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Quick reviews is where I quickly go over some records from the month just passed I didn't write full reviews for to give my brief opinions for. These aren't necessarily here because I don't like them, rather that I just didn't have enough to say about them to warrant a full review. Which is kind of ironic, considering the first one for this month is...    1) Crooked Teeth by Papa Roach    Wow. Not really sure how a band can so effectively make a record that sounds like it's from 2002, but Papa Roach managed to do just that. And not in a good way. In fact, I'm struggling to work out exactly who this album was made for. Maybe there are die-hard Papa Roach fans out there that will dig this, but it just sounds to me like a bunch of B-sides from the early 2000s that have been dug up and had any edge or danger completely bleached by being produced like hell.    2) in-ter a-li-a by At The Drive In    At The Drive In come marginally closer to pul...

   Ben Ottewell's third LP A Man Apart goes boldly where he has been before, and while it certainly does that pretty well it doesn't manage to either strike new ground or any real emotional response. There is a distinctly "nice" feel to this record, which is, um, nice I guess if that's what you want. But it just doesn't feel like there's any immediacy or forward motion on any of these songs, like Ottewell is content with writing songs that could be on four wheel drive ads. Again, there isn't really anything particularly bad here, it's just a singer-songwriter album that isn't trying to break new ground. His typically growly voice is also beginning to give way to a more accessible, smooth tone, which could place you on either side of this record. For me it just cements it's place firmly in the middle ground somewhere.    Favourite Songs: Own It, A Man Apart and Lead Me    Least Favourite Songs: Watcher, Back To The World and Bones ...

    Party is NZ-based singer Aldous Harding's mesmerising follow up to her 2014 self-titled debut. Party is intimate and hypnotising, largely confined to lightly finger picked acoustic guitar, the occasional piano and Harding's hushed, soulful voice, and it was this that really did it for me on this record. It's a record that isn't in a rush to go anywhere, and while I criticised Asgeir's Afterglow for doing the same thing, I was comfortable enough in where Harding took me that I wasn't left wanting further development. It's like sitting down with an old friend and being brought up to speed on everything that's happened to them since you saw them last; I was transfixed start to finish.    Favourite Songs: Blend, Party, What If Birds Aren't Singing They're Screaming  and I'm So Sorry     Least Favourite Song: Horizon , if I had to chose one.    Rating: A

   In Hearts Wake have returned with a follow up to the two part Duality project, Earthwalker and Skydancer, with Ark , another collection of generally by the numbers metalcore tunes with a socially and environmentally conscious message. The band's first album from 2012, Divination , was and still is my favourite album from the Byron Bay quintet, and unfortunately Ark continues the downward trend they have been on since their blistering debut. It's not necessarily that they have been getting worse, it's simply that they haven't moved forward noticeably since Divination . This wasn't a massive problem for Earthwalker, because it was their second album and they were still riding on the mildly interesting concept album thing they had going, but it was a watered down replication of Divination . After a couple of listens through Skydancer , the surprise second part to Earthwalker , it had become clear to me that the band were rapidly running out of musical ideas. You c...

  Linkin Park have always had an interesting relationship with their fans; with every album since 2003's Hybrid Theory they have shifted and moved away from whatever they did before, often testing the patience of even their most die-hard fans. Since their early rap infused nu-metal days they have explored more straight forward rock and even touched on the U2 bag of tricks on Minutes To Midnight, thrown a curve ball and dived into more experimental (some would say pretentious) electronic territory on A Thousand Suns , they have sounded like a watered down Nine Inch Nails on Living Things , and took a tentative step back into their guitar-based past on The Hunting Party . While I am certainly not the same die-hard Linkin Park fan I was at 14, I can appreciate from a distance the way they have continued to do whatever the hell they want with their music, obviously without any regard for what they think will please the most people. At this stage, then, it is difficult to pin down exa...

   Dean Lewis offers up six largely acoustic-driven tunes on his debut offering, all of which are clearly aimed at wider appeal. The acoustic-pop thing has never really done it for me (read my recent Ed Sheeran review  here ), mainly because behind the slick production and singable hooks there's a general lack of songwriting to be had. This is where Same Kind Of Different sits a rung above most other similar albums; take the sugar and fairy dust away and there are still six complete songs that could be on a singer-songwriter album, rough and bare. I can appreciate the way these songs have been tailored to be played to a larger audience, but the substance behind the shine is more important to me. The six songs do sound very similar, however, and they do tend to blur together into a singular mass - which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on who you are. For me that was a bit of a concern on second and third listen, but I was generally pleased by Same Kind Of Diffe...

   I haven't really enjoyed any of the post One Direction solo releases so far, but I tried my best to go into Harry Styles' debut solo album as objectively and without expectations as possible. And for the most part I was mildly surprised by what I heard, in a good way. There's a captivating interplay between intimacy and detachment all the way through the album, which is easily the most interesting thing about this album, allowing for some really strong lyrical moments and a rawness and authenticity that was completely lacking from any of the material One Direction put out. This record also kind of plays like a tribute to classic rock, which proves to be a fantastic way to showcase Styles' voice. My biggest concern here, however, is the way it sounds like the kind of album a band puts out past the halfway mark in their career. I recognise the moody, mature atmosphere Styles obviously is going for (worlds apart from the sugary One Direction sound), and he nails it for ...

