Musings on the past and present state of music, film, and pop culture. Get off my lawn.
10 Best Alternative Rock and Metal Albums of 2023: these are the albums that got us through a crazy year. It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2023. And that means it’s time for SLIS to do our annual Best-of Year list. 2023 was not a massive year for rock. But what it lacked in […]
Baroness ‘Stone’ Review: stalwart metallers get expansive and reflective on latest release recorded during the pandemic. Baroness return with Stone (Sept 15, Abraxan Hymns), their first album since 2019’s Gold and Grey, and the group’s first effort without a color in the album title. Recorded at the height of the pandemic, the album sees frontman/primary […]
Puscifer “Existential Reckoning: Rewired”: Review-inventive album offers intriguing remixes from Maynard James Keeenan fronted 2020 album. Remix albums are a curious beast. Some are essential, adding new dimensions to established songs. Others are filler, offering excessive, bloated renditions that undermine the power of the original material. So where does Puscifer’s new remix album Existential Reckoning: Rewired […]
RIP Mark Lanegan: His Essential Playlist: We celebrate the late singer’s legacy with a 30 song Spotify playlist. Today, the music world lost a titan, the gravelly voiced, inimitable vocalist Mark Lanegan, has died at the age of 57. While the details are scarce (the singer had been suffering after a long and treacherous bout […]
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 […]
All Souls ‘All Souls’ Review: Los Angeles act offers an inventive mix of stoner, garage and psychedelia. [rating=4] It’s only February, but L.A. band All Souls self-titled début (out Feb 9th on Sunyata Records) is already one of the freshest and infectious releases of 2018. The group features notable stoner rock luminaries, including vocalist/guitarist Tony Aguilar […]
Legend of The Seagullmen ‘Legend of the Seagullmen’ Review: quirky alt-metal supergroup release nautical-themed album. [rating=4] Metal listeners tend to be wary of supergroups. More often than not, such bands can suffer the too many cooks in the kitchen effect, leading to a muddy vision. But after a pair of demos leaked in 2015 from Legend […]
Chelsea Wolfe ‘Hiss Spun’ Review: singer continues to perfect her fusion of goth and doom metal. [rating=5] Chelsea Wolfe’s sound has evolved in surprising and satisfying ways throughout her career, but perhaps the biggest quantum leap was from 2013’s Pain is Beauty’s stark and delicate arrangements to 2015’s Abyss, which incorporated elements of industrial and doom […]
Albums Revisited: Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Songs For The Deaf’ Turns 15: looking back on QOTSA’s desert rock opus on its 15th anniversary. Hey alright, it’s Kip Casper Klon radio, L.A.’s infinite repeat How we feeling out there? How’s your drive time commute? I need a saga, what’s the saga? It’s songs for the […]
Queens of the Stone Age ‘Villains’ Review: Josh Homme and co. embrace dance music without losing their quirky edge. [rating=4] If Queens of the Stone Ages uptempo new album Villains feels like a reaction against 2013’s somber, mortality examining …Like Clockwork, it’s by design. In a recent radio interview, band mastermind Josh Homme described it […]
