If only Repeater-era Fugazi had sounded like the members were actually having fun, or (International) Noise Conspiracy had come from freezing Regina, Saskatchewan, instead of freezing Ume, Sweden, then Despistado’s twitchy take on obliquely political hardcore might not sound so fresh. As it is, these four friends — the first…

An illegitimate reminder of a barely legal one-night stand between Slayer and Botch, or the grandchild Judas Priest and Iron Maiden never knew they had, Himsa is frequently lumped into the overpopulated world of metalcore, but these five Seattle sickos have more in common with the best ’70s British metal…

On Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, nineteen of the most brutal speedcore, Satanic-metal and thrash songs ever recorded are drained of all life and transformed into uninspired, generic filler. Grindcore progenitor Napalm Death takes time off from its usual relentless assault to pay tribute once again to some of the…

The concept behind Below the Radio is that you — the independent music consumer and/or poseur — admire Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle so much that you’re willing to pawn your bowling shoes for a K-Tel collection of his favorite songs. Hyped as a “mix tape,” the compilation includes Lytle-picked tracks from…

Boston’s Victory at Sea makes brooding, seductive rock for smoky bars everywhere. Mona Elliott channels PJ Harvey and Sally Norvell with her torchy cabaret voice and poignant lyrics, while Taro Hatanaka’s violin wails and moans plaintively. Dave Norton’s tentative drumming heightens the tension as Mel Lederman’s electric piano adds a…

Can’t take one more moment of election post-mortem? Try this simple diversion. Pull out your favorite Dillinger Escape Plan, Jesus Lizard and Entombed CDs and carefully break them into tiny shards. Chew and swallow. Then start singing some of those dark, self-loathing lyrics you’ve been working on during commercials. The…

Before A.F.I. hit punk pay dirt in 2003 with Sing the Sorrow, the quartet built a bloodthirsty following on Dexter Holland’s Nitro Records. AFI documents the band’s pre-Rolling Stone years with a balanced selection of fifteen of the band’s best early tracks. For longtime fans, there’s little to get frothy…

KMFDM is not that different today,” says Sascha Konietzko. “We’re still not serious. There’s still a lot of cheeky stuff going on.” These are not exactly words you expect to hear from one of industrial music’s most uncompromising and outrageous trailblazers. Even those with a passing familiarity with KMFDM might…

Though its shtick of gross-out lyrics, lightning-fast riffs and truly vile artwork should have worn thin by now, Cannibal Corpse is still the most extreme and unflinching band in death metal. Though some of the faces have changed, the Buffalo-based quintet’s sound is much the same today as it was…

The Ocean Blue’s dreamy, melodic approach has changed little in the more than fifteen years since Hershey, Pennsylvania’s second-sweetest export committed its lush sound to vinyl. Waterworks stays that successful course with six gleaming and ethereal gems that simultaneously inspire hopeful stargazing and forlorn shoegazing while never taking themselves too…

Life is a work of art,” says Amanda Palmer. “It’s all art — from how you decorate, to how you treat other people, to how you cook your food.” Listening to Palmer’s contributions as one-half of the Boston-based duo the Dresden Dolls, there’s no question that she knows art. But…

None of the typical jam-band cliches — patchouli, spinning dancers, aimless soloing — really applies to Garaj Mahal. Yet the act often gets unfairly lumped into that unsavory bucket. Far from aimless, this improvisational quartet kicks out bad-ass, well-structured grooves and blazing, coherent solos that mine the fertile territory in…

Omaha’s Son, Ambulance finally delivers on the indie-pop promises of its debut EP, Oh, Holy Fools. Joe Knapp, the reckless and impassioned singer-songwriter driving the ambulance, has assembled eleven timeless and ecstatically melancholy gems into one career-defining album. If Badly Drawn Boy recorded an album of Jackson Browne and Leonard…

While countless acts hawk Faint-ly familiar dance punk, check out the Hot Hot Heat emanating from the Fever. The quintet’s rowdy, ’80s-inspired garage rock has the power to move the most clenched denim-clad booty. Frontman Geremy Jasper twitches and yelps like a reanimated Mick Jagger (wait, he’s not dead?), while…

Hot Water Music has torn up punk venues around the world for more than ten years, so it should come as no surprise that the band’s 2004 tour sounds a little different from some of its earlier output. Poppier song structures and a stronger sense of melody make this year’s…

You say the Melvins aren’t heavy enough? Metallica’s ’80s output doesn’t give you a sufficient blood-pressure spike? Fear not: Atlanta’s Mastodon concocts an extreme, fist-to-the-face metallic alloy that’s sure to satisfy. Less than a minute into Leviathan, the quartet’s second album, Brann Dailor’s hyperkinetic drums, Troy Sanders’s stool-softening bass, and…

I’ve always wanted to be George Lucas,” admits Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez. “But I’m not really. I just want to rock.” Coheed and Cambria, however, is closer to inspiring a Star Wars-like fanaticism than Sanchez may think. A Google search for “Coheed and Cambria,” for instance, yields 181,000 results,…

When the Trashcan Sinatras released their 1990 debut, their brand-new songs already seemed retro, pining romantically for the best U.K. guitar pop of the early ’80s. On 2004’s Weightlifting, the Scottish quintet sounds like it’s finally caught up to 1994. Once again, the Sinatras — playing and singing in top…

No Cities Left is the best Brit-pop album of 2004 — only the Dears are from Montreal, not Manchester. But don’t hold that against them: The symphonic sextet is human and needs to be loved, just like everybody else. In fact, they wanna be adored, and should be. Their new…

I once spent hours in the Roísín Dubh pub in Galway City, Ireland, where grizzled lifers raised pints with hip college kids and the house band’s drunken rendition of “Molly Malone” immediately followed an equally drunken take on Prince’s “Sexy M.F.” Flogging Molly’s Irish punk-folk hybrid is reminiscent of that…

Pinback’s third disc is crammed full of bipolar mood swings. Balancing precariously between tightfisted intensity and big-hearted affability, the duo of Zach Smith and Rob Crow juggles gorgeous melodies, numinous lyrics and lush instrumentation. Full of mysterious fragments and unanswerable questions, “Fortress” is driven by a dorky drum machine and…

Best known for his work with Mr. Bungle and Fantmas, Trevor Dunn also has an impressive pedigree as a jazz bassist. Sister Phantom Owl Fish features Dunn, guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Ches Smith, but you won’t hear this jazz trio playing “Begin the Beguine” or “Night and Day.” Influenced…