ttwnlogo.jpg

Issue 164 (27th Anniversary Issue) Recording Reviews
Home
Issue 182 Record Reviews
Issue 183 Record Reviews 30th Anniversary
Issue 184 Record Reviews
Issue 185 Record Reviews
Iaaue 184 Records that Evaded Reviewing
Issue 178 Record Reviews
Issue 179 Record Reviews
Issue 180 181 Record Reviews
180 181 ISSUE CORRECTIONS
Issue 174_175 in Focus
Issue 176 Record Reviews
Issue 177- 29 Ann Record Reviews
Issue 174 175 Record Reviews
Issue 173 Record Reviews
Issue 172 Record Reviews
Issue 171 (28th Anniversary) Record Reviews
Issue 168 Record Reviews
Issue 169-170 Record Reviews
Issue167 Record Reviews
Impeachment Blog POost LInks
Issue 165-166 Record Reviews
165-166 Records That Escaped Reviews
2019 year End Issue Holiday Song
Issue163 Recird Reviews
Issue 164 (27th Anniversary) Record Reviews
Issue 157-158 Record Reviews
Issue 159 Record Reviews
Issue 159 Music Related Video Review
Issue 160 Record Reviews
Issue 161-162 Record Reviews
Issue 161-162 Music Related Video of the Issue
Issue 154 Record Reviews
Issue 155 Record Reviews
Issue 156 (26th Anniversary) Record Reviews
Issue 150 Record Reviews
Issue 148-149 Record Revus
Issue 147 Record Reviews
Issue 146 Record Reviews
Issue 144 145 Record Reviews
Issue 142 Record Reviews
Issue 143 (24 ann ish) Record Revus
Issue 142 Bonus Review - ROYAL BRAT @ Cafe Berlin
Issue 140 141 Record Revus
Issue 140 141 Show Revu - THE GOLDBUGS @ The Social Room
Issue 140 141 Live Revu - RADKEY @ The Demo
Issue 139 Record Revus
Issue 139 Live Revu - NOTS @ Rose Music Hall
Issue 138 Record Revus
Issue 138 Live Revu - Tu Pest Pre Party @ Blank Space
Issue 136-137 Show Revu: New Tongues @ Diva Haus
Issue 136-137 Record Revus
Issue 135 (23 ann) Record Revus
Issue 135 Show Revu - Anti Flag
Issue 134 Streams N Demos (Sex Stains)
Issue 134 Record Reviews
Issue 132 133 Record Reviews
Issue 134 Show Revu : SLEATER-KINNEY @ The Blue Note
Issue 131 Record Reviews
Issue 130 Record Reviews
Issue 128-129 Record Reviews
Issue 127 922 ann ish) Record Reviews
Issue 126 Record Reviews
Issue 125 Record Reviews
Issue 124 Record Reviews
Issue 121 (21st anniverrsary) record reviews
Issue 122 123 Record Reviews
Issue 118 119 Record Reviews
ISSUE 120 RECORD REVIEWS
Issue 116 Recording Revus
Issue 117 Recording Revus
20th Anniversary Record Revus
Issue 113 Record Revus
A Few Thoughts On the Pussy Riot Case
Issue 112 Record Reviews
Issue 111 Record Reviews
Issue 110 Download Review
Issue 110 Record Reviews
Issue 109 Record Reviews
19th Anniversary Issue Record Reviews
Issue 106 Record Reviews
Issue 104 Recording Reviews
Issue 105 Recording Reviews
18th Anniversary Issue Record Reviews
Issue 101 Record Revus
Issue 100 Record Reviews
Issue 99 Record Revus
DVD Review: Pansy Division Life in a Gay Rock Band
Issue 98 Record Revus
17th anniversary record revues
Live Review: Testament @ Pops May 13 2009
DVD Review - Still We Ride
Ish 95 - Check This Music Out
Issue 95 Record Revus
Gay Beast @ Lemp
Show Review Terra Caput Mundi @ Cafe Berlin
Issue 94 Recording Revus
Issue 93 Record Reviews
92 Zine Reviews - Belated
Bald Eagle @ Mojo's Spetmeber 10, 2008
bellafea @ Lemp September 7, 2008
Ish 92 Record Reviews
Live Review: "Weird Al" Yankovic
16TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE RECORD REVIEWS
Patches, Joe Stickley, Dark Blue Dark Green
Assorted Back Pages
Issue 89 Recording Revus
Ted Leo at the Gargoyl e October 10, 2007
Issue 88 Reviews
Drive In Oddities - The Pom Pom Girls
Issue 87 Reviews
15th Anniversary aside - Love Is Fucked
15th Annivrsary online extra: Love Is Fucked (1994)
Review: The Red Alert at Vintage Vinyl
Review: Degenerettes, Stiff Kittens
Live Review: Battlefields, Rosetta, Midnight Suit
Live Review: KING OF THE ROOTS BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Live Review: MADE OUT OF BABIES, MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT
84 Reviews
AN ASSLOAD OF REVIEWS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2007
LATEST ISSUE ONLINE STUFF
KIND OF SPUR OF THE MOMENT
Interview Page
A Quick Aside
LIVE REVIEWS
Photo Album Page
THE 2008 STATE OF THE ALMOST SUMMER MESSAGE
HOW TO GET A HOLD OF US
Archives
ISSUE 82 REVIEWS!!!!!!
TIS THE END OF 2007 AS WE KNOW IT ... NOW HERE'S SOME REVIEWS!!!
ISSUE 90/91 RECORDING REVIEW
ISSUE 118/119 Recording Revus
Issue 138 Streams N Demos (Narrow Waves)
Issue 151 (25th Anniversary) Record Reviews
Issue 152-153 Record Revus
Issue 152-153_ Records that Escaped Reviewing

