Issue 110

Blood Visions is a sad reminder that Jay Reatard is no longer with us, but that's because it's a delightful punk record. It sounds at once familiar, like The Ramones, but it also has all the quirks that Reatard had. It's tight and no production detailed is spared, making it a near-perfect thirty-minute slab of punk rock. Read more.

Opeth's quietest album is also one of their best: without the growls and deathly distortion they'd become known for, that let Opeth and Mikael Äkerfeldt craft a record that is the Guillermo del Toro of metal albums: quiet, ornate, and beautiful, but sinister beneath the surface. Read more.

Lawrence Taylor's first EP is a crazy strong blues record tinged with all sorts of pop — reminiscent of many of the great singer-songwriters, but also with strong hints of John Mayer and rhythm and blues. While he's not necessarily stumbling onto anything new, Lawrence Taylor's already discovered a sound that really works for him. Read more.

With Open Your Heart, The Men open their hearts and start drifting away from their punk roots to embrace country, surf, and shoe-gazing influences. When they rock out, it's their best record, and although they lack some polish when they start wandering down different paths, it still sounds uniquely like The Men. Read more.

Arca's Mutant is strange and alien, as if the electronics in a studio started making their own music. But for that reason, it's wildly experimental and avant-garde. Arca is leading the way in electronic music by expanding the sonic space, practically creating new textures and sounds — even if they occasionally sound like noise. Read more.