“T’he Boys Are Back’ is the perfect prelude to a night on the town you’re not likely to remember in the morning, and the rest of the album follows suit with an energy that mixes in just the right amount of mirth, mayhem, and maudlin, making Signed and Sealed in Blood an album that’s sure [...]
Tag Archive 'punk revival'
Gaelic Storm: Chicken Boxer
Posted in New Age, Rock/Pop, World Music on Feb 20th, 2013
“It’s been 15 years since American-Celtic folk-pop outfit Gaelic Storm first appeared on the public radar as the rowdy steerage band in James Cameron’s Titanic. Nine albums in, and the band’s still hosting its own private dance party, successfully fusing Irish and Scottish traditional music, contemporary folk-pop, and worldbeat into a whirlwind of sound that’s [...]
“On their fourth studio album, Blackout, the Dropkick Murphys work with their soused punk rock style for their tightest material to date. Sure, the intensity that made The Gang’s All Here and Sing Loud, Sing Proud so great is intact, but there’s a bit more polish and the Dropkick Murphys’ Irish-colored rock jigs have never [...]
“After nearly three decades of making sunny California skatepunk, the Offspring get autumnal with their reflective ninth album, Days Go By. Though the band still maintains the same driving, hooky sound that it’s always had, the album feels less aggressive and more wistful and yearning.” –All Music Guide Check Our Catalog
“Arriving earlier than expected but last as planned, Green Day’s third album of 2012 concludes their pop-punk trilogy… [T]here’s a bittersweet undertow to ¡Tré!, a feeling underscored by Armstrong’s rehab: he could no longer continue trying to recapture his youth, but dammit if he doesn’t come close to doing so at times throughout ¡Tré!” –All [...]
“On ¡Dos!, the second installment in their ongoing album trilogy, the band serves up a short but sweet platter of 13 tracks that rock hard and fast…. Green Day never look back, cramming…the record full of garage-rock snarl (‘Makeout Party’), vintage pop-punk (‘Ashley’) and bubblegum hooks (single ‘Stray Heart’). ¡Dos! may be over quickly, but [...]
“[T]his brisk, cheerful collection of pop is a relief after the operatic ambitions of 21st Century Breakdown. The hooks fly furiously, the attack is precise and the hooks, in both the melodies and riffs, are so huge, they gleefully bludgeon doubters into blissful submission. It’s the work not of punks but of road warriors eager [...]
“[T]he Gaslight Anthem seek a nice balance between heart and drive on their fourth album, Handwritten. With a sound that splits the difference between the more punk-influenced The ’59 Sound and the rootsy earnestness of American Slang, the album finds the band returning with a sound that feels altogether more complete than its other work… [...]