Scars of Tomorrow
The Failure in Drowning
Victory Records
Street: 10.31
Scars of Tomorrow = Misery Signals + Bleeding Through + ugghhhhhhhh
An open letter to Scars of Tomorrow:
Dear Scars,
Please stop. Encourage all of your friends to do the same. In fact, ask Victory to call it quits while you’re at it. I’m going to shoot myself if I have to hear another stolen death riff, breakdown, or faux-emo croon. You can obviously play your instruments, so why don’t you come up with something more original? Maybe you should ditch the whole straightedge thing and try psychedelics. I hear that helps the imagination. We look forward to your resignation.
Sincerely,
-Chris Carter

Shanna Kiel
Orphan
Thick Records
Street: 11.07
Shanna Kiel = Bikini Kill + Hole + The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Orphan marks the ex-front woman of Sullen, Shanna Kiel’s, solo debut. The album starts out with a 46 second soft acoustic ballad, but on track number two busts into a riotgrrl fuled anthem—territory that feels much more familiar. Shanna’s raspy vocals are reminiscent of Courtney Love’s, as are the dismal song topics. “Chariots of Silk” is the most upbeat song on the ten-track album, but culminates in frantic screams, pianos and drumbeats. On my favorite song, “Rotting From the Inside” Shanna creates a disturbing concoction singing “This little baby it don’t have a name/ It’s gone now/ It’s an obituary,” shortly followed with an image of a wedding day. The album closes with “Good Grief”, another dreary acoustic ballad. Orphan is eight tracks of fierce angst-ridden songs wrapped up with two soft and gloomy ones. It is absolutely perfect. – Jeanette Moses

Sikth
Death of a Dead Day
Bieler Bros Records
Street: 06.06
Sikth = Slipknot + The Deftones + Mudvayne + Bloodsimple + System of a Down
Unlike many nu-metal acts, Sikth actually use guitar solos. That said you can’t change a leopards spots the record is still a nu-metal record. The riffing and drumming is all pretty standard nu-metal. The vocals are actually what makes Sikth stand out. They are all over the place from screams to singing to just plain chaos. Though the deciding factor in whether Sikth are worth a shit or not is in the songwriting. Thankfully the band is brimming with emotion and the songwriting with a few exceptions, is chock full of originality. I can see these guys possibly bridging the gap between nu-metal fans and fans of regular old metal. I thought I was going to get a bunch of crap based on what the bands bio said and the stupid band name, but once again do not judge a book by its cover. –Bryer Wharton

Songs of Green Pheasant
Aerial Days
FatCat Records
Street: 11.14
Songs of Green Pheasant = Slowdive + Simon and Garfunkel
Several descriptors come to mind when listening to Songs of Great Pheasant: cloudy, warm, pillowy, isolated, reverb, resonant, respectful, sorrowful, content and joyous. It is depressing to listen to these recordings and then read that they were recorded mostly on a four track machine. Duncan Sumpner is creator of Songs of Green Pheasant and is yet another teacher/musician ( think Sam Beam of Iron and Wine) to produce music that is very sensitive without being too emotional and sweet or without being cheesy. The album is a collection of recordings from the last three years and fit together surprisingly well. This is music with real depth and character and should not be overlooked. –Andrew Glassett

Stylex
Tight Moves
Pretend Records
Street: 11.21
Stylex = Cut Copy + Clinic
Tight Moves is half nostalgic of traditional New York Punk and eighties pop, and half awesome evolution of danceable rock. Vocals on pizzicato drive side-by-side 8-bit wobbling synth wheels and digital effects that never repeat throughout a forty-minute time-trial. It’s a lovely little record; Stylex pushes nearly every song to their ultimate climax and decimation inside three and a half minutes. The first-person lyrics are equal pars of absurdly frank and frankly absurd – funny and obvious in some moments, and cross-eyed in others. –Josh Nordin

Swan Lake
Beast Moans
Jagjaguar
Street: 11.21
Swan Lake = Arcade Fire + Animal Collective + Wilco
What do you get when you combine The New Pornographers and Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes? You would think that you would get Swan Lake, a band that contains experience from all three previously mentioned groups. However that is not the case, as the moan of the beast was probably the childbirth of yet a new direction in recording and songwriting. They are very similar to contemporaries Grizzly Bear with their folk, rock and lo-fi recording techniques coalescing to produce something very psychedelic and interesting. There is a lot of audio trickery and panning that make the album very fluid and at times befuddling. This album is destined to simultaneously fly beneath the radar and impact the entire indie rock world. –Andrew Glassett