Review: Hippo Campus – Flood

Adam Grundy

Over the course of music history there have been several cases of a band not being happy with the material they are creating, and then in turn deciding to scrap that material in favor of a different direction. This exact situation happened to Hippo Campus. The band were sitting in the green room of a sold-out amphitheater show at the start of the Summer of 2023 when they realized their fourth LP simply wasn’t good enough. This realization led to them re-thinking their approach to what would be the sessions for Flood, their latest studio effort that comes pouring through the speakers with the most polished, professional, and ultimately most complete version of the band to date. Hippo Campus had reportedly penned over 100 songs during the five-year span between LP3 and Flood, with only the best material making the cut for the 13-track fourth studio album. What we’re left with is a completely realized vision for the band’s music that shimmers as much as it makes their audience think about what they’ve listened to. Flood is an appropriate title in that it took a complete brainstorm of ideas all at once to see what stuck and the aftermath is a brilliant collection of songs that play off of each other in a cohesive work of art.

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Interview: “DANGO” Cellan of Amber Pacific

Amber Pacific
Adam Grundy

This past week I was able to schedule a Zoom call with “DANGO” Cellan of Amber Pacific to discuss the band’s returning single, “Young & Reckless.” We also chatted about the legacy of the band and their key albums, their plans for touring, key memories from the band’s height, and what the future holds for Amber Pacific. The band were recently signed to Manic Kat Records and more new music appears to be on the horizon.

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31 Years Later: How Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Broken’ Blurs the Line of Fiction and Reality for a Terrifying Experience

NIN - Broken
Ashley Perez

What was the first movie that disturbed you? The movie that got under your skin so bad its images haunted your nightmares. A movie where the mention of its title makes you shudder and cringe. A good movie, but you never want to watch it again. Being a huge horror fan, blood and gore doesn’t shock me much. My idea of cozy is curling up with my dog and watching a good horror movie, like The Exorcist. Very few movies scare or disturb me. But when I stumble upon a movie that truly shakes me or disgusts me, it’s something I never forget. For me, one of those movies is Nine Inch Nails’ Broken.

Released in 1993 by Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor and Coil’s Peter Christopherson, the movie is a companion piece to the 1992 Broken EP. The record was a response to Reznor’s then-label TVT and former boss Steve Gottlieb. After the success of 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine the label pressured Reznor to create a similar album. Wanting to re-create the success of that album, TVT refused to release anything else Reznor gave them. Not wanting to compromise his music, Reznor demanded his contract be terminated; his request was ignored.

This didn’t stop Reznor. Instead, he recorded his next project in secret under various pseudonyms to avoid interference from the label. The music was markedly different from Reznor’s debut album. This was harsh, aggressive, ugly, and intense. There were no catchy songs and radio-friendly singles here. Reznor knew the label would hate it, but that was the point.

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Review: Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue

Adam Grundy

Black Gives Way To Blue proved that grunge was still alive and well in 2009. Alice In Chains decided to reboot themselves after the tragic death of original lead singer Layne Staley (in 2002) by beginning to play shows again in 2005 and start crafting what would be the material found on the band’s fourth studio album. Now getting the 15th anniversary vinyl re-press treatment via Craft Recordings, Black Gives Way To Blue gets another fresh makeover as audiences new and old can rediscover what made this band so legendary. The record was the first one to feature co-vocalist/guitarist William DuVall and he does a nice job of complementing the lead vocals from founding member Jerry Cantrell. The set would spawn four singles, with two of them earning Grammy nominations for Best Hard Rock Performance. Picking up the pieces after losing a band member is sadly all-too-common in the music industry, but Alice In Chains were able to honor the legacy of Staley in this vivid collection of songs that still highlight their staying power to this day.

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Review: Sophia Dashing ft. Manda Malina – “Raindrops (On Your Pillow)”

Adam Grundy

The latest single from Sophia Dashing featuring Manda Malina, called “Raindrops (On Your Pillow),” has that classic 90’s pop sound that is reminiscent of Destiny’s Child paired with TLC. The track was produced by Jason Quinones and co-written between Malina, Dashing and Quinones. The collaboration pulls off as each artist/writer shines on the track that is built for those heartfelt evenings of longing for a better relationship.

Sophia Dashing commands the song throughout her dynamic vocal performance while Manda Malina adds in some great vocal takes of her own. The song reminded me a bit of the style of TLC’s “No Scrubs” and hits its intended target more often than not. The final bars of music highlights the two vocalists trying to outshine each other through some great vocal highs that mesh well together for a crowd-pleasing pop single.