Listening Lately: Benjamin Tod’s A Heart of Gold is Hard to Find

Benjamin Tod, the youthful but hardscrabble co-founder of the Lost Dog Street Band, is releasing his second solo album on November 22nd via Anti-Corporate Music.  The  quiet Americana ballads on A Heart of Gold is Hard to Find, just vocals and acoustic guitar, are full of regret, melancholy, and at times self-loathing. His lyrics have… Continue reading Listening Lately: Benjamin Tod’s A Heart of Gold is Hard to Find

On the Front Line: The Summer Slaughter Tour @ (Le) Poisson Rouge August 2, 2019

Traditionally held at Irving Plaza or the PlayStation Theater, this year’s Summer Slaughter quite literally brought extreme music back to the underground. Hosted at the subterranean (Le) Poisson Rouge, it was as though Hell itself was having a party right below Bleecker Street. As a triple headliner featuring Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, and The Faceless as… Continue reading On the Front Line: The Summer Slaughter Tour @ (Le) Poisson Rouge August 2, 2019

Live Report: Eyehategod, The Obsessed, Come to Grief, and Bone Church — 9/12/18, Space Ballroom

It was a strong scene for a rainy Wednesday.  Eyehategod and The Obsessed were kicking off a thirteen-date (mostly) eastern U.S. tour at the Space Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut, and all the weirdos came out to see them off.  Including this author, fresh out of the weekly teacher meeting with barely enough time to slap… Continue reading Live Report: Eyehategod, The Obsessed, Come to Grief, and Bone Church — 9/12/18, Space Ballroom

Corrosion of Conformity’s Reed Mullin on Music, Divorce, and Confederate Monuments

Corrosion of Conformity. From left, Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin, and Mike Dean. Photo by Linda Dahlberg.

Alternative Control spoke with Corrosion of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin at Psycho Las Vegas on August 20th, 2017.  Reed’s words below are minimally edited for clarity.   I think we’re playing Connecticut next week at some casino…. They just offered it to us like four days ago — they had a wheelbarrow full of money… Continue reading Corrosion of Conformity’s Reed Mullin on Music, Divorce, and Confederate Monuments

Listening Lately: Graves at Sea, The Shape, Pinto Graham, and Demon Eye

Back in 2014, I started what was supposed to be a bi-weekly music review series: “Payday Downloads,” the idea being that I would download some new tunes on a Friday and post a quick-and-dirty review by that Sunday.  Well, the series lasted a whole three columns. With the hope of crossing albums off my review… Continue reading Listening Lately: Graves at Sea, The Shape, Pinto Graham, and Demon Eye

Album Review: One Master’s Lycanthropic Burrowing

One Master is one of the leading dark lights in USBM at the moment. For well on 15 years, they have been churning out vicious and malevolent music that isn’t for the weak or false. Their newest album Lycanthropic Burrowing (set for release 7/14/17 via Eternal Death Records) conjures up a maelstrom of serrated riffs, pounding… Continue reading Album Review: One Master’s Lycanthropic Burrowing

A Tyranny of Vastness: Eight Bells’ Melynda Jackson and Haley Westeiner on Their New Album, Their New Drummer, and More

Eight Bells plays a hypnotic form of experimental/progressive loud rock that references everything from metal to kraut rock. The band, which features Melynda Jackson (guitar/vocals) and Haley Westeiner (bass/vocals) and new drummer Rae Amitay (Immortal Bird), is about to drop their excellent new album Landless, on February 12 through Battleground Records.  They are also embarking… Continue reading A Tyranny of Vastness: Eight Bells’ Melynda Jackson and Haley Westeiner on Their New Album, Their New Drummer, and More