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October 2007 - Issue 226

The Action Design
Into A Sound
Pop Smear Records
Street: 09.11
The Action Design = Tsunami Bomb + The Vincent Black Shadow + Shiny Toy Guns + The Sounds
I was a little surprised by this band’s sound. The Action Design is much more poppy than Agent M’s last band, Tsunami Bomb. “Eyes On Me” sounds very much like a Shiny Toy Guns’ song while “City Committee” sounds like it could have been on the Vincent Black Shadow album—two bands that both seem to have been influenced by Agent M’s previous project. Although it is a little strange to hear Agent M’s smooth voice over pulsing beats as opposed to the fast-paced punk rock, it is a far cry from being unbearable. The six tracks found on this album are all well rounded and enjoyable; they just aren’t what you might expect. –Jeanette Moses

Adrian Orange and Her Band
Self-titled
K
Street: 09.11
Adrian Orange and Her Band = David Byrne + Beirut + Daniel Johnston
White hipster dudes playing “world” music is a risky proposition. It seems like it can either be done extremely well (Antibalas, David Byrne), or it can come off as depressing banal or horribly misguided. This release from Adrian Orange and Her Band is a case in point for the latter. Her Band does their job sufficiently, running through Afro-Cuban, blues and reggae vamps solidly but without fireworks, occasionally hitting a groove that is undeniably pleasurable. Unfortunately, it’s Orange himself (not herself) that drags the project down with tired musings on failed love delivered in an unsteady, disaffected whimper that doesn’t have nearly the soul nor the confidence necessary to complement his choice of musical backdrop. This creates a damning sense of incongruity, and as a result, the vitality and energy of these compositions are drained, making for a limp, lifeless record. I suppose I could applaud Orange’s ambitions to pioneer a sort of art brut big-band aesthetic, but really he should just be more realistic about what he can achieve musically. Definitely one to miss. –Jona Gerlach

Aeon
Rise to Dominate
Metal Blade
Street: 09.04
Aeon = Zyklon + Grave
With the amount of boasting this band’s bio does, you’d think that Aeon was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The Swedish band has offered up something worth listening to; the precision is tight, almost mathematical in its riffs and drumming—but it feels all too familiar and at times, dull. It is heavy and brutal, but it doesn’t capture the feeling or intensity that other technical death metal bands are dishing out today. I know it would be a long time coming for me to play with the skill that the musicians of Aeon use, yet it seems like it has been done before in a better way … ah-hem … Zyklon. I wouldn’t even be surprised if that is where this band got their name (it is the title of Zyklon’s second album). I honestly don’t think these guys will be joining the death metal elite just yet; they definitely have the talent, but it needs to be focused on writing creative songs that actually use structures and riffs that haven’t been used before. –Bryer Wharton

Akimbo
Navigating the Bronze
Alternative Tentacles
Street: 08.21
Akimbo = Melvins + Big Business + Turbonegro.
Yes! Fucking Akimbo rules! Woooo! Uh … pardon me for that little excursion into fanboydom. They’re one of the most underrated bands out there, if you ask me, Akimbo steps on your fucking nuts, steals your beer and your girlfriend, and doesn’t even say “excuse us” with this release. “Sin. Germs. Blood. Filth. Fire. Guns. Kill all the children. Behead the servants. There’s no time to whine, bitch, fuss, shut up. This should be easier than sleep.” See what I mean? Your mission, should you choose to accept it: put down the magazine. Run, do not walk, to your nearest CD retailer. Purchase this CD. Listen immediately. Love yourself. This message will self-destruct in five seconds. –loveyoudead

Amplified Heat
How Do You Like the Sound Of That
Arclight
Street 10.02
Amplified Heat = Skynard + a harder ZZ Top + cookie monster vocals
How do I like the sound of that? Well, it’s not bad. It is essentially classic rock that’s trying a little too hard to capture the elusive sound championed by the 13th Floor Elevators or the Stooges. Most of the time it comes close, but this Texas band never really hits the mark (though as a standard hard-rock swamp boogie record, it’s quite good). Highlights include a song called “Rambler” that pairs a 60s garage sound with a Hendrix-esque guitar solo. Another stellar song, the rockabilly-infused instrumental “Amplified Boogie,” shows the wide range of musical chops that Heat really has. What bothers me is that every other song on the disk sounds just like one of these two. I get the feeling that they are probably incredible live, and some of that energy spills onto the record, but in all, it is a bit too much “Black Sabbath meets the swamp”—and why the hell would I like the sound of that? –James Bennett

