Category: Reviews

Rewind Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Live at Levitation (2023)

On their Live at Levitation album, it’s easy to forget that this recording was only the second show of A Place to Bury Strangers‘ current lineup (Oliver Ackermann – guitar and lead vocals, John Fedowitz – bass and lead vocals, Sandra Fedowitz – drums). They jumped right in (literally, in Ackermann’s case, as he was so frantic that his guitar almost flew into the stage) and proceeded to, as always, flatten the place.

Mrs. Fedowitz’s Devo-like drumming gets things off to a great start on “Dragged in a Hole.” Mr. Fedowitz’s bass throbs like a bubbling volcano on “Let’s See Each Other” as Ackermann’s voice and guitar bounce off every surface.

“We’ve Come So Far” always hits like a burst of anti-aircraft fire live, and this version is no exception. It’s difficult to tell which of the three is hitting harder on it…and that’s kind of the point. Mr. Fedowitz’s thick, sludgy bassline opens “Never Come Back” while Ackermann’s guitar sounds like jet engines starting, failing, roaring, and screeching.

Mrs. Fedowitz hits her toms so hard and fast in the first third of “Alone” that it’s surprising her drum tech didn’t have to replace them every eight bars or so. The breakdown / switch in the song that rushes it into heavy shoegaze is outstanding. “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart” is another stunner. It sounds like the entire room is collapsing under an attack from a Martian tripod and barely gives you a chance to process everything that’s happening.

I say this about “Ocean” a lot, but it’s always true: Every time I think I’ve heard the loudest version of it live, APTBS somehow makes one even louder and wilder and more transcendent. This one evolves / devolves into feedback-chaos and almost makes your brain melt. The album ends with “Have You Ever Been in Love?”, which has Mrs. Fedowitz singing / chanting high notes to contrast the heavy, almost deafening buzz of the entire track.

APTBS shows are designed so you (and the people a couple blocks away) not just hear the music, but feel it. It rattles your whole body. My fiancé said, “I think I need a neck adjustment after that.” when she saw them for the first time. This album gets you close to that nerve-rattling, mind-altering sensation. My longtime description of APTBS is “They’re not for everyone, but I want everyone to hear them.”

Play this one loud, and everyone around you will (and should).

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Dorthia Cottrell – Death Folk Country (2023)

Dorthia Cottrell said that the title of her solo album Death Folk Country is a way to name “the world inside me.” You can guess from the album’s cover, an image of her as a vampire / werewolf / demoness / ghost, that this world is a dark place that hides and holds beauty and mystery.

After a soft instrumental opener, “Death Is the Punishment for Love,” “Harvester” curls into the room like fog that takes feminine shapes around you and threatens / entices you to stay in it forever. “Black Canyon” has Cottrell examining deep places within all of us, whether we want to admit they exist or not. They’ll emerge sooner or later “like a lover come back from the war.” The song is just her voice, an acoustic guitar, soft, rolling cymbals, and organ tones that sound like wind moving through a haunted house that eventually turns into birdsong.

“Family Annihilator” is the longest track on the album at nearly seven minutes. Cottrell sings, her voice echoing, about loss and the strength needed to continue moving forward through (and with) grief. The vocal effect of Cottrell’s voice being both lead and backing vocals (often in slightly different keys) is used throughout the record to great effect, making her sound like her physical and astral self are singing about the same thing from both earthly and cosmic perspectives.

“Effigy at the Gates of Ur” sounds like a lullaby. “Midnight Boy” brings in spaghetti western guitars and might be a love song about a back door man (to use an old blues term) or a love affair with a vampire (“If heaven could see what he’s doing to me, I’d be running like the devil in a cemetery.”). “Hell in My Water” combines violin tones with deep acoustic guitar sounds to create something that feels a bit menacing but you can’t help exploring it.

“Take Up Serpents” refers to a verse in the Bible declaring that one filled with the Holy Spirit could handle serpents without fear, and Cottrell seems to wonder if she’d ever be brave enough to seek such faith and strength. “For Alicia” is a lovely track about someone who’s going through pain and only wants someone else to carry that cross for a while. “Eat What I Kill” is just Cottrell’s haunting voice and acoustic guitar, but they’re enough to wallop you as she asks, “Are you saying my name like a curse?” and wonders if she’ll be lost forever after losing love yet again. “Of earthly pleasures, you can have your fill. I only want to eat the things that I kill,” she says. Damn. She’s not playing.

The album is bookended with “Death Is the Reward for Love,” and it’s a send-off of brighter synths and uplifting (yet still spooky) vocal effects to remind us that the amount of grief we have for love lost is equal to the amount of love we had.

