Alternative music, cult films, and pop culture explored through a Gen X lens — with reviews, interviews, and a deep-dive podcast.
King Woman ‘Celestial Blues’ Review: Kris Esfandiari returns with a punishing and rewarding follow-up to 2017 debut. Musical busy bee Kris Esfandiari has a host of musical projects, including the industrial tinged NGHTCRWLR, the shoegaze driven Miserable and the poppy Sugar High. But fans of her work with the doom metal outfit King Woman will be […]
Coloursound ‘Coloursound II’ Review: musical superduo of The Alarm’s Mike Peters and The Cult’s Billy Duffy bring the goods on first album since 1999 debut. Coloursound were an under-the-radar ‘super group’ that never got their full due. That’s largely because the duo, comprised of The Alarm frontman Mike Peters and The Cult lead guitarist Billy […]
Steve Kilbey And The Winged Heels ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’ Review: The Church frontman indulges all his various musical obsessions on vast and varied double-album. In 1990 I released an album called Remindlessness in which I attempted to take in everything I had ever been fascinated by and reconcile the whole damn lot with a weird […]
Red Fang ‘Arrows’ Review: Oregonian sludge rockers return with hook-filled release (June 1st, Relapse Records). Oregonian metallers Red Fang have been hammering away since 2005, bringing their own unique twist to the stoner/doom/sludge genres, from their incendiary self-titled debut, to 2011’s breakout hit Murder The Mountains, to later works like the atmospheric Whales and Leeches, and […]
Episode 38: Dave Wyndorf Talks New Monster Magnet Album ‘A Better Dystopia’-SLIS Podcast: Monster Magnet frontman discusses band new album of obscure cover songs and how it relates to our pandemic present. When Monster Magnet frontman/songwriter Dave Wyndorf was stuck in pandemic lockdown, he decided the best thing to do was keep busy, and he […]
Monster Magnet ‘A Better Dystopia’ Review: psych rockers pay tribute to their cult influences with bombastic results on new collection of cover songs. What’s a restless musical genius to do when stuck at home during a pandemic? If you’re Monster Magnet frontman and mastermind Dave Wyndorf, you get the band back in the studio and […]
Perturbator ‘Lustful Sacraments’ Review: darkwave progenitor crafts ominous hook-laden soundscapes. “It’s an album about bad habits, dissatisfaction, and addiction. An overall look at how we, as a species, lean towards self-destruction.” So says James Kent, aka synthwave artist Perturbator, regarding his new release Lustful Sacraments, an album that sees a further maturation and musical evolution […]
Tomahawk ‘Tonic Immobility’ Review: Mike Patton and co. battle pandemic fatigue on 4th studio album. Not even the pandemic can slow Mike Patton down. Ever the busybody, he released new material from both tētēma and a reunited Mr. Bungle in 2020, and his latest release is Tonic Immobility, the 5th album from alt-metal super group Tomahawk (March […]
Review: Serj Tankian ‘Elasticity’ EP: System of a Down frontman releases first solo effort since 2013’s ‘Orca’. System of a Down fans have had their patience tested over the last decade and a half, waiting for a follow-up to the group’s 2005 album Mesmerize. An inability to find common musical ground made the bandmembers more concentrated […]
MOAT ‘Poison Stream’ Review: Marty Willson-Piper and Niko Röhlcke cast a powerful, moody spell on first album since 2013. Marty Willson-Piper may have left Aussie psych rock legends The Church back in 2013, but he’s more than kept busy since, from his work with German prog-rockers Anekdoten, musical project Noctorum, and his own prolific solo […]
