Have you ever held a cd (packaging and all) in your hand and believed that the thing felt like a million bucks? The artwork on THE BREAK’s debut full-length is pretty minimalist, but it looks so solid and confident. This disc knows it’s a winner before someone even purchases it. And well, I’d have to [...]

I first heard these guys when the debuted with an EP on Life Recordings a little less than a year ago, and their relaxed emo-rock stylings put me at ease. This time around, now on Law of Inertia Records, their full-length, “Midwest Index,” shares a much more complete vision of this band as they trade [...]

I’ve had a hard time liking BRACKET for many years. I’m not entirely sure on why this band doesn’t fall on my “good” side, especially because I definitely love a few of their songs, but listening to a “live” album didn’t get me very motivated. Hearing some of the old favorites, “Talk Show,” “Sour,” and [...]

I always feel like I totally missed the boat on a band when the first time I review something of theirs is their “post-break-up leftovers disc,” and such is the case with BLUETIP. It’s nothing personal, but these guys never found any space in my musical landscape – so be it. “Post Mortem Anthem,” is [...]

Just by looking at the intricate artwork, I had a feeling that BREAKING PANGAEA would be a band that entrusts great depth within the soundtrack to its musical forrays. In simple terms, this bands plays driving indie rock, with strong leanings towards power-pop. There’s a fair amount of “gusto” to be found on “Cannon to [...]

This longtime European hardcore/rock mainstay band has intrigued me much over the past few years. Although this is the band’s first domestic release in the U.S (this is their sixth full-length), they haven’t been a completely foreign name due to their tenure on Epitaph Europe. Anyway, as with any band that’s been hitting hard for [...]

This band is so underrated, it’s not even funny. Ever since I acquired their full-length, “Letterbox” a few years ago, I held this band as somewhat of a model of what “post-hardcore,” actually sounds like. No doubt, there’s plenty of elements of beautiful pop-rock within this band’s sound, but there’s also a very layered, thick [...]

The very fact that I’m reviewing this disc reflects on my sentiment that “dreams do come true with Epitaph Records.” Along with many of BAD RELIGION’s other die-hard fans, I knew that the only way this band would reclaim the melodic hardcore sound that they pretty much created would be with the reunification of songwriting [...]