Arts

Royal Wood Dear John (Cordova Bay Records) 3.5/5 Toronto-based artist Royal Wood’s ninth album, Dear John, marries gritty blues with smooth folky hope reminding me of stomping in spilled beer on sticky tavern floors during my undergrad—a cozy place. Dear John is a letter to the artist himself, beginning at “The End of the Road.” […]

Cemetery Moon Dominion of Ashes (Wulfhere Productions) 4/5 Connecticut black metal is alive and well. Initially a solo project launched in 2015 that turned into a full band in 2023, Cemetery Moon’s second full-length album, Dominion of Ashes, exceeds my expectations. The album fits into the black-metal glove perfectly, with deadly guitar progressions, powerful bass […]

Banquets Petty Relics (Black Numbers) 3/5 Banquets are a New Jersey four-piece indie-punk band who released their third album, Spit at the Sun, and played what they thought were their final performances in 2016. But they reunited in 2021 and now have made a return with Petty Relics—an album about getting older while still having […]

DFMK Playa Nuclear (Alternative Tentacles) 4.5/5 Hailing from Tijuana, DFMK has been active in the underground punk scene since 2009. Their newest LP, Playa Nuclear, brings the best of surf rock to mix with their hardcore punk roots and comes to a frothing head. Technical proficiency shines through early. DFMK has been refining their sound […]

What scares us is revealing—and as society evolves, so do our nightmares. The best horror films capture the anxieties of their time while tapping into fears so primal they remain terrifying decades later. Here are five that changed the genre forever. The Blair Witch Project (1999) Framed as a film studies project, The Blair Witch […]

Do you ever wish you could sit down with the Almighty, and really just get down to brass tacks? Well, with God Is a Scottish Drag Queen, audiences can do just that. Comedian Mike Delamont started his stage career here in Victoria, and now he’s coming back, and bringing his most-loved show with him. The […]

The Telephone Numbers Scarecrow II (Slumberland) 3.5/5 San Francisco’s The Telephone Numbers are cementing themselves as a worthy presence in the indie pop scene, with their second album, Scarecrow II, boldly embracing the timeless feel of ’70s and ’90s rock. From the opening track, “Goodbye Rock n Roll,” the band establishes a clear and distinct […]

The Carolyn Pyramid Scheme of Grief (59 X Records/Disconnect Disconnect Records) 4/5 Here’s what Atlanta-based three-piece The Carolyn know what matters: punk songs don’t need to be over two and a half minutes long. As it turns out, no songs on their third LP, Pyramid Scheme of Grief, go beyond that length, and absolutely nothing […]