SOUND BITES

  In terms of setting a tone, Bully's debut album wastes no time; the incendiary, bellowing  I Remember  charges from the gate, bum rushing unprepared listeners and sucker punching preconceptions one may have gotten from judging the album by its cover.  Feels Like  doesn't maintain quite this level of intensity all the way through, but it stays consistently vicious with only a few dips in tempo. Even then, the resulting tunes singe as much as they soothe, as evidenced by singles  Trying  and  Too Tough . The majority of  Feels Like  is fun, fleet and loud, doing its business in under a half hour. It will call early Hole to mind for a lot of folks, and that's an apt enough comparison, but I find portions of the overall sound (by times, at least) hearken back to '80s groups like The Go-Gos and Bangles, especially on  Reason ,  Brainfreeze  and  Milkman . Those pop sensibilities coupled with the relentless guitar attack ...

If the debut album by Londoners Wolf Alice feels impressively accomplished for a first record, it's likely because My Love Is Cool follows a pair of EPs and comes five years after the group's formation. Moaning Lisa Smile , the current single doing damage on North American radio, was actually from the second of those EPs, released over a year ago; in fact, unless you're in North America, it's not even on the album. Tellingly, My Love Is Cool remains a thrilling, intense and diverse record even without Moaning Lisa Smile on the tracklist; it certainly doesn't lack in ideas or commanding performances. That said, it's not like leaving out Moaning Lisa Smile overseas was an act of distancing themselves from the past; after all, their first ever singles (the noisy, sultry Fluffy and the cool, Cranberries-esque Bros ) are both included. The new material ranges wildly; there's the slash-n-burn fury of current UK single You're a Germ , the volcanic...

Sometimes, without good excuse, I'm simply too lazy to pull together proper reviews. It can be especially futile this time of year, as my thoughts turn toward summer vacation, relaxing and, thanks to the spectacle that is E3, video games. However, as difficult as it can be to muster up the headspace, there's always a little time for tunes. With that spirit in mind, allow me to introduce you to Nibbles. Instead of forcing myself to write reviews for albums that either aren't really albums (Fucked Up), didn't hold my attention (Heartless Bastards, KENmode), or aren't streaming on Google Play, my go-to source material (Third Eye Blind), Nibbles gives me the chance to talk about new releases without the need to commit to repeat listens that take time or half-assed reviews penned without giving the music a fraction of the effort that went into making them. This is also an excellent place to give props to one-offs, hot new singles and the like, the kind of stuff y...

To say Muse is a band that prides itself on its theatrics is kind of like saying that Jughead is rather fond of hamburgers. So when Matt Bellamy expressed the desire for his band's seventh album to be adapted as a Broadway musical, it didn't even raise an eyebrow. Grandiose, flamboyant presentations are old hat for this band, as evidenced by pretty much any live footage you can find on YouTube. So here we have it, a self-professed return to the basics that also just so happens to be a conceptual piece about modern warfare and the dehumanizing effect it has on those who partake in it, and a conceptual piece with Broadway aspirations at that. Musically, to be sure, this is miles removed from the overcooked electronics of previous album (and, IMHO, major misstep) The 2nd Law . True to the nature of war, much of Drones is cold and aggressive. Take Psycho , a furious glam stomper that re-positions the groove of past hit Uprising into a silly, profane ode to transferring owners...