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The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits
Pearl Jam – Gigaton
Violent Soho – Everything is A-OK
SORTED BY: REVIEWS

Review: Dead Lakes – New Language

Dead Lakes - New Language
Brett Bodner

In recent years, bands like Bring Me the Horizon, Silverstein, and I Prevail have experimented by adding electronic and pop to their traditional heavier sound. The change-up has served them well, and it looks like Dead Lakes is poised to breakthrough by doing the same with their EP, New Language.

Dead Lakes – singer Sumner Peterson, guitarists Max Statham and Legacy Bonner, bassist Cody Hurd and drummer Chon Adam – not only have a sound made to attract fans of rock and post-hardcore, but they also sing relatable lyrics as they deal with emotions, struggles, and anxieties throughout the five tracks.

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Review: Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP

Brett Bodner

Listening to Eminem when I was growing up was like eating forbidden fruit. Now that I look back on it, my mom was spot on for not allowing me to own The Marshall Mathers LP album. Instead, I listened to it with friends at summer camp back in the summer of 2000. Strangely enough, my love for rap and hip-hop would blossom from this particular, ridiculously controversial album. 

The Marshall Mathers LP is still revered as an iconic album. Eminem raps laps around any competition, and his expression of emotion (a lot of rage) is undeniably intoxicating. But, if you take a listen from start to finish, you’ll be reminded that much of what you’ll hear didn’t land well back in 2000, and is still cringe-worthy today, even if it most of it is just schtick.

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Review: The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits

Chamberlain Waits
Brett Bodner

The Menzingers released their second album, Chamberlain Waits a decade ago, and what a decade it’s been for them. It was an album that would build the foundation for a small town Pennsylvania-rooted band that would go on to consistently pack venues with fans all over the world.

Chamberlain Waits represents The Menzingers on the cusp of pulling off something truly special. While 2012’s On the Impossible Past is the staple Menzingers album (with After the Party in a close second place), Chamberlain Waits had all of the ingredients of what makes the Menzingers great; Relatable lyrics that set a scene in your head, catchy choruses that make you want to scream them at the top of your lungs and guitar riffs that will hook you in immediately.

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Review: Violent Soho – Everything is A-OK

Violent Soho - Everything is A-OK
Brett Bodner

Violent Soho are back with their first record in four years called Everything is A-OK, which seems ironic given our current world affairs. The new album was written before the COVID-19 crisis hit the world like a ton of bricks, but you could now make the argument that Everything is A-OK has arrived at just the right time; a moment when we can relate to the themes and ideas scattered throughout the record.

After taking a break following 2016’s Waco to focus on other musical projects, the Australian rockers– consisting of lead singer/guitarist Luke Boerdam, lead guitarist James Tidswell, bassist Luke Henery and drummer Michael Richards – are picking up right where they left off with their new album.

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Review: Pearl Jam – Gigaton

Brett Bodner

We are currently living in uncertain times with fear, anxiety, and stress riding high, especially as many are self-quarantining to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Sometimes what you need to get you through is a calming force, and for many, temporary relief came in the release of Pearl Jam ‘s new album, Gigaton, their first new record in just over six years.

Gigaton arrived at a moment when people needed a break, and many Pearl Jam fans were fortunate to be rewarded with one of the best albums in the band’s deep discography. The new record is one that was a genuine collaborative effort, and it amplifies the sounds of a band still loving what they do as they head into their fourth decade creating albums.

The new record is loaded from front to back, in what is truly a balanced record. There are moments of peace, calmness and relaxation, with an equal amount of rockers that you’ll be air-guitaring along to.

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