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October 2006 - Issue 214

Ad Astra Per Aspera
Catapult Calypso
Sonic Unyon Records
Street: 10.03
Ad Astra Per Aspera = Cursive + Black Heart Procession + The Blood Brothers
After two EPs and signing with Sonic Unyon Records, Ad Astra Per Aspera is finally releasing their debut full length. Catapult Calypso smacks the senses like a brick to the face. There is nothing on this record that deserves anything less than your full and undivided attention. Even if you tried not to listen closely to the blissful disunity exhibited throughout Catapult Calypso, it couldnt be done. There is something inherent within us that makes us curious and causes us to want to know more about things that are mysterious, things that we dont immediately understand. In the four short years since AAPAs inception they have mastered how to draw the listener in and make them so curious that they feel compelled to explore further and further. Ultimately, it is impossible to avoid getting caught in the chaotic web of noise that is AAPAs debut full length. The first listen will draw you in, but it may not convince you. Its the second listen that will draw you in, hit you like a brick and render you helpless. Jeremy C. Wilkins

African Head Charge
Off the Beaten Track
Anthology Records
Street:
African Head Charge = (Asian Dub Foundation + King Tubby + Dub Syndicate) / DJ Spooky
World music has gotten a bad rap due to the yuppie crowd trying to reclaim some sort of authentic taste in the countries that they visit through aural flights of fancy. Not so with African Head Charge if anything they really give those rain-stick CDs a run for their money. Off the Beaten Track is a sound sensation that seamlessly blends beats and sound bites to produce a tapestry that affords both organic instrumentation AND electronic manipulation a place on the table to dine together. They also combine science and sound in the song Language and Mentality that features an extended sound bite from Albert Einstein! After all these years, this album still sounds amazing. Adrian Sherwood produces and Jah Wobble contributes some roarin bass lines. You definitely wont be seeing this album at your local world music store with a name like Timbuktoo! Erik Lopez

Alan Sparhawk
Solo Guitar
Silber Records
Street: 10.01
Alan Sparhawk = Windy and Carl + Slowdive Pygmalion + Godspeed You Black Emperor!
You might expect to be in a world of trouble when the equation above is mixed together with the name Alan Sparhawk. While mostly known for his central role in Low this solo work (finally!) shows the truly tortured artist we have always wanted out of Sparhawk. Recorded live in a church with just guitar loops and some reverb, Sparhawk is drenched in mid 90s shoegaze, a Twin Peaks episode from Season One and Canada. Amazing. Layer upon layer of textured attack and cease-and-desist restraint resonate as the album moves deftly between an architecture of brooding build up and orchestrated sea faring. While Low is the pop side and Black-Eyed Snakes is his rockin side, Alans solo stuff is a 90s mid-life crisis finally shooed out the door. This release is A+ from the if you like the drone not to much and not to little. Erik Lopez

Animal Collective
Hollinndagain
Paw Tracks
Street: 10.31
Animal Collective = cowboys + Indians + fatal urgency
On their first US tour with Black Dice, Animal Collective felt inclined to present new material at each show. Seven of those tracks, never recorded in a studio, are available here. Though the rendering certainly leaves something to be desired, Hollinndagain serves as both a great departure point for the bands oeuvre and an important historic document for completists. We find the band sounding more like a psychedelic marching band or a pack of clamoring child prodigies than the complex pop band of current. That said, considering there was apparently a mountain of recordings from this time period, why not add a few more tracks to the CD release? The true connoisseurs dropped $80 on the LP anyway. - Justin Thomas Burch

Ambitions
Question
Think Fast! Records
Street: 09.19
Ambitions= Ignite + Shelter + With Honor + Dag Nasty
Its difficult to write a review that heaps praise onto a CD without it sounding like the sugar-coated gilded one sheets I get with the albums I receive. I must say though, that Ambitions effort on Think Fast! is superb. 3/5 of the members of Ambitions have full time gigs in With Honor, but to call this a side project would be a misnomer. Ambitions stands on its own two feet. The guitar work is obviously Jay and Jeffrey Aust, but they are more solid and less hurried than they are in With Honor, which makes the songs not only more accessible, but better songs period. Complexity is sometimes the thorn in the side of good songwriting. There are seven songs and 15 minutes of rock on this bad boy which only leaves you wanting more. The vocals are mostly sung in a Ray Cappo/Zoli sort of way. No whining here. Theres an occasional yell thrown in here and there, but not in an effort to feign intensity. Its funny how you can tell when a band really cares and feels what theyre doing. This is honest and unlike most things being released these days. No open chord breakdowns, no tough guy stances, no AP endorsement here, just good punk/hardcore. Peter Fryer

Barton Carroll
Love & War
Skybucket Records
Street: 10.06
Barton Carroll = Nick Cave + Nick Drake + the AP English reading list
Somehow, from the prolapsed miasma that is Seattle, a Southern-style troubadour has emerged with a disc that should appeal to the arch-tweediness of black-turtlenecked hipsters everywhere. Carrolls music is, in itself, unthreatening and familiar, and lyrical themes as overwhelming as the titular love and war are bolstered by his re-treads of Elie Weisel and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, instead of his own experience. His dolorous reading of the soul classic Dark End of the Street manages to have a poignant beauty that helps underline just how universal and heart-wrenching the personal can be, though, and helps save the CD from collapsing under the weight of his extensive reach. Marie Braden

Benoit Pioulard
Precis
Kranky Records
Street: 10.16
Benoit Pioulard = Windy and Carl + Landing + Jessica Bailiff
It doesnt come as any sort of revelation when words like organic and sonic density make their way into the vocabulary used to describe the music of 21-year-old Thomas Meluch, aka Benoit Pioulard. I would, instead, like to use chemistry symbols because that seems to be the next level in tape decay talk. Symbols that turn the common table salt into NaCL seem more appropriate in describing music that is at once a lowly gaggle of folkly disintegration and also conceptually sophisticated. Almost like the new Calvin Klein cologne with its emblematic one-word name like Desire. Have it your way here, this album is incredibly C6H1206. Neo-folk need not apply here because Precis is precisely amazing. Erik Lopez

The Blackhiv
Anyway She Wants It
Lucid Records
Street: 09.26
The Blackhiv = worthless + brainless
Recorded live from a radio broadcast in Iceland, The Blackhiv present to us their first release, Anyway She Wants It. Im not sure and dont know that I care how she wants it, but I do know I never want to listen to any of these songs again. I wish that the recording of this broadcast would have burned in a terrible, terrible fire so that nobody would waste his or her precious existence here on this earth listening to it. Judging from the complexity - or lack thereof - of these five tracks, The Blackhiv have no idea that it takes more than singing about sex, drugs and drinking to make music that people wont want to punch themselves in the face for listening to it. One of the joys of reviewing CDs is that after you it, the album becomes yours. Ive never been so thankful for that, because after I listened to The Blackhiv enough to write this review, it was intensely gratifying to throw it in the trash. Jeremy C. Wilkins

