AltWeeklies Wire
Mary Johnson Rockers' Hummingbird Heartnew
The songs on the band's third release are so catchy, well-written and eclectic that, at just over 30 minutes, it feels as though it's over before it's begun.
Tags: Mary Johnson Rockers
Actual Proof's Still Hotter Than Julynew
(Jamla Records) On the latest project from this North Carolina hip-hop duo, Enigma and Sundown find themselves trying something larger—less spring-and-snap action and more knockout, bare-knuckle boxing.
Tags: Actual Proof
The Rosebuds' Loud Planes Fly Lownew
"Worthwhile," which closes the album, is a fittingly bittersweet farewell—and, you have to think, the quiet gatherings of a new start.
Brain F≠'s Sleep Roughnew
What makes this debut LP a record that will instantly drill itself into the head of most any loud-rock fan is the Charlotte band's endless churning, wrought by a precise mix of mind-rattling hooks and bone-crushing riffs.
Tags: Brain F≠
Double Negative's Hardcore Confusion, Vols. 1 & 2new
The first two of Double Negative's four Hardcore Confusion singles are as wonderful as they are frightening, another perfect progression for the Raleigh hardcore malingerers that outstrips an already strong catalog.
Tags: Double Negative
Pink Flag's King of Scenenew
The Durham punk rock trio's latest EP aims for something more nuanced than thrashing, screeching rebellion -- properly, post-punk angularity.
Tags: Pink Flag
Heather Victoria's Graffiti Diarynew
A Jamla recording artist, Victoria is a freshly minted, B.E.T.-black songstress trying to repave the bridge that R&B icon Mary J. Blige built from soul to hip-hop.
Tags: Heather Victoria
Locrian/Horseback: New Dominionsnew
Mean as hell, loud as your speakers will allow, New Dominions is the sound of old ideas imploding.
Tags: Locrian/Horseback
Birds and Arrows: We're Gonna Runnew
Whereas their debut was a look at a new couple dealing lovingly with life, We're Gonna Run adds appropriate clouds to a once-honeymoon atmosphere.
Tags: Birds and Arrows
King Mez: The King's Khrysisnew
This six-song set of self-assured work with N.C.'s best beat statesman, Khrysis, is a proclamation of the aggressiveness previously missing from some of Mez's work.
Tags: King Mez, The King's Khrysis
Once & Future Kings' Dead Lionsnew
Dead Lions treads the waters between Radiohead and Explosions in the Sky, using pretty piano-and-guitar-laced textures to build into big rock codas time and again.
Tags: Radiohead, Once & Future Kings
I Was Totally Destroying It's New EP Feels Stiffnew
Preludes feels like a deliberate attempt not to make an explosive rock record but to expand demographics by showing that -- beneath that poppy Hot Topic veneer -- there's real-life indie credibility, with old U2 references, new wave nods and vocal affectations that shine back on the local indie lords, Eric Bachmann and Mac McCaughan.
The Huguenots' Debut EP is Underwhelmingnew
These aren't just popular trails; they're 16-lane freeways that have been jammed with traffic since 1964. The Huguenots' talent is clear, but if they ever want to set themselves apart, they'll need to take the nearest exit and start carving a path of their own.
Tags: The Huguenots
Hammer No More The Fingers' Black Sharknew
With Black Shark, Hammer ups the ante considerably, putting them in a place where anything's possible.
Tags: Hammer
Floating Action's Desert Etiquettenew
Desert Etiquette, Seth Kauffman's fourth album and second under the Floating Action moniker, is an adventurous yet comfortably familiar excursion, a colorful musical expanse that's worth more than a few trips.
Tags: Floating Action, Desert Etiquette
