Sell Out Records - A Music Review Blog

 Rank 5 out of 5  It’s hard to define the pace of Alkaline Trio, the 3 person band has found a way to sound like something so much more with their records. With the release of “This Addiction” the trio really puts their best foot forward with some amazing tracks, and even a trumpet here and there. The band really puts on a showcase of pop punk that you can’t deny. Alkaline Trio, comes swinging with “This Addiction” then continues forward with sing-a-long songs that are punk rock and emo at the same time. The sound design on the record is solid, moving forward with more than just the standard three chords and progressing with lyrical onslaught that just moves you. There are moments of dread on the record with Matt Skiba pushing his heart, and then there are moments where he seems to let a bit of bliss come through, but it’s really an emo record if you ask me. There are more moments of sadness than there are of joy, and that’s not a bad thing. The record comes together with so...

2016 has been quite the year for music, and it’s just beginning. The Holstered is a band that I spoke about on this blog in the past . Well, they are back in action for 2016, and they have released their first rocking single from their upcoming album. The song “Outer Space” takes the psychedelic 1970s punk rock, garage sound and turns it to 11. It’s a catch song that brings about themes that are straight out of the garage punk era of the past. Fans of Iggy Pop, The Cramps, and Buzzcocks are going to be absolutely delighted with “Outer Space” as it has a definitive punk rock, retro feel. You’re going to be lost in the easy going guitar riffs, the soothing guitar solo elements, and of course the lyrical subject matter that will transport you back to a simpler time. This is a rocking track that continues The Holstered’s sound and yet improves on it in many ways. The band truly knows how to push that retro, punk, button, and it’s definitely something that you have to listen to right ...

Wild Rossa and The ’88 take the best parts of music, all music, and throws it into a blender to create an absolute incredible mix. Their Self-Titled EP is a musical handbook. It’s like Ozomatli’s brother, because the band has found a voice that is like the latter, mixed, varied, and just astonishing in my view. There’s so much here, from the moment you get the bass booms of “Gasoline”, you know that you’re in for a real treat. The music is crafted so well, you are going to be lost in your senses, as you will not be able to nail down what it is you love about the music Wild Rossa and The ’88 brings to the table. There’s dancing elements, there’s serious lyrical thought processing, and there’s a beauty found in the tracks that transcends one label, which is why this is so great. Name a genre, any genre, and you may find a sound in the release that Wild Rossa and The ’88 to consider within it. From soul, ska, punk, to guitar picking, bass line dancing, to rock, swing and more, the b...

Labeled as an experimental, meta-rock record, Herman Martinez takes on the tropes of what alternative, rock, heavy music, and shatters definitions. From the first track that opens “Solopsi Radio”, you are treated to an eclectic arrangement of instruments that are very much heavy, and very much in the same framework that Tool’s debut started with. However, the comparisons to the past slowly lift as the song’s structure begins to reveal an all different approach to the rock genre. There’s a staggering bass line, a triumphant guitar lead, and vocals that create a haunting experience. As you progress through the record, you are given a mix of heavy, soft, mellow, and contemplative lyrical elements. Tracking on this record is diverse, unique, and bring about a lot of comparisons. You are not going to be able to pinpoint “one” genre here, but it’s definitely rock heavy. This is a strength of Martinez’s composition, layering plenty of rock sounds into a larger portrait. Tracks like “Fic...

There’s something really cool about the latest single from Figures of Light. With their latest single, “You Better Wise Up” (Instrumental Version), they certainly put on a classic showing of gritty rock music. From the moment you turn it on, you are going to be banging your head, as the garage punk really comes through the speakers. Turn it up and there’s a tinge of California surf guitar in the mix, but it’s the steady pace, and the outstanding production that really grabs you. Unlike other bands, Figures of Light throw down a lot of music, and each time they do something new, cool, and all their own. They keep pushing the limits, and are not isolated to just one genre. While they can do it all, on this track, they stick to the garage rock, punk sound, and do so with such precision it’s absolutely stunning. You owe yourself a listen to this track. If you are looking for some good tunes, a throwback to that punk, garage noise that came through college radio and the likes from the p...

I’m not alone in saying that I’ve given up on rock radio. They never seem to break new bands, and they focus on the same old 10 hits from 1991. They are missing out on bands such as Underlined Passages, that are putting out catchy, melodic rock music. While this isn’t the type of rock that is going to smash your head in with distortion, it’s a throwback in a way to the alternative era of music from the early 1990s, and no, I don’t mean the Seattle heavy groups. “The Fantastic Quest” is the latest record from Underlined Passages and it is already one of my favorite releases this year. A Union of Melody and Musical Integrity The first comparisons that I started to pick out from the band took me back to The Juliana Theory and Sunny Day Real Estate. The band has found a way to get the same ethos that they put out, and mixed a little bit of early Jimmy Eat World and Nada Surf to create their own sound. If you liked those bands, then this is easily going to fit into your playlist wit...

