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Category: CD Reviews

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MUSIC REVIEW: PHILIP SHOUSE – Side 1 [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: PHILIP SHOUSE – Side 1 [EP]

| 26 February 2026 | Reply

Label: Wild Kingdom / Sound Pollution Release Date: February 27, 2026 Rating: 94% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur While I have listened to Philip Shouse for a long time without realizing it, his roles in bands with John Corabi, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, and Accept kept him in my line of vision.  With 2026, he steps […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: LEAH MARTIN-BROWN – Love & Other Crimes

MUSIC REVIEW: LEAH MARTIN-BROWN – Love & Other Crimes

| 26 October 2025 | Reply

Label: Frontier Records s.r.l. Release Date: October 24, 2025 Rating: 94% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur It’s as if Leah Martin-Brown has been lurking in the shadows for years.  Having worked through a Dirty Dozen interview with her in 2022 when she was fronting Evol Walks, I have been waiting for new music and it was delivered […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: REBA MEYERS – Clouded World [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: REBA MEYERS – Clouded World [EP]

| 25 October 2025 | Reply

Label: RLM Records Release Date: August 8, 2025 Rating: 92% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Seems 2025 is the year of EPs… while I miss full-length releases, I get it.  Reba Meyers steps out of the Code Orange world and into her own Clouded World on these six tracks that allow her to flex her rock muscles […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: DYLYN – Heavy [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: DYLYN – Heavy [EP]

| 6 August 2025 | Reply

Label: Nettwerk Music Group Release Date: May 16, 2025 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Another EP from another performer unknown to me crossed my email and it took me way too long to unpack and embrace the release.  The five-track release from DYLYN (aka Gwendolyn Lewis) dropped about 12 weeks ago and I am just now digesting […]

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SINGLE REVIEW: ROSE CARLEO BAND – Daisy’s Song

SINGLE REVIEW: ROSE CARLEO BAND – Daisy’s Song

| 27 May 2025 | Reply

SINGLE REVIEW: ROSE CARLEO BAND – Daisy’s Song Independent, May 2025 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 95% The Rose Carleo Band’s latest killer single isn’t just a great song, it’s also an important one. The first draft of the lyrics were written by friend of the band Darren ‘Daisy’ Booth, an outpouring of emotion after a […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: THE YAGAS – Midnight Minuet

MUSIC REVIEW: THE YAGAS – Midnight Minuet

Label: Independent Release Date: April 25, 2025 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur While I formed all of my musical opinions cutting my teeth on KISS and Cheap Trick in the late 70’s and then all of the Sunset Strip / glam rock bands of the 80’s, there was something to be said about the […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: KATERINA NICOLE – Serene In Violent Oceans [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: KATERINA NICOLE – Serene In Violent Oceans [EP]

| 18 February 2025 | Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: February 21, 2025 Rating: 89% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur With her debut EP, Serene In Violent Oceans, Katerina Nicole introduces you to the different facets of her voice and emotions… and it’s damn good stuff.  Disc opener and lead single “Catch My Breath” unfolds and we are faced with a musical onslaught that […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: KELSY KARTER & THE HEROINES – Love Made Me Do It

MUSIC REVIEW: KELSY KARTER & THE HEROINES – Love Made Me Do It

| 3 February 2025 | 1 Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: January 31, 2025 Rating: 100% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur It’s only the end of January and there are 11 months a LOT of releases coming this year, but HOLY SH*T… Kelsey Karter & The Heroines just dropped what is the release to beat for 2025 album of the year in my […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: ECHOES – Quiet, In Your Service

MUSIC REVIEW: ECHOES – Quiet, In Your Service

| 24 January 2025 | Reply

Label: Outlast Release Date: January 17, 2025 Rating: 92% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur The first review of 2025 takes me in a new direction sonically with a release that swirls hard rock, modern rock, and some ethereal grooves and vibes for good measure.  Echos steps out on her own in the rock and metal world […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: DAUGHTRY – Shock To The System (Part One)

MUSIC REVIEW: DAUGHTRY – Shock To The System (Part One)

| 23 October 2024 | Reply

Label: Big Machine Label Group Release Date: September 27, 2024 Rating: 100% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Full disclosure – I still spin Daughtry’s debut release regularly… has a lot of great rockers that kick ass and a ballad or two that draw you in.  I dig a lot of their catalog, but that first release […]