For 27 years we here at The Trouble With Normal have been interested in hearing some of the music that you have been making and recording. Feel free to send your vinyl, CDs or tapes ("for sale" only or at least take the effort to make a cover for them. This goes for CD-Rs also.) to our cramped but we call it home P.O. Box so we can possibly review it. If your release is only available as a download send us a link and we'll check it out as well (as with CD-Rs and tapes please make a cover for it). It may take us a while to get to them (we do have obligations in our lives not related to this zine) but we will review them in time and guarantee an honest review Until the next issue, here are some recordings that just might interest you. Boone

ARNOCORPS - Welcome to the Gym single.

This took us by surprise when we heard it was coming out so we decided to give it a listen. Once again Arnocorps throws down a couple driving blasts of modern punk tinged with hints of metal and themed around Arnold Schwarzenegger somehow. "Scavenger Hunt" takes the A side welcoming listeners to "the gym" and giving an overall sonic approach of its services and what they supposedly offer. On the flip side "Dead Lift" is a medium fast rager that carries on a loose theme somehow related to Arnold's Pumping Iron and Stay Hungry film era. Both songs keep things moving with an energy level that could get people pumped in an actual gym almost as much as it could get a pit moving. While the lyrics do have a tongue in cheek vibe throughout, the music carries on modern punk in all seriousness. Good to see this finally coming out as a seven inch after a while as a digital only release. (BOONE)
(Alternative Tentacles Records. P.O. Box 419092. San Francisco, CA 94141-9092. USA. alternativetentacles.com)

BLEACHED - Don't You Think You've Had Enough? LP

I know this had been out for a bit but it slipped through the cracks when the last issue was being put together so I didn't have time to really give it a listen until now. The new album from Bleached finds them taking their melodic blend of pop hooks and punk rock edge as a springboard for their songs tackling life, love, loss, and experience. While the songs are still fueled with crunchy guitar hooks and driving rhythms the band also expands their sonic palette to filter in elements of funk/dance music and straight up pop rock along the way and a modern production feel. The overall vibe finds them tip toeing between modern pop and underground rock with enough panache to avoid clichés or becoming a shitty ballet in the process. Bleached has come a long way since their first album a few years back but the band's music remains an interesting listen if one is willing to approach the sounds with an open mind. Readers into poppier punk or who may have some indie leaning tastes will find something here worth checking out. (BOONE)
(Dead Oceans)

DUMP HIM - Dykes to Watch Out For LP

Sometimes something comes your way that makes you curious to hear more. This was one of those instances so when a chance to hear it came along I took the plunge. On their latest tape Dump Him tear through the speakers with some medium fast hardcore punk that walks a fine line between mid tempo ferocity and melodic song craft. Heavy guitar and breezy yet driving rhythms take the listener down an aural journey that takes on religion, gender issues, scene tension, interconnectedness between the personal and political and more. The energy here snares you from the start with an intense manner and hearts on full display that's almost matches the power of the songs themselves as you listen. Dump Him have unleashed a simple yet mindblowing album that readers will definitely dig listening to while possibly learning a thing or two along the way. (BOONE)
(Cassette available from: Get Better Records. P.O. Box 19267. Philadelphia, PA 19143. getbetterrecords.bandcamp.com. Vinyl and/or CD available from Muscial Fanzine Records: dumphim.bandcamp.com)