Figures of Light continues to impress with their prolific release schedule. No other band seems to get the formula of releasing music quite like this one, and it shows. This time around they have put out a set of instrumentals and 3 new tracks that take the essence of the band, and strips it down to their main components. Figures of Light “The Instrumentals” is perhaps one of the best things I’ve heard this year so far. There’s a refreshing sound to these instrumental tracks that just works so well beyond any genre. Surfing USA With Figures of Light I’m originally from Southern California, and surf culture is huge. Living 4 miles from the beach for 27 years really got me into surfing, and along that came the classic surf rock from the past. Figures of Light taps right into that with some of my favorite songs they’ve ever put out. “Ninety-Nine (Minimalist Mix)" replaces “Wipeout” for me,  as my standard for surf music. It’s the powerful bass line that mixes well with the g...

There’s a lot of great music out there online today, and if you take a little bit of time to seek them out, you’ll find greatness. One example comes from the band Hazy Dreams. The band has created an intriguing instrumental rock song that is going to absolutely send you to all new heights. Regardless of what genre you love most, you should listen to the finer points of "Living The Dream" by Hazy Dreams. Overall, the sound is crisp, the arrangement is interesting, and leads you through various soundscapes overall. This is the type of track you listen to once, and then starts to absolutely fill your dreams, your thoughts, and mind. It’s simple at first glance, but over time it starts to sprout wings, and you really get a feel for the nuances of the instruments. Often times, with instrumentals, they get repetitive and boring. But when you listen to "Living The Dream" by Hazy Dreams, the mold gets shattered. The guitar work, percussion, and follow through is wel...

2011, what a year. This release came out in October of 2011 and it was the fifth record from the band Jane’s Addiction. I have been a fan of the band since I first saw Perry Farrell in “Been Caught Stealing” and of course my affinity for Porno For Pyros is also well documented in my blogs. This record came out swinging with a whole new attempt at capturing the magic of the band’s earlier material, without sacrificing too much. Was it really worth it? Did the guys really come through on this one, or was it another miss in a long line of bad rock records that came out in the 2000s? The Heavy Bass Lines Makes The Great Escape Amazing “The Great Escape” shows Jane’s Addiction’s prowess for song writing . The music is well produced, and what I find to be absolutely astonishing is the bass work. Dave Sitek’s bass guitar playing on this record is not to be missed. If you’re a bass guitar fan, then you have to listen to this record a lot. It’s fascinating how the record pulls through ...

It’s seriously cold in Indiana. I moved from Los Angeles to this Midwest staple, and can truly say that it’s very cold. Whatever the case is, here’s another review flying at you, because I write for an audience of one or two. The band Cloud Nothings is a band that has come out swinging from the Midwest. They are from Cleveland and they play a brand of rock that you most likely want to say is “indie”, but it’s far better than that. The band has a way of making a post punk sound feel much more important. Perhaps it’s the drumming, the bass heavy rhythms and Dylan Baldi’s guitar work. Tie that together with the urgency of Jawbreaker’s debut, and you have one hell of a band. The opening track on “Here and Nowhere Else” should hook you, especially towards the end of the song where the drumming goes balls to the wall. There’s something incredible about the drumming in the opening track, and that pacing keeps things going through the rest of the disc. In this release from 2014, you are ...

Jars of Clay "Much Afraid" - Available Here  Even though Jars of Clay received platinum certification for “Much Afraid” , and was at the eight spot on the Billboard charts when this came out, this album was seen as disappointing for a lot of fans. I wasn’t so quick to judge it. I was 14 years old when this came out, and I needed something to help me through a life in the suburbs. My family moved 40 miles north of Los Angeles to a place that I was unfamiliar with. The home was in shambles emotionally, with abuse running rampant, and this record had me comforted. We stopped going to church, but I held a spiritual element to my world, and the words of Jars of Clay seemed to fit holes in my proverbial bucket. It’s a softer record than their previous one, and while the singles that they put out had electric guitar, it was the lyrical and spiritual blends that made this one a stand out for me in my collection, at the time. A lot has changed since I first heard this record, but ...

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The Almost "No Gift To Bring" EP - Available Here The year was 2008, and The Almost was splintered from the Underoath camp. This is a band that took a piece of Underoath and made a whole new rock and roll band. Now, with the release of this record, “No Gift To Bring” The Almost put on a showcase of holiday music that is nothing short of fascinating. The songs to me are sincere, and just beautiful. “No Gift To Bring” is a wonderful little record that features a whole heart of the Christmas season, especially if you’re of a religious inclination.

If it weren't for the 1990s alternative music scene, I wouldn't like music at all. Stone Temple Pilots were one of the many bands that I grew up listening to. It's sad to hear that Scott Weiland has died. I saw Stone Temple Pilots play the Harley Davidson festival in 2002, I think. I asked this girl out that turned out to be using me, and well with that I lost some friends that sided with her. There's no statute of limitations when it comes to these things. In honor of this day, and to just remember how powerful of a singer and person Scott Weiland was, I want to share with you this clip of Stone Temple Pilots from 1994. The band was scheduled to do the song "Unglued" live, and before they did so, they played a stirring rendition of "Christmas Time Is Here". R.I.P Scott Weiland. You'll be missed.

