It's loud, raucous and the kind of magic that will kick your doors down, even if you didn't want it to. A collection of sing-alongs and shout-along anthems that will devour you -- blood, hair, eyeballs, and everything else.

Creation Rebel, especially on their new album, have a foot in both worlds which is why the music doesn’t sound throwback or avant- it sounds timeless. And it’s catchy.

For the most part, Dolly sounds great- her personality pouring through effortlessly, as well as her masterful way to inhabit a song without making it a caricature.

This record is pointless. And bad. And annoying. It’s yet another failed attempt to either re-write history or cash in.

The album certainly has epiphany, but it also raises as many questions as it answers. Oh, and the music itself is really, really, really, really good.

In an album that is about a breakup, the band is more unified and more cohesive than they have ever been before. I say it before with every Screaming Females album, but really, THIS ONE is the best one yet.

Here, Rancid don’t redefine themselves, but they show that there is a lot of life in some of their lesser explored aspects. Simply, this is the band’s best record since Rancid 5.

One Day is massive, even if it is short by comparison. Again, the sound is huge with layered guitars and ghostly layered background vocals. Singer Damian Abraham’s bark is a blasted out as ever. But, whereas Fucked up is sometimes dark and scary, here the sound is positively bright.

Midnight Scorchers is one of the rare LPs that takes the lightning out of the bottle, blasts it around the room, and then puts it back in another bottle.

The album itself is PROOF that chaos and anger and conflict and an open mind and fun is what gives Morris his strength, creativity, and singularity.

Truly, this is one of the best reggae records of the year… and one of the best records of the year.

Ultimately, it's not a bad album, but not the greatest either.

An infectious album of either punk influenced pop or pop influenced punk. Whatever the appropriate term for the music here is, it gets stuck in your head.

There’s an intelligence wrapped in the machinery here. This is cyborg music driven by metal fingers, but the human heart is still intact.

It sounds like everything has been sounded down to the point where instruments tend to melt together and it can actually be hard to hear what is going on at some points. It doesn’t ruin the release, but it does make it sound vastly different on different unites. (i.e. the EP actually sounds really good – if not a little too slick- on my home stereo, but on my car stereo, it sounds watery).

Overall, Moral Hygiene is a damn solid Ministry album. The band has had many peaks and valleys over the course of a nearly 40 year career, but they’re once again proving that they’re still relevant.

Cool is not only a masterful release sonically, but it strikes a cosmic chord that few release can hit.

What’s particularly neat here is that record masterminds Mike Haliechuk and Jonah Falco have forged their most diverse and chameleon-onic sound bed to date.

It's wildly accessible and I think what works the most is you just wouldn't be able to tell what kind of band they really are and what's their definitive sound -- which is a beautiful chaos that works in Turnstile's favor.

Vocalist Tim McIlrath must be given credit as well, as his voice -- and overall production -- is as tight as ever. Technically, I found their last couple albums lacking, feeling too generic and polished, but it's a much better balance now.

Ultimately, it feels like too much is crammed in and AFI can't tell if they want to go pop, goth, retro or symphonic. And with something that schizophrenic, it undercuts a lot of what could have been diamonds in the rough.

This is a slight return to form for Dropkick Murphys. It’s probably not going to occupy the same place in your heart as Do Or Die or Sing Loud, Sing Proud, but you can’t expect 50 year old guys to make the same record they made at 25. Give Turn Up That Dial a listen. You might just be pleasantly surprised.

Here, it's a lot more of that soft-loud dynamic, that visceral arrangement on the buildups and honestly, a lot more of Andy's iconic poetry. ... It frees them even more creatively, and I love the growth shown.

Assembly shows that while Strummer solo may have more nuance or more room for interpretation, the raw power of his early work had been washed over with music that, was frankly, quieter. ... It also proves that Strummer solo can stand on its own, even if that stance will always be in the shadow of an earlier band.

Whereas most inside/silly jokes are used by a closed group to draw their own bonds closer, here, the Melvins are using that device to invite people into the world. And frankly, it’s a fun and funny world despite the gratuitous use of the F-word.

Detroit Stories is fully formed and tells its story without trying too hard… or too little. The band cranks on the engine and lets Jesus… err… the Ashetons, Fred Sonic Smith, and Glen Buxton… take the wheel and they drive this record on home.

Open Door Policy is the album longtime fans have been waiting for. The lyrics are there and the music is there.

I didn't get that rough cut as much as I would have liked on this album, but other than that, this is a front-to-back gem with great replay value and anthemic shout-alongs I wish I could take in live.

