SOUND BITES

The sixth full-length Sam Roberts album, and third credited to the band as a whole, takes the synth-pop leanings of previous LP Lo-Fantasy and augments them with the band's core sound in a way that makes it feel like a comfortable evolution rather than a jarring experiment. Thick grooves and strong melodies, the eternal hallmarks of Roberts' music, are front and centre on TerraForm , and there isn't a song on the tracklist that doesn't deliver these as advertised. This is very much an energized, engaged record, one that occasionally veers into psychedelic territory but refuses to lose itself in a haze. All told, there are few surprises in store (unless you missed Lo-Fantasy ), but if you've followed the Sam Roberts Band through all of their shape shifts over the years, it's honestly kind of refreshing to not have expectations subverted for once. October 28, 2016 • Universal Highlights TerraForm • Rogue Empire • Spring Fever

To say Korn hasn't changed all that much over their two-plus decades is doing them a disservice; truth be told, they've tried lots of different looks over the course of their career, it's just that their experiments have more often than not been met by a combination of derision or indifference. Their ill-fated foray into dubstep, for example (2011's The Path of Totality ), is considered by many to be a curiosity at best and an abhorrence at worst despite it being by and large successful in its intended purpose of dragging the band out of their comfort zone (this after their previous record, an attempted return to form, was dismissed by most as a stale and diluted effort). Having said that, there's an odd satisfaction to be had listening to The Serenity of Suffering , their twelfth(!) album and second since the return of original guitarist Brian "Head" Welch; at its core, it's the nostalgia trip promised but not delivered by Remember Who You Are , tho...

Jimmy Eat World have undergone a slow evolution in their 20 years or so of existence, from hard edged emo vanguards to middle-of-the-road (pun intended) adult contemporary rockers; their ninth album is their shiniest yet, with their typically nocturnal vibes accentuated by guitars that shimmer more often than they slash and a brighter, pop-leaning production (courtesy Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who in recent years has worked on pop breakouts by Paramore and Tegan and Sara, among others). Things might have fallen flat here if not for the songwriting strength of the band; fortunately, Jimmy Eat World turn in some of their best, catchiest songs since breaking out with The Middle a decade and a half ago. Current single Sure and Certain was born for the airwaves, as are a handful of others. There are a few more muscular moments, such as the soaring, sinister Get Right , the pulsating, Silversun Pickups-recalling Pretty Grids and the closing minute and change of Pass the Baby (which sidesw...

Coming three years after their previous record Whales and Leeches , the fourth album from Red Fang feels like a natural progression. They're also continuing to grow; whereas much of their previous material called to mind sludge masters like Melvins and/or modern metal warriors like Mastodon, there are hints of, say, early Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age appearing here, especially on standout tracks like Cut it Short and Not for You . There's still plenty of muscle in these songs, and more than a few menacing moments mixed in with the grooves and hooks, but Only Ghosts shows that Red Fang aren't finished exploring their own possibilities yet. October 14, 2016 • Relapse Highlights Cut it Short • Shadows • Not for You

If the sixth and self-professed final album from The Dillinger Escape Plan is indeed the end of the road for the influential mathcore/metal group, there's no doubt that they're going out on a high note. Their trademark frenzy is in full effect on Dissociation , while the tracklist is peppered with the sudden detours and out-of-nowhere genre experiments that have endeared the band to so many open-minded fans of their extreme excellence. This record is the sound of an incredible and diverse band emptying the tank, exploring every stray idea if only for a handful of seconds. They've never been for everybody, and there are few concessions to conventional wisdom here ( Symptom of Terminal Illness and the closing title track are the closest they come to "accessible", and even they would never be considered as anything approaching mainstream). With Dissociation , DEP go out as frantic and gloriously against the grain as they came; it's a dizzying, combustible, shap...

