Adam Grundy
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Adam Grundy
An enthusiastic music blogger who lives in the Washington DC Metro area. My favorite bands are My Chemical Romance, Yellowcard, the 1975, and Paramore.
recommended
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
Night Riots – New State of Mind
Four Year Strong – Brain Pain
Vinnie Caruana
SORTED BY: REVIEWS

Review: AJR – What No One’s Thinking

Adam Grundy

Shortly after the release of their excellent fifth studio album, The Maybe Man, the three brothers that make up experimental pop band AJR were dealing with some writer’s block. It’s an understandable feeling for an artist that has quickly pumped out so many noteworthy radio hits over their career. What No One’s Thinking is the result of what came out of these sessions after the band wrapped up their comprehensive and ambitious arena tour in support of their previous LP, and is a nod to AJR’s third EP of What Everyone’s Thinking. The sound that comes through the speakers on this latest effort is a bit of a departure from the slick experimental pop that the band has been come to be known for. Thematically, the EP tackles the topics of loss, fractured relationships, and saying goodbye to those we never thought we’d have to. While it’s great that AJR are trying new things at this stage of their career, it’s hard to not feel like a key element of their brand of music is missing on this EP.

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Review: Dijon – Baby

Dijon - Baby
Adam Grundy

The sophomore album from Baltimore, Maryland-based R&B artist, Dijon, Baby feels like a force of nature. The record is equal parts a concept record, since it largely reflects on him becoming a first-time father, as much as it is an exploration of the power of soul/gospel, all put on blend in a stunning concoction. The LP was largely self-produced by Dijon, with a few collaborations from Andrew Sarlo, BJ Burton, and a frequent Dijon collaborator in Mk.gee. Dijon intricately weaves in old school hip-hop samples, stellar production, and a soulful, almost-gospel esque approach to his vocal performance that transcends genre lines along the way. Baby was released with no preceding singles, and is meant to be listened to from front to back to fully absorb what Dijon created here. Sophomore albums typically don’t blow away the competition as much as what Dijon has accomplished here, and the widespread critical acclaim of Baby is 100% justified. Dijon offers a mesmerizing combination of experimental hip-hop, rap, soul and R&B, in one of this year’s best albums to date.

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Review: Have Mercy – The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been

Adam Grundy

There’s something to be said when you can feel a beating heart behind a band’s music. That raw, emotional connection to the material is hard to come by these days, especially in the AI-era of music. Maryland’s own Have Mercy have returned with their most immediate material to date with The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been, that is packed with ultra-personal lyrics. “We’ve been waiting so long to show our fans what we’ve been working on. This feels like a new journey has started for our band. There’s no better way to kick start this album than releasing a song like ‘august 17’. It is an incredibly personal song that carries a lot of weight. It’s about loss and the continuing pain felt after someone is gone. It may hurt less over time, but it never stops hurting,” shared Brian Swindle, lead singer/guitarist of Have Mercy. By delving even deeper into stories of loss and trauma, Have Mercy simultaneously crafted their most personal, urgent, and best work to date on The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been.

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Review: Pinkshift – Earthkeeper

Pinkshift - Earthkeeper
Adam Grundy

It’s easy to see why Pinkshift were so happy for their sophomore LP, Earthkeeper, to see the light of day. This record is brimming with hopeful messages, and is paired with an ambitious and dynamic take on what punk music is and can sound like today. An “Earthkeeper” is “a reflection of universal consciousness and a protector of existence,” and the spacey artwork showcases the band’s lofty ambitions on taking their music to the next level. While their Hopeless Records’ debut, that was called Love Me Forever, was a raucous punk rock romp of a good time, Earthkeeper is a direct reaction to the world around this young three-piece band that has a lot on their minds. Singles like the abrasive “Anita Ride” and the punk rock energy found on “Evil Eye” are wisely stacked back to back in the early-going of the album sequencing, while vocalist Ashrita Kumar finds lightning in a bottle in a dynamic vocal performance. Earthkeeper is absolutely packed with heavy political themes, while still remaining true and authentic the band’s core values and spiritual beliefs that there is a bigger power at play.

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Review: Wolf Alice – The Clearing

Wolf Alice - The Clearing
Adam Grundy

There’s a comforting feeling behind Ellie Rowsell’s vocals. The front-woman of British rock band, Wolf Alice, captivates and charms all over the band’s fourth studio album, called The Clearing. The album itself was produced by veteran hit-maker Greg Kurstin (Foo Fighters, Jonas Brothers), and The Clearing has a bit of that classic rock feeling to it as you play it from front to back. From the upbeat piano found on the lead single of “Bloom Baby Bloom” that gave Wolf Alice fans a sense of the direction found on the band’s latest effort, to the stylistic choices made by the three other band members to connect things together, The Clearing wasn’t exactly the album I thought would follow after 2021’s Blue Weekend. Instead, the album plays out like a 70’s rock n’ roll romp, much like what Fleetwood Mac cut their teeth to during that decade, with mostly positive results. The LP’s strengths are found in the shimmering sheen and musical polish of “Just Two Girls” and the album closing single of “The Sofa,” while I initially had trouble connecting with the style of “Bloom Baby Bloom” when it released in mid-May. Wolf Alice are trying to develop their sound by looking towards the past for tried and true influences, and they can only hope that their fans are still with them on the latest detour in their trajectory.