   The discussion surrounding Paramore and their shifting sound and internal tensions has always bored me to hell, partly because I have a hard time caring but also because it distracts from the music that was so important for me growing up. Regardless of whatever new direction they were heading in - which they the artist  have every right to do - there are three seminal 2000s emo rock albums that still exist in the same form they always have. So while I'm obviously interested in seeing where they choose to travel artistically next, as soon as the complaining and useless arguing starts I'll be the first to put my hand up and leave. Did I like their last album as much as Brand New Eyes ? No, but I still enjoyed listening to it. Was I hoping Paramore would stop screwing over their fans and go back to what they wanted and deserved from them? I think you'd have to be trying pretty hard to come up with a more self-entitled and infantile approach to a band and their music. ...

   Nick Murphy (fka Chet Faker) is typically introspective and moody on this new EP Missing Link , and while it doesn't necessarily strike new ground there are five solid songs that won't necessarily stay in you're head long after. To me it kind of sounds like a collection of songs that would normally be the deeper cuts of a full length; there aren't any real standouts or "lead singles" but rather subdued, sometimes hypnotic songs without any real cutting power. People who aren't fans of the way Murphy's voice can sometimes flatten out will find further dissatisfaction on Missing Link , too, where the whinier side of his performance takes the foreground. It's not bad, just not overly memorable.    Rating: C-

   I've never really enjoyed what Motionless In White do, because they've been wedged between industrial beats, gothic murkiness and generic breakdown-laden metalcore for so long without really nailing any of those sides of their sound. Listening to their music was really jarring and I've never really cared all that much for any of their records. Graveyard Shift was a real surprise for me, then, being a perfect concoction of the two worlds they have been trying to bring together on their previous efforts. It's like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Korn had an illegitimate child, born with eyeliner and leather (the Jonathan Davis feature on Necessary Evil is a knowing nod to this influence). There is a surprising energy and cohesiveness to these songs, and it is by far the best album from them so far; so much so I had to double check I was indeed listening to Motionless In White on Spotify. Everything the band have offered to this point are here, but refined and tweak...

    Adornment  has the instantly catchy trait that all good pop-punk records have, and for the most part they make use of that initial attention grab with solid songs with actual emotional depth. For a pop-punk record to be of interest to me nowadays there needs to be more beyond the catchiness and "get-out-of-this-town" franticness; I've heard it more than enough times by now and it just seems like a lot of bands are riding on that alone without carving their own sound within those genre hallmarks. There were lots of pop-punk records put out last year by lots of bands, and I remember maybe a handful. The first positive to be found in Grayscale's sound is the vocalist; while there is the occasional cheese that is to expected on a record like this, there is enough dynamic range, warmth and grit to separate him from the whiny, annoying sound that hurts my ears on far too many records (bar an unfortunate cameo from As It Is singer Patty Walters on Come Undone , come at m...

   Pond have the unfortunate fortune of being constantly compared to Tame Impala, and not just because of the fact they share members; for many people they are the only two bands they're aware of that deal in the kind of 70s-inspired psych-rock that makes you think, "I wonder what this would sound like if you were stoned?" While this comparison is very understandable and can work in ways beneficial for Pond, I have always felt that Pond feel like more of a "band" than Tame Impala. Where Tame Impala is Kevin Parker's project with other musicians making up the live performance, Pond feels a lot more cohesive in that sense. Pond and Tame Impala have both changed and evolved, but while Kevin Parker went full disco on Currents , Pond have maintained a strong grounding in psychedelic rock while dipping into trippy synths and some of the other elements Parker brought into Tame Impala's sound on Currents.  For this reason I maintain that Pond are the superior ba...

    Afterglow sounds a lot like the musical equivalent of a warm spot of sun on an otherwise cool winters day. It's cold and icy but has an undeniable feeling of comfort, like a hot chocolate in the cold. This is down to the lush guitars, piano and sometimes trippy synths that make up the musical landscape of Afterglow , providing a nice canvas for Icelandic Ásgeir Trausti's voice to paint on. His voice is comparable to that of Sigur Rós singer and fellow Icelandian (Icelandman... Icelandish... who knows) Jónsi's falsetto, but where Sigur Rós craft huge but subtle compositions that shake rooms and murmur quietly, often in the same song, Ásgeir never quite manages to reach that level of transcendence Sigur Rós have poked at on a few of their records. For me it's down to a lack of dynamics; the entire record seems to roll along at the same pace without ebbing or flowing much and never feels like it's going anywhere in particular. On another day this might not have bee...

   There is something about Underoath's sixth studio album and last with final founding member Aaron Gillespie that is difficult to pin down. It's something you can't describe in words, but something clearly audible throughout the 41 minute run time. And this isn't something that you can manufacture or manipulate in the studio; there is an aura around this record that is entirely unique and immediately captivating. Frictions within the band have been identified in hindsight with an upheaval and eventual breakup in 2013, but with Underoath's recent revival with the line up that gave us their three most important records, they have been recognised as important in the growth and progression of the band. And for the sound of this record.    In an interview with Alternative Press in 2016 Spencer Chamberlain and Aaron Gillespie both agreed that Lost In The Separation is the Underoath record they are most proud of, adding that it is the one album that Underoath fully re...

   Bliss n Eso have never really fitted into any sort of sub-category of Australian hip hop, and their newest album Off The Grid follows that trend - this time to less exciting results. Like many of the other groups in the genre of similar pedigree, Bliss n Eso have been progressively moving towards a poppier, more radio friendly sound across their albums; from the harsh underground sounds of Flowers In The Pavement and Day of the Dog , to the more atmospheric and cohesive Flying Colours and Running On Air , and the more mainstream sounds of Circus In The Sky . Despite the changing soundscapes across the group's career, they have managed to maintain a certain spirit to their music that has stayed the same throughout. Here we are at album number six, and I feel like that spirit is starting wane a little.     For me Bliss n Eso hit their peak at Flying Colours and Running On Air . Those two albums really did it for me, and Circus In The Sky became a little too ...