It sounds simple to call this record “haunting,” but it is. It gets into you and lingers in your chest.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Dry Cleaning – Secret Love

“To me it feels meaningful to talk about emotional things in a calm way.’ – Florence Shaw, lead singer and lyricist of Dry Cleaning.

That sums up not only Ms. Shaw’s approach to Dry Cleaning’s songs on their new album, Secret Love, but across their catalogue. Shaw’s vocal delivery, which often sounds like she’s some kind of quiet trickster watching from afar, often puzzles people. She writes and sings “about emotional things in a calm way” while her bandmates (Nick Buxton – drums, Tom Dowse – guitarist, Lewis Maynard – bass) often go bonkers behind and around her. It can be a jarring experience. Shaw is sometimes like an eye of a hurricane. Your ears aren’t sure where to give their attention. It’s best to just absorb it.

Lead single “Hit My Head All Day” has a wicked disco bass line from Maynard and a funk groove by Buxton to get your body moving. Dowse’s guitar comes in from the post-punk show next door and the dancers happily let him rock out while they keep dancing. Underneath the fun beats, Shaw sings about being frustrated with the barrage of not only thoughts, but also the idea she has to keep thinking them (“Life, a series of memorials and signals telling us this or that. Telling us this or this, think of that. The objects outside the head control the mind. To arrange them is to control people’s thinking.”).

“Cruise Ship Designer” is a song about a man who has a great career, yet he feels empty about it. Shaw wonders what it must be like to design floating cities and still feel unseen. Shaw tells a tale of someone invisible to most — the kind of song Dry Cleaning do well. “My Soul / Half Pint” has almost a surf groove to Dowse’s guitar during the chorus, and Shaw, tired of how domestic responsibilities have been heaped upon women, proclaims that “Maybe it’s time for men to clean for, like, five hundred years.”

“Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)” has this bright, slightly shoegaze-y texture that is difficult to describe. “Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit” has some of Shaw’s best lyrics on the album as she craves for time uninterrupted by “a video call or a survey or a dick pic or a loud bang.” She only gets privacy in “sample size” (just like most of us) and she only wants to be still and present. The saxophone on it adds a great touch.

“Blood” has smoldering punk rage under it as Shaw sings about the normalization of atrocities and violence across our screens. “Evil Evil Idiot” has Shaw expressing her frustrations with someone who won’t shut up about microplastics (and with influencers in general). The bursts of Dowse’s guitar are shocking at first. They match Shaw’s snarl.

Buxton and Maynard put down a fuzzy punk beat on “Rocks,” which is the grittiest track on the album and probably scorches live. On “The Cute Things,” Shaw seems to enjoy and be annoyed by little things in a relationship (“You talk like a greetings card, but I admire you and your family vibe.”). “I Need You” has her asking for stability in a world that keeps getting weirder by the day (“Why does it need to be over and over, and without end or change, and repeating over and over?…You’re the one that I need. You will make it all better.”). The synth bass reflects the weight she’s feeling of the constant barrage of anger around her.

The album ends with “Joy,” in which Shaw proclaims her belief that we’ll come through all this chaos and end up in a better place (“We’ll build a cute, harmless world. Don’t want one from you, cult.”).

Dry Cleaning are confronting emotional things all over this record, and inviting us to do the same in a calm way…but also acknowledging that calmness can proceed a storm.

Keep your mind open.

[I might hit my head all day if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Rockabilly Psychosis & The Garage Disease compilation (1989)

I picked this up at a record store in Paris because, frankly, the cover looked nuts and the number of great psychobilly, garage, and trash-rock bands on it is stunning.

Starting with The Trashmen‘s classic “Surfin’ Bird,” you know the rest of the album is going to be bonkers. The Sonics‘ “Psycho” lands somewhere between swing-rock and psychedelic fuzz. Up next, The Novas pay tribute to one of their favorite pro-wrestlers on “The Crusher” (“Do the eye gouge, you turkey necks!”). The song is downright weird, and almost drops into monster-rock territory.

“Scream!” by Ralph Neilsen & The Chancellors is a wild one, as guitars run around the room, apparently chasing hysterical women who spend the next few minutes screaming until they’re hoarse. Speaking of people losing their voice, I don’t know how Legendary Stardust Cowboy (who, according to the liner notes, used to perform standing on peoples’ cars at drive-ins during intermission) doesn’t do it during “Paralyzed.” Following him with the legendary Hasil Adkins‘ “She Said” is appropriate. They would’ve made a great double-bill.