Athletic Automation
A Journey through Roman’s Empire
Skin Graft
Street 09.18
Athletic Automation = The Black Keys + Boredoms
Oh, that fateful day when your singer doesn’t show up to practice. Do you chuck him and call your choirboy cousin to fill in for the tour? Hell, no. Like several once anomalistic bands, duo Athletic Automation figures it’s best to fill the vocal gap with enough instrumental madness to make the listener forget the otherwise lopsidedness. And madness it is! The group (Patrick Crump on drums and bass, Stephen Mattos on guitars and keyboards) bangs out each track with a fierce, masculine, boundless energy (they sport ’70s basketball socks, jerseys and headbands to accentuate their aesthetic), the kind of attack that leaves audiences reeling and all the ladies in the area pregnant. Except for two lulls (the band lets up for a moment around track three, “The Gladiator’s Sandal Fight” and during the 16-minute closer, “The Smaller Ball Game”), explosive crash cymbals and screeching feedback, pointed guitar noodling and loose song structures fill every track. This pervasive war-zone and experimentalism is a bit challenging when taken all at once, but like the free jazz of the late ’60s, Athletic Automation grows on you a little more with each listen. –Dave Madden

Bear Claw
Slow Speed: Deep Owls
Sickroom Recordings
Street: 09.25
Bear Claw = Form of Rocket + Lungfish + McClusky.
After an extremely promising bass-driven intro track, this album seems to lose steam. It’s really heavy on the low-end, which is characteristic of anything recorded by Steve Albini, and is musically pretty interesting, but the vocals kill the enjoyment…the guy literally sounds like he’s pushing forth every syllable he mutters. I get the feeling this band is something to behold live, but on wax (or plastic) they totally lose it. –loveyoudead

Between the Buried and Me
Colors
Victory Records
Street: 09.18
Between the Buried and Me = shames all namedropping
Well, they’re back, and I’m continually impressed. Between the Buried and Me has yet again created something that is weird and wonderful. Somehow they are able to remain wonderful and interesting to me, rather than weird for the sake of weird or (pseudo) technical. Okay, maybe the surprise towards the end of “Ants Of The Sky” is a tad weird, but it certainly put a stupid grin on my face. Truthfully, there are few active bands out there who write as proficiently and with as much forward-thinking as BTBAM, and everything you’ve heard about them is most likely true. Just about every style of music that focuses heavily on the guitar is fused into each and every one of their songs. I’m not saying that everyone will like this, but if you find yourself enjoying any slight diversion from the traditional 4/4 time signature, I encourage you to pick this up. –Conor Dow

Black Dice
Load Blown
Paw Tracks
Street: 10.23
Black Dice = Excepter + Ravi Shankar in a blender
Their sound has evolved into an almost hippie robot arena, where all walks of machinery come to get high and swirl around in circles to a semi-rhythmic beat. There are no humans in sight, only the sounds created by these various metal parts gently and violently bumping, grinding and at times loving each other. Unlike their previous releases, the sounds on this album are somewhat personified to be playful and danceable; almost a “leave your brain at the door” mentality. Even though this album is a collection of singles over the last two years, it is their most cohesive release to date. There is still a lot of noise on the periphery, but the heart of Load Blown is very focused and surprisingly optimistic. –Andrew Glassett

Blaqk Audio
Cexcells
Interscope
Street: 08.21
Blaqk Audio = Depeche Mode + VNV Nation + AFI … duh
I don’t give a fuck who makes fun of me for liking this sucker … for what it is, it’s top-fucking notch. For those unaware, Blaqk Audio is Davey Havok and Jade Puget from everyone’s favorite band to rag on: AFI, doing fairly poppy industrial stuff. I’d heard rumors of this project for a few years, but it wasn’t until the CD fell in my lap that I was aware the boys were doing anything with it. To sum up, take Depeche Mode’s “Playing the Angel,” mash it together with the last 3 VNV Nation albums and stick Davey Havok’s vocals on it, and you’ve got Blaqk Audio. It’s catchy as fuck, childrens … so sue me. Oh, yeah … let me say “fuck” one more time for good measure. –loveyoudead

