Country singer-songwriter Justin Moore is back with Late Nights and Longnecks—his fifth album—proving that returning to your songwriting roots doesn’t always mean treading water. He gained inspiration from the same small Florida beach where he wrote his debut and it paid off. With a couple of good friends and a few…

Of Monsters and Men, “Fever Dream.” Of Monsters and Men’s third album, Fever Dream, is aptly titled. It follows a subconscious trajectory; starting off nice and slow and bringing the listener into a state of calm. That is until the deep cuts introduce chaos and uncertainty into the dreamlike state. Reaching…

It could be argued that the Christian metalcore boom was already on its way out by the time Ohio quintet Wolves at the Gate released its 2012 debut album, Captors. The band nails that classic Solid State Records brand of good-cop-bad-cop accessibility and aggression. While many of their contemporaries…

Up until this point, Wreck and Reference could still fall under the parameters of post-metal. Not in the usual genre tropes, but more like The Body or Health. Ignat Frege and Felix Skinner have spent the past decade combining elements of black metal, drone pop, post-industrial music and other…

Even a handful of Emperor Caligula’s misdeeds justify the Roman leader’s legacy as an insane tyrant. His decedent sadism undercurrents Kristin Hayter’s latest album as Lingua Ignota. The Rhode Island experimental artist is no stranger to appropriating evil and violence. Infusing death industrial, avant-metal and ritual ambient music with…

Pop can bring a lot of negative images to mind, from Top-40 music with a few riffs to full bands that sound like one producer. No preconceived notions hold a candle to Generationals, who’ve been polishing their combination of EDM, new wave and indie rock for the past 10…

Rarely can a pop-punk band reemerge from the brink of collapse with new material that eclipses its predecessors. Thus is the case for Canadian stalwarts Sum 41. In 2014, frontman Deryck Whibley faced a personal and public battle in his struggles with alcoholism, leaving him hospitalized—on both his figurative…

It becomes clear while listening to Minneapolis black metal band False‘s second album that the members recently struggled with some sort of tragedy or despair. Portent is a statement of perseverance as well as artistry. Black metal goes hand in hand with emotional catharsis, and False makes that emotive potential the core…

K.Flay, “Solutions.” Kristine Flaherty, better known by her stage name, K.Flay, returns with her third LP, Solutions. The album presents a very personal and introspective take on the rapper turned alt-pop singer-songwriter. The album is less of a stylistic transformation, instead showing a natural progression of Flaherty’s sound. The hip-hop flow is…

Weather, the fifth album from San Francisco electronica artist Tycho, is a departure from his previous work in one big way: It has words. Weather Tycho Mom + Pop/Ninja Tune, July 12 This isn’t the first evolution of Tycho. It began as a solo project by Sacramento native Scott Hansen. He…