Order of the Underground

    Photo Credit: Waldo Oswaldo, taken at Two-Til Club, San Diego 2017 Tour.    Some bands wear their influences on their sleeves, as the saying goes—but when a band has so many influences and each members' songwriting eclectic inspirations take a life of their own, it takes a keen ear to dissect each style. Music aficionados will have more than enough fillets-of-fuzz stacked on their palettes in a single sitting with the endless helpings offered on this next installment: Madcity Meltdown is the latest installment from Madison, WI underground rock pioneers, Clean Room. Delving into familiar lo-fi rock ‘n roll territory while bringing unexpected, fast-paced psychedelic ingenuity into the carefully-selected mix, Clean Room hearkens back to the heavy-yet-melodic prowess of early-era Alice Cooper—notably on “Way Long Gone.” Rest assured, Thin Lizzy's skillful, metal swagger is not absent. Passages of garage rock-infused skate punk seamlessly permeate throug...

Delivering an arsenal of high-speed, heavy-octane punk and rock 'n roll riffs, Madison's own iconic Fire Heads manage to capture the sheer intensity of their exhilarating live performance into a fresh, beautiful slice of wax. Over the last few years, underground venues across the nation have been eagerly awaiting this installment throughout their numerous regional tours, acclimating the world to the relentless barrage of psych-rock riffery known as Fire Heads. Every track on the album unfailingly evolves into a cornucopia of psychrock fills, Motörhead-style momentum, and unexpected directions of creativity that provide ample supplies of devilish speed with incendiary fuzz. The production quality undoubtedly triumphs in the garage rock paradigm while continuing to cultivate the gritty lo-fi approach of seasoned punk musicians before them: Jay Reatard, whom the band's original moniker paid tribute to, is a top pool of inspiration drawn from to help execute their own...