Blitzen Trapper
Wild Mountain Nation
Lidkercow Ltd
Street: 06.12
Blitzen Trapper = Beatles + Grateful Dead + Wilco + Pavement
The first song I heard from Blitzen Trapper was “Wild Mountain Nation”, a little gem of southern rock, full of carefree guitar noodling, and more or less a throwback to the sounds of the Allman Bros. and the Grateful Dead. Now, going by this song alone, the general vibe put out from the album cover, and the promo picture (dudes in leather cowboy hats, flannels, and beards) you get the impression you might be headed into hillbilly country. And to some, small extent, you would be right. However, mostly, this is a carefree, energiezed summah-time record, covering just about every genre imaginable. While a couple songs do approach that backwoods feel (especially “Wild Mtn. Jam”, where you can practically hear the teeth resisting their gummy prisons), as many others favor towards skewed pop, recalling Wilco’s Summerteeth and Pavement’s first three records. Which basically makes this album awesome. Never boring, the genre hopping also never comes across as schizophrenic, despite white electric guitar squalls, trip-hop junkyard synths, and the odd dulcimer or banjo, all competing for your attention. In fact, somehow the album manages to find such a cohesiveness to feel like a genre in and of itself. These guys don’t mess around, blazing through one pop experiment after another… and when it’s all over in thirteen songs and thirty-three minutes, you’d do well to just let it spin again. –b. roller

Bring Me the Horizon
Count Your Blessings
Earache
Street: 08.14
Bring Me the Horizon = The Red Chord + Zao + Unearth
For some reason, when I first read Bring Me the Horizon’s bio, I got the feeling they where Christian; maybe it was because it compared them to Norma Jean. Regardless if they rock for God, it doesn’t matter as long as your ideals don’t interrupt the intensity or power of the music. These guys are like that disturbed little kid that brought a sledgehammer to kill ants with, or stuck firecrackers up the rear-ends of dead birds … um … I’m not taking these examples from personal experience. Seriously, it’s goddamned heavy as hell—kind of like old Zao—the breakdowns alone leave you sore and battered. There is speed, blood-curdling screams and bass hits that will shake your walls even if your stereo is a piece of shit. Just when you thought the metalcore genre couldn’t get more stagnant, there is a band like Bring Me the Horizon to churn up those waters. –Bryer

Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew
Spirit If…
Arts & Crafts
Street: 09.07
Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew = Broken Social Scene + Joe Cocker
“Anyone can write this song/But they can’t write you and me,” BSS front man Kevin Drew sings on the track “Backed Out On The,” the kind of song just about everybody and their ex-girlfriend does write. Irony, self-awareness and ‘head-up-my-ass’ singer-songwritery mucks much of Spirit If…, the band’s first in a series of ‘solo’ projects. Though they’re calling it a solo series, most of the band is here to back up Drew; for better or worse. The album acts as a battleground for two competing forces: over-produced Mellencamp-sap versus well-constructed, You Forgot It In People style noise-pop, perfectly embodied in the opening track “Farewell to the Pressure Kids.” For the better part of the song, the vocals and guitar are mixed down to a mumble, the drums and keys turned up loud and left to reverberate. Four minutes in, however, the song is turned on it’s ear, or turned from it’s ear back to it’s boring feet. The vocals get clear and nostalgic, the keys and guitar become mushy and important, ‘Who invited John Mayer into the studio?’ someone whispers off-mic. But in 14 beefy songs, Spirit somehow balances unfortunate fist-pumping Bruce Springsteen anthems like “Lucky Ones” with the articulately jumbled electronic landscape of “Big Love” or the gentle rhythmic sway of “Gang Bang Suicide.” As long as CD players have ‘skip’ buttons, songwriters will have self importance, so expect both to be exercised. –Jeff Guay

Canartic
Bouncing Radar Beams Off the Moon
Dank Disk
Street: 09.18
Canartic = Bob Marley + Trenchmouth + Blockhead
This album is some righteous electronic dub action reggae. The album begins with a bunch of electronic samples of blips, bubbles and random voices, then immediately sets it sights on trying to make everything relaxed and groovy. All eight tracks are slow paced and include sensual guitar solos flowing over the top. I don’t really see how the sexually powered guitar solo goes with the mellow-sounding music, but it works in its own special way, I suppose. The main problem with this album is that all the songs sound exactly the same; all with the same slowed, mellow vibe. I think this album would have worked much better if the if the multi-musician DJs Jon Coats and Randall Peterson had blended all eight of these tracks into one full, drawn-out song. The groove gets going and then the song stops just to have to have another song start that sounds exactly the same. One highlight of this album is the random electronics that are blended into this Rastafarian business. –Jon Robertson

