Lollipop Magazine

The Exploding Hearts – Shattered – Review

June 29, 2007

The Exploding Hearts were a short-lived and very young four-piece power pop/punk band from Portland, OR that crafted little pop ditties with a punk rock edge.

OK Go – Oh No – Interview

June 29, 2007

An interview with drummer Dan Konopka

Play – Review

June 22, 2007

Play can be enjoyed by anyone between one and 101. It isn’t aimed to placate children “just for the time being”: It’s meant to stay with you as you grow up.

Type O Negative – Dead Again – Review

June 22, 2007

Sprawling 78 minute opus. Sabbath doom and the dark part of the Beatles, and the lyrics are amazing, colorful yet to the point, clear and graphic.

Tia Carrera – Heaven/Hell EP – Review

June 22, 2007

Three cuts of improvised acid rock trio zonerism. It’s pretty much based on the fertile ’67-’72 best remembered from Hendrix’s “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The Network – This is Your Pig’s Portrait – Review

June 22, 2007

From the ashes of Fault and Ookla The Mok, coming out on Guy Kozowyk’s (The Red Chord) label. This label has been consistently dropping some really good stuff.

The Esoteric – Subverter – Review

June 22, 2007

Formed by circular riffs and eloquent and raspy vocalization, the band end up with a blend of grooves and pummeling rhythms, but that’s about it.

The Draft – Review

June 22, 2007

Energetic, good-times power chords and shouted choruses that’re super catchy, ear-friendly yet still manly and gritty.

Phazm – Antebellum Death ‘n Roll – Review

June 22, 2007

French outfit Phazm have concentrated all their hate and Satanic prowess into a pretty standard mix of death metal and rock and roll.

Lonely China Day – Sorrow – Review

June 22, 2007

Beijing’s Lonely China Day’s first full-length, a continuation of the intertwining of glitch electronica, indie rock, and Chinese poetry explored on their EP.

Ratchet and Clank – Size Matters – Review

June 22, 2007

The Ratchet and Clank series is fast becoming the Megaman for the 21st century, for better or worse.

The Fest 3 – Review

June 22, 2007

One weekend a year, punk/indie/hardcore bands descend upon Gainesville, FL and turn the place into one giant party. Fuck CMJ & SXSW, this is how it ‘s done.

Oasis – Morning Glory – A Classic Album Under Review – Review

June 22, 2007

A buncha people (all Brits) familiar with the band talk about why they think Morning Glory is their best. I’m not arguing, it’s the only one I’ve kept.

John 5 – The Devil Knows My Name – Interview

June 22, 2007

An interview with guitarist John 5

Kekal – The Habit of Fire – Review

June 1, 2007

From Indonesia, are experimental, conceptual, extreme, ambient, haunting, jazz-fusion prog, and other “the mainstream will never get this” descriptions.

The Toy Dolls – Treasured Tracks – Review

June 1, 2007

A live album. They smoke like The Vandals, and the singer has a Cockney accent that makes Johnny Rotten sound like an American suburban puke.

The Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal – Review

June 1, 2007

Part death metal roar, a bit of thrash spicing, and 666 parts black metal shriek, all full-on metal rampage.

Slapdash – Reciprocal – Review

June 1, 2007

Ten songs Billy Bragg might nod to and say “run with it, kid.”

Method of Destruction – Red White and Screwed – Review

June 1, 2007

M.O.D. without the humor is as monotone/hardcore as Pro-Pain, which is to say boring and unbearable. Billy Milano sounds like he needs to shit.

Mind Flux Funeral – Teatro De Revalacion – Review

June 1, 2007

Dark, violent, sensual, chilling: Everything a good aggro/rock/industrial/metal album should be. From Chicago, where this stuff was born, lives, and breathes.

Metalocalypse – Dethklok – Review

June 1, 2007

I love Metalocalypse as much as any metalhead, but the animated soap opera of a gloriously dumb-ass metal band doesn’t make the actual songs any better.

Juliette and The Licks – Four On the Floor – Review

June 1, 2007

Some might whine that Juliette and The Licks is simply Stones strut with tits (they’re small, but they’re nice), their live show will leave you breathless.

Hurtlocker – Embrace The Fall – Review

June 1, 2007

Chicago’s Hurtlocker toiled in the metal underground for so long that their brand of thrash is dirtier, harder, and heavier than most.

Himsa – Summon In Thunder – Review

June 1, 2007

They started out hardcore on Revelation, went death metal on Prosthetic, and are now a might roar-machine on Century Media. Some rubs my metal belly just right.

Guff – Symphony of Voices – Review

June 1, 2007

Pop punk, very mid-’90s, tuneful and the singer can hit the notes. It’s not sweet pop, nor is it street punk.