SIRES Soul For Sale dsandn.com Dylan Sires is a sellout. Or, at least that is what he wants you to believe. After a few years slugging it out as Dylan Sires and Neighbors, the Waterloo three-piece with a penchant for ’50s and ’60s rock and pop is laying all their cards on the table with […]
Album Reviews
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Album Review: Quick Piss — Rock n Roll Impotence
Quick Piss Rock n Roll Impotence www.quickpiss.com Grab your brown bag and slip into the mosh pit. Des Moines-based basement dwellers Quick Piss have released their first studio album, Rock n Roll Impotence. Some songs have more teeth than others. The eponymous opening track comes in fast and thrashing, while “Thoroughly Fucked” leads with trembling […]
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Album Review: Kasper Hauser — Last Ghosts
Kaspar Hauser Last Ghosts www.kasparhauserchicago.bandcamp.com/album/last-ghosts Kaspar Hauser was formed in Iowa City in 1999, led by singer/songwriter Thomas Comerford. Since the last Kaspar Hauser album, The Sons (2009), Comerford has put out two solo records and juggled performing live with his day job teaching film-making. Last Ghosts, recorded mostly live in a Chicago basement studio, […]
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Album Review: Larry “The Wizard” Sievers — Kingdom of Mermaidia
Larry “The Wizard” Sievers Kingdom of Mermaidia www.larrysievers.bandcamp.com/album/mermaidia The artist formerly known as Larry “Machine Gun” Sievers is back with a new album of his unique original compositions. If you’ve seen an older gent wearing a black hat with white ostrich feathers out and about downtown Iowa City, that’s Larry. After playing drums in local […]
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Album Review: Chrash — Things My Friends Say
Chrash Things My Friends Say www.cartoucherecords.com/chrash Chrash is a Quad Cities trio made up of Kim Murray and Paul Bloomquist from the Winter Blanket, and Chris Bernat from ’90s alternative rock band Tripmaster Monkey (who enjoyed a brief moment in the sun when they were signed to Sire Records). Chrash (pronounced “Crash”) had four releases […]
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Album Review: Hunter Dumped Us Here — I Understand
Hunter Dumped Us Here I Understand www.hunterdumpedushere.bandcamp.com The members of the band Hunter Dumped Us Here may hail from Cedar Rapids, but they have musical ideas and ambitions that extend well beyond the city limits. They may be firmly in the camp of drums-and-wires rock and roll, but one cannot deny their intensity and musical […]
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Album Review: Bo Ramsey — Wildwood Calling
Bo Ramsey Wildwood Calling www.boramsey.com There is an adage in guitar circles that says, “Tone is in the hands.” In other words, the unique sound of a guitarist comes from how they play and not the gear they use. Nowhere is this more evident than with Bo Ramsey’s very distinctive guitar tone and sound — […]
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Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward — Dunwich Piano Recital
Samuel Locke Ward Dunwich Piano Recital samuellockeward.bandcamp.com/album/dunwich-piano-recital Samuel Locke Ward hasn’t had an album reviewed in Little Village in over a year. Given that he released 12 full-length albums in 2014, it may be reviewer exhaustion to blame. But if we’re going to end this critical shutout, Dunwich Piano Recital is a great place to […]
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Album Review: Devin Frank — The Vanishing Blues
Devin Frank The Vanishing Blues www.facebook.com/thevanishingblues Poison Control Center’s hiatus in 2011 gave Devin Frank time to explore new projects. He formed Mantis Pincers with Jordan Mayland and Eric Moffitt of Volcano Boys and released one cassette. He moved to Columbia, MO in 2012 and, while writing a bunch of songs and demos, he joined […]
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Album Review: Nora Petran & Curt Oren — 2%
Nora Petran & Curt Oren 2% www.curtoren.bandcamp.com Iowa City underground music celebrities Nora Petran and Curt Oren went inside the Maquoketa Caves on a cold, rainy, muddy day and emerged with a seven track collaborative album — 2%. The album is split into Nora’s tracks, a collection of dizzying, kaleidoscopic yet gentle guitar and voice […]
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Album Review: Josh Fina — Feel Me EP
Josh Fina Feel Me EP www.kindgesturerecords.com Electronic dance music’s natural habitat is a dark room with the sound system turned up until the bass hits you in the solar plexus and your fillings vibrate. The Feel Me EP attacks that milieu with a subtlety and gentleness that seems out of place on the dance floor. […]
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Album Review: MAIDS — These Days EP
MAIDS These Days EP www.thisismaids.com Danny Heggen and Mickey Davis are the Des Moines electronic pop band MAIDS. They’ve been collaborating since 2012 on singles and some inspired remixes for bands including Iowa artists Land of Blood and Sunshine and the Envy Corps. MAIDS latest release, a 5-track EP titled These Days, serves as a […]
