Alternative music, cult films, and pop culture explored through a Gen X lens — with reviews, interviews, and a deep-dive podcast.
35 Albums Turning 30 in 2022: The Best Albums of 1992: a list of the best alternative, metal, hip-hop, indie and experimental releases from 1992. Last year I boldly declared that 1991 was the best musical year of the 90’s. And I still stand by that. But by damn, 1992 is a very close second. Whereas […]
13 Best Rock and Metal Albums Of 2021: great music from a not-so-great year. I feel like every time I do yearly-best-of’s, I have to comment about how great music made a shitty year more bearable. Welp, 2021 was certainly another year that was pretty fucking terrible, when we desperately needed as many sonic escape […]
Ministry ‘Moral Hygiene’ Review: Al Jourgensen and co. expertly target our dystopian present while offering sonic catharsis on new album. How concerned are you? That’s the sampled repeated question on Alert Level, the ominous churning opener to Moral Hygiene, the latest album from Ministry (October 1st, Nuclear Blast). Over seismic beats and scalding power chords, […]
Episode 27: 30 Albums Turning 30 In 2019: The Best Albums of 1989-SLIS Podcast: celebrating the end of the 80’s and the beginning of a musical movement–and one of the best albums of all time. Following on the heels of last year’s Smells Like Infinite Sadness episode ranking the best albums from 1988, co-host Chris […]
19 Most Anticipated Alternative Rock and Metal Albums of 2019: its shaping up to be a potentially amazing year for rock fans. Hello folks and a belated happy New Year! 2019 is off and running, and for those hoping for some rocking new tunes during our current, crazy times, all signs point to a truly great […]
Episode 9: 30 Albums Turning 30 In 2018: The Best Albums of 1988-SLIS Podcast: celebrating the best alternative and metal albums turning 30 this year. For anyone who has followed my blog for a while, you’re used to reading my best-of lists by year (including 1987, 1991, 1992, 1997 and, most recently, 1998). They’re always […]
Ministry ‘AmeriKKKant’ Review: Al Jourgensen wages musical war against Donald Trump on band’s most unusual album to date. [rating=3] Al Jourgensen’s creativity has always thrived during Republican presidencies. It’s his muse, fueling all the best albums from his industrial juggernaut Ministry. The band’s 1992 magnum opus Psalm 69 pilloried George HW Bush’s singular term, and […]
SLIS’s 15 Most Anticipated Rock Albums of 2018: the alternative and metal releases we can’t for this year. Did you survive 2017? Well 2018 is probably gonna be just as crazy, so we need some new tunes to power though it. Luckily there’s a host of upcoming alternative and metal albums we’re excited about hearing […]
Swans: ‘The Great Annihilator’ (Deluxe Edition) Review: underrated 1995 album gets deluxe remastered double-vinyl reissue. [rating=5] To say NYC noise rock legends SWANS have had a unique career trajectory is an understatement. Whereas most bands that formed in the 80s subsist by playing their back catalogue on the nostalgia circuit, Swans have become more popular than […]
Ministry ‘Trax! Rarities’ Review: Compilation of rare Ministry recordings from their 1980’s Wax Trax! era. [rating=4] Though most fans of industrial metal pioneers Ministry associate them with the sonic assault that brought them notoriety in the late 80’s and early 90’s, there’s a subset of listeners who pine for a return to the early 80’s synth-pop […]
