Music

    Music is life and all that accompanies it — along with tinnitus.

    Coriky

    Coriky: Coriky

    Do I know what this Coriky business is all about? Like why that name? Is it some anagram of Fugazi? Obviously not. But the band itself feels like a natural 2020 version
    Disheveled Cuss

    Disheveled Cuss: Disheveled Cuss

    Cuss. It's a great word. One that I didn't realize not everyone used until I ended up going to college on the East Coast. They say "curse." Which, to me, is weird. It's
    The Bronx

    The Bronx: The Bronx

    I admittedly had no familiarity with The Bronx back in 2003 when this album came out. Though they were one of those bands whose name was bandied about the hallways of
    Change Today?

    T.S.O.L: Change Today?

    Goth rock was an underrated corner of the 80s rock world. Especially for angry teenagers living during that time. Not the murky swirling stuff, but the music that came
    Viewing

    Stay Inside: Viewing

    There hasn't been a band with a name as appropriate for the times we're currently living in than Stay Inside in quite a while. I mean, I suppose if there was a band called
    RTJ4

    Run the Jewels: RTJ4

    These Gen Z kids don't really appreciate what hip hop is supposed to be. Says the white-guy Gen Xer. But, seriously, there's an art to it that seems to be lost in this
    NO DREAM

    Jeff Rosenstock: NO DREAM

    I love the fact that there's a dude named Jeff Rosenstock from Long Island who started his musical career making ska music now making some of my favorite type of punk
    The Sophtware Slump

    Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump

    There was a time when Grandaddy was labeled "the American Radiohead." The comparison never sat well with me, only because Radiohead are a bunch of snobbish whatevers who
    Lost In the Country

    Trace Mountains: Lost In the Country

    The irony of Lost in the Country's first song being titled "Rock & Roll" is certainly not lost on me. Because it is discernibly not rock & roll. Despite rising form the
    The New Abnormal

    The Strokes: The New Abnormal

    The Strokes are a band that debuted in 2001 and quickly rose to international fame. But here in 2020 are a group of 40-year-old men putting out albums that barely make a
    Trust the River

    Sparta: Trust the River

    From the ashes of At the Drive-In came Sparta. An odd moniker for a band from El Paso. I figured Alamo would be more apt, but no need to be retro controversial, I suppose
    Pleased to Meet Me

    The Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me

    There is nothing that shapes your life when you're 14 like music. At least that was the case back in mid-1987 when there was so little in terms of media to fill your
    Saint Cloud

    Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud

    I listen to Waxahatchee and I'm confused. This album, Saint Cloud, has this kind of adult contemporary, singer-songwriter type thing. Like a more traditional Sheryl Crow
    Melee

    Dogleg: Melee

    I seem to complain constantly about the lack of energy in modern rock music. The lack of drive and, quite frankly, anger. After all, that's why the youth start rock bands
    American Water

    Silver Jews: American Water

    The tragic death of David Berman in 2019 didn't really change my mind about Silver Jews, it just reinforced it. This album, American Water, is one that I've gone back to
    Have We Met

    Destroyer: Have We Met

    Destroyer is almost an idea more than it is a band. It's a thing that lives inside Dan Bejar's head. It makes almost no sense when you pull back from it, and almost less