SOUND BITES

I've done variations on this theme several times in the past, usually after a long period of time during which I abandon my responsibilities around here and allow unreviewed releases to pile up high. Now that my "reviews" are shorter and without much deep thought involved, I kind of figured we wouldn't get to this point again so soon; and yet, here we are. Anyway, here are some albums I've checked out over the summer but not yet shared my opinions on; I could have done haiku just as easily as dropping one or two sentences as I have below, but it turns out I'm too lazy to even arrange this shit into the proper lines and syllables. Shrug. MONDO COZMO New Medicine June 12, 2020 • Last Gang Highlights Black Cadillac • Upside Down • Come On For his second album as Mondo Cozmo, Josh Ostrander got help from some heavy hitters; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes features heavily, both as a guest guitarist and co-producer, and previous single Come On was co...

  When you think about Marilyn Manson albums, "grower" may actually be the last thing you think about, especially if your interest waned around the turn of the century like it did for so many; if you haven't paid attention, your lasting impression of Marilyn Manson is likely of a band intent on shock and disruption, incessantly seeking controversy and attention no matter the offence or the cost to their fan base. Indeed, as their career stretched further and further away from their commercial peak (1996's incendiary breakthrough Antichrist Superstar ), there were less and less reasons to care about the increasingly forced attempts to provoke. Combine a more indifferent audience with a less engaged artist and you've got the recipe for rock bottom, which one could argue found Marilyn Manson around a decade ago. Faced with the impending closing of the curtains, the decision was made to steer into more mature and musically diverse waters, and 2015's The Pale Emper...