Blue Sky Black Death
The Holocaust
Babygrande Records
Street: 09.05
Blue Sky = RZA + Awol One + [a morbid] Greyboy
Blue Sky Black Death (a duo consisting of Kingston and Young God) sound like they have been steadily apprenticing under the RZA style-of-beats-umbrella for decades. The beats are synonymous with the most renowned Wu Records ever released and hold their own in the sea of song soldiers. Its not easy to replicate the legendary shoulin sound of the remarkable Wu-Tang Clan, but they pull it off with their own style and finesse. However, there is a crack in the sidewalk whereever you go. The Holocaust is the featured emcee on this record, but he doesnt make the grade at all in fact, he should drop out. With rhymes that are all over the map with subject material and nonsense, statements so clich that Im going to start tearing my hair out if I hear them again, and astyle similar to a Down Syndrome speak-and-spell Holocaust kills it (in the worst way possible). Lance Saunders

Burn in Silence
Angel Maker
Prosthetic Records
Street: 07.25
Burn In Silence= Death + Thrash + Metalcore + Singing
Every hero needs an antithesis. Nobody wants to see He-Man prancing around Eternia in tights. Well, almost nobody. Thats why there was Skeletor. Optimus Prime had Megatron, GI Joe: Cobra Commander, Samurai Jack: Aku, Jedi: the Dark Side and so on and so forth. So, it would stand to reason for every poppy metalcore act there needs to be a more interesting, intense, dare I say villainous act. Where the current metalcore trend is to get on the playlists of the local metal station and the next action movies soundtrack, Burn in Silence plays a technical blend of death, thrash & metalcore thats designed for those who secretly were hoping the bad guy would lay waste to the good guy. What truly sets Burn in Silence apart is the technicality and precision of their music. It doesnt pander to impatient listening, it takes a few spins to get it. Unfortunately, they rely on open chord breakdown riffs a little too often, and the keyboards can be a bit overpowering. Those things aside, the musicianship packed into this CD is top notch, as is the recording. Burn in Silence is a more complex, dark side of the force metalcore. (10.16 Boom Va) Peter Fryer

Califone
Roots & Crowns
Thrill Jockey Records
Street: 10.10
Califone = Badly Drawn Boy + Nick Drake + percussion galore
Roots & Crowns is destined to be one of the most overlooked albums of the year. It has no edge or new idea presently within its 13 tracks; it really is just a simple roots record with fantastic performances. It will also be overlooked because this really is folk music. There is no tinge of emo or a political slant of any kind. This album shouldnt be overlooked because it has an intrinsic purity of purpose. Its purpose is to set a scene of a particular landscape and the different feelings and sounds that happen within that scene. In other words, real folk music. Half of the songs feature stunning acoustic guitar matched with honest vocals that could have been sung on the porch of a back country home. Other songs are inexplicably tied with swamp or boogie type music that really expose the mystery of a eerie dark swamp. This album may be overlooked, but it doesnt matter to the creators of it because they know they have produced something that is real, something that has spiritual connectivity. Andrew Glassett

Cancer Bats
Birthing the Giant
Distort
Street: 09.06
Cancer Bats = Led Zeppelin + Black Flag + M.O.D.
With most punkmetalcorefusion bands, searching for the melody is a task of Sisyphean proportion. Not so with Cancer Bats, although their vocals are the easily-repetitious screeching that quickly wear on the brain and ears. This is better than most of the punk-laced bubblegum aimed straight at the Hot Topic demographic, but it was much better done 20 years ago by bands like Youth Brigade. Maybe my problem with this CD is that it just seems too calculated, as if it were recorded with the distinct goal of being in heavy rotation on Headbangers Ball, in their perennial attempt to sound relevant. (Club Boomva: 10.30) Marie Braden

Chad Vangaalen
Skelliconnection
Sub Pop
Street: 08.22
Chad Vangaalen = Arcade Fire + Ryan Adams + Canadas finest
It is a great thing that Canada has produced so many great musicians to help out the indie music world; so many of them challenge the ideas of American pop music and have helped us Americans see music in a slightly different way. Chad Vangaalen is no exception with the release of his incredibly inconsistent album Skelliconnection. A smattering of genres including 80s, folk, prog-rock, electro-pop, alternative country, carnival music and progressive jazz combine to make an album that seems like it would be very difficult to listen to. Although the songs have entirely no connection for the most part, Vangaalens vision of eclectic indie rock ties the album together while simultaneously untying it. The album becomes more congruous near the end and has a pretty comfortable conclusion. The real test of whether this album is genius or just a conglomeration of styles will depend on the significance of his next release. Andrew Glassett

Chin Up Chin Up
This Harness Cant Ride Anythingv Suicide Squeeze Records
Street: 10.10
Chin Up Chin Up = TV On the Radio + Will Sartain
I first heard these guys on a Flameshovel Records compilation and found myself returning to their catchy, breathy sing-talk track often. The songs on This Harness Cant Ride Anything havent strayed far, but dont sound as distinct and buoyant en masse. The indie-rock is honest and straightforward; not much flirts with the fringe, keeping things nice and tight within genre-imposed restraints. Although safe, it is pretty solid and wholesome, kind of like oatmeal. (In the Venue: 10.17) Spencer Young

Citizens Here and Abroad
Waving, Not Drowning
Turn Records
Street: 09.26
Citizens Here and Abroad = Interpol + Pixies + Sonic Youth
The latest effort from Citizens Here and Abroad is an album that is easily summed up by a line from the sixth track, What Goes On In The Heart. The aptly titled track features Adrienne Robillard, vocalist and guitarist, softy exclaiming in a scratchy voice, Its not always pretty what goes on in the heart. Many interesting subjects are tackled in this release including infidelity and other sexual disorders. In the Dark takes a compelling approach on infidelity by providing what seems to be an autobiographical story. Robillard sure convinced me with sincere lyrics and a quivering voice that these songs incorporate personal history. Playing with well-known artists such as The Arcade Fire, and the Decemberists between their debut release Ghosts of Tables and Chairs, and Waving, Not Drowning, has definitely influenced Citizens Here and Abroad, and it shows. They take an original approach to emotional independent rock that is surprisingly enjoyable. Tom Carbone Jr.

