Death is not a new concept for Nick Cave to address in his music. His 1996 album, Murder Ballads, was filled with tales of either committing murder or being murder, his song “The Mercy Seat” was a masterpiece about the death penalty, and various songs throughout his career have dealt with death. But, they’ve done so somewhat abstractly and almost always the death has been fictional. When Cave’s son, Arthur, fell to his death on July 14, 2015 that distanc

Apologies, I Have None are one of the most refreshing acts you're probably not listening to. The Brits create a beautiful, atmospheric mood through dense layers of post-punk -- rich, lush and hazy that paint a vivid, emotional picture. In this case, Pharmacie deconstructs the decline of mental health, the eroding relationships associated as well as the will to survive these suicidal moments. It's a brutally honest listen and a musically-cinematic dive that needs to be taken. 

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Brooklyn’s Pill knows how to take a listener on a damn journey. Convenience, their debut LP, never lets you relax, get comfortable or settle in. Instead it opts to constantly, drastically change from song to song, all while keeping the album a consistent listen.

The album opens with abuse on the 75-second track entitled “60 Sec.” “Which Is True?” boasts spoke-sung vocals, howls, and menacing bass. Then Pill tackles political issues including but not limited to gender eq

Brutal Youth has been fighting to be one of the most unique contemporary hardcore bands to come out of Canada and with the release their third full-length Sanguine they have arguably done just that. The album is not what you would call a concept album, but it is fair to say that the theme of death plays a major role. Just by taking a look at the track listing you will see that the record is split up into five “chapter songs” all titled and ordered in the five stages of grief (“I.

Beach Slang’s debut album could have easily been titled A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings. It had plenty of references to staying young and being alive. While those are not gone on the band's excellent sophomore full length, a little more growing up bleeds through. Teenage Feelings grounds itself in adolescence but adulthood lingers more than ever before.

A spiritual elder to The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us, the album never strays far from their gl

Triathalon offers up a lot of funk infused into their indie R&B. The band’s latest offering, Cold Shower is a smooth blend of drum and bass mixed with the sweet sounds of indie rock guitar. The final product is sexy R&B music a la R. Kelly and OutKast that’s great for smooth party music. The band just finished a run with Angel Du$t and Turnover, which is a slightly unlikely tour for the band as they don’t quite seem to fit in between those two bands. But the band’s blend of smo

I really liked Bong Mountain’s 2015 debut EP, you’re doin’ great!. It would most easily be described as pop-punk with gruff vocals, but really it was more complicated than that. The songs had a lot going on, and it took repeated listens to take it all in. It has continued to grow on me, and I enjoy that little EP even more now than I did when I first heard it more than a year ago. All the songs were well crafted, with “Why You So Short?” being the standout. Those five songs m

Posers’ second EP, the playfully titled Posers,Too, finds the band amplifying the aspects introduced on their debut record. Like their self-titled 7-incher, there’s still a salute to the classic ’77 era of punk and power-pop. But, where the band once paid tribute to those classically aerodynamic guitar lines, here, the serrated edge is starting to show.

Take a look at “Exist” and “I don’t wanna know.” Both of those songs still have that Mick Jones/Paul Weller jump

When it comes to ‘The Wave’, people usually have tongue-in-cheek stabs as they ask if it's still around. Or question why they ever liked them in the first place. However, that's not the majority as quite a few still connect with what the likes of La Dispute and more so, post-hardcore/screamo acts like Touché Amoré or Pianos Become The Teeth did. The latter two evolved their sound since the harsher days but still maintain that visceral edge along with the lesser-knowns such as The Saddes