Would it be a “garage disease” compilation without Link Wray or The Meteors? Wray’s cover of Willie Dixon‘s “Hidden Charms” is a forgotten classic by him and will, as usual with his material, make you wonder why people don’t speak of him in the same way they speak of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton. When The Meteors proclaim “My Daddy Is a Vampire” (a live version, no less), you believe them.

You get to hear one of The Cramps‘ earliest recordings when they’re the backing band for Jimmy Dickinson on “Red Headed Woman.” Link Wray returns, sort of, when The Milkshakes perform a cover of his “Run Chicken Run.” The Meteors then come back into orbit for “Radioactive Kid.”

The live cut of Tav Falco & Panther Burns‘ “Dateless Night” is a super-rare cut and worth the purchase price of the whole disc if you’re a rockabilly collector. The Gun Club‘s “Jack on Fire” is almost post-punk, but they never loose their rockabilly swagger. There’s plenty more of that swagger on The Geezers‘ cover of Johnny Cash‘s “Folsom Prison Blues.” The Sting-Rays‘ “Cat Man” is dangerous and gritty, and the closer, “Just Love Me” by The Guana Batz, wraps this up with wild abandon that will have you wanting to loop the album all over again.

It’s a rare find, but worth the digging.

Keep your mind open.

[I might have psychosis if you don’t subscribe.]

Review: Blackwater Holylight – Not Here Not Gone

Not long ago, Blackwater Holylight left their Pacific Northwest stomping grounds, and the gray, rainy days there, for sunny Los Angeles. The band (Eliese Dorsay – drums, Sunny Faris – bass, guitar, vocals, Mikayla Mayhew – guitar, Sarah McKenna – synths) decided they needed not only a change of space, but of perspective, and the resulting album, Not Here Not Gone, reflects the feeling of being between physical and mental spaces.

The title of the opening track, “How Will You Feel,” reflects this as Faris asks us to examine our emotions and physical reactions as we adapt to change (willingly or not). The sound of this song also reflects the blending and shifting of shapes for the band. They meld their Pacific Northwest “gloomgaze” sound with bright southern California synths.

Their love of shoegaze comes through strong on “Involuntary Haze” – which could be a drug reference, but I doubt it. I think it’s about the odd feeling of being confused after you’re thrust into a new situation or place and are overwhelmed by sensory input. They crank up the amps and gravity on “Bodies.”

“Heavy, Why?” was the album’s first single and it’s a good example of BWHL’s blend of shoegaze, metal, psychedelia, and, I’ll say it, dreampop. Faris’ voice could easily carry an entire dreampop album if she wanted, and McKenna’s synths almost add an ELO touch to the song. Mayhew riffs on this practically shove you into a wall.

The instrumental “Giraffe” is a short mix of smoky synths and electro beats to shift your brain and ears into further exploration of the path BWHL have laid out on the album…because along comes “Spades” – a track that will impress all of your metalhead friends and have dudes in battle-vests running for their merch table. It’s one of the best metal tracks of the year…and it’s only January. Dorsay’s drumming on “Void to Be” reminds me of tribal beats designed to change your perception of what’s around you.

“Fade” is another standout. It’s downright gorgeous and is one of the best shoegaze tracks of the year…and it’s only January. “Mourning After” is the kind of song that BWHL do so well: Somewhat gothic, somewhat heavy, somewhat fuzzy, somewhat crushing, somewhat sad, all beautiful. The closer, “Poppyfields,” is pulsating stunner about a friend of the band losing their home in a California wildfire.

BWHL have long been considered a doom band with their heavy riffs and heavy lyrics. The last time I saw them live, at the 2021 Psycho Music Festival in Las Vegas, Faris opened the show by saying, “Hi. We’re Blackwater Holylight, and we’re going to play a bunch of sad songs for you.” There is far more to them than doom and gloom, however. There’s always a powerful strength and at least a glimmer of hope on all of their albums. Not Here Not Gone is no exception.

This is in the running for one of the top albums of the year…and it’s only January.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Rewind Review: Acid King – III (2005)

Acid King‘s third album, III, starts out with a a low growl from Lori S.‘s guitar and then then roars like a motorcycle tearing out of a haunted gas station at 3am just before the burning Molotov cocktails you left behind blow up the place to bury the curse on the place for another hundred years.

And that’s just the first track (“2 Wheel Nation”).

Guy Pinhas‘ bass on “Heavy Load” is pretty much the backhoe dropping a couple tons of broken concrete into the hole where the haunted gas station had been. The first song is a salute to bikers, and the second is a salute to truckers – both of whom see things most of us never see on dark roads during long nights. “Bad Vision” is a tale of malevolent spirits just on the other side of the void and has thunderous drumming from Joey Osbourne.