Colour Revolt
S/T
Esperanza Plantation
Street: 09.12
Colour Revolt = vulnerability + the Devils throat
Colour Revolts debut self-titled EP features splendidly mature songwriting with myriad key and time changes. Their songs naturally range from the nonchalance of a folk verse and melody to a full-throated dark-side, indie-rock revival; in moments the vocals acknowledge the ease and multiplicity of Jeff Tweedy, while in others they are the dregs of Isaac Brock equally strong with endowment and dissent. Its morose rock with a large focus, and a five piece of talented musicians pull it off, including three guitarists who frame their ideas between points of brilliance. The guitars seem to justify themselves with feedback and natural resonance for a moment before paying off with maximal towers of sound and well constructed transitions. Listen. Josh Nordin

Cougar
Law
Layered Records
Street: 10.24
Cougar = A Midwest dream sequence where statisticians and blue-collar employees finally see eye-to-eye and meet toe-to-toe
Cougars Law is clean and efficient like neoclassical economist rhetoric; while it serves no practical or pragmatic purpose, it sounds nice. These tracks wont convince you of perfect information, but theyve got the hooks to continue the institutional stronghold (see: post-rock). Sterile with sharp, straight lines, Cougar draws on old paradigms to create well-organized, palatable music. The Law supplies and the ears demand, yet Adam Smiths hand has nothing to do with this. These agents move in unguided patterns, fine-tuning and plucking their guitars when they see fit, often retracing their path, but not without logic. Spencer Young

The Curtains
Calamity
Asthmatic Kitty
Street: 10.24
The Curtains = The Unicorns + Enon + A Fischer Price Instrument Sponsorship
With his hands already dipped in the delicious Deerhoof jar, Chris Cohen is also the man behind The Curtains. A garage or kitchen seems more like the appropriate setting given the simple, organic sound of Calamity. Wholesome pop elements akin to home-baked bread and the lovely smell that emits from dryer vents single-handedly carry the songs through whimsical spinnings. Calamity would be great music to play hopscotch or jump rope to while wearing pastel-colored thrift-store clothing. The Curtains have the potential to lure you in. Spencer Young

Damage Case
Tyranny
Punkcore Records
Street: 08.29
Damage Case = Complete Control + Spazm 151
Damage Case combines elements of street punk and metal to create something off the beaten path that many Punkcore bands tend to follow. Tyranny features a few songs that are perfect examples of punk-rock sing-alongs like Violator and No Leaders and a few others that dont quite fit the mold. Unfortunately, while a handful of songs are aggressive and hard-hitting, many of them slip through the cracks into the realm of mediocre, played-out punk-rock. Jeanette Moses

Dark Meat
Universal Indians
Cloud Recordings
Street: 10.06
Universal Indians = Athens, GA not-quite-supergroup
Dark Meat fall squarely in the middle of true psychedelic tradition. While revisionist history focuses on the limitless talent in groups such as Big Brother and the Holding Company, Dark Meat are more along the line of the brassy, formless jams that were the true legacy of the San Francisco scene. Theres a nice stomp in songs like Well Fuck You Then, and the girl-group harmonies on Angel of Meth are particularly pleasant. It wouldnt be going too far to say that Dark Meat have managed to compress an entire Summer of Love and 30 years of 60s hangovers into 51 incredibly catchy minutes. They meander and crash simultaneously, reminding the listener of exactly why the Haight-Ashbury moment could never be more than just a moment. Marie Braden

Dead Hearts
Bitter Verses
Street: 09.05
Dead Hearts = Modern Life is War + American Nightmare - originality
Being excited about Dead Hearts is like being excited about a Toyota Camry. Its a good car, but lets face it, youd rather be driving a Porsche - whipping around corners, outrunning cops, picking up chicks. Camrys are so ordinary. So uninspired. Sosuburban. But its an ok car, and they do have a decent engine. Dead Hearts makes a valiant attempt at an emotional, passionate style of hardcore. Basically, they took notes from the books of Modern Life is War and American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost. Where they fall short is that both of the aforementioned bands were either breaking new ground, or invoking some kind of sincere passion. The music of those bands could barely wait to get out of the amps. They are/were engrossing. Dead Hearts just falls flat. The songs dont move enough. They dont grab you - sort of like racing a Camry. Yeah, you might go fast, but youre in a Camry. The building/emotional guitar lines, the insomnia induced lyrics, and the abundance of gang vocals are in the right places, they just fall short of the mark of inspired. Peter Fryer

Drop the Lime
We Never Sleep
Tigerbeat6
Street Date: 05.04
Drop the Lime = UK grime + Hotlanta crunk + lastnightsparty.com
Its hard to establish yourself as an individual while scampering in the same playground as label owner and noise DM pioneer kid606, but Drop the Limes L. Venezia is doing his best. His bass thumps are as loud as the best Lil Jon joint, his snares and hand claps cut as deep as any Yaz record, his synths rip and scream louder than Bronski Beat, his 4/4 can pound the panties off any club girlie and he proudly displays the badge that every TB6 artist gets at the door: a big patch that says FUN, worn properly on his fashionable muscle shirt. Running the gamut of dance flavors, Venezia drops ectasy on the best acid tracks Fatboy Slim never recorded (Bella and Triceratops), rolls a fatty on the swinging neo-gothic Full Moon Rising, then lays you down gently with the sexed-up, spaced-out boom-bap of Turn Out the Light. On the closer, Skyline Fantasy, Venezia sums up the album: funk bass guitar inspires that bite-your-lip pose, that classic Lyn Collins sample (the woo/yeah trade-off) pulling you back to the good times you had buggin out to It Takes Two and a tambourine sure to make your hands shake. Progressive yet catchy, light-hearted yet complex, this is the electronic music youd better be listening to. Dave Madden

The Drugstore Cowboys
Chapter 3006
Lujo Records
Street: 09.18
The Drugstore Cowboys = The Mars Volta + Genghis Tron + System of a Down + Linkin Park
Ewww. Somebody tell Cunt Chocula that somebody turned the suck up too loud. Put away the shitty digital keyboards, tired lap top beats and neo-fusion music. Making it all of the way through this album is like eating a whole plate of month-old Chinese you found in a broken refrigerator in your grandmas basement. It is just a bad idea, and probably full of bummer-inducing shit biscuits. Mixing genres takes considerable musical talent, a good ear and willful restraint; none of which are present on this masterpiece. Oh and probably lots of friends, which they will most certainly lose shortly after this albums release. Ryan Powers

Echo Is Your Love
Humanize
Street: 07.25
Echo Is Your Love
Echo Is Your Love = a desperate girlfriend + an indolent boyfriend
The two main reasons this band from Helsinki sound as bad as they do are outlined in the press sheet: 1. One of the guitarists girlfriend became the singer. 2. The intention was to practice as little as possible and to record almost everything that comes out. Just because the guitarists girlfriend complained about being in the band doesnt mean you should let her in. She sounds like a lazy, monochromatic version of Karen O. Also, practicing little and recording a lot is stupid, especially if your improvisation skills are sub-par. Just because you can make the guitar sound crazy and weird doesnt mean you shouldnt work on the sound even though your girlfriend thinks it sounds cool. These two are killing Humanize. Spencer Young

El Boxeo
Awake & Dreaming
Suburban Sprawl Music
Street: 08.29
El Boxeo = Talkdemonic + The Cure
There are two sides to this album, the awake side and then the obvious dreaming side. In the awake section, the band performs catchy, rhythmic and mostly instrumental bursts of sound in a live setting. The third track Ropes has the most song-like characteristics, with vocals sounding very much like they were from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Ranier Maria album. The trio of drums, bass and violin are more engaging than you would think they would be. The better side of the album is the dreaming section. There is more production, and the added environmental sounds expand the dreamlike consistency of the musical arrangements. The Dance of The Shrubbery is particularly dreamlike and descriptive; it was very easy to imagine some type of bush dancing through the forest. The ideas behind this album are very solid but the performance may be lacking a little. Andrew Glassett