THE GROANS - Earth Dweller CDEP

I came across this by accident while putting this issue together so I gave it a listen. On the second album The Groans dish out some straightforward low key poppy punk with raw guitars and a slightly shambolic feel that hints at chaos but stays with the hooks throughout. Along the way they tackle topics ranging from right wing internet troll entitlement to environmental destruction to police brutality to the struggles trans people face et al. Stripped of all slickness the music matches the raw emotion of the lyrics for a powerful matching of the personal and the political. The Groans don't necessarily reinvent a wheel so much as take it over, get rid of what isn't needed, and carve their own niche with it sonically. In the process they've created a jaw dropping disc that lures the listener in with their earnestness and energy and won't let go until you get the point. Wonder what this band is like live. (BOONE)
(CD available [at this time] from: the groans.bandcamp.com. Download available either from the band or from Get Better Records [getbetterrecords.bandcamp.com])

PURPLE PILGRIMS - Perfumed Earth LP

I came across this by accident while looking for something to listen to while working on an article for this issue. The second album from Purple Pilgrims is a moody slice of pop music that borders on the ethereal. Clear, almost angelic vocals lilt over minimal instrumentation for a relaxing sound that feels ambient at times but also remains aware of pop song conventions throughout. Their songs use both space and arrangement to lure the listener into an otherworldly aural experience that may polarize some and enrapture others but remains in its own space. Sometimes trippy, sometimes romantic this album glides along the ear canal and takes you to someplace you may not expect along the way. It's hard to describe Purple Pilgrims' sound as it can easily fits as well alongside something like the Cocteau Twins as it could along some of Scott Walker's more experimental works. Regardless, this New Zealand based duo created an album that should draw in readers seeking something a bit more experimental but also oddly comforting as well. Check it out and make up your own mind. (BOONE)
(Flying Nun Records. PO Box 68194, Wellesley Stret, Auckland, New Zealand, 1010. flyingnun.co.nz Available in the USA via Omnium Music Group. omnianmusicgroup.com)

SACRED REICH - Awakening LP

One of the big surprises of the past year or so was news that Sacred Reich was working on a new album so when I got the chance I had to listen. On their comeback album they throw down a batch of tight aggressive thrash metal that occasionally hints at bluesy groove driven hard rock and classic metal on occasion with wall of saturation dual guitars and a rhythm section that walks a thin line between the rampaging and tight groove pocket Lyrically, they draw from both the personal and the political tackling things ranging from divide and conquer tactics in our society to looking inward and creating the change you want to see to the costs of war and the like. Whether riding a swaggering groove or going full on sonic assault, the band keeps things moving forward with a raw fury that demands a reaction. In eight songs the band realizes the power of stepping up, sonically making their case and using the time to their advantage, creating one of 2019's best albums in the process. It's great to see Sacred Reich back in action again. (BOONE)
(Metal Blade Records)

SLEATER-KINNEY - The Center Won't Hold LP

Mid to late August 2019 has been an interesting one for TTWN with a few albums we'd been long awaiting being released in roughly a week, including this one. On their latest Sleater-Kinney takes their music down into a different path of sorts, merging their style of dynamically diverse and often driving underground rock with electronic textures and a slicker vibe at times. Dealing with more personal subject matter, these songs lean sonically toward more danceable music with electronic sounding beats and a different aural flavor than usual for this trio's guitar fueled attack. Admittedly the result was offsetting at first (didn't feel like Sleater-Kinney imho) but grew on me in repeat listens as more layers are uncovered and you hear what's underneath. While this isn't instantly recognizable for a lot of S-K fans it's still an interesting listen and one that will compel you back to confront your expectations. (BOONE)
(Mom+Pop)

VERSUS - Ex Voto LP

I came across news of a new album from Versus by accident while looking around online so I knew I wanted to give it a spin. On their new album, the band continues their brand of often simmering guitar fueled indie rock with semi introspective lyrics, semi bittersweet guitar tones, and a mood that lingers but doesn't stay too languid. While the basic vibe of the band's heyday of 1990s and 2000s era guitar rock remains they expand on it with keyboards and assorted textures when necessary. There emerges a dynamic tension in the eight songs here that can explode sonically while still not losing a personal intimate vibe in the process. Versus' first album in a long time is a sonic ride that will be familiar to their fans but may seem a little obtuse for the uninitiated; though that might not be a bad thing. Good to see this band putting out music again after a long hiatus. Wonder if they're going on the road with this disc. (BOONE)
(Ernest Jenning Record Company)








All content this page © 2019 Boone Stigall/The Trouble With Normal