The Casualties
Made In N.Y.C.
SideOneDummy
Street: 09.25
The Casualties = The Casualties
Honestly, who hasn’t heard of The Casualties at this point? Unfortunately, The Casualties are either the kind of band that you love, you hate, or you wear their T-Shirt you bought at Hot Topic because you thought it was punk, and you are, after all, punk as fuck—never mind that you have never heard them. I know, that is quite the accusation, but it is true. I never was much of a fan of the Casualties. I’ve always thought that Jorge’s voice was far from enjoyable; the music was as mediocre and generic as anything else on the market; and that songs about drinking beer were hardly the greatest thing that’s ever graced my ears. Though I will admit, this live album was better than any studio recording I’ve heard, but it’s still the same old Casualties. If you like the Casualties, sure, buy this, it’s good. If you don’t, you’re going to be getting the same old shit you’ve hated before. It all really comes down to whether or not you’re a fan. –Josh McGillis

Chiodos
Bone Palace Ballet
Equal Vision
Street: 09.04
Chiodos = old school Soasin with Anthony Green on vocals + Fall of Troy + some Freddy Mercury droppings
This is the second attempt from the emo prog-rockers to bring something to the table. Bone Palace Ballet (some kind of damned sexual innuendo?) is orchestrated and dynamic. The album has some cool keyboard and rhythmic change-ups, but the majority of this stuff is your standard emo-screamo business. Which usually I can’t stand, but for some reason I can’t stop cutting these guys a little slack. They seem to do it better than everybody else; it’s tight and solid-sounding. Maybe it’s the slight tinge of prog-rock that they sneak in inch by inch like gentlemen. It totally made me want to be depressed, wear tight pants and rock the pirate-patch hair cut. There’re just enough songs on here to give the album an epic-type feel without being beaten down with the same ideas over and over. Out of all the fruity toots bands that Chiodos get lumped in with, I respect them the most. Prog it up more and more, Chiodos, prog it up. –Jon Robertson

Clockcleaner
S/T
Load Records
Street: 10.02
Clockcleaner = Bauhaus + The VSS + ISIS + The Starvations
A departure from more straightforward noise familiar to the Load Records sound, Clockcleaner’s dark, droning sound is nonetheless as groundbreaking as any other record put out by the Providence avant-garde label. Clockcleaner’s sophomore release is reminiscent of some of the other darker-sounding early indie pioneers such as Subpoena the Past, Slaves or The Vanishing while nodding toward old-school dark rockers Birthday Party or Bauhaus. What differentiates this record from its predecessors is the fusion of reverb-soaked garage with stoner metal and dark psychedelic—leaving the listener pulled somewhere between Alice Cooper, Sunn O))), and Vangelis. However, the fusion is pulled together so ingeniously that the result is not a compilation or series of different sounds, but an amalgamation of unique ideas and pioneering sounds. –Ryan Powers

Coliseum
No Salvation
Relapse
Street: 08.21
Coliseum = Coliseum. Piss off.
If you don’t own this record and you call yourself a “punk,” you’ve got some fucking ’splaining to do. In a big way. Coliseum is one of the most pissed-off, focused bands I’ve heard in recent years, and “No Salvation,” the follow-up to 2005’s “Goddamage” EP, does by no means disappoint. Crusty enough for the dirtiest punk and heavy enough for the grungiest doom-metaller, this is quite high in the running for “Album of the Year.” Listen to “Fall of the Pigs” and tell me it’s not one of the best things you’ve ever heard. I fucking dare you. –loveyoudead

Crescemt
Little Waves
Fat Cat
Street: 09.18
Crescent = Pearls Before Swine + Low + Iron & Wine
The fifth album for this longstanding Bristol collective finds them even mellowed than usual, delivering an album of languid, lo-fi atmospheric folk songs. Acoustic guitar and voice dominate this record, highlighted by organs, horns and drums and wrapped in a warm, gritty blanket of tape hiss, found sounds, mic interference and other sonic imperfections. However, this naked, exposed style only works if you have songs strong enough to be showcased in this way, and Crescent, sadly, do not. Matt Jones’ droning, monotone voice, combined with the molasses-slow speed of the songs, isn’t particularly engaging, and as a result the album, tends to fade off into the background. When all the elements come together, as on “Hey, September,” the results are spectacular. But for the most part, despite the warmth and beauty of the recording, Little Waves just doesn’t hold one’s attention enough to beg repeated listens. –Jona Gerlach

