When a hardcore band claims influence from System of a Down and Slipknot, it’s hard not to fear for the worst. But the nu-metalcore hybrid of Orthodox works, which explains the band’s fast growth in the underground scene. For its latest LP, the Nashville quartet focuses on sharpening its edges and…

New York City’s Nada Surf burst onto the scene in 1996 with “Popular,” a deeply ironic and subversive hit critiquing the trivialities of high school popularity. The song became an unlikely summer anthem, attacking the very aspects of Americana normally celebrated by our culture. The song snidely dismissed elevated…

Richard Marx delves into his four-decade career of pop hit-making on his latest album, Limitless. The singer, songwriter and producer has sold more than 30 million albums since his self-titled debut back in 1987. While the pace of his solo releases may have slowed over the last 20 years,…

Once Sepultura lost brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, the band needed to justify its existence. The ambitious arrangements and energy of 2017’s Machine Messiah accomplished just that. Even with the brothers gone, the more recent batch of Sepultura records does a lot more than capitalize on the most recognizable name in Brazilian…

Halfway through Bay Area pop-punk heroes Green Day’s 13th album, Father Of All Motherfuckers, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong declares “I was a teenage teenager/ Full of piss and vinegar.” It’s a sentiment that aptly describes the band’s latest release, a no-nonsense amps-to-11 showcase of raw, old-school rock. Looking for a reenergized…

Minneapolis’ Poliça garnered acclaim from influential critics at its outset with albums like 2012’s Give You the Ghost and follow-up Shulamith. The group’s disappearance from the limelight in recent years was not the result of banal follow-up projects or selling out into trite poptimism. For Poliça, what was initially a brief break…

It’s a bit concerning that people still argue against electronic artists being “real musicians” considering the likes of DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus and of course Squarepusher. Tom Jenkinson’s 16 albums run the gamut of drum and bass music, intelligent dance music (IDM) and jazz fusion, but the latter influence…

Best known for her 2014 anthem to ampleness, “All About That Bass,” which currently has over 2 billion views on YouTube, Massachusetts singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor added futuristic synthesizers along with a roster of big name collaborators to her latest album, Treat Myself. Treat Myself Meghan Trainor Epic Records, Jan. 31 Trainor…

Pop songstress Kesha lived a life through the headlines beginning in 2014. Following a bitter legal battle with her former producer, Dr. Luke, and her prior record label—which involved several lawsuits—over allegations of abuse and sexual assault, she returned with a raw and stripped-back album Rainbow. Songs like “Praying”…

Dan Deacon came up in the indietronica scene in the late ’00s, and by the mid-’10s he had established himself within a fairly unique niche. His hallmark songs use pitched-up vocals, offbeat instrumentation and percussive timbres to craft layers of cascading sonic textures and psychedelic frolicking. By his fourth…