step forward for the Kris Lager Band and offered fans a satisfying place to return to. This album proves they really know how to deliver solid blues and rock tunes, but it’s some of the funk and R&B tracks that don’t quite add up. I get it, they want to explore some different tunes and create something unique, but KLB fans know what they want and it’s the blues.

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Album Review: Civilian– You Wouldn’t Believe What Privilege Costs

With their latest release, You Wouldn’t Believe What Privilege Costs, the band Civilian’s indie rock album is bound to remind you of something old and new. Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, with this album the duo of Ryan Alexander and Dan Diaz continue their journey which they state is “to make the world a better place,” specifically through music. A bold statement but filled with proof after hearing the different tracks on this album. This Nashville duo is no newbie when it comes to finding their own sound, although there is a reminiscent feel to the album drawing comparisons to Ben Gibbard and Band of Horses. There are new sounds to be heard throughout the album from the first track “Skulls” that opens in brief acapella to the last “Judas” with a harsh closing statement of “I am not damaged, just discouraged.”

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Album Review: Bones Muhroni– Grounded

For the first time going into the recording process, Crew Reinstra found himself the principal songwriter for Bones Muhroni. A band to come out of Greeley and winner of the BandWagon Battle of the Bands in 2011, Reinstra, Ryan Wykert, and Chris Jones who made up the band at the time move to Los Angeles together. Now, fast forward to 2017, Jones got married and moved back to Colorado to be close to family, and while Wykert is still in the band, he is tied down by several other projects.

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Album Review: Shady Elders–Inside Voices

March 1, 2017

Inside Voices is the debut, full-length album from the Denver based quartet, Shady Elders. An appropriate album title as the songs are dreamy, lush, and moody. Singer/guitarist Fox Rodemich’s smooth alto voice compliments the band perfectly and is the defining force behind the songs.

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Album Review: STRFKR–Being No One, Going Nowhere

STRFKR’s fourth album Being No One, Going Nowhere is named after Ayya Khema’s popular book on meditation. Fittingly the album explores the Eastern philosophical concepts of existentialism and introspection. But this is still a STRFKR album. While it delves into more serious themes, the music is nevertheless fun and groovy in the most cosmic ways possible.

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Album Review: Lazeraretto Jack White

February 18, 2017

A visit to the inside of Jack White’s head would be an interesting one. The prolific rocker, responsible for such diverse acts as The White Stripes with relationally ambiguous Meg White and the far too short-lived The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, and who has also appeared on a James Bond theme song with Alicia Keys and an Ennio Morricone-inspired Danger Mouse album, breaks ground with every new record.

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