Evaline
Postpartum Modesty A Portrait of Skin
Maverick Records
Street: 09.05
Evaline = U2 + Cool Hand Luke + Jacks Mannequin (Maybe)
This band has not learned the power of silence. And I dont say that to be sarcastic. I mean they seriously miss out on several opportunities to just stop trying to say so much. What this band might posses in musical talent is greatly diminished by mediocre song writing. And where it stops, nobody knows. Maybe with this album. And as I stated before, sure these guys can play their instruments. But I once say a monkey banging two symbols together next to a blind guy pumping away on a squeeze box. And that was enjoyable. Maybe Im missing something but in my best guess, there is nothing about this band that screams out for seconds. They havent earned a spot on my menu anyway. Six agonizingly long songs left me feeling discouraged about the future of music. Well, some of it. I was glad when it was over. Greg Downey

Feathers
Synchromy
Hometapes
Street: 10.17
Feathers = Seaside Traveling + Cruise Ship Krunkin
There are roughly 30 instruments in use on Feathers latest 5-tracker, Synchromy. The three players that make the make-up of Feathers and the additional five supplemental players all hail from the lovely isolated tropics known as Miami. And you hear the influence: listening makes believe sitting in a deck chair and cruisin towards the Bermuda Triangle on a blindingly white journey boat. Dont forget the grin, cause this ride is so delicious you can taste the synth in the seawater as the drums and guitar cut the sea into a choppy meringue while the orchestrated instruments provide the warmth and filling. Its a euphoric ride all round, but dont be mislead by the poppiness; theres darkness below the waters surface. Spencer Young

The Fix
At the Speed of Twisted Thought
Touch and Go Records
Street:10.10
The Fix = Minor Threat + Bad Brains + Meatmen
The Midwest is a boring place, but The Fix is not a boring band. If you dont know who these guys are, its time to dig yourself out from the hole youve been living in for the past two decades. The Fix was one of the first hardcore bands formed in the Midwest, and also one of the first to release something on Touch and Go. At the Speed of Twisted Thought combines tracks from the Vengance 7, the Jans Room 7 and various live tapes recorded at their shows during the one year period that they were together. The Fix play loud, they play fast and most of all they sound fucking great! If you dont feel like paying $1500 (and someone did) for one of their 7 on Ebay, this is the release for you. All The Fix you could ever want in one place. Jeanette Moses

Four Tet
Remixes
Domino Records
Street: 09.26
Four Tet = Fridge + Isan + Fog
The music fan muses that musicians put out remix album for three reasons: a) money; b) to fill out a single or other such album that is weak; c) to experiment. But lets say you are consistently great at splicing, mixing and organizing organic sounds and beats. Then none of the above would apply to you. Enter Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. This album of remixes, the first disc of which Four Tet remixes other bands and the second in which other bands remix his work, is an ecstatic everything and everywhere blend of surprisingly satisfying remix of diverse bands such as Beth Orton and Bloc Party in which he reconfigures their categorical differences into a diligent album of otherness. The second disc dismantles over and over such songs as A Joy and Hilarious Move of the 90s, producing a wide musical taste for a remix CD, but that unfortunately gets a little dry. This CD could easily double as an enjoyable bike ride listen as it could create its own party out of some people on the street. GOLD! Erik Lopez

Gitogito Hustler
Love & Roll
Gearhead Records
Street: 04.18
Gitogito Huster = A cute puppet show with an ugly backdrop
After seeing Electric Eel Shock play at the Urban Lounge a few months ago, I cant help but notice rock bands that are staging the rock n roll concept as primarily a performance front. Gitogito Hustler who are also Japanese, but I believe coincidentally are no exception in emitting this same type of contrived punk rock, that while often cute and entertaining (only in a bar setting mind you), ultimately fails, convincing that they arent punk beyond the stage. Maybe this is because they are too cute or their album is titled, Love & Roll, or they sound too typical; but Im not buyin this one. I mean, they cover The Locomotion for hells sake. Spencer Young

The Good Good
Furrows
Menlo Park
Street: 10.01
The Good Good = organized chaos + musical talent + Dr. Seuss
The Good Good sound like a mob of lunatic Brooklyn hipsters running rampant inside of an elementary school. This explains why my i-tunes decided to categorize The Good Good as Childrens Music. No child I know would understand what the hell these guys are singing about. The Good Good, who are actually only three people, mix nursery rhyme-like lyrics into the songs, like in opener, Silhouette. The rest of the album is a mix of intense guitar lines and off-kilter singing. There are samples of kids voices singing and almost psychotic giggling. The beginning of the third song, aptly titled All the Voices, sounds like the soundtrack to a Chucky-type horror movie, with a whispered voice saying I believe in you. This album is quite short, clocking in at under a half hour, but is a smart sampling of an entertaining amateur band with intriguing instrumentals, video game spacey electronics beneath shouting raucous brash vocals, and disharmony. This record is all over the place, creating a short shelf life in terms of continued listens but a worthwhile listening experience in short doses. Judy Nelson

The Grates
Gravity Wont Get You High
Interscope Records
Street: 08.29
The Grates x 10 x 0 = 0
The Grates are another installment of sloppy trio basement babble. Its all about the riff, with swinging vocalist Hodgson inserting Huh! Ha!, etc. to match the rhythm of the guitar. The music lacks a distinct identity, especially in light of their exuding coolness the major marketing factor here: indie styling, wild fun, and teenage angst. The recordings are cleaned and tidied in comparison to their debut EP The Ouch. The Touch. They arguably lose the charisma that the music necessitates by lacking guitar feedback and a roomy sound accenting the nonsensical punch to the drums. On the other hand, the tightened sound elevates the indie romp stomp simplicity to the songs, achieving social dance-ability over wild ego flailing. However, the listener still may wind up feeling alienated in the end by a rudderless forty minutes of music. Josh Nordin

The Heads
Under the Stress of a Headlong Drive
Alternative Tentacles Records
Street: 08.08
The Heads = An International Slam Dunk Contest
The Heads fifth album, Under the Stress of a Headlong Drive, dunks heads into a sonic undertow. Think: Macro. Slam dunks werent designed for individual spectators; they sell out arenas; they disrupt consciousness. Likewise, Under the Stress is relentless, providing no breathing room between the catastrophic 19 tracks lasting 74 minutes. The Heads are cataclysmic in their use of pastiche (reference: Traditional Metal, Punk, Stoner, Psychedelic, Kraut, Noise, ad infinitum); unfortunately the metal makes up the bones of this album, while the rich and evocative flesh lies in the fringe with Bordoms-like moments. Spencer Young