“War of the Mind” is the colossal centerpiece of III, clocking in at nearly twelve minutes as Lori S. calls for people to cast off their mental and physical shackles. It rumbles inside your body and the heavy, deep chords (along with Osbourne’s growling drum fills) give you the strength to get up when you’re feeling the weight of the world on you.

“Into the Ground” seems to be another tribute to late night desert driving (“Four wheels keep on turning into the ground.”), but in some sort of Mad Max-style world where its survival of the fittest or the smartest. Lori S.’s solo on this one is a standout. “On to Everafter” takes on one of the favorite subjects of doom / stoner metal – death (“Here comes the knife. Comes to me closer, faster than life…Leaves close the sight, covers me over, closer to light.”). The song, somehow, takes on a heavier, sludgier feel than previous tracks. I don’t know how Acid King do it.

The album ends with “Sunshine and Sorrow,” in which Lori S. sings about going into a haze to escape the dread of facing another day that masks sadness in beauty (“What’s in a day? Sunshine and sorrow. Haze leads the way.”). It’s difficult to determine which of the three are hitting it harder on the final track. Lori S.’s guitar sounds like a burning jet engine at points, while Osbourne is crushing everything around him and Pinhas is trying to split the Earth with his bass riffs.

This album came out a little over twenty years ago and it still lands harder than most metal albums out today.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Death Harvest – Pale Rider EP

Virginia Beach’s Death Harvest‘s Pale Rider EP contains three songs to preview their upcoming full-length album due in the spring of 2026. The songs are shortened versions of the full-length tracks coming later, and the EP is almost an omen of the massive riffs that will crush us in the near future.

Starting with the cheerily titled “Death Beside Me,” Death Harvest’s guitarists, Chris Bruffy and David MacArthur, pretty much set the place on fire right away. Vocalist Brett Lloyd sings / yells / growls / preaches that the Grim Reaper is always right around the corner and how he feels he already has one foot in the world beyond the veil (“I know I’ll be there when you awaken at dawn, and I know that I’m leavin’, and I’m already gone.”). The song, already heavy enough, really kicks in around the three-minute mark with Brian VanVraken‘s bass somehow hitting harder and guitar solos.

“Thousand Times” has a great underlying groove throughout it that reminds me of Soundgarden (one of their admitted influences). “I’ll pray for you to leave, I’ll beg for you to kill me,” Lloyd pleads, just wanting to either be left alone to his agony or have it end. Lloyd rage (and Jason Jacquin‘s drums) come back with another level of alternately simmering and boiling rage on “False Spring” – a term for a brief warm-up in the late months of winter or early months of spring before a return to dark, gloomy, cold days that steal your hope. It seems to a metaphor for falling back into an addiction, be it a toxic relationship or toxic pills (“I’ve become something I’m not through the years.”).

This EP is heavy, almost crushing. Like I wrote earlier, it’s an omen. Dark things are coming like the figure on the cover. Something like this can’t be stopped, so don’t bother trying. Get all Jungian and embrace your shadow with it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Peggy at Adrenaline PR.]

Review: Model / Actriz – Pirouette

I didn’t know much about Model / Actriz before seeing them at the 2025 Levitation Music Festival, but I was instantly hooked by their frenetic, passionate live performance and their wild post-punk / electro-disco sound. I immediately bopped over to their merch booth after their set to buy their newest full-length album Pirouette.

“Vespers” opens the album. Vespers, in case you’re unaware, are prayers usually conducted at the end of a day for reflection of that day’s events (and your role and God’s role in them) and typically said before an evening mass. It is coincidence that Pirouette‘s cover appears to be an ornate gate – perhaps opening to a sacred place? Vocalist Cole Haden sings, here and elsewhere on the album, about his reconciliation with his faith growing up (“It’s all the days I carved in crimson streaks.”) and his embracing of his sexuality (“God gave me poise enough for the sharing. Claim that look, match that speed, claim that room.”)/.

On “Cinderella,” Jack Wetmore‘s guitar almost sets off a panic while Ruben Radlauer‘s acoustic and electric drums hit with wild disco abandon and Haden tells a tale of finding his true self. “Poppies” contains a central theme to the album in its lyrics: “As flesh is made in marble, as marble captures softness, as softness holds a violence within a pure expression.” The first two parts of that quote appear in large script in the middle of the liner notes.

Aaron Shapiro‘s bass on “Diva” will rumble your seat, while Haden’s whispered vocals on “Headlights” will make you sit still and pay attention. “Acid Rain” has Haden admiring the speed, grace, and weightlessness of hummingbirds and wondering if he could emulate them and leave behind cares and dwell in beauty all day. The heavy beats of “Departures” and “Audience” rush back and forth between dark house, krautrock, and industrial.