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Review: X Ambassadors – VHS (X)

Adam Grundy

In all of (the recently-engaged) Taylor Swift’s wisdom and cultural impact, arguably the biggest shake-up in the music industry was the idea of re-recording music to take back ownership of the songs that an artist has written. Never being strangers to hopping onto a great idea, X Ambassadors are gearing up for the release of VHS (X) this Friday, a faithful re-record of their debut LP that features a plethora of re-imagined versions of their biggest hits. VHS, I thought, was a bit bogged down/packed with too many interludes and voice memos that broke up the overall flow of their debut, but VHS (X) trims the fat, and focuses on what X Ambassadors are capable of creating today. Given the band’s 10+ years experience that have come from touring the world since their original version of VHS graced the world in the summer of 2015, this re-record does much more than just claiming back ownership of the songs that Sam Harris, Casey Harris, and Adam Levin created on their debut, it accentuates X Ambassadors core strengths as a unit moving forward.

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Review: Foreign Air – Such That I May Glow

Foreign Air - Such That I May Glow
Adam Grundy

Foreign Air are onto something truly great and moving on Such That I May Glow, their third full-length album to date, and ultimately their most complete artistic statement to date. The band first gained viral success from their debut single that was featured in several prominent ads, called “Free Animal,” that brilliantly showcased what Foreign Air were capable of creating when the duo of Jesse Clasen (lead vocals/guitar) and Jacob Michael (guitar/bass/synths/programming/backing vocals) came together. The band seemed to have gained a certain confidence and swagger that comes through well on this album that is brimming with unlimited potential for where Foreign Air can go from here. The band is somewhere in the same artistic realm as Sir Sly, JR JR, and The Naked And Famous, with a slick self-produced sound on Such That I May Glow, that is quickly becoming one of my favorite releases of not only the synth-wave genre, but also for this entire year.

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Review: Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Adam Grundy

After the surprise drop of 17 new singles that mysteriously appeared in late-July on the official website of Hayley Williams, the singles got an official streaming release on August 1st. Williams’ move set the record industry a bit aghast, as these songs live without a true “home” (as of this writing) of a standard album, no official tracklisting, and a litany of interpretations from longtime fans of the Paramore front-woman. Simply dubbed as Ego, these new songs are brimming with unlimited potential and purpose. 2020’s Petals for Armor highlighted what Williams could do on her own with her vibrant and infectious personality, and paired it with the long-documented trauma of her past divorce, while the 2021 sophomore follow-up of Flowers for Vases / Descansos backed up my feelings that Hayley Williams was more than capable of letting her star shine brightest without the umbrella of Paramore. Ego, while not officially dubbed as the third album from Williams, still plays out with a clear vision and bating heart behind these 17 tracks that accentuate her ability to convey a wide range of emotions in her vibrant music. Not one for conforming to the norms of the music industry, Ego re-imagines the possibilities of what music is and can be about as Hayley Williams re-cements herself in the singer-songwriter genre with a brilliant artistic statement.

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Review: Filter – Short Bus

Filter - Short Bus
Adam Grundy

The story of Filter began when lead singer/band founder, Richard Patrick, mentioned in past interviews that when he was chatting with his touring bandmate of NIN singer (Trent Reznor), he suggested that Patrick make his own record while Nine Inch Nails went off to record their now-classic of The Downward Spiral. The tunes that Richard Patrick crafted on Short Bus were heavily influenced by his time in touring with NIN, yet they feature a lot more guitar parts in them to set Filter on a different artistic course than the aforementioned other touring project. Short Bus was released on April 25th, 1995, and has sold over a million copies in the U.S., spearheaded by the breakthrough success of Filter’s debut single of “Hey Man Nice Shot.” The set was co-produced by Richard Patrick and his musician friend, Brian Liesegang, who conceived the idea of Filter in the early 90’s. During the recording sessions, Patrick acted as the primary songwriter/bassist/vocalist, while Liesegang primarily handled production duties and programming the drum machine they used on Short Bus, and the duo split the guitar duties. While the band’s sophomore record, Title of Record, would blast Filter into the Alt Rock mainstream with the soft rock hit of “Take A Picture,” Short Bus is ultimately the album that longtime Filter fans point to as the key moment in time when Richard Patrick and Brian Liesegang were at their creative peak.