The Heart Attacks
Hellbound and Heartless
Hellcat
Street:10.26
The Heat Attacks = Dead Boys + Rose Tattoo + River City Rebels
Jesus Christ, these little fuckers can play some rock nroll with attitude. The Heart Attacks could give Johnny Rotten lessons on being snotty. This band is a testament to the fact that raucous, noisy punk will always exist just to piss some one else off. Lars Fredricksen lends his producing skills, and I cant help but think that his background is somewhat responsible for the huge guitar sound on this record. Joan Jett helps out on vocals and gives these boys a deserving credibility. This is crude rude punk rock n roll that sweats attitude through your speakers.- James Orme

Heavy Heavy Low Low
Everythings Watched, Everyones Watching
Ferret Music
Street: 09.19
Heavy Heavy Low Low = Deadguy + (old) Dillinger Escape Plan + Burnt By the Sun
With a name as ridiculous as Heavy Heavy Low Low, it would be easy to write this band off into obscurity. That would be a mistake. This is a bunch of kids (averaging 19 years of age) that know exactly what theyre doing when it comes to playing crazy-as-fuck technical grind. According to their press sheet, the have no musical training but its really not apparent. The mathy, jazzy riffing and manic time changes are enough to impress even the toughest of grind critics. The vocals are the best part though. Screams dying into clean but tortured, almost whines, give this a not really original, but classic feel, very reminiscent of Deadguy. Id even go as far as to say that Heavy Heavy Low Low are doing what Deadguy would be doing right now if they were still around. And who doesnt like Deadguy? They should seriously consider a name change though. Chris Carter

The Hope Conspiracy
Death Knows Your Name
Deathwish Inc.
Street: 09.19
The Hope Conspiracy= broken glass + broken teeth + misanthropy
In an effort to listen to this CD as much as possible, I took it to work and listened to it on my PC speakers. I wasnt super impressed - thinking the riffing repetitive and that it lacked the focus and intensity of their prior releases. I was afraid something had happened in the 4 years since their last album Endnote was released. Maybe they went soft? Maybe they ran out of ideas? Then I went home for lunch and put it in the stereo. I cranked it and approximately 15 seconds later the air guitar was out, teeth were clenched and I was thrashing about the apartment. I forgot, hardcore is supposed to be ear bleeding loud, and its the only way to listen to The Hope Conspiracy. Hell yes! I thought. The Hope Conspiracy is back, theyre not stale, and Death Knows Your Name is ultra-pissed. Like you just drank two liters of water pissed. Lyrics like, Its war/its blood/its money/hanging from the cross. Yeah, as far as THC is concerned, its on. Most of the lyrics surround religion and a general disdain for mankind. The music is heavily tinged with rock and roll riffs and I like the inclusion of the feedback from the guitars. It sounds raw. The only low point of the album is Sadistic Sacred Whore which features Dwid from Integrity. It sounds purposefully epic, and is drawn out needlessly. However,THC shines when the songs are searing and fast, and fortunately thats the good majority of this album. Peter Fryer

The Horrors
Self-Titled
Stolen Transmission Records
Street: 10.24
The Horrors = The Buzzcocks + The Cramps + The Fall
The Horrors are a band that appeal to the darkest goth kid rockin a fishnet shirt, the 80s dork who loves the Sounds and can be found at Area 51 every Tuesday and Thursday night and pretty much anyone else with an appreciation for excellent music. All of the songs on their five-song EP sound heavily influenced by the Cramps, from the lyrical content about death, murder and girls being described as parasites to the rockabilly punk- rock injected with a massive amount of psychedelic keyboards and guitar. This band could probably even get away with covering a Cramps song, which is by no means an easy task. My favorite tracks were Jack the Ripper and Crawdaddy Simone. I just wish this five song EP was a 10-15 song full-length. Jeanette Moses

Jedi Mind Tricks
Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Babygrande Records
Street: 09.19
Jedi Mind Tricks = Shapeshifters + Big Grizz +
J.M.T. has always pushed the boundaries of indie-hip-hop on everything they release. For the past 10 years, they have tried to redefine the conception of onehit-wonder rappers that seem to infiltrate the hit-hungry scene. Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell is a technically-sampled album with many high points. With songs like Heavy Metal Kings, the Jedis reconfirm their gangster roots and wrap their raps around metal rods naturally, a beating follows. Then heart-felt songs like Black Winter Day unfold the personal side of vital organs, showing the listener emotions that are absent on the rest of the album. Jedi Mind Tricks are maturing with their music, which is a healthy thing to do for artists of this caliber. Servents in Heaven is a testament to their unwavering commitment to a unique aesthetic. Lance Saunders

Jhann Jhannsson
IBM 1401, a Users Manual
4AD
Street: 10.10
Jhann Jhannsson = Koyanasqatsi for the Internet age
Jhann Jhannssons father served as the chief maintenance engineer for the first IBM 1401 Data Processing System imported to Iceland in 1964. This technician spent years coaxing utterances from the machine. When the computer was decommissioned in 1971, it was given a farewell performance. Johannsson now expounds on the metaphysical and spiritual environment of an outmoded machine with a sixty-piece string orchestra, electronic flourishes and reel-to-reel samples of the computers final days. As one would presume, The IBM 1401 has become a lonely, tortured soul, eternally adrift in the virtual ether, with nothing to do but watch stings of binary float by. Though the compositions possess the warm lilt of Phillip Glass, the atmosphere is undeniably Spielberg-esque. On the records centerpiece (IBM 1402 Card Read-Punch), violins crescendo and fall off in sheets to reveal humming violas and intergalactic howls seemingly channeled from Tarkovskys Solaris. Sure beats watching A.I. - Justin Thomas Burch

Jucifer
If Thine Enemy Hunger
Relapse Records
Street: 09.05
Jucifer = Melvins + Pussy Galore White Stripes ridiculousness
In the moment of coupled duo there are do-dohs such as the White Stripes and I Am the World Trade Center, and then there are do-OOOOs like the Royal Trux and Lightening Bolt, who take the O from Rock and Roll and put it back in duo. At times a judicious mix of simple hard rockin straight forward roll with sensuous vocals and other times a fast noisy pop mix, If Thine Enemy Hunger is the reemergence of an almost forgotten Jucifer after a nearly four-year hiatus. Welcome back, friends, and bring the motherfuckin ruckus. Erik Lopez

Kill the Vultures
The Careless Flame
Locust
Street: 10.06
Kill the Vultures = Nirvana + Digable Planets + Chuck D
If there were such a thing as No Depression hip-hop, Kill the Vultures would be among its foremost practitioners. Their production values are more along the line of John Cage than P. Diddy, and its amusing hearing the occasional be-bop trill buried under the ponderous vocals of Moonshine. Dirty Hands sounds as if its rhythm track was generated by an old-school jugband, and the tin-can percussion spills over into the weirdly catchy How Long Can a Dead Man Walk. This is not the polished funk that Minneapolis is famous for, but it has some sort of strangely off-putting primitive appeal. Marie Braden

