Deafheaven's performance was as tight and cathartic as I've come to expect from these guys.
Fluoride – Fluoride
The Philadelphia-based Powerviolence band Fluoride's self-titled debut album is an unrelenting exercise in raw aggression.
Childish Gambino – Summer Pack
Hot off the heels of Donald Glover's musical moniker Childish Gambino's first Billboard #1 single "This is America", Glover seemingly squanders an opportunity while everyone's paying attention.
The Damned @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, July 6, 2018 (Portland, OR)
Nothing like catching a show of one of your favorite bands while on vacation, eh? The Damned put on an absolutely killer performance in Portland's McMenamins Crystal Ballroom.
The Locust – Safety Second, Body Last
The band are perhaps best known for their varying screamed vocal styles, dadaist lyrical content, and noisy, synth-infused, non-stop beat-your-head-against-the-wall grindcore, all while somehow managing to be at least a little catchy.
Gwen Stefani – Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
Gwen Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was an unexpectedly influential pop record, and is one of the 2000's best.
New Found Glory – Tip of the Iceberg EP
Several members of New Found Glory have long been involved in hardcore side-projects, but kept NFG around presumably to make a living. The band's never so much as hinted at a hardcore background, but here they mix these sounds to surprising effect.
Sugar Ray – 14:59
Sugar Ray hardly get respect. It's not difficult to understand why. They'll certainly never be considered cool, and nearly everything post-14:59 proved to be utterly tasteless and poorly conceived. None of this speaks to the quality of this record.
Archspire – Relentless Mutation
You know when bands are technical for technical's sake? Relentless Mutation is, thankfully, not that. This is absolutely top-notch Technical Death Metal - well-written, well thought-out, and features a merciful run time.... do we really need 50+ minute injections of TDM?
Incubus – 8
While Trust Fall (Side A) hinted at a return to form, Incubus' 8 is quite a disappointment, made worse by sub-par audio engineering and production provided by, inexplicably, none other than Skrillex.
UneXpect – _wE, Invaders
uneXpect's debut EP, _wE, Invaders, shows the band at their most accessible, but don't confuse this as meaning this isn't a highly atypical and unusually creative release.
Idiot Flesh – Fancy
Nils Frykdahl's and Dan Rathbun's pre-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum experimental "rock"/performance art troupe is about as far out and varying as you'd expect from these guys.