After a couple of sort of difficult, kind of mediocre post-stardom records that skirted around the massive hooks that turned them from ragged fringe artists to world-conquering heroes, Kings of Leon's seventh album (aka We Are Like Love Songs , in case you were worried they'd broken their streak of five-syllable album titles) is their most consistently glossy record yet. So as to say, the soaring choruses and sharp melodies that made Only By the Night a runaway smash eight years ago are once again fair game. The cynical might see this as a contrived attempt to recapture their status, but I see it more as a band recognizing where their strengths lie and making the most of their talents. Put another way, if Come Around Sundown was an excessive and scattered response to fame and Mechanical Bull was a tentative attempt at returning to their pre-fame roots, then WALLS is the confident acknowledgement of what made them famous. That said, this record will earn little to no goodwil...

If there's one thing I hope outsiders learn about the city I call home this weekend, it's that Miramichi's music community may be relatively small, but it's unified. These aren't pretend rock stars holding each other down, it's a family of fellow minded musicians, supporting and nurturing each other; the people in Miramichi bands are the same people you see in the crowd at shows for other Miramichi bands. Whether or not any of these bands "make it" is irrelevant; their music is a reflection of hard work and creative passion, the two main ingredients for any self-respecting rock n' roll. The artists on this list are people I know. I've seen them play, and sometimes played with them. I've sold them CDs and/or sold their CDs at my previous job, and had deep conversations about music with them. I've had a drink with them and/or got drunk with them. I'm proud to call them my friends, even if just on Facebook; if that makes me a lit...

Known as the hub of the Maritimes, Moncton has long been home to a thriving music scene. Over the years, there have been a host of big name bands that have played there, packing concert halls and festival grounds alike. Put simply, there are a lot of chances to be inspired in Moncton. With Festival 506 this weekend comes a slew of talent from the Moncton area and, as you'll see from the four artists listed below, it's a diverse and expansive range of styles that inspire the residents of the Maritimes' fastest growing city. Here is a small taste of the musical talent Moncton has to offer:

As New Brunswick's capital city, it's no surprise that Fredericton is well represented from a provincial standpoint artistically. As an artistic hub of sorts, there's no shortage of inspiration to be drawn from the central New Brunswick city. I've been privy to many shows in the area (admittedly not so many in recent years, though); I used to travel there quite often with one of my hometown bands and, on one fateful night at the Chestnut, the band in question let me handle vocals on their version of Pantera's Walk. So, naturally, I forgot the words. They let me redeem myself at a later date, but butchering that song is my clearest, most dubious musical memory of Fredericton. Thankfully, there's nothing dubious about the following four artists from Fredericton, who will be appearing this weekend as part of Festival 506 in Miramichi:

With shows starting Friday and running through Sunday spread across several venues, there's a lot of talent to take in as part of Festival 506. I picked up my weekend pass to make sure I can take advantage of as many shows as possible; I've had a look at the artists and set times to plan out how to maximize the music, as it were, and I'm sure there will be frantic moments trying to get from one venue to the other in time for the next show (luckily, the majority are within a few minutes walking distance of each other). Later in the week, I'll be highlighting artists from a few of the most represented cities in the province; today is more of an overall list, with four intriguing artists from all over that should be reason enough to get excited for the weekend to come in Miramichi. Here are the first four artists you should plan on seeing at Festival 506:

I've never put much focus on where I'm from in terms of what I do here on Sound Bites. In my mind, I rationalized that by thinking that this blog could be seen as a regional outlet, rather than an all-encompassing place for me to write about my love of music. If I lead with local talent, I presumed, I'd be known as that guy from New Brunswick who writes about New Brunswick things. That, and I didn't want to put myself in the position of being commissioned by upstart artists for promotion; I once volunteered my time as a reviewer for a blog promoting Canadian indie artists, and soon found myself asked to give critiques to a growing list of bands I honestly didn't have interest in. So, that was my mindset five years ago, thus there have been very few articles concerning talent from my neck of the woods. That said, I think the past five years and more than 50,000 visits have deemed the coast clear when it comes to talking about bands and artists that are geographic...

