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BARRY THOMPSON

Latest Articles

Jeffree Star | Cupcakes Taste Like Violence

Popsicle (2008)
Why am I listening to this pitch-corrected-to-death excrement when we should all be watching Jeffree Star's Cunt of Love (or something to that effect) on VH1?

By: BARRY THOMPSON | December 02, 2008

Psych out

The depunking of Darker My Love
Conversations about music can easily turn into conversations about geography.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | November 24, 2008

Punk buccaneer

Jonee Earthquake rumbles below the surface
Jonee Earthquake rumbles below the surface

By: BARRY THOMPSON | November 24, 2008

Mob rules

Bang Camaro gang up for round II
Bang Camaro gang up for round II

By: BARRY THOMPSON | November 11, 2008

O’Death | Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin

Kemado (2008)
O’Death, from the rural backwater town of New York City, are a little bit country and a lot more calamitous power-folk.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 28, 2008

We Are The Seahorses, Killspree Burlesque, and Real Life Time Machines at an “undisclosed” basement location
The ensuing batshit hysteria of this gathering was probably as close as one can realistically and safely get to a temporary autonomous zone.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 24, 2008

Scenic route to Hell

Easter Bloodhounds take their sweet time destroying you
When it comes to goals a band can strive to achieve, having an excuse to get hammered and make noise with your buddies is surely among the most practical.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 20, 2008

Soup to completely nuts

Rise Against at T.T. the Bear's, October 7, 2008
I half-expected Rise Against to play their obligatory hits for 20 minutes and say “goodnight”; instead, they tore it up for well over an hour.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 15, 2008

Star Fucking Hipsters | Until We’re Dead

Fat Wreck Chords (2008)
Of course, one could argue that anything called Star Fucking Hipsters gets an automatic three stars.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 08, 2008

Sweet release

The Urinals can’t hold it in any longer
I don’t want to waste your time waxing philosophical about the problematic logic behind qualifying music “good” or “bad,” much less pontificating on whether “sophisticated punk” is an oxymoron.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | October 08, 2008

Sex on wheels

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult just never get old
Subcultures all need their touchstones: entities that over time assume the stature of full-fledged institutions.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | September 16, 2008

Satan's little helpers

Thrash legends Wargasm only 99 percent pure evil
Everyone knows that metal is the most evil of all music, what with all those references to the occult, destruction, drinking, the color black, and long hair.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | September 10, 2008

Painfully sweet

The Toothaches are a gas
Ask the same boring question enough times to enough people and you’ll get a not-so-boring answer.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | September 02, 2008

The kids are all right

Teenage kicks courtesy of Mindwalk Blvd
There is an outstanding possibility that your high-school band sucked.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | August 26, 2008

In and out of fashion

Paradosaurus Wreck invades the Dilboy VFW
Something felt eerie about scruffy, squirrelly Rhode Island trio Deer Tick as they entertained the bleep out of the densely occupied VFW.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | August 19, 2008

Smokin’ rock

Leftover Crack at Club Lido, August 7, 2008
With an all-star cast of Choking Victim, Morning Glory, and F-Minus alums, NYC’s Leftover Crack have a sometimes problematic knack for jacking adrenaline levels.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | August 19, 2008

Refuse Resist

Mind: Yourself | Rodent Popsicle
With almost every song making its point and ending in well under three minutes, Mind: Yourself isn’t out to waste anyone’s time.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | August 19, 2008