Kawabata Makoto & Mothers of Invasion
Hot Rattlesnakes
Prophase Music
Street: 08.29
Kawabata Makoto & Mothers of Invasion = Les Rallies Denudes + Acid Mothers Temple + Frank Zappa
Push past all the Frank Zappa induced references and what you get is a swinging guitars-to-heaven conflation of acid rock, hard psychedelia and space rock. While Makoto has a long and prolific career of churning out album upon album of bliss-induced cosmic-radiated rock, this album explores the further reaches of reverbed-in-and-out guitar wash. The tracks are long, the jams hot and the CD value priced for what has been for way to long an out-of-print classic. Erik Lopez

La Severance The Spectator Longdrive Records Street: 06.06 La Severance = MxPx (minus the punk) + Appleseed Cast (slightly) Ill just be honest. I have never liked music thats usually featured in amateur snow and skate videos; bands like MxPx, if they dropped the punk and went pop. Its the post-pubescent voice and the white-suburbia-influenced-lyrics that are almost as hard for me to listen to as nails on a chalkboard. Having said that, I will review this album as if I were a fan of all that because I know there are a lot of you out there. And if that music is your thing, youll love this album. La Severances debut LP, The Spectator, starts out great. Track one is a 36-second intro of a scratchy radio dial, a muted piano and keyboard ditty that leads into a Moving Units-esque guitar riff to start off the next song, Violins. They divert form the typical power chords a little with some light-hearted, up-tempo keys and a refreshing female vocalist in the background. Its tight, catchy, simple and everything youd expect from a young band out of Ventura, California. If you dont mind lyrics like You burn me out like rock n roll/You burn me out like a cigarette, then good for you. Emily Allen Les Georges Leningrad
Sangue Puro
Tomlab
Street Date: 10.03
Les Georges Leningrad = Adult. + Add N to X + Nolens Volens last album
One might sum up this Montral trios work with five words (and a few exclamation points): boom, crash, yelp, crunch, screech!!! Not quite as abrasive as Atari Teenage Riot, not as experimental as Experimental Dental School and not as poppy as ADULT., LGL mashes through this collection of spotty kitchen-sink-palette style jams. Singer Poney P yowls and yips and quasi-raps (more Nina Hagen, less Mystikal) over dismembered drum machines and kits, bent circuitry and dusty guitars. Either freebasing (Skulls in the Closet, Ennio Morricone), the soundtrack to an orgy (Sleek Answer) or the recovery after the binge (The Future for Less), each track is as catchy as it is weird. The band claims you will dance for yourself in front of the mirror to their music. What does that mean? By stopping several notches below the chaos level, youre gonna dance, youre gonna admire the weird sounds, youre might feel a slight migraine coming on, need to lie on the floor, but your toe keeps tapping much like that party you insisted on attending even though you had mono. Dave Madden

Lower Class Brats
New Seditionaries
TKO Records
Street: 09.05
Lower Class Brats = The Boils + Cocksparrer + Cheap Sex
It appears that the Brats have dropped the clockwork theme that saturated Rather Be Hated Than Ignored, The Plot Sickens and Class of Our Own, but they are still holding tight to the street-punk formula; at least they do it well. The songs on this album are filled with catchy lyrics that are easily memorized to chant along to when youre shoved up against a tiny stage getting elbowed in the back of the head. Im A Mess was one of my favorites. Lip Music is reminiscent of their earlier work, heavily influenced by The Adicts and (what else) A Clockwork Orange, but the rest of the album is a straight shot down street-punk ally. The formula may be tired and true, but when its done correctly its rarely boring. Jeanette Moses Ludicra
Fex Urbis Lex Orbis
Alternative Tentacles
Street: 10.10
Ludicra = Frost + Mayhem + Enslaved
Experimentation is not an idea generally embraced by the black metal genre. Most bands tend to rely strictly on the speed, atmosphere and brutal imagery that have made black metal what it is. If youre going to fuck with the traditional formula, it has to be done well. Ludicra have pulled it off nicely with Fex Urbis Lex Orbis, relying more on darkness and atmosphere and less on blistering speed. The progressive picking style of John Cobbett (Hammers of Misfortune) becomes the subtle centerpiece of the album. The beautifully intricate and interweaving riffs lead the listener through tales of woe and the shame of humanity told in demonic rasps and backed by operatic female vocals. Theres still brutality, theres still hate, and theres still some fast songs, but altogether the experimental nature of the album makes it a nice change of pace when compared to most of the black metal being released these days. Chris Carter

Lullabye Arkestra
Ampgrave
Constellation Records
Street: 10.10
Lullabye Arkestra = Godspeed You Black Emperor! + Fly Pan Am + Silver Mt. Zion + Do Make Say Think + Canada
Canada is the new France when it comes to slowly hot cooking instrumental rock that brings a power punch to your palate. Ampgrave is sort of what you would expect to happen if Melt Banana was a little bit more handy with an axe, camped a bunch in freezing cold weather and came back with an eight piece orchestra. The reason this description works is because if you are any bit of a good no-wave band (any of the wild permutations you want) you dont write orchestra with an O you write it with an A because, if Sun-Ra has taught us anything, it is better flavoring when you creatively spell something. Lullabye Arkestras exchange rate is worth way more than its American counterpart, which might seem quite crazy to you but hey, its Canada and this is what they do best the post-rock orchestra, not money. Erik Lopez

The Melvins
A Senile Animal
Ipecac Recordings
Street: 10.10
The Melvins = The Melvins
The Melvins are nothing like milk. Theyve released a bunch of albums, have been around for a long time and still havent gone sour. Fucking sweet! A Senile Animal features two new members that have been added to this great band, and the additions this late in the game didnt ruin a thing. The chuggy guitars found throughout the album reminded me of the sound effects found in the old school Galaga games. My favorite song on the album was A History of Drunks, but this isnt an album where songs need to be skipped. All 10 songs are an amazing assault of great music. Jeanette Moses

Mew
And The Glass Handed Kites
Columbia Records
Street: 06.19
Mew = Big enough to tour with Bloc Party and Secret Machines
Mew carries a monolithic sound only fit for a stadium or six-story dance club. And The Glass Handed Kites is no exception, elephant-heavy with its pummeling, throaty drum work, arpeggio-riff guitars and saturated space synths. But this elephant gets lifted in a hot-air balloon by way of Jonas Bjerres angelic, pastiche-driven vocals. For such a big band sound, Mew is able to pull off subtleties that seem illogical, yet appropriate after the fact. Ranging in scale from Muse to Death Cab for Cutie, these Danish boys launch spaceships on this one better than Nasa ever could. Spencer Young

