Albatross "Happenstance"

I do love a good blues rock tune. It’s something I’ve made quite clear in previous articles. Both as a listener and as a guitar player it is one of my go-to types of music to go to. It is a type of music that I find really shows the true emotion behind the instruments played, and as per usual, the more genuine emotion put in to a song (by the guitarist, the singer, whomever) the better. I was happy when Albatross gave me their EP Happenstance for review, as I feel they have a good grasp on the blues rock genre.

Step Echo "Songs for the Broken"

In the year and a bit that I’ve been reviewing albums, I’ve got my hands on quite a few independent albums by bands from all over the world. Hell, since mid January, all but one album I’ve reviewed have been recorded by independent bands. It’s refreshing to have finally been given the follow up album to one of these bands for review. Last May I write about St. Catherine’s Step Echo and their album Jagged, an album that I was impressed with as well as a few other people that I’ve played the album for. Now I feel privileged that their independent record label Red Dragon Records felt comfortable sending me Songs for the Broken.

Social Strife "Social Strife"

I’ve done over a hundred of these now so it’s getting hard to find clever ways to introduce my articles. It’s frustrating really, I enjoy my rants, sometimes relevant, sometimes not so much, but after thinking about it for days, I just can’t find one this time. It’s unfortunate because Toronto hard rock band Social Strife really do deserve a good introduction to their featured article on my site for their five-track self titled EP which is nothing short of a classic hard rock sound that can stand pretty tall in today’s rock music.

The Mouth of Ghosts "You Will Go Again From Me"

I always love getting albums/EPs by unique bands. Some bands are unique because they are hard to categorize, others are unique because they aren’t in the realm of bands I’d usually review: not out of disinterest but merely because I’m typically sent hard rock/metal albums, while my taste in rock music does go far beyond that limit. London’s The Mouth of Ghosts doesn’t really fit under one specific categorization. If anything, they’d be classified as one of the many alternative bands out there, but there is no rock genre more diverse than alternative. There are also surprising progressive elements to their music, as well as the odd pop moment. They call themselves “trip-hop,” I never knew what that was until reading that, but upon looking the genre up, their new EP You Will Go Again From Me is NOT remotely anything close to “trip-hop.”