UponFirstListen

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12.01.2018 | Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate:Feels disjointed musically.

MF DOOM and Bishop Nehru - NehruvianDOOM: Not sure how I missed this in the DOOMverse, but glad I found it.

LVL UP - Hoodwink'd: Incredibly solid indie rock album.

Lingua Ignota - Al Bitches Die: Recommended in the vein of Death Grips, but not in the same universe.

Julia Holter - Aviary: So much here to like, even if it does feel long at time.

Laura Jane Grace - Bought To Rotl Unenamored with the lead single, the album experience completely redeems it.

Drug Church - Cheer: One of my favorite punk-adjacent albums of the year.

Disco Inferno - D.I. Go Pop: I had high hopes for this post-rock album. Too high as it turns out.

11.17.2018 | Titus Andronicus - Home Alone On Halloween: An unproductive EP.

Machine Girl - The Ugly Art: Some compelling moments, but overall falls flat.

Jim Carrol Band - Catholic Boy: Thank you for the introduction Against Me!.

Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks: My favorite Dylan album, but six discs is a bit much.

Cursive - Vitriola: Been years since I revisted The Ugly Organ. Time to do so again.

11.03.2018 | Wall Breaker - 2017 - Demo: Better than anticipated from their live show. Looking forward to more.

Thrice - Palms: I can just never get their stuff to stick with me.

10.26.2018 | Saves The Day - 9: Some interesting production choices early on, but the 20+ minute closing is the only essential track.

10.14.2018 | Restorations - LP5000: Solid rock album.

The Mountain Goats - Hex Of Infinite Binding: Always so solid, I look forward to each release.

The Mice - For Almost Ever, Scooter: Fantastic power pop that should be found by more.

Paul McCartney - Egypt Station: A little long, but it still such a treasure to have.

Joyce Manor - Million Dollars To Kill Me: I want it to be harder and faster than it is.

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow: Would love to re-listen without the two big singles.

Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar: What a ripper!

Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams: I like some of what they are doing, but certainly feels like a band looking for a new identity at times.

Crime - San Francisco's STILL Doomed: I think I have reach peak post-punk.

Candy - Good To Feel: Another example of the modern hardcore resurgence.

Bad Moves - Tell No One: Tell everyone about this great little pop/rock album.

10.05.2018 | Coheed and Cambria - The Unheavenly Creatures: Their best since IKSSE3.

10.02.2018 | Tragedy - Fury: Yep, Tragedy.

9.30.2018 | State Faults - Resonate Desperate: More emphasis on the music than screechy vocals is a nice change of pace.

Respire - Denouement: Solid addition to the avant gardecore side of the spectrum.

Punch - Push/Pull: A split with Loma Prieta should tell you a lot of what you need to know.

Origami Angel - Doing The Most: Looking forward to them doing more.

Nervous Dater - Don't Be A Stranger: Uncompelling indie pop/rock.

Moonflower - Ancient Burial Mound: Loving the melodic punk-adjacent indie rock resurgence.

Lord Snow - Solitude: The blurry album cover represents the music inside very well.

Loma Prieta - Life/Less: There is a desperation in these songs that is refreshing to hear.

Jungbluth - Part Ache: Chaotic, frenetic, loud.

Jerome's Dream - Completed: Excellent screamo collection.

Interpol - Marauder: Dislike the vocal mix, but a pretty good return to form otherwise.

9.23.2018 | I Hate Sex - World Of Grief: Amazing vocals for the style of music.

Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance: The post-punk resurgence has a winner.

Failures - Decline And Fall: Fairly generic screamo.

Eminem - Kamikaze: Huge step up from his last album.

Duster - Stratosphere: So much to love about this slo-core album.

Comadre - Comadre: One of the best screamo albums in the last ten years.

Busdriver - Electricity Is On Our Side: A little long, but a great foundation.

Berurier Noir - Macadam Massacre: Would love to know what they are saying.

The Armed - Only Love: Jane Doe From Above 1979.

Antarctigo Vespucci - Leavin' La Vida Loca: Their best yet.

Antarctigo Vespucci - Soulmate Stuff: Such a great pairing of people.

Antarctigo Vespucci - I'm So Tethered. Had no idea I needed this in my life.

9.02.2018 | Snail Mail - Lush: Liked it a lot more than the singles would have otherwise led me to believe.

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing: A punkier Talking Heads.

Meg Myers - Take Me To The Disco: Strong '90s alternative vibes.

8.24.2018 | Mitski - Be The Cowboy: Album of the year contender.

Illuminati Hotties - Kiss Yr Frenemies: Excellent indie pop.

Death Cab For Cutie - Thank You For Today: Understated is not something I associate with DCFC.

DBS - Tales From The Crib: Dime-a-dozen punk from the mid-90s.

The Coup - Steal This Album: Not sure how I skipped this group, but course correcting now.

Birds In Row - We Already Lost The World: Much better than the deceptive singles.

8.16.2018 | Kanye West - Ye: Not sure what all the hate is for as this is still pretty good.