I’m not a big fan of the Foo Fighters, but the band did put out one of the first compact discs that I ever purchased. The first two discs that I ever bought were Foo Fighters and Nofx records, so there you go. With the Paris attacks that occurred recently, the band decided to pen a note to their fans and the world and released this EP for free. It is 5 songs, 18 minutes of the bands signature style of alternative rock. Each song has a different element to it that makes it grand, and you know what, it’s catchy, it’s poppy, and it’s a standard release for the band. Would I have purchased this record if the band didn’t release for free? Probably not. But the songs on it, are getting stuck in my head right now. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I would have purchased the record because I’m still sinking a lot of money into buying music. Then again, maybe you agree with me. I don’t know, I am just rambling at this point. If you haven’t heard it yet, you should really do so. Foo Fighters “Saint Cecil...

Robert Plant "Band of Joy" LP  You already know who Robert Plant is, and if you don’t, then you are way behind in your music history. Robert Plant was a member of Led Zeppelin. If you aren’t familiar with this hard rock world, that’s ok, he’s done a lot more than just throw down some serious musical moments. In his solo career, he has transformed musical genres and created compelling compositions with thoughtful lyrics, and beautiful musical arrangements. It’s with “Band of Joy” , that I really started to love the solo work of Plant. I loved Robert Plant as a kid, as I even named my first pet hamsters Robert and Jimmy. They both died. I have cats now, they are well taken care of, though, so no worries there. As for “Band of Joy”, I was floored by how I missed this record in 2010. I first started seeing this record out at Starbucks. I lived next door to Starbucks in Seattle for many years. I would drink it daily, and sometimes 3 times a day. I miss those days sometimes, ...

Beauty To Ashes "Reproduce The Common Practice"  In 2002, I was delighted to see that one of the best bands in Southern California had finally inked a deal to release their first record. Of course, the band had done a few things on the independent tip, but they finally put out a full length and I was excited to see them grow. The band was Beauty To Ashes. The record was titled “Reproduce The Common Practice” and it blew the doors down on the hardcore scene, for about a few weeks. What happened to the band? Well, like a lot of other hardcore bands, money, family, and reality hit them hard. Not only that, this record is only 21 minutes long, which means that the band didn’t exactly put on the best showing. The songs on “Reproduce The Common Practice” are a far cry from the initial EP that they put out. However, they were able to harness some of their best studio work and create a good overall sound. “Bystandards of a Lifestyle Obsession” for instance, is a definitive sh...

The Goo Goo Dolls "A Boy Named Goo  Let’s rewind to the year 1995. It’s the year that I purchased an alternative rock record in cassette form that would end up breaking over time. It was none other than the Goo Goo Dolls release “A Boy Named Goo” . The band was riding high on the release of “Naked”, but I picked up the record when I first saw the movie “Angus”. If you remember that movie fondly, you know that these guys had a track on the record that would go platinum. Right? I think it went platinum, I’m not sure. Whatever the case is, “A Boy Named Goo” is a strong contender for the best alternative record of 1995 in my opinion. It embodies the slick production, and killer guitar work with distortion, solos, and vocals that were prominent at the time. Even though I’m not a fan of the band’s work past this album, this record had me tripped up and my cassette tape was on replay non-stop. The opening track alone is enough to get any rock fan interested, as the guitar work is s...

Into The Wild by Eddie Vedder Eddie Vedder’s voice is one of those iconic rock elements that you can’t really compare. I have heard a lot of bands try to emulate him, but no one has he’s garble at times, and strength at others. The lyrical elements that Vedder has been able to place through music is also grand. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the movie “Into The Wild” , I did find it to be fascinating enough to pick up the soundtrack. Mainly for Vedder’s solo work, and I was blown away at the time. This is a very mellow Vedder at times, but the lyrical companions work towards pushing you into a Pearl Jam kind of mood. Over the course of several tracks, you swear that some of the songs must be Pearl Jam B-Sides, but I assure you, they are not. The lack of gusto in some of the rock compositions is proof of that. “Into The Wild” plays so well if you combine it to the movie’s central themes of adventure, isolation, life, and death. Without that companion piece in the back of my mi...

When Mxpx jumped to A&M Records, I heard a lot of rumblings about how they sold out, and they weren’t Christians any longer. I didn’t care. I first heard a single from this record on KROQ in Los Angeles during Jed The Fish’s Catch of the Day segment. Released in 1998, produced by Steve Kravac, and the major label debut of the band, this is a solid outing. It’s not “polished” completely, it’s raw, it’s more interesting than “Life In General”, and it had a great treble to the bass sound. What I find cool about the history of this record, is that it took the band 2 years to get certified Gold (500,000 sales) for this one. That’s a sizable accomplishment for the trio from Bremerton, Washington. Stand out tracks here include “The Final Slowdance”, “I’m Ok, You’re Ok”, “The Downfall of Western Civilization”, “For Always”, “Self Serving With A Purpose”. The treble is too high in my view, but that’s what the band wanted. It’s a shining moment for them. You can pick up “Slowly Going The Way...