Wand frontman Cory Hanson’s fourth solo outing confronts American grift culture with hope and a communal spirit, as his backing players seem to prevent him from turning inward and catastrophizing. Read my full review at FLOOD.
Archive for the Album Reviews Category
Cory Hanson’s ‘I Love People’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Cory Hanson on 08/11/2025 by Kurt OrzeckNuclear Daisies’ ‘First Taste of Heaven’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Nuclear Daisies on 08/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
The club-ready breakbeats and unrelenting experimentation on Nuclear Daisies’ second LP, First Taste of Heaven, serve as a deafening clarion call for humanity to get its act together before it’s too late. Read my FLOOD review.
Dozer’s ‘Rewind to Return – Rarities, Singles and B-Sides’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Dozer on 08/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
With the release of Dozer’s meaty collection of singles and obscure tracks, the heavy-go-lucky band of sweet Swedes give those who’ve slept on the band – this writer not included – a chance to redeem themselves. Hop over to Veil of Sound for my review of an album that acrobatically appeals to Dozer diehards and those getting a whiff of their sound (and pot smoke) for the first time.
The Armed’s ‘The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags The Armed on 08/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
The Armed’s sixth album is a consistent, melodic post-hardcore assault, maintaining a relentless pummeling in defiance to the system as much as it is to their recent pop streak. Read my full review of the Detroit punks’ new record on FLOOD.
Superchunk’s ‘Songs in the Key of Yikes’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Superchunk on 07/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Superchunk are delivering their sunniest, most playful and even chipper-sounding record since 1995’s Here’s Where the Strings Come In. Read my Music Connection review.
HLLLYH’s ‘URUBURU’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags HLLLYH, Mae Shi on 07/17/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
HLLLYH’s URUBURU was originally intended to be the fourth Mae Shi album. But the members of HLLLYH discovered that making new music by piggybacking on prototypes of old Mae Shi material sounded like Mae Shit. In hindsight, it was as if HLLLYH had put on an elaborate stage production of Weekend at Bernie’s. Read my review on Treble.
Matt Jencik & Midwife’s ‘Never Die’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Madeline Elizabeth Johnston, Matt Jencik, Midwife on 07/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
While Matt Jencik is listed first in this collaborative duo’s billing, one could easily mistake Never Die for a proper studio effort by Madeline Elizabeth Johnston’s Midwife. Muted, melancholic, sometimes meandering and always mysterious, hers is a tranquilizing sound. Read my review of Never Die on Treble.
Gaupa’s ‘Fyr’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags GAUPA on 07/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Fyr, the new EP by superbly skillful Swedes GAUPA, is a downright infuriating listen. Well, to this embarrassed rock critic, at least. How does a band capable of writing and executing a record, even if it is just a short-player, without the slightest blemish, scratch or scuff? Read my review of the EP for Veil of Sound.
Chat Pile’s ‘This Dungeon Earth/Remove Your Skin Please’ Reissue: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Chat Pile on 07/09/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Chat Pile plant yet another feather in their cap with the re-release of their first two EPs—2019’s This Dungeon Earth and Remove Your Skin Please—via a single-vinyl compendium welding together the two statements that preceded their formal introduction to the unwitting masses, 2022’s God’s Country. Read my FLOOD review.
Scratch Acid’s ‘Box Set/Scratch Acid/Berserker’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Brett Radford, David Wm. Sims, David Yow, Scratch Acid on 07/07/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Touch and Go Records went to the trouble of assembling a Scratch Acid vinyl box set to the tune of $160—as well as individual reissues of their EPs for those in search of a more affordable option. Read my thoughts on Box Set/Scratch Acid/Berserker via Treble.
The Bad Penny (beta) 