"NEEDLE DRIVER, with drummer Allison Miller and bassist Johnny Deblase, features a more traditional instrumentation, but the wacky, glitchy riffs and rhythms are anything but." - Premier Guitar

"Guitarist BRANDON SEABROOK is a familiar face in New York’s new music circles, having played with Peter Evans and Jacob Garchik among others. NEEDLE DRIVER is a trio with bassist Johnny DeBlase and drummer Allison Miller, a take-no-prisoners merging of avant garde jazz, progressive rock, and heavy metal. Nothing settles into a groove—it’s nervous and constantly changing up. Seabrook probably wouldn’t want to hear the comparison, but the abrupt start and stops, constant tempo changes and ultra-fast virtuosic guitar work are reminiscent of classically-influenced British rockers Genesis, Yes, Hatfield and the North, and Gentle Giant. […] a sort of merger between shredding and Philip Glass minimalism." - Jim Motavalli, The New York City Jazz Record

“...five complex, idea-packed instrumentals with wildly shifting time signatures, rapid-fire chord changes, sinister riffing, and characteristically spastic solo explosions from Seabrook.” - The Chicago Reader

"If the presence of Martin Bisi is a boon when it comes to piquing the interest, then the presence of a Nefarious Industries catalogue number on the sleeve is of paramount importance. Self-described as “the home of a bunch of big, dumb noise”, it is, to my mind, one of the few labels out there fighting against the creeping tide of commercialism in music. […] The label’s latest release is a beautifully packaged, perfectly recorded example of chaos in motion. Informed by the rampant experimentalism exhibited in Miles Davis’ ‘bitches brew’ and filtered through the lens of ‘sister’-era Sonic Youth, BRANDON SEABROOK’s Needle Driver features just five tracks and introduces the listener to a multi-faceted whirl of music, the like of which will leave the listener dizzy and uncertain. Syncopated beats and atonal chord progressions are the order of the day, all shot through with arcing feedback and layers of sheet-metal noise, and the result is a glimpse into the dark inspiration that the dark alleys of New York seem to foment. […] BRANDON SEABROOK’s Needle Driver ultimately sounds like nothing other than itself. Not for those for whom familiarity breeds safety, Needle Driver is an avant-garde masterpiece that throws down a rough-covered gauntlet to all those who would claim innovation in their art." - SonicAbuse

"Guitarist Brandon Seabrook's new album, Needle Driver, is quick and dirty. It could hardly be classified as a jazz album, but we're going out on a limb and saying it is anyway. […] Allison Miller has always had a steady hand, and this mix of rock and jazz elements are an exceptional use of her abilities. Seabrook, who has been weird for a minute but has really let that side show this year, is playing his guitar in every possible direction and he's bringing Deblase along with him on bass. Together, they're a madcap trio whose songs are wrapped up long before you tire of them. It's really that brief an album, so brief "rewards repeat listens" is by no means a cliche. Needle Driver is certainly one of those albums just worth a listen, no matter one's proclivities." - Nextbop

"Brandon Seabrook’s Needle Driver are one of those groups that really are almost impossible to classify, because “avant-jazz” and “alternative metal” just don’t do the band justice. Fronted by guitarist Brandon Seabrook and supported by bassist Johnny Deblase (Sabbath Assembly) and drummer Allison Miller (Ani Defranco, The Seth Myers Show), the trio defy musical expectations and typical song construction in favor of off-the-wall instrumental tracks that range from low and slow (“Ventwhorerisin'”) to erratic, jazzy shredfests (“Entropic Vacuum Party”)." - Decibel Magazine

"Like a large syringe being driven into the base of your brain stem by avante-garde genius Brandon Seabrook himself, his newest project NEEDLE DRIVER definitely lives up to its title. Scorching solos, bone crushing chord progressions, and hanging onto one note so long it makes an uncomfortably long Family Guy joke look tame. Melody takes a backseat to the groove throughout and time signatures are decimated on this jarring release. I would probably classify it as avante-garde jazz, but genres mean nothing to these musicians as they blaze a hole through most of them." - MoshPitNation

"If you know Brandon Seabrook, you probably know the role he plays as a human special effect, on guitar or banjo, in all manner of experimental settings. (In this space last week, he turned up as a member of Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double.) But it’s when he’s left to his own devices that Seabrook goes the most berserk — in a band like Seabrook Power Plant, or with sparring partners like trumpeter Peter Evans. Now comes his latest provocation, NEEDLE DRIVER, with Johnny Deblase on electric bass and Allison Miller on drums. […] This track, “Entropic Vacuum Party,” highlights some unresolved issues with thrash metal, along with a more generally impertinent and concussive rapport." - WBGO

"Needle Driver is the latest experiment of Brooklyn musician Brandon Seabrook. The hard-to-describe EP seamlessly bridges contemporary classical music, experimental jazz, and mathcore into a nasty instrumental tapestry. The trio even includes some microtonal intervals, spotted in the song “venwhorerisin'”. The five compositions are too quickly gone, but they provide an endless amount of entertainment while they last: uncommon time signatures, odd harmonies, complex and exhausting melodies, as well as a knack for deranged structures that somehow hold themselves together." - Can This Even Be Called Music?

"Perhaps Zevious is the best point of reference for NEEDLE DRIVER, as Seabrook and company provide five short bursts of energy, each featuring aggressive riffing, speed picking, and disjointed time changes. Particularly, Deblase and Seabrook’s lines are barely controlled chaos, with Miller doing her best to keep them rooted. The result involves massive walls of harmonic progressions made from thousands of individual notes." - Avant Music News

"It’s a similar kind of “musicianship as a cudgel” approach that bands like Helmet, Unsane, Behold The Arctopus, and countless others have used to punish New York audiences for decades. Seabrook, Miller, and Deblase carry on that legacy with devilish competence." - Invisible Oranges