I think this record has to be taken in isolation and taken in context of needed something to do during the pandemic. But regardless, No Fun Mondays is a pop-rocking good time.

There’s a lot of good here. The band’s personality has never shown through like this in the studio before.

I think the punk rock attitude is to not easily be impressed with technical musicianship that doesn’t make you feel much of anything. American Head didn’t hit me in the heart or in the gut, but it did make me want to go back and listen to “She Don’t Use Jelly” again and, if nothing else, that’s a positive that comes from this experience.

Te nearly two dozen guests here add both a gravitas and liveliness to the LP.

It's another commendable effort from Weiss waxing on about life and love, and the changes we're all enduring in these dire times. I can tell it would have had more impact for me if some of the fat were trimmed, or if it were split into two EPs, but hey... IIOI not at their best is still quite better than many bands hitting their heights these days, especially in the indie/emo genre.

This is a good album, but it’s one of those albums that either has too much or too little of something.

If you're a fan of The Front Bottoms, you should consider that folk/indie/acoustic era totally dead. And it's not a bad thing to accept because art involves evolution and experimentation, and while it even took me a while to get accustomed to TFB's pop-mainstream aura, it's a jacket worn pretty damn well as In Sickness & In Flames shows.

As talented as Oberst is on his own, his symbiotic relationship with the other members of Bright Eyes makes it easily Oberst’s best project and one I hope continues on for the foreseeable future.

As a time capsule, Live at Goose Lake documents and cements the legacy of the Stooges. No one really questioned this, mind you, but it’s nice to have even more evidence to show that the praises heaped on this band aren’t supported by fandom as much as they are supported by white, hot recorded proof.

The Frank Turner side of the record wins the West Coast Vs. Wessex war. Whether it’s due to Fat Mike’s songwriting, or Turner’s vision is hard to say. I doubt this will ever occupy that special place in our hearts that NOFX/Rancid did, but it’s still a fun listen. It’s not a game changer at this point, but there’s still enough good stuff that fans of both acts are going to want to pick this up.

Hum hasn't missed a step, giving light to why bands like Quicksand and Slowdive resonate with their loud/soft dynamic.

What I think makes this album stand out just a bit more, edgier and whatnot, from her debut three years ago in Stranger in the Alps is there's a fearlessness to embrace the mainstream aesthetic just a bit more. Not something like Lana del Rey's style or that kind of thing, but a more contemporary, alternative and dare I say poppy sound.

All in all, this is a great album. Musically, it will be at home in the record collections of anyone who likes the previous bands the members of Coriky have been in. The lyrics are poignant and they’re delivered by some of the strongest voices punk has ever seen.

Somehow, 40 years later, that fundamental sound is still intact. More than that, instead of sounding stale, it feels like a breath of fresh air. In a world of homogenized punk, it’s good to be able to throw on a record like Alphabetland and be reminded of what a rich tapestry punk can be.

This is a great album start to finish, there isn’t any filler and one song flows into the next one perfectly.

He puts his vocals on bright display as compared to the sparse musical backing. It’s not quite the unrestrained dissection that Johnny Cash’s American Recordings series was, but it leans in that direction.

Titans of Creation is an enjoyable listen, and is going to be an essential purchase for all self respecting thrashers. It’s definitely another worthy addition to the already impressive Testament catalog.

Another powerful record from one of the most profound talents of this generation of us born in the '80s and '90s.

This record is a super early contender for album of the year for me though. It’s loud, dark, and thundering. Bambara suck you into their world for just under an hour, and as unpleasant as it can be. It’s not one you find yourself ready to leave.

Father of All Motherfuckers is a danceable, feel-good pop album with some really stellar songwriting and, after the impotent Revolution Radio and the ludicrous ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy, seeing Green Day branch out a bit and succeed at something different is refreshing. It’s a sign of artists with a great deal of range and imagination who are far from done surprising us.

Quiet Slang was the stripped-down version of the band so we don't need acoustics like "Nobody Say Nothing" or "Nowhere Bus" or the piano-driven closer "Bar No One". They're catchy, sure, but I mean, they're songs we've heard over and over so if it ain't new, at this point, please fix it. I do commend the band for attempting to cut a new road with songs like "Stiff" but again, it's all about sex appeal here and I just can't connect with a band and a vocalist that comes off like a 17 year-old who is now trying too hard.

If they look hard enough, any artist could find criticism of their work online. That’s sort of the curse of the Information Age. But not everyone overreacts quite as much as Eminem does. But if his fears grow tiring, his lyrical ability can still give you something to admire, even if the album is somewhat uneven.

