The metal scene in Iowa City has always been a pocket universe where the boundary between fans and musicians is permeable. It’s like the bar in Cheers — where everybody knows your name — but with more long hair, tattoos and black leather. The competition between bands is to be the loudest, heaviest and tightest, not the most successful.
Local album reviews
Album Review: Surf Zombies — ‘Return of the Skeleton’
Five albums in with Return of the Skeleton, and Cedar Rapids’ Surf Zombies are as fresh and fired up as ever. A rotating cast of some of the CR music scene’s heaviest hitters, the Surf Zombies have at their core guitarist Brook Hoover
Album Review: Hex Girls — ‘More of That’
Listening to the debut album from Cedar Falls band Hex Girls, I’m reminded of the time before punk broke in the ’70s. Bands like the Dead Boys and Johnny Thunders’ band the Heartbreakers took ’60s garage rock and psychedelia mixed in attitude and energy
Album Reviews: The Feralings — The Feralings
Iowa City folkies the Feralings released their highly anticipated debut EP last October, a collection of six gorgeous tracks that’s stylistically scattered but so tightly woven and so cleanly mixed and mastered (I hope we hear a lot more from Ben Schmidt and Rescued Rabbit Studio) that the diversity has the feel of a carefully curated sampler.
Album Review: Kate Kane — Meet the Cats
Meet the Cats by Kate Kane I can’t think of a single better combination of words than “cat-themed Kate Kane album from Bloated Kat Records.” Any of those three factors […]
Album Review: Brother Trucker — 5
Des Moines band Brother Trucker is an honest-to-goodness Iowa institution. Since 2000, the band has toured extensively, bringing their roots rock and country to avid fans in bars throughout the […]
Album Review: Good Morning Midnight — Both Neither and Both
Both Neither And Both by Good Morning Midnight Good Morning Midnight is a band unafraid to wear its influences proudly. On Both Neither And Both, the song “Ballerina” has the […]
Album Review: David Huckfelt — Stranger Angels
David Huckfelt took advantage of a break in touring with the Pines to become the artist-in-residence at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. The writing he did in solitude there […]
Album Review: Holy White Hounds — Say It With Your Mouth
Holy White Hounds Say It With Your Mouth www.holywhitehounds.com Des Moines band Holy White Hounds are back with their second album. Say It With Your Mouth picks up where their […]
Album Review: Soultru & Progeny — Soultru & Progeny
Revenge is hidden throughout the album’s lyrics as Soultru examines past relationships that didn’t end well. While understanding he is alone, he is still happy to be learning from his experiences. Soultru reveals the honesty we hide from our day to day but look forward to in music.
Album Review: Chrash — 2017 The Music
Quad Cities band Chrash followed 2016’s ‘Things My Friends’ Say with a surprise release coinciding with the Nov. 6 primaries. Titled ‘2017 The Music,’ the album attempts to capture the year following the 2016 elections.
Album Review: Chuck Henderson — Christmas
Chuck Henderson Christmas Dear readers: For the purposes of this review, I broke one of my personal cardinal rules. I listened to Christmas music before Dec. 1. And then I […]