Allen HuangThe saying might go, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but any critic who has sifted through dozens of CDs/movies/books/whatever will tell you that first impressions matter greatly. That’s why God invented press kits and...
Vee Hua 華婷婷This SxSW, FIVE REDEFINE staff members were on hand, rendering it the biggest SxSW for REDEFINE yet. And because three of us definitely attended many a show together, my top five list definitely shares some commonalities with Tim Vordtriede’s...
Ryan PangilinanThe appropriately-titled Ghosts is the final album from long-running Drive Like Jehu-inspired outfit, Nakatomi Plaza. Surprisingly, it starts off on a far more melodic note than on their previous release, Unsettled. With tunes like “Artificial...
StuffYouWillHate.com has quickly become one of my favorite new online blogs because the neon-clad-fashioncore-six-years-too-late kids who are featured there remind me why I hate new bands. Kids like Brokencyde who scream over computerized, plasticy...
Rachel HelmA lot of bands today seem to like going for ironically harsh-sounding names and album titles; punching against the hipster grain is Kill To Kill, whose Fighter EP sounds a lot like a parking lot brawl after a hardcore show. Listen to “Radical...
Peter Woodburn"We aren't just another band, tritely speaking of our own personal struggle and how fucking hardcore we are. I'm done with that." -- Jay Maas
"I think repetition has the potential to hypnotize and envelop. That is something we are very interested in; we are always looking for the perfect loop." -- Andrew Hung
Tim VordtriedeImagine you are a sweet, lovely young lady, and you are having a dinner party. You invite your good friends Björk, Feist, and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. When dinnertime comes, instead of serving them food, you just eat the three of them. Then...