Speaking of industrial tracks, you can’t get much more machine-heavy than “Ring Road,” which is about being willing to spin a car into a whirlwind so you can forget everything and just be in one place for a little while. “Doves” seems to be another spiritual metaphor (The Holy Spirit coming down like a dove onto Christ? Haden embracing how the Creator made him?) and yet another track you’ll blast late nights on empty roads.

“Baton” closes the album. A baton can be something you pass on to the person ahead of you in the race, and Haden musing over the man he’s become and how “it can feel strange knowing I’ve been a person.” Leaving behind one life and embracing another can be intimidating to say the least, but Model / Actriz’s combined talents build the song into brightness in the second half, fading us out on a hopeful note.

It’s a sharp record from a band currently taking the world by storm. Like its title, it can make you spin with wild speed or subtle grace.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Joanna – Hello Flower

Picture this: You’re a young band (your drummer alone is just fifteen years old) from the Manchester area of England and you’ve built so much buzz that people are comparing you to the next Stone Roses. You have a strong number of ardent fans and soon labels start calling. You cut an album, but the record deal never materializes and your album ends up going unreleased…

…for thirty-five years. That’s the short story behind Joanna‘s long-lost and now-unearthed Hello Flower album that has finally seen release after being found on a shelf in a Manchester apartment. It’s a crime no one picked this up earlier, because Joanna would’ve been as big as the Stone Roses and Oasis if they had.

The simple yet groovy drum beat by Carl Alty on “If You Don’t Want Me To” gets the album off to a great start, and Terry Lloyd‘s thick, syrupy, and funky bass on “Bandit Country” grabs your attention and won’t let go for the next four minutes. “Hey Presto” has vocalist Neil Holliday singing about either a lover or, more likely, his favorite party drug (“You’re my magic pill, and you’re all I need. I just take you at will to keep me on my feet.”). The sound is, appropriately, a bit trippy.

“Weather Vane” has disco touches (check out Tyrone Holt‘s guitar licks!), which I love. Holt’s psychedelic guitar sounds are bright and buzzy on “Mr. Sunshine.” The title track is pure 1990s Manchester rock with its hooky guitars, sizzling drum beats, and slightly snarled vocals. “It’s Worth a Try” is in the heavier end of that sound, almost striding into shoegaze territory as the guitar distortion gets louder and Holliday’s vocals get a bit more distant. The closer, “Gardeners’ World,” is a hard smackdown of people sneering at and tearing each other down from both sides of the political aisle while ignoring the beams of wood in their eyes. Holliday sings, “…don’t throw your stones…There’s weeds in your garden.” to both the left and right (and himself). This song is more relevant than ever as we see people tearing each other apart, verbally and physically, while ignoring that they’re all truly worried about the same things and forgetting about rich elitists playing both sides against each other. Joanna saw all this coming in the 1990s.

Again, it’s stunning that no one offered a record deal for an album this good. Joanna did a sold out show for its overdue release. We can only hope for a tour or maybe another record. They deserve it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Rewind Review: Belaria – Boost & Doubts (2022)

One of the descriptors for Belaria‘s Boost & Doubts EP on the record’s Bandcamp page is “dark disco.” That’s perfect. The sultry electro beats and vibe of the record is palpable. It sinks into you, moves you, and…alters you.

“Boost” blends disco with krautrock and synthwave into a pulsing, sexy smoothie. The beats on “Rest in B” (Does the “B” stand for “Beats?” Or “Boost?” Or “Belaria?”) pop and drip, while menacing synth chords wash over you like spotlights from an off-world colony ship. “Burning Inside” is the song spun by the replicant DJ on that ship as you walk into the exclusive lounge reserved for people who can afford the trip…or the android assassins who are there to deliver a message to those rich fat cats.

“Esteem” sounds like the theme to a forgotten late 1970s science fiction show that aired for perhaps half a season but was so brilliant and ahead of its time that the network didn’t know what to do with it. It’s fun, sexy, and practically makes you imagine a cavalcade of TV stars in tight outfits and slightly retro space ships.

The EP includes 12″ remixes of “Rest in B” and “Burning Inside.” The “Burning Inside” remix is the first song I heard from Belaria, and I was instantly intrigued. I love how her vocals are barely comprehensible or even noticeable in some cases. They sometimes sound like she’s speak-singing through a silk scarf, which only makes you lean in more to the song and the mysterious feel of her music.

Lean into this record. You won’t regret it.

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