Daylight Dies
Lost to the Living
Candlelight
Street: 06.24
Daylight Dies = Katatonia (old) + Opeth + creativity
When I first heard Daylight Dies years ago, what ultimately came to mind was Katatonia Brave Murder Day-era worship. The sound was very similar in guitar tone and structure. I kind of passed them off with little interest, missed their follow-up to their debut, and now have Lost to the Living falling in my lap with great surprise. Yes, those old-style Katatonia influences are there—with even a little bit of Opeth seeping in; just without the enormous amount of acoustic guitars they use. Lost to the Living is damn fine doom metal; the songcraft is stellar, with great melodic guitar riffs and vocals that don’t sound run of the mill. Some of my favorite moments are when the band uses clean singing; it kind of breaks up the album and its doom-laden … uhh, everything. The emotions they stir up aren’t horribly dark due to the immense amount of great melodies on the album; it is somber and dark but has a lingering hope that leaves you able to listen to the record repeatedly without being depressed as hell. –Bryer Wharton

Dead Sea Effect
Those Of Us About To Die Salute You
Secret Decoder
Street: 07.22
Dead Sea Effect = Ministry Beats trapped in your closet + a hung-over Wolf EyesBy fist listen you can tell that this band is merely just a side project for the two members. The two members are Peter C. Neusch (Race Against Space) on guitar with Justin Vellucci (solo artist) playing everything else. These dudes just seemed to mash together some strange Duane Denison guitar track with some gutless clicks and clacks in the background and some Brain McMahan spoken word over the top chopped it up seven different ways and called it an album. These seven songs really could have used some nurturing and compassion. If I would have had it my way, their would have a been a real drummer pounding his way all Zach Hill style instead of some flimsy Spoonman sounds in the background. A real drummer would have given these songs the will to live but instead all they just whither away. Boo hoo. – Jon Robertson

Destroy Everything
Freedom of Speech Means Talk is Cheap
Tent City Records
Street: 04.01
Destroy Everything = Left Alone + U.S. Bombs + Wednesday Night Heroes
If there's one thing the world will never, ever need anymore of, it's loud, fast punk bands featuring leather-clad, mohawked members of dubious intelligence more concerned with getting drunk than smashing the state. Though leather-clad, mohawked, loud and fast, Destroy Everything seem to avoid most of the negatives associated with their particular brand of punk rock on Freedom of Speech. Their style is a lot more catchy than most of their brethren and features considerably smarter lyrics than I expected. Granted, one of the songs featuring said smart lyrics is entitled "Dickhead," but it's really a lot better than you'd think. "Fast Food" is the perfect companion piece to the Descendents’ classic "Weinerschnitzel" while "All the Kids Are Liars" has a vaguely folky and outlaw-country influenced swagger. I really didn't expect to enjoy this, but Destroy Everything are too good to ignore. –Ricky Vigil

Dosh
Wolves and Wishes
Anticon
Street: 05.13
Dosh = DJ Shadow + Oval + The Books + (insert genre here)
Anticon has always housed a glorious lineup of underground hip-hop talent (you're welcome, Atmosphere!), but Wolves and Wishes  the umpteenth release by producer extraordinaire Dosh  just might be the collective's greatest moment. Here, Dosh once again uses his unique hip-hop production style as the jump-off point for a journey through samples so vivid and diverse that even Kid Koala will go green with envy. Want jam-band horn section with your beats? Just toss on closing track "Capture the Flag." Broken Social Scene-styled catharsis with a huge danceable beat behind it? "Bury the Ghost" is your game! It's an album so sprawling and satisfying that you're likely to hear bits of your favorite artist at some point ("That's totally a Four Tet ripoff!" you cry while "Food Cycles" plays), but really those moments are smaller parts of the big picture: Dosh has crafted an astonishing beat festival that's as emotional as it is downright funky. Evan Sawdey

Double Pumpers
Old Gold
Music For Cats
Street: 07.15
Double Pumpers = Ya Mom’s Busted Ass
Picture yourself hanging at your parents and all of a sudden they decide to leave so like some weirdo you decide to go searching through all your parents’ personal belongings. Along the way you find some strange sex books and other things that you don’t want to remember. One of the things you do remember finding was some ridiculous ass pictures of your parents all coked out at some 70’s rock show. Well that picture was probably taken at the Double Pumpers show. This music sounds like a local band that probably plays the same broke down bar with the same haggard fools (your parents) reliving their glory days while listening to the band play Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water” for the fifty-millionth time. Bogus! –Jon Robertson