At under 20 minutes, the sophomore album from endearing Brighton duo Royal Cheer, Quite Good, is a jolt of punk-rock beauty, blissfully shambolic from start to finish.
Archive for the Album Reviews Category
Regal Cheer, “Quite Good”‘: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Interviews, Reviews with tags Regal Cheer on 05/05/2025 by Kurt OrzeckBleed’s ‘Bleed’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Bleed on 05/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
With cascading guitars and soaring vocals by Ryan Hughes, this maddeningly catchy, shimmering record harnesses the blissful naïveté of the early ‘90s and ushers it into the present, when such innocence is desperately needed. Read my review of Bleed’s self-titled debut on Treble.
Car Seat Headrest’s ‘The Scholars’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Car Seat Headrest on 05/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Car Seat Headrest’s The Scholars is a Who-level epic of an album, with three other marathon tracks and a handful of spunky songs that make their 13th album an event instead of just another new release. Read my review on Treble.
Ghost’s ‘Skeleta’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Ghost on 04/30/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
How many times can an artist, or any person, reinvent themselves? Well, at least six, as Ghost successfully prove with Skeletá. Read my review of the record for Treble.
Viagra Boys’ ‘Viagr Aboys’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Viagra Boys on 04/28/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Viagr Aboys, the new album by Viagra Boys, is a great example of a band making fun of its own audience for thinking their cleverly “in” on a joke that doesn’t actually exist. Make my FLOOD review of the record, which will make you long for Beastie Boys (if you ever liked them, either).
Sunflower Bean’s ‘Mortal Primetime’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Sunflower Bean on 04/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Has the shoegaze craze got you down? Try Sunflower Bean on for size. With a soft and fuzzy post-stoner-rock sound that can’t be resisted, the New York trio makes magic on their fourth record—and makes it sound oh-so-easy to pull it off. Read my FLOOD review of their new LP, Mortal Primetime.
Tennis’s ‘Face Down in the Garden’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Tennis on 04/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
As if staying true to their (non-matrimonial) vow as a band that reliably delivers tranquil, escapist music, Tennis calmly issue forth their always whimsical yet never overly precious musical blend of psych-tinged pop on their final record, Face Down in the Garden. Read my full review on FLOOD.
Tunde Adebimpe’s ‘Thee Black Boltz’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Tunde Adebimpe, TV on the Radio on 04/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
For all the creative genius and artistic adrenaline that TV on the Radio injected into their finely crafted records, what Tunde Adebimpe reveals on his solo debut, Thee Black Boltz, is that his abilities are similarly magnificent when fully realized on his own terms. Read my full, lengthy review on Treble.
TEKE::TEKE’s ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Kage No Iro’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Teke::Teke on 04/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
As DragonForce blazed the trail for power-metal geeks who like video games, so have TEKE::TEKE embarked upon coaching fans of psych-rock to embrace game-inspired music. Heavy use of pentatonic scales create a whimsical ambiance from start to finish—apt for a video game—and TEKE::TEKE lend a narrative quality that plays out in a similar way to that of a cinematic role-playing adventure. In other words, non-gamers shouldn’t fear being alienated by this unusual project. Read my FLOOD review here.
Blackwater Holylight’s ‘If You Only Knew’ EP: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Blackwater Holylight on 04/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Portland’s Blackwater Holylight stay true to their gloomy outlook on this EP, but the listening experience is far more pleasant thanks to a crisper, cleaner sound. Read my short review on Treble.
The Bad Penny (beta) 