The songs are well constructed and the playing sounds authentic. ... The issue comes when Corgan begins to sing, and it’s not his nasally voice that doesn’t work. ... He still, too often, thinks his voice deserves to be the loudest in the room. He’s still a city boy hung up on big ideas.

Cook nails it in the earliest stages, making it a bit front-loaded.

Admittedly, he plays to his strengths here more than in recent memory but again, some songs do just taper off like the reworked "Silent Key". Nonetheless, if you're a Frank fan, you'll enjoy, and if you're a cynic, well you might just find that there's not as much to hate here as you thought there'd be.

You can tell these are songs that could come straight from the minds of Davey Havok and Jade Puget. I would admit sometimes they kill momentum of the album and one or two tracks do blend in and feel repetitive but the lyrics, messages and overall political edge compensate for these shortcomings.

You Deserve Love from its title onward is a sweetly sincere effort made for the masses, which nowadays means it’s not for everyone. But hopefully You Deserve Love continues White Reaper’s constant rise toward the arenas. It sounds like it should.

I love the tempo changes across the record and while this joint might not be for all JEW fans, I think most will appreciate a band that still feels like art and less like product, and more so, once that reminds us don't just survive -- get out there, seize the day and live.

Not their best, not their worst... but something that'll move you as usual and help you appreciate life for the gift it is.

The album is pretty much a joyride from start to finish, moving through a number of different styles, driven by some of the best damn drumming you’ve ever heard. And everyone involved in writing these songs (yes, including Feldmann) is a talented lyricist who knows how to craft excellent pop songs. So ultimately, it’s a brilliantly fun album if you have the fortitude to look past a lot of very annoying studio effects to listen to what Blink-183 are really saying.

Yes, the Vivian Girls were and are good, but we already knew that. However, more importantly, Memeroy cements that NO ONE can do what this trio does and, more than that, they’re doing it even better now then they were before.

I did enjoy hearing Jetty Bones' cooing voice on "Icicles (Morning Glow)" but other than that there aren't that many songs to phone home about. There aren't even rock ballads a la "Minnesota" and while the closer "Hallmark" tries to mix aggression with toned-down indie licks to somewhat appeal to folks like me, it's just not the impact I expected from the band this time around.

The album's pretty good -- especially as Relapse loves letting bands do this shoegazey wandering and overall 'finding yourself' schtick -- but with something so deep and filled with portraits of different eras and mentors, it's going to take some time to really say just how good, especially compared to an already profound discography.

The Center Won’t Hold is a revolution for Sleater-Kinney, an amazing act of artistic bravery, Sleater-Kinney’s best album to date, and my new favorite album of 2019. This is a cultural moment that should not be missed, and I highly recommend you listen to it immediately.

Thrashing Through the Passion is easily the band’s softest album to date. Where most Hold Steady albums fill the room with sound, there’s a lot of quiet and negative space on this album. While the band’s other albums wrap you up in an awkward hug of emotions and drag you through to a catharsis, this album is passive.

It's simple yet non-formulaic and finds the band providing another batch of delectable mid-tempo jams.

The shifts between melodic post-rock and Korean folk and the full-on metal sections is what really caught my attention. Typically, bands can do loud well or they can do quiet and subtle well. It’s rare you find a band that excels at both, Jambinai does that here.

The back half of Admission goes the more traditional route. While sure to please long-time fans, after such an exploratory top half, it feels slightly more weighted down. But don’t worry, “Infiero” rips out of that murkiness, dirtier and angrier than anything else on Admission.

Whether it's power-pop jams like the self-titled opener or the trauma of the slow burning, haunting "High Horse," there's a clear picture painted--in fact, it's a whole novel--on the bruises (emotionally and physically) scarring us for life. Marisa Dabice's vocals are once more a delight--powerful, earnest, honest and carrying--which is perfectly complemented by producer Will Yip.

The spine and overall potential for a great record is definitely here but it was all about adding meat to these bones, and sadly, SSPU just comes off way too lean.

This album has a more mature twang to it, musically and lyrically. And interestingly enough, it's pretty minimalist and their simplest-sounding stuff to date.

The vibe of III is purposefully loose but these two thrive with structure. Bad Books remains a way to show Hull and Devine are just as effective with minimal backing but III could have released a series of singles for the same general effect.

While these tunes might not have quite the caught-in-yer-brain stickiness of “I’m not a loser,” they’re longer lasting. Because the band is speeding so quickly, and rushing out combustible sounds, it takes more deep dives into the album to catch everything.

