The Lawrence Arms; Masked Intruder; Beat Noir

This is Features Editor John G back with three new reviews. Did you enjoy the Super Bowl? At the family party, I found out that my little cousin is into Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, and Eric B. and Rakim, which I found to be life affirming. My other cousin, however, loves dubstep:

First, staff reviewer Ricky hits us with another The Lawrence Arms review when he tastes the News From Yalta EP:

This EP has three songs that can easily fit on The Lawrence Arms' new full length. One may pose the question, "Well why didn't they just put these songs on Metropole?" One answer would be, "Well they come on the deluxe version of the album on iTunes," but the better answer is "Don't question it and just listen because this EP is fantastic!"

Next, we continue cleaning out our basement and find the Live in Durham review written by reader Skankbook. It sounds like a wild show:

A shirtless cop impersonator carried fans around the pit, with victim and enforcer singing along to the catchiest law breakers around. After speeding through a hand full of songs from their self titled debut, Masked Intruder switched up the pace, asking for requests and voicing their fears over the film Robocop.

Finally, that manifestation of Zest called Renaldo gives us the details on Beat Noir's new Ecotone:

Their approach is a candid one and it's more alternative-punk than emo. In fact, it's more alternative than punk.

Looking for another (or any) review? Head here. Want to submit your own review? Do that here.