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Review: Bad Suns – Accelerator

Bad Suns - Accelerator
Adam Grundy

Bad Suns are on the right trajectory on their fifth studio album, Accelerator, that leans heavily into lead vocalist/guitarist Christo Bowman’s personal life. Bowman has a lot to be thankful for: a beautiful wife and growing family that now includes a child, and it becomes increasingly evident on this new LP that he is also truly coming into his own as a gifted songwriter with a clear vision for the music he’s making. Accelerator is Bad Suns’ first full-length studio album in three years, while the last time we heard music from the band was in the form of a 2023 EP, named Infinite Joy, that gave clues as to where the band could and would take their music in the future. The overall flow of Accelerator is well-organized, meaningful and brimming with excitement from start to finish. Through Bowman’s lens of how he sees the world, musically, Bad Suns have simultaneously made their most personal and best record to date.

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Review: Hayes Carll – We’re Only Human

Adam Grundy

Hayes Carll feels like a man on a mission on his latest record, We’re Only Human. This country singer-songwriter shimmers and sways all over this ten-track LP that is brimming with great lyrical undertones, vivid imagery and storytelling, paired with ultra-solid musicianship. We’re Only Human is Hayes Carll’s ninth studio album to date, and he wastes little time getting to what’s on his mind lately on this latest effort that is worthy of your time. With key singles like “High”, the upbeat romp of “Progress of Man (Bitcoin & Cattle)” and the opening title track that explains, “We’re only human / That is all / Just walking the rope between fear and hope / And knowing we’re gonna fall / ‘Cause we’re only human,” Hayes Carll weaves a tangled web of intricate melodies on this record that fits somewhere in the realm of Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell and Bob Dylan.

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Review: Good Charlotte – Motel Du Cap

Adam Grundy

Good Charlotte have returned with their first studio album in seven years, called Motel Du Cap, and it is an exploration of the band’s humble beginnings, while still offering a few new musical elements to further the artistic direction of GC. The music landscape has changed quite a bit since Good Charlotte last released Generation Rx. Country artists are predominantly taking the top spots on the Billboard 200, while rock/punk music has offered some really cool emerging artists in the scene such as Turnstile, Pinkshift and Moving Mountains, just to name a few. So where does Good Charlotte fit in? The answer can be found by checking in to Motel Du Cap and hearing the Madden brothers’ unique perspective on how far they’ve come together, their past trauma, and overall outlook on life. The set was produced by Johan Carlsson, Zakk Cervini, Jordan Fish, Andrew Goldstein, and Charlie Puth, and is armed with 13 songs in total. Four of the tracks include guest artist spots, and Good Charlotte do a commendable job of not only paying homage to their past legacy as a band, but showcasing their staying power in our scene.

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Review: Blindside – The Great Depression

Blindside - The Great Depression
Adam Grundy

The twentieth anniversary of the fifth studio album by Blindside is coming up this weekend, so it’s time to revisit The Great Depression. The album was largely influenced by a trip to Africa that their lead singer, Christian Lindskog, which left the singer “unsettled” by his experience and the things he saw vastly influenced the direction of the record. The LP also found Blindside going with an independent label, after the moderate commercial success of Silence and About a Burning Fire, and deciding to work with a different producer as well in Lasse Mårtén. While I felt the pairing of the previous two records with veteran producer, Howard Benson, was a match made in music heaven for Blindside, The Great Depression is truly an “artist’s record” in that the band was beginning to see the world through a much different lens. The set would spawn two singles in “Fell In Love With The Game” and the reflective “When I Remember,” but had trouble gaining traction commercially. The album is still adored by many Blindside fans to this day, and it’s easy to see why after a fresh listen. The Great Depression marked a significant shift in Blindside’s artistic direction, and left hints as to where they would take their sound on subsequent releases.

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Review: The Haunt – New Addiction

The Haunt - New Addiction
Adam Grundy

I’d love to introduce everyone to South Florida hard rock band, The Haunt, who are led by a sister and brother duo, Anastasia (vocals) and Maxamillion Haunt (guitar/production). On their latest record, called New Addiction, The Haunt quickly re-solidify themselves as major players in the Alternative/Hard Rock scene with this album that was produced by Kevin Thrasher (Escape the Fate, Jelly Roll). The set includes The Haunt’s breakthrough single of “Masochistic Lovers,” that features Craig Mabbitt (Dead Rabbitts/Escape the Fate), that showcases the band’s knack for writing big hooks with plenty of emo-laced substance. The Haunt are a great mix of scene nostalgia, paired with powerhouse female vocals, and slick production in the same vein as Greywind, Paramore, and Evanescence. New Addiction lives up its name, because you will likely be obsessed and charmed by The Haunt.

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Review: Red Scare Across Canada: 2025

Red Scare Across Canada: 2025
Adam Grundy

We need more punk music in this world, especially today, and Red Scare Records are supplying the goods to our demand with the recently released compilation of Red Scare Across Canada: 2025. The comp features a new single from four great artists in Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds, Guerilla Poubelle, Sam Russo, and In The Meantime. Red Scare Records is basically just showing off the depth of their dynamic punk rock roster on this compilation that plays out speedily, but is ultra-rewarding to the listener on repeat spins.

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