rock

Equal Vision Once upon a time, New York’s Coheed and Cambria was an uncommon gem: quirky and odd, with the piercing falsetto of singer/front man Claudio Sanchez backed with thick guitars, strange time signatures and rhythmic, syncopated drums.   While listening to early Coheed, you got the idea that these guys listened to Rush, Pink […]

KRL Records   These days, it’s hard for rock bands to resist the urge to make sure everything is over-the-top and extreme in one way or another. To set themselves apart from the usual indie-rock flair, most current acts come in two varieties: those that boast the loudest, heaviest or fastest music out there, or […]

Hollywood   If you find yourself in Hot Topic at the local mall’ you know, the loud store with the wacky T-shirts, pierced-beyond-recognition staff and the quasi-naughty underwear marketed for tweens’ you either are going to hear Atreyu playing over the sound system or overhear a debate regarding its genre categorization from a couple of […]

l style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”>”The Big Dirty” is the latest from the band, which follows 2005’s “Gutter Phenomenon.” ETID may not appeal to the metal purist. There isn’t a lot of dark dragon imagery, machine-gun double-bass drums or all-out guitar shredding, but vocalist Keith Buckley, whose voice actually gets better album after album, is about […]

  If you ever have seen Norman’s Forty Minutes of Hell, you know the kind of live inferno the guys in the band let loose on the stage, their instruments, the audience and themselves.   The sonic pummeling, self-mutilation and vocal writhing almost has been fully replicated now so you can take it home with […]

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  Astralwerks It’s rare to slide an album into your CD player and immediately know you are going to love it.   VHS or Beta hails from Louisville, Ky., and writes and performs danceable rock-punk tunes that are easily likable and hummable. Many of the songs have just enough keyboards and synthesizer effects to appeal […]

  On its MySpace page, Oklahoma City punk-rock trio Maximum Homeless Guy lists liquor and the Salvation Army as primary influences, which sounds just about right.   In case the current crop of local Nickelback clones or introspective loner-rock bands has fogged your memory, this is the kind of punk rock you used to make […]

  Capitol I’m not sure how much cocaine it takes to truly appreciate an Interpol record, but something tells me it takes even more to make one.   The latest from the New York City foursome is a definite departure from both “Turn on the Bright Lights” and “Antics.” Having scored a much bigger record […]

  Reprise Decide right now, if you haven’t already: Are you a Billy Corgan fan or a Smashing Pumpkins fan? If you are the former, then the latest from the Pumpkins might be right up your alley.   It surely sounds better than just about everything else out right now, especially if layer upon layer […]