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CD REVIEW: TRIPLE ENGINE – TRIPLE ENGINE

CD REVIEW: TRIPLE ENGINE – TRIPLE ENGINE

| 30 September 2024 | Reply

CD REVIEW: TRIPLE ENGINE – TRIPLE ENGINE Independent September 2024 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 82% Perth, Western Australia’s Triple Engine play barroom blues a la ZZ Top – but it’s not a Texas biker bourbon bar, it’s a friendly Aussie pub, and they’re playing in the breezy beer garden on a sunny laid back Sunday […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: QARINAH – Transcendent [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: QARINAH – Transcendent [EP]

| 18 September 2024 | Reply

Label: Buio Omega Music Release Date: September 13, 2024 Rating: 86% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Again, the stream of EPs hitting my email and feed lately has been overwhelming (I guess the full-length LP might not be the way to go for some artists).  The latest offering from Qarinah is one such EP that I […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: PENNY BORED – I’m Bored [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: PENNY BORED – I’m Bored [EP]

| 10 September 2024 | Reply

Label: Open Your Ears Records Release Date: September 13, 2024 Rating: 86% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur My musical taste buds have always bee na little varied and my like of the latest EP from Penny Bored adds to that diversity.  While not a ‘rock’ record, there are certainly elements woven into the track that carry […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: JAGER HENRY – Heart Of Thorns [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: JAGER HENRY – Heart Of Thorns [EP]

| 23 August 2024 | Reply

Label: Bornsad Release Date: August 23, 2024 Rating: 88% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Sometimes its better to wait and read any background on an artist that you aren’t familiar with until you listen through whatever music is in front of you.  I know I am in the minority, but I have never been a huge Led […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: HAVEN MADISON – Turn Off All The Lights [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: HAVEN MADISON – Turn Off All The Lights [EP]

| 13 July 2024 | Reply

Label: 19 Recordings Release Date: April 26, 2024 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Seems to be the year of EPs that strike a nerve in me when I listen through new material.  Maybe it’s just the way of the industry or (as I believe) artists are releasing their best stuff with no filler.  That […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: BLACK VEIL BRIDES – Bleeders [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: BLACK VEIL BRIDES – Bleeders [EP]

| 21 June 2024 | Reply

Label: Spinefarm Release Date: June 21, 2024 Rating: 98% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Not that it matters, but full disclosure – I am a huge fan on Black Veil Brides and have been since the beginning.  There was something about the energy  and then the music got better and better with each outing and my […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: PAIGE STARK – Good At Love [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: PAIGE STARK – Good At Love [EP]

Label: Blonde Dog Release Date: June 7, 2024 Rating: 92% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Not everything in my listening cycle has to rock in the way most people interpret the word.  A new EP dropping soon rocks without creating the need to headbang or play air guitar and drums.  The four-track release from Paige Stark […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: DEVON THOMPSON – Skin [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: DEVON THOMPSON – Skin [EP]

| 19 March 2024 | Reply

Label: Exquisite Feline Release Date: March 27, 2024 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur I have been digging EPs lately… never thought I would, but a lot of times they are easy on the time available to listen to new music and allow an artist to put forth their best few songs.  Don’t get me […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: ACE FREHLEY – 10,000 Volts

MUSIC REVIEW: ACE FREHLEY – 10,000 Volts

| 22 February 2024 | Reply

Label: MNRK Heavy Release Date: February 23, 2024 Rating: 95% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur It’s no secret to ANYONE who knows me that I am a huge KISS fan.  There isn’t much the band does that I don’t dig, and this carries to former lead guitarist Ace Frehley who is releasing his 10th solo album […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: HONEYMOON SUITE – Alive

MUSIC REVIEW: HONEYMOON SUITE – Alive

| 14 February 2024 | Reply

Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l. Release Date: February 16, 2024 Rating: 98% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur There are bands from my ‘youth’ that never really got their due and one of those bands I feel were overlooked through my formative years was Honeymoon Suite.  I cut my melodic rock teeth on songs like “New Girl Now,” […]

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