Junior Wells - Hoodoo Man Blues: Could have skipped the singing and focused on the guitar playing.

Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth: I found it less engaging as a whole than The Epic.

M. Ward - What A Wonderful Industry: What a wonderful album.

Vein - Errorzone: Going to give it another go, given the hype.

Townes Van Zandt - Live At the Old Quarter: Essential singer songwriter.

Two Gallants - We Are Undone: My time away has renewed my faith.

Three Shade of Dirty - Paper Roses: Fun little pop demo.

Stil Life - From Angry Heads with Skyward Eyes: What an amazing album!

Sophie - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides: Very Lynchian.

Pusha T - Daytona: Seven tracks is perfect.

No Right - Unjustified: Classic straight edge hardcore.

Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch: I have enjoyed this run of EPs more than any of their albums.

Nausea - Extinction: Not really my thing.

8.12.2018 | Nails - Unsilent Death: Todd Jones strikes again

Mom Jeans - Puppy Love: A bit of a letdown coming off Best Buds.

Mil-Spec - Demo/When The Fever Broke/Changes: What a run of great hardcore tracks.

Middle Class - Out Of Vogue: The first hardcore track? Not sure, but really great regardless.

Michael Cera Palin - Growing Pains/I Don't Know How To Explain It: Lofty name to live up to. Nails it.

Line Of Sight - Demo/Dissent: Awesome straight edge hardcore.

JPEGMAFIA - Veteran: Not really feeling it.

Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow: Essential and I need to get more of their stuff.

Guiding Wave - To Dance Around Love: Really great post-punk.

Get Up Kids - Kicker: More please.

Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sounds Sessions: A little underwhelming for such a classic album.

Feederz - What Would Hitler Do: Would love to see them live, but could do without new music.

Failure Face - Complete Failure: Weirdly melodic, but aggressive.

Envy - A Dead Sinking Story: Given the hype, I had expectations that were too high.

Electric Eels - God Says Fuck You: Not my favorite proto-punk band, but have to respect what they were doing.

Econochrist - Trained To Serve: Great early '90s hardcore.

Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose: There is much to unpack here.

Die Hoffnung - Elegies and Creation Songs: Not my favorite from the brothers, but I am glad it exists.

Culture Abuse - Bay Dream: Not as immediately compelling as Peach.

Cringer - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: Pretty good, if generic, punk from the late '80s.

Converge - Beautiful Ruin: Outstanding supplement.

Commander Salamander - Gross October: Indebted to Midwest emo, in a good way.

Clipping - Face: Keeps getting better and better.

Breathing Walker - Breathing Walker: Moss Icon with a violin!

Blue Streak - No Guns on TV: Looking forward to what the future brings.

At The Drive-In - In Diamante: Great little EP.

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino: Too grown up.

Amusement Parks On Fire - All The New Ends: Glad they are back at it

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Demo: Did a split with Converge which should give you an idea on sound, but super short tracks.

7.20.2018 | Worst Party Ever - Anthology: Early Front Bottoms, for whatever that is worth.

Amanda Woodward - La Decadence De La Decadence: French screamo that is worth your time.

Hank Wood and the Hammerheads - Self Titled: Best traditional punk album of the year. Maybe the decade.

Wonder Years - Sister Cities: Solid album from these pop-punk/modern emo vets.

Wipers - Is This Real: This is real.

Jack White - Boarding House Reach: I hope this is the album he felt he had to make in order to do something fun again.

The Voidz - Virtue: A few good tracks, but felt like a lot of filler.

The Vaselines - Dum Dum: Can see why Nirvana were such big fans.

User Error - Cassette: Grown up Assfactor 4.

Twitching Tongues - In Love There Is No Law: Not sure what kind of band they are trying to be.

Turnstile - Time and Space: To their own drum they beat and I follow.

True Love - The Pact: One of my favorite modern hardcore bands.

Titus Andronicus - A Productive Cough: Album of the year contender for the great Rolling Stone cover.

Threadbare - Escapist: Huge improvement and what was surely unique for 1997.

Threadbare - Threadbare: Could have done without the 11 minute closer.

Threadbare - Feeling Older Faster: Not exactly screamo, but heavier than emo.

Sza - Ctrl: Pretty solid pop album worthy of a lot of the praise.

Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer: I prefer the former, but even then in limited doses.

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska: Now this is an album of his I want to revisit.

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town: I still cannot get into Bruce.

The Sound - From The Lion's Mouth: Slightly cleaner but still compelling.

The Sound - Jeopardy: How was the band not huge?

Sorority Noise - YNAAYT: Unnecessary.

The Slits - Cut: Magnificent post-punk.

The Screamers - In A Better World: I like the demos better.

The Screamers - Demos '77-'78: How great they could have been.

Rocket From The Tombs - Rocket Redux: Stick with the raw recordings.

Rocket From The Tombs - The Day The Earth Met: Well, I guess I need to check out Pere Ubu now.

Rocket From The Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream: Essential punk 'n' roll.

Reggie and the Full Effect - 41: Can we start again?

Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal: Short, fast, loud.

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