Rock
Noah’s Barks pages related to the rock music genre. Combine with other tags for subgenres, e.g. “alternative+rock,” “noise+rock,” and “indie+rock.”
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PJ Harvey – “The Hope Six Demolition Project”
Oh man, The Hope Six Demolition Project might be PJ Harvey’s worst album. Maybe excuse the “might,” possibly, (probably). It might as well be definite considering her prior record of consistently always delivering something of interest with her eclectic tastes and many ways of posturing herself. To begin with, the lyrics here are particularly bad.… (read more)
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre – “Take It From the Man!”
Were The Brian Jonestown Massacre the kind of band to take risks? With a terrible name like that, I’d assume so. They began their career as promising shoegaze tag-alongs. When it was evident shoegaze had no immediate future, they coincidentally reinvented themselves with the sound of ’60s British garage rock in Take it From the… (read more)
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Jeff Lynne’s ELO – “Alone in the Universe” (2015)
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) were a band primarily popular in the ’70s due to their unique combination of elaborate, classical instrument arrangements over combinations of light pop rock and progressive mini-suites. There’s no band quite like Electric Light Orchestra in the perpetual boiling pot of ’70s music, a band both conservative and kitsch. They were… (read more)
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The Monkees – “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.”
The fourth album by The Monkees is among the greatest rock records of the ’60s, exceeding all expectations. (read more)
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Foo Fighters – “Saint Cecilia EP” (2015)
After Sonic Highways, you may have been inclined to believe that the riff-generating machine must have finally broken down, but if this EP is any indication it seems back up and running, even though it’s not at full capacity. The title track is Foo Fighters‘ best song to appear since Wasting Light, and the sound… (read more)
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The Dresden Dolls – “The Dresden Dolls”
Much, much better than expected. The main thing here is that despite The Dresden Dolls founding their own sort of punk cabaret rock they don’t rely on it for the songwriting, which is the main problem with most dark cabaret albums. The amount of variety in tempo and rhythm between songs is a fantastically pleasant… (read more)
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Killing Joke – “Pylon” (2015)
I can’t deal with Pylon. Where’s the intensity!? Where’s the fucking fury!? Killing Joke were a hoot; a bunch of old codgers more pissed off over… whatever—than any musician half their ages. Killing Joke used to be a pummeling, muscular, fuck-em-up band, but Jaz Coleman and co. have been softening up ever since Hosannas From… (read more)
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The Damned – “The Black Album”
What a fucking cool album cover. It’s like an emblem you’d see emblazoned on the front gate of Dracula’s castle. The Black Album is a certain curiosity in The Damned’s discography, as the group are almost entirely known for their earlier simple “brat punk” albums, but they broke out of that stereotype more and more… (read more)
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The Melvins – “Hold It In” (2014)
The more the Melvins try to sound young, the older they get. This is true of many artists. Nick Cave immediately comes to mind: whenever he tries to rock nowadays, his first priority is convincing the world he still has sex appeal. But much like his testicles, there’s nothing left to get out. Old people can rock… (read more)
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Refused – “Freedom” (2015)
Finally, post-hardcore goes boogie rock on Freedom. Some The Wall-esque arena rock thrown in for good (bad) measure. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t find a lot of this catchy, if not in the electrifyingly intense way The Shape of Punk to Come. I’m not sure if I’m being too nice to… (read more)