Young Enough is better than its predecessor in every way, and its predecessor is very good. Every song should be a gigantic sing-along single, each with its own level of catharsis. If more pop songs had Charly Bliss’s sense of craft, pop music would be in a much better place.

They’re never going to knock you down with their raw power. But, like the Midwestern cities of southwestern Ohio that birthed them ... you’ll find a lot of beauty if you stick around long enough.

Every song on this album is strong, starting from the compelling opener, “Satellite,” which firmly establishes the return to the classic Get Up Kids style which is as strong of an opener as “Holiday” or “Man of Conviction.”

While Bad Religion’s forays into new territory may be subtle, they’re certainly there, and it’s commendable to see a nearly 40 year old band still trying to find ways to innovate and make their sound fresh and new. I know that I’ll catch some grief for this, but I honestly would call this the best Bad Religion album since The Empire Strikes First, and a sign of a revitalized band that’s ready to start making some more great music again.

It’s fun and enjoyable. It's exciting, even if nothing new is being done.

There’s something to be said about the immediacy and the vitality of something as messy and as real as an album like White Stuff. Nothing about what this band is has diminished over time, and White Stuff is a roaring return to right where Royal Trux left off 19 years ago.

We have the most lush Mountain Goats record to date: Pallett was the perfect producer for the album.

Ultimately, by the time the final song rolls around, you can't help but wish this ran a few songs longer, which is indicative of how good the album is.

Morbid Stuff is punk rock at its best. PUP has delivered something that achieves the rare feat of satisfying older fans while also leveling them up career-wise.

A profound confidence is demonstrated throughout the record and the group makes the timeless argument that strong simplicity beats fancy fretwork- and it always does.

"Hum" has a wedding feel to it, and while the aesthetic picks up a bit on "Low Slow" the overall vibe of the album just feels a bit monotone at times. But don't get me wrong, the worst Laura Stevenson is way better than 90% of the crap on the radio today. And that's testament to how good and how golden she really is.

When all's said and done, the record dips and swells (see "Fulton Street I") to reflect the oscillations of life and from these tracks here, it's hard to call LD and The Wave nothing short of timeless.

One of the most relatable, heartbreakingly specific albums of the year.

It’s not that The Black Album is a very bad album, just that it feels part of a larger calculus that’s so carefully planned out that it lacks any of the artistic spontaneity that their first two albums had, which is exactly what the band’s been missing ever since Pinkerton.

Health's dark musical aesthetic feels as fresh as ever. ... Now, that's not to say there aren't a couple misses like "Rat Wars", but all in all, the androgynous energy of Jake Duzsik on the mic is more than enough to shape another pulsating yet nihilistic soundscape that reminds us how Health ages well like fine wine.

Blurring the lines between LP and EP, Crush on Me is nine songs in twenty-six minutes, two of which are reprises and one is an outro. You’ll know from the minute she scream-chants “I changed my hair” on opener “Heels” whether or not this is for you.

Most of their new venture fits this bill and is actually worth the hype.

This album definitely cranks out most of their hits, although it's a tall order as their first four records are perfect front to back.

Ultimately, with such amazing writers, this album's going to drill deep down into you and leave you missing the things you need in life. The persons you love and the moments you may think's best to forget.

The filler tracks don't resonate at all but still, for what it's worth, this record doesn't say just anything... for fans of Max and the band over the years, it says everything.

It's classic Fidlar. However, while the musical style's sure to leave fans scratching their heads, peer a bit deeper and you'll see their signature's very much there--it's just, well, diluted and funkier than ever.

All in all, Swervedriver delivers the goods but with this record, it's safe to say it could have come years ago. I'd love to hear them take a risk and mix it up moving forward.

If you don’t want to listen to it, don’t. Weezer couldn’t care less. But for anyone that likes a good clean pop cover by a band who is very good at cover songs, hey, here’s ten songs for you.

Evil Spirits is compact and focused. Instead of trying any new idea they might come across, the band, perhaps refreshed from the rather long period since their last album, has asked themselves, and not the fans, what the Damned are and have crafted a release that acts as much as a return to glory as it does a self-definition for the band.

These are some of Cube’s hardest and most energetic beats since the ‘90s.

It is just such a cut above everything they’ve done that it warrants a listen from anyone into fearless and challenging, yet still melodic, experimental rock. It's their finest work, and probably this year's best rock album.

Seriously, these songs feel like Smashing Pumpkins demos--grainy, rough, atmospheric--like if they were made in a garage, and I think that's exactly what CN wanted to achieve. Rough, raw and rugged, but still jangly, catchy and head-poppy enough to leave you wanting more.