For their third album, Kyng have enlisted Machine, producer of some of Clutch's best work in addition to many others. The result is a batch of tunes that have a thicker sound than previous record Burn the Serum , but also a sharper focus on melody. While there isn't anything quite as purely sticky as Electric Halo (my choice for best heavy song of 2014), Breathe in the Water is overall a much more melodic affair. It's all held together by Eddie Veliz, who not only displays his prowess on guitar but also gives a masterful vocal performance that compliments these songs regardless of what the music calls for. Breathe in the Water is diverse, encompassing aggressive metal, Sabbath-inspired groove, dark blues, and even some Alice in Chains-like hard grunge, among other styles; the feat Kyng pulls off here is sounding natural at all of them. Breathe in the Water is a varied and satisfying record for the present while laying a very large blueprint for their future endeavours...

"We all die in threes", Billie Joe Armstrong exclaims in the lead off track of his band's 12th album. While he may be referring to celebrities, he might as well be talking about his career. The messy, overstuffed trilogy of albums Green Day released in 2012 was hampered by Armstrong's entry into rehab and a lukewarm-at-best reception of the albums by fans. It was such a substantial fall that it could have ended Green Day then and there; and yet, here we are four years later, with the newly minted hall-of-famers back to the grind again and asking forgiveness from a fan base left cold by ¡Uno!/¡Dos!/¡Tre! , a project that even Armstrong admits was kind of a mistake. What we get from Revolution Radio isn't really a return to form, though it is a return to basics; boasting 11 rarely interconnected songs (packaged with a twelfth from the soundtrack to Armstrong's acting debut that is tacked onto the end and seemingly not meant to be taken as part of the album ...

Coming in at just under 25 minutes, Joyce Manor's fourth album is epic in scale compared to their previous LPs (in fact, you can listen to the other 43 songs in their discography in about 73 minutes). It's also easily their most accessible record, housing some of their finest attempts at punk-inspired power pop to date. There's a lot of growth on display, a sense of maturity that will inspire more thought than stage diving (which they've taken a stand against, a bold move in the punk community they come from). While it doesn't offer much in the way of advice for the struggling young adults in its songs (like the underaged Kanye West loving protagonist of Fake I.D. , the would-be lovers of Last You Heard of Me and the 26-year old still living with his parents of Stairs ), Cody does offer a modicum of solace in that, as the cast of characters illustrate, not many of us have it all figured out anyway. October 7, 2016 • Epitaph Highlights Fake I.D. • Eighteen • Las...

Whereas previous LP Indie Cindy was compiled from three previous EPs, Head Carrier marks Pixies' first full-blown, LP-sized statement since their reformation. It's also overall a friendlier, less noisy collection of songs, with a couple of proper hit contenders if 2016 radio was conducive to bands from the '80s and '90s rather than bands of millennials that sound like they're from the '80s and '90s. To the overly critical, Head Carrier is probably another sullying of the band's Holy Legacy, the go-to whine for those who still can't wrap their heads around the idea of a band's desire to make new music rather than coast on the goodwill of records nearly 30 years old. To me, it's a perfectly serviceable rock record that doesn't even try to stand up to the classics. Like Indie Cindy , it's a record that never stood a chance of being revered like Surfer Rosa or Doolittle , but that doesn't mean it deserves to be dismissed as trip...

There have always been political echoes in the songs of Drive-By Truckers, but their eleventh album is particularly tuned to the times; these songs are designed to incite hard conversations as America stares down not just the frightening possibility of a Trump presidency, but a fragmenting current-state America. Gun violence, racism, gender equality and corruption are all touched upon, while closing track Baggage was written in the days after the death of Robin Williams and discusses the dangers of unchecked depression. All of these topics alone won't carry an album, though, and fortunately the music is engaged and energized. It rarely dips in tempo, and even the songs that would be considered ballads have some fire in their bellies. By tackling the issues head on and turning in inspired performances, Drive-By Truckers have pulled off perhaps their most important album yet, not just for them but indeed for their country as well. September 30, 2016 • ATO Highlights Darkened Flag...