Misery Signals
Mirrors
Ferret Music
Street: 08.22
Misery Signals = 7 Angels 7 Plagues = a laughable excuse of a band
Yawn. Oh lookie, another metalcore album. I can understand ripping off major metal influences like At the Gates, or Slayer, or any of the other bands the first New Wave of American Metal are known to have ripped off. Mostly because, well, those bands are good. Unfortunately, the majority of the first New Wave of American Metal never did their heroes any justice. Now were stepping into the second N.W.A.M. and what do we get? A watered down, even more talentless and mediocre attempt at ripping off the first. Misery Signals is merely 7 Angels 7 Plagues with a new singer, and they continue to rely way too much on the same open string palm muting, uninspired knock off riffing, and sensitive emo breakdowns that have carried many of their counterparts to completely undeserved fame. Seriously, go pick up almost anything from the Ferret or Victory catalogues and youll hear virtually the same band. Even Metalblade is signing this shit like its going out of style. If you want some really good current metal, bypass the tough-guy tattoos, fashion hair, and scary looking doctored photos in the liner notes and listen to Strapping Young Lads new album or something. Chris Carter

Moondog
Demos (NYC, 1989)
Anthology Records
Street:
Moondog = Fugazi + Quicksand + NomeansNo + Nation of Ulysses
There are a ton of angry Gorilla Biscuits fans who are upset that they had the gall to break up an incredible band. No one is more upset than Walter Schreifels, who was in the Biscuits (even though he wasnt angry at the break-up as much as the music scene at the time). This group of demos, which predated his next band Quicksand, show the anger and angst that fueled this pissed off bit of Gorilla Biscuits ephemera. It is to Schreifels credit that he realized he cant be making music of this sort of emotional tenor with a name like Moondog. Good thing he put a stop to it and named the next band Quicksand. Moondog is the perfect bridge between the Schreifels of old and, well, old-new. Erik Lopez

The Mountain Goats
Get Lonely
4AD
Street: 08.22
The Mountain Goats = The Mountain Goats
This album, like every past Mountain Goats album, has not left my CD player since it was given to me. I think I listened to it 15 times the day I got it. Yeah, its that good. Get Lonely is John Darnielles second foray into the field of autobiographical writing and like The Sunset Tree, is full of very personal, imaginative and brutally honest poetry. The guitar work is quiet and delicate, and is accompanied by subtle, flowing string and piano compositions. Gone is the black humor and bitter sarcasm that youve come to expect from a Mountain Goats album. There are no fast paced, raucous songs about marriages gone bad, meth addictions, or stealing your abusive stepfathers car. In fact, Darnielles voice barely reaches above a whisper through almost the entire compilation. It by no means leaves the album lacking though. These accounts of post-breakup depression and desperation are brilliantly descriptive, emotional, and easy to identify with. This is some of the best work hes ever done. Chris Carter

My Solid Ground
S/T
Anthology Records
Street:
My Solid Ground = early Pink Flody + Virus and Demon + Thirsty Moon
What happens when you are in Germany, decide to join a battle of the bands at age 17 and win a radio station contest? You end up making what most consider to be a Krautrock classic full of psychedelic acid guitar, reverbed and echoey vocals and spacey jams or so you think. But instead this album is like an email promising that if you take a certain pill youll get a horse cock, but instead you get something like a small pinky that barely moves. The first song, Dirty Yellow Mist, rolls you out for great things to come but then the Wolfmother comes out. Disappointing to say the least if you are expecting Krautrock greatness in the form of Ash Ra Temple, Amon Duul, etc. Not bad overall, just overrated. Erik Lopez

The New Sound of Numbers
Liberty Seeds
Cloud Recordings
Street: 10.10
The New Sound of Numbers = The Slits + Olivia Tremor Control + Gang Gang Dance
The transition from the explosion of Elephant 6 to post-punk shouldnt be a smooth one. However, Hannah Jones, the sole provocateur of The New Sound of Numbers, succeeds when she leaves the lo-fi tendencies behind in exchange for a more verdant, intricate multi-instrumentalism. The record opens with some bland heel-draggers, but catharsis is realized in Minimal Animal, a stunner that channels both Stereolab and This Heat. The albums latter half never matches this sense of epiphany, but the pacing and temperament are nevertheless engaging. Though there are a fair amount of duds here, a certain achievement exists in the fact that Liberty Seeds, as a whole, sounds like neither the past nor the future; it is nothing if not firmly rooted in the present. - Justin Thomas Burch

Old Crow Medicine Show
Big Iron World
Nettwerk Records
Street: 08.06
Old Crow Medicine Show = Grateful Dead + Todd Snider + Bob Dylan
I swear your perfume, baby, is made out of turnip greens/Every time I kiss you, it tastes like pork and beans. While such a stiff rhyme might seem the work of amateurs, it fits perfectly in the context of Down Home Girl, the opening track on the latest bluegrass revivalism from Old Crow Medicine Show. This would smack of the worst kind of derivativeness if the band werent so clearly enjoying themselves. Theirs is a sound thats much more interesting than most of the psychobilly blather that draws from the same influence pool, and shows substantial growth from their debut. Somehow they manage to be catchy without necessarily being accessible, and it will be interesting to see if they can sustain their momentum. Marie Braden

Niobe
White Hats
Tomlab
Street Date: 10.31
Niobe = Psaap + South America + Memphis Minnie
For a cut & paste electronic album, this sounds an awful lot like a folk record. For a folk record, this sounds an awful lot like a world music sampler. And for a world music sampler, White Hats sounds awfully alien and cool. As you might suspect from the vague abstract, Frankfurts Yvonne Niobe Corneliuss music is difficult to characterize. One moment shes summoning the soul of early American blues singers and poking Hawaiian slide guitars into the ensemble (Well and Wise), the next shes on an Astrud Gilberto trip with mellotron strings (Surround Your Hover). Her sound choice is subtle and clever, and even during the hushed intimacy of tracks such as Phosphorous, Corneliuss production hand is hard at work, warping her vocals just right and getting the right color of reverb to space out her guitar. On Drei Zinnen, she mixes up a collage of ghostly radio transmissions and her crackling voice, humming above the clamor of waltzing string sections and a dopplered auto drive-by that literally screeches to track to a halt. And she does disco (Up Hill and Down Dale) and droning Liars-esque drumming (In the Sun) and on and on. Entirely skewed, lilting and mesmerizing! Dave Madden

The Number 12 Looks Like You
Put On Your Rosy Red Glasses (reissue)
ECA/Piermont Records
Street: 10.10
The Number 12 Looks Like You = The Blood Brothers + Botch + From Autumn To Ashes
First off, the name The Number 12 Looks Like You doesnt that pull you in and make you want to know more? As you hear it spoken for the first time you wonder what a band with such a long and strange name could sound like, and then you find out. The Number 12 is not for the faint of heart and neither is this reissue of their first recording. If you missed the bands live performance last spring while supporting Thursday, you missed the ferocity of what is captured on this album. These anthems of heartfelt and blistering screaming and head-pounding noise originally went out of print soon after its original pressing and release in 2003. I say, Welcome back. Jeremy C. Wilkins

