Dan's Music Reviews

American Football’s self titled debut ended up being the only album they have released thus far in their career back in 1999, however the album epitomises the phrase “less is more” as the album and its 9 songs still intrigue and excite new and old fans alike. Upon release the band shortly split up, but since 2014 they have been touring and playing shows again. It’s very interesting to find a band with only one album release that can still be successful and popular. Perhaps the soft spoken, confessional lyrics that seem to relate to any teenager’s struggles mixed with dual guitars and varying time signatures of math rock is the perfect blend for making this album critically acclaimed. Album cover Each song is perfect for an indie/coming of age movie, capturing a melancholy mood with Steve Lamos' jazz drumming and Mike Kinsella and Steve Holmes' alternating/interacting guitars. It’s a beautiful album and one that you can get lost in as the songs blend together in a way tha

Alexisonfire’s eponymously titled debut album is another one of my firm favourites. I first listened to it around the start of 2015 through the recommendation from a good friend of mine. I’d heard a couple songs from them before hand, but nothing more. Despite this little information I trusted my friend’s word on giving it a listen, and to this day I don’t regret it. This album is a landmark for the Post hardcore genre and came at a time when Post Hardcore was really at its peak. To my disagreement, it gets labelled with the ‘Emo’ tag. On some levels I can agree, but I feel there’s too much aggression and energy which surpasses the lyrical content to call it an ‘Emo’ album. Nevertheless, the 42:16 run time produces 11 songs filled with raw energy and brilliant musicianship, really setting themselves immediately apart from other bands in the scene. It’s an album that makes you want to jump and run around, it’s the musical equivalent of an energy drink. The most brilliant part is that 3

Spiderland by post rock band Slint is one of my favourite albums that I have ever heard. Ever! I don’t think that will change at all and it probably will never fall out of my top 10, which is why I want YOU to know about it. I stumbled upon it whilst procrastinating doing History coursework. I was looking at lists of best bands by genre, and I stumbled upon an article titled “ The Best Post Rock Bands Ever” by the culturemag.com . The first band on the list was Slint. The description about them read “W ell remembered for the outstanding album called Spiderland” . An outstanding album by a band I’d never heard of?  I had to check it out. 40 minutes later, I was left stunned. I had never heard anything like it before and being a musician myself it created a new way for me to look at how music can sound. I then immediately started listening to it again. L-R: Britt Walford, Brain McMahan, Todd Brasher and David Pajo The dark atmosphere that hangs over the album is