Gallantly Streaming: Soundgarden, The Trews, Bad Religion

Stream Soundgarden's first album in 16 years here courtesy iTunes.

In an increasingly impatient society that's rife with leaks when it comes to high profile albums, that Soundgarden's hotly anticipated return effort King Animal escaped the leak is nothing short of a miracle. Today, patience has been rewarded via an official stream one week ahead of the album's release.

So, the burning question is how does it all sound? Well, that's not for me to say right now; outside of posting that link, I'm making no effort to listen to King Animal until I've got a CD in my hand and headphones on my dome next week. I figure I've waited this long while only hearing two (really good) songs in full, why not put myself through another seven days of anticipation and reap a sweet payoff when I'm hearing most of it for the first time and flipping through liner notes?

King Animal is out November 13 on Universal.

After a couple of albums' worth of half-baked, radio-pandering detours, The Trews stop trying to become Nickelback on their new EP ...thank you and I'm sorry, out today.

These seven songs find The Trews shaking off the pressure of trying to break into an American market that doesn't favour them and taking a beat to remember what got them a devoted Canada-wide fan base. By and large, these tunes find the band having a blast and being somewhat silly, and it's apparent from the opening Stonesy swagger of The Power Of Positive Drinking that they're not taking things so seriously this time out. Any suspicions to the contrary are wiped out by the smirking, offensive Herm-Aphrodite (She Was A Guy). And it's a blast to hear them rattle off a who's who of Canadian rock history on closer ...And We Are The Trews.

By letting loose and ignoring the nagging desire to grow bigger than their britches, ...thank you and I'm sorry is not just The Trews' best collection of songs since Den Of Thieves, it trumps the best seven songs you can collect from their last two albums.

...thank you and I'm sorry is out now on Bumstead. Have a listen:

Finally, here's a taste of Bad Religion's forthcoming sixteenth(!) album, one that aims to be the first big rock release of 2013 with Green Day moving the final installment of their "grand" trilogy up to December.

The long running punk legends clearly haven't softened too much in their old age; the tracklist is peppered with 2-minute runtimes, and the lead single is a pleasant little ditty called Fuck You.

Let's check it out, shall we?

Sounds good to me. True North is out January 22 on Epitaph.

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2014: And the Winners Are...

It's been a long year, and another great one for rock n' roll. While the pop charts were overrun with barely legals obsessed with their asses, rock soldiered on undeterred even as pundits (hell, in some cases even rockers themselves) mourned the genre. Sure, rock didn't dominate the money game in 2014, but that shouldn't evoke sad nostalgia and eulogies. Even for as little perceived impact rock music made, a hell of a lot happened if people had only paid attention. From grizzled vets adding jewels to their crown (Springsteen, Petty) to new beginnings (Against Me!, Antemasque) to happy returns (Faith No More, The Tea Party) and all points in between, rock continued to thrive, evolve and thrill in 2014. Enough talk. It's winning time. Your Year in Rock winners for 2014 are...

Hear Me Out: Why Do A Greatest Hits Album?

So, Silversun Pickups announced a "singles collection" today. Now, I'm no expert on "singles" or "hits" compilations; even so, I've got to say this announcement threw me for a loop for a couple of reasons. For starters, isn't it a bit early for a band like Silversun Pickups to be given the "greatest hits" treatment? I know, I know, it's a "singles collection". But, come on; it looks like a greatest hits album, it smells like a greatest hits album, so on so forth. More importantly, though, are these really necessary entities in 2014? I mean, who is this album for? Casual fans who've already downloaded the singles they like or established fans who are expected to shill out $15 for one new song?

SOUND BITES

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