Ouija Radio
Oh No Yes Yes!
Crustacean Records
Street: 10.10
Ouija Radio = Le Tigre + Yeah Yeah Yeahs + The B-52s
I hate everything about the aesthetic of this album. I hate the name Ouija Radio. For some reason it seems very clich for a girl fronted indie-pop band. I hate the album name Oh No Yes Yes!, which also feels very clich for a girl fronted indie-pop band. I really dont like the album art either. So yes, Im judging a book (album) by its cover. But hey, we all do it. Whats inside actually surprised me. While it is almost everything youd expect from a girl fronted indie-pop band with vague pseudo-feminist lyrics, infectious sing-along, and enough sugar to rot your teeth out, there are a few extras that make it a worthwhile listen. For me, its the creative use of keyboards and electronics throughout the album. This band is kinda like Le Tigre with better production and a better sense of composition, so if youre into dancy, girl fronted indie-pop, this should slide into your collection easily. Chris Carter

Outer Space
Blood Brothers
Babygrande Records
Street: 09.26
Outer Space = Dreaddy Kruger + Chief Kamachi + Tony the Tiger
All the crunk-drunken monkeys can crack a brew to this Cadillac snatch of an album. Apparently, Outer Space locked hip-hop down and came to reign while claiming their spot on the wall of fame. Emcees Planet and Crypt reflect everything that influenced their early years of hip-hop from artists like Gangstarr and Mobb Deep to EPMD and Public Enemy but reflections can often be adverse. They rap about being historical and creating something new in the shadow of Daddy Kane and Rakims world of bling, bitches, gold and whips. Could it be? Something new? Nope. Theyre still rapping about bling, bitches, gold and whips just in an evolved way, I guess. These guys take their bedside diaries and turn them into drive-by music. Its all in the delivery these days; once everyone finds out that fact well have some evolved hip-hop on our hands. If you cant tell, Im being facetious. Lance Saunders

The Outline
You Smash It, Well Build Around It
Fearless Records
Street: 07.11
The Outline = The Killers + The Strokes + Ben Folds Five
So I wasn't all that (and I'm still not all that) surprised to hear this band come from FEARLESS records. A label that brought us such bands as At The Drive In, Big Wig, The Aqua Bats, and A Static Lullaby. Fearless has always lived up to its name and taken chances on various and sundry not so good bands. The Outline seems to have turned on their local alternative radio station, listened to what was playing, and drew from the top two sounds going. Which has produced as far as I can tell, electronica based garage rock, or garage influenced electronica or maybe a garage dance if you're lucky. Unfortunately most of this album sounds like variations on a really drawn out theme. Give this band some credit though for taking two styles that are not even remotely related (except that maybe many electronica bands started off in a garage which still isn't that likely) and made it work well enough to catch the attention of a label that up until now, has had a decent ear for music. Greg Downey

Parson Sound
Parson Sound (Sweden, 1966-1969)
Anthology Records
Street:
Parson Sound = Terry Riley + La Monte Young + Doors + Velvet Underground + Blue Cheer
It is an incredible day to find something as texturally rich yet smoothly jazzy and at the same time psychedelically awesome as this. Most psychedelic albums tend to be all fuzz and buzz with extended jams rather than thought-out compositional structure. One themed progression for all, and all for one themed progression, is the rallying cry for most of the millions of psych bands. But this album is a godsend to those whose tastes, like mine, are for both the crazy freak-outs and robust largesse of psychedelia but who also love to swing to the avant-garde foundationally compositional motifs of La Monte Young and a five-hour plus piano piece. This album has it all mixed together the minimalist composition of In C or The Black Album with Acid Mother Temples Mantra of Love and Eric Dolphy. Best yet, they pull it off with such splendor that it is like finding the perfect blend of butternut squash, tomato, basil and garlic for a soup you have been learning to perfect forever forever. How tasty! Erik Lopez

Parasites
Retro-Pop Remasters
Go Kart Records
Street: 09.19
Parasites = pop-punk ala Descendents and Screeching Weasel
The Parasites music reminds me of a time before pop-punk bands were as generic sounding as Western Family mac and cheese tastes, a time when a punk band could sing a song about love and it wasnt called emo; a much purer time. Though the bulk of Retro-Pop Remasters was recorded and released in the mid 90s, the vibe and overall attitude of the record is what makes the tracks feel much older than they really are and give it more of a vintage feel, only with quality recording. Although the 14 tracks on this best-of compilation come from six different releases, they mesh together to create an entertaining album from start to finish. This is a record that talks about love and relationships that you dont have to feel embarrassed listening to. Jeremy C. Wilkins

Phoenix Foundation
Horse Power
Street: 09.14
Caravan Records
Phoenix Foundation = A death trap for Richard Paul Anderson
I admit I was originally interested in the Phoenix Foundation primarily because of their name you know, the place where MacGyver works, that big office building where Pete Thornton gives orders and sweats profusely when said orders get hairy and held them under high expectations because of my mania with the American adventure television series. To my disappointment, there is no MacGyver reference, not even a subtle or indirect one. There are, however, two tracks that cut against the grain of the rest of Horse Power that elicit dramatic 80s synth sounds and could possibly be set to a scene where Mac breaks out of a gaseous laboratory rescuing the episodes current love interest. The rest of the album is set to slow, sad space jams that remind me of M. Ward, replete with slide guitar, patient, solemn vocals and that cowboy twang we all love. Spencer Young

Protokoll
S/T
iHeartComix Records
Street: 08.05
Protokoll = Chameleons UK + Interpol
Protokolls self-titled five song EP stands above most in the slew of bands striving for a refurbishment of the UK post-punk sound. The songs are deliberate, precise, and the instrumentation is lush and expressive with each idea and progression marching in pairs to create towers of rhythm. While their sound is clearly patterned after 80s British guitar pop and New York no wave and post-punk, at moments their depth and charge blurs the line between vintage fashion (associated with the genre) and substance. Their effect is most prominent on Holy Divine, with St. Peter and friends ringing synth glory from the golden gates of heaven its everything you expected and more. A nod must be given to the production of the EP whose three-demensional quality provides enough nuggets to bring you back for repeated listens. If you are passionately pursuing this niche of music, check them out this band are clearly devotees of many of the other bands you probably already listen to. Josh Nordin

Reel Big Fish
Our live album is better than your live album
Rock Ridge Music
Street: 08.01
Reel Big Fish = seriously ... do they really need an introduction?
Now back in the day I was a serious Reel Big Fish fan, and I still find myself every six months or so listening to them. This live album is all that you would expect from a live album of RBF. Chalk full of slapstick, immature humor, and live sets of all your favorite RBF songs, along with a few surprise covers such as "Boy's Don't Cry". Overall, this album is alright, but honestly, how much longer can they subject the public to newer, crappier versions of their hits from the 90s? If you're a Reel Big Fish fan to heart, this album is for you! But if not, just go get their 96 release Turn the Radio Off. Sarah Edge

Relay
Still Point of Turning
Bubble Core Records
Street: 10.03
Relay = Thick muscles covering the entire body
While I dont think Relay deserve the entitlement of bands like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, they do deserve and earn the reference. The movement and distribution between each member is