Osees: Abomination Revealed At Last (2025)

Another year, another batch of releases from John Dwyer under various names and organizations. But he’s most known for the garage/psych/kitchen rock juggernaut Osees, a killer band who changes styles almost as often as they do band names. But the latest name seems to have stuck, being in place for six years. The style, for better or worse, has also stayed largely the same: a mix of harsh bursts of punk that after a while all roll into each other, making Abomination Revealed At Last an album I gave one or two listens before shrugging it aside. Maybe it’s the times, but coming back to it I can still see my issues, but I also see many little things that bring the songs to life in a way I ignored, to my detriment.

ChrisDecember 11, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Kadavar: I Just Want To Be A Sound (2025)

This was supposed to be a different review. But I watching a review on YouTube for the latest from German psych/stoner/prog rock band Kadavar for their just-released second album of 2025, Kids Abandoning Destiny Among Vanity And Ruin and we needed to pivot. Not to review that album – the vinyl doesn’t come out until January – but to address the other album the band released this year, the one a lot of critics and content creators rolled their eyes against and fretted and squawked about the change in direction. And yeah, sure: I Just Want To Be A Sound is a bit jarring if you came expecting more of the deep stoner and ’70s rock worship Kadavar have embraced to varying degrees of success since their debut. A few more listens, though, reveal a real sense of adventure and a fine ear for hooks that recall both ’90s and ’00s rock/pop hybrids even as they remain tether to their flared, bellbottom roots.

ChrisDecember 3, 2025Leave a comment

deer hoof's noble and godlike in ruin album cover

Vinyl

Deerhoof: Noble And Godlike In Ruin (2025)

Is there a good place to start with Deerhoof? I always confused them with Deerhunter, a band I discovered around the same time, but my only experience with the San Francisco quartet was their 2007 release Friend Opportunity, an album I barely remember except as “weird.” Almost 20 years later I made the impromptu decision to try again. Enter Noble And Godlike In Ruin, their latest critically acclaimed record in a delightful light green vinyl. It’s still weird, but in a way the intervening 18 years of listening have prepared me. Still, there’s a part of me that feels unequipped to explain why now I can find a lot to enjoy in its anarchic chaos.

ChrisNovember 27, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Militarie Gun: God Save The Gun (2025)

If you had told me a year ago I would be loving a bunch of young, hungry bands the “kids” of today were into, I guess I wouldn’t be that surprised: after all, I’ve been loving The Dirty Nil since discovering their brand of loud, in-your-face pop punk. But the sheer volume of these young bands, and the strength of their music gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, rock is coming back. Case in point: Militarie Gun, whose second (or third depending on how you count) album God Save The Gun was recommended to me by my friend Sean, who wasn’t even alive when I started dating my wife. It’s a terrific, heart-on-sleeve rock album that straddles the swagger of garage rock with pop punk and indie with a bellyful of hardcore/emo themes.

ChrisNovember 25, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Naxatras: V (2025)

Time has since clouded just how I discovered Naxatras, the Greek psychedelic rock outfit. I think it was via Bandcamp, possibly by following the breadcrumb trail of “You Might Also Like…” albums at the bottom of the page of…some album. I remember I featured the band’s fourth full length, simply titled IV, in my Best of 2022 Stoner and Psych list over at Nine Circles, and now here we are with the equally descriptive album title V. Good news is it’s even better than its predecessor, heavier and doubling down on the exotic flavor of its melodies. This has been another great headphones album, but it’s equally effective played at loud volumes on a good stereo.

ChrisNovember 19, 2025Leave a comment

Miles Davis: Agharta (1975)

Where does a listener start when it comes to the “electric period” of Miles Davis? Where does the “electric period” even begin? Miles and the second quintet were using electric instruments as far back as Miles In The Sky (a personal favorite) but it seems like most folks peg it at the ambient, rolling atmosphere of In A Silent Way (another favorite). Where listeners start, though, is another matter. For me it was unfortunately with Pangaea, a live set from Japan that at age 17 I was not prepared for. Had I only started with that same date’s afternoon set, the brilliantly funky Agharta, I might have more quickly embraced this side of Davis’s career instead of retreating back to the early 60s for much of my 20s and 30s.

ChrisOctober 29, 2025October 29, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: rock

Osees: Abomination Revealed At Last (2025)

Kadavar: I Just Want To Be A Sound (2025)

Deerhoof: Noble And Godlike In Ruin (2025)

Militarie Gun: God Save The Gun (2025)

Naxatras: V (2025)

Miles Davis: Agharta (1975)