Dan Kaufman
Force of Light
Tzadik
Street: 09.25
Dan Kaufman = godspeed you! black emperor + Masada + Paul Celan
Force of Light, three years in the making, is Dan Kaufman’s deeply personal tribute to the life and work of renowned poet and Holocaust survivor Paul Celan. Performed by his band Barbez, Kaufman’s compositions are sweeping, cinematic post-rock epics, similar in vein to godspeed you! black emperor and Do Make Say Think, but with a distinct Yiddish and Eastern European flair. While at first glance it may seem like this is nothing new, closer listens reveal this to be a work of considerable intensity. Guitars and clarinets intertwine melodies with theremins and violins. Against a backdrop of guitar, clarinet, theremin and violin, the isolation, displacement, fear, and rage of Celan’s words are highlighted to powerful effect. This is a strong, hypnotic work, a must for fans of moody post-rock and another worthy entry in John Zorn’s Radical Jewish Culture series. –Jona Gerlach

Dtente
Recognize No Authority
Cognitive Records
Street: 07.17
Dtente = EARLY: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, et al
OH MIGHTY FUCK. Thrash metal was huge just shortly after the very early 80s and Dtente was no exception. Remember when metal was closely related to punk in both image and purpose? This album is a great way to do your homework if you’ve worn out your Kill’Em All album. What did Dtente have over some of the other thrashers? The illustrious valkyrie known as Dawn Crosby (R.I.P.), of course! With her extremely pissed-off, adumbrating vocals, and their Randy Rhoads-styled guitar work, this album can only be defined as completely awesome. This is being reissued without any studio reproduction, and if you like any thrash metal mentioned above, or just drinking beer and making hair helicopters, you owe it to yourself to pick this piece of history up. Respect your elders! –Conor Dow

Dirty Projectors
Rise Above
Dead Oceans
Street: 09.11
Dirty Projectors = Grizzly Bear + Antony & the Johnsons + Graceland
Never one to shy away from high-concept ideas, David Longstreth (the mastermind behind Dirty Projectors) has outdone himself on this release, with which he intends to become the Pierre Menard of the indie-pop circuit. Much like Borges’ fictional protagonist, Longstreth re-imagines Black Flag’s Damaged without consulting the original recording, relying instead on memories of his beloved teenage soundtrack. The results, however worthy and pleasurable they may be, are somehow disappointing as they are basically in the same vein as past Dirty Projectors records: a confounding, shimmering, soft-focus blend of indie rock, afro-pop and jazz with the occasional blast of punk noise. This poses a problem for the reviewer; while this is an undeniably interesting listen and may represent a high-water mark musically for Longstreth, it doesn’t really deliver on the promise of its concept. Instead of the thought-provoking intellectual exercise I had hoped for, this comes off as more of a covers record, albeit one that is unique, well executed, and worth checking out. –Jona Gerlach

Do Make Say Think
You, You’re A History in Rust
Constellation Records
Street: 02.26
DMST = Godspeed + Tortoise + Couch
If someone where to ask me what I thought of this new album by DMST compared to other albums of either the same genre or in the same discography, I would have to give a resounding “meh.” On You, You’re A History in Rust, it feels as if DMST have exhausted their run from previous amazing instrumental albums that seem to skitter away from conventional “post-rock” or masturbatory elongated solos. Instead of engaging explorations of sound, they have opted to adopt the weird new America (or in this case, Canada) and neo-folk traditions into their 10-minute-plus epics. The only thing of note is that now they have included lyrics and in turn, vocals. If you are a veteran DMST fan as I am, it’s still not a bad idea to invest in this album; just don’t expect the same groundbreaking adventures that you’ve had in the past. –Erik Lopez

Drop Dead, Gorgeous
Worse Than a Fairy Tale
Suretone
Street: 08.14
Drop Dead, Gorgeous = the next Hot Topic posterboys
“How do you play with matches?!?!” Are you fucking kidding me? That’s actually a line in the first track on this steaming pile of pubescent, mallrat “rage.” I’ll give them a little credit: it sounds like they’ve actually listened to an Orchid or a Red Scare record once or twice, but apparently, those bands did little to sway Drop Dead, Gorgeous’ extra-apparent dream of being played in Hot Topics around the country and having a gazillion 13-year-old girls in bad makeup worship them. Sure, it’s a little heavier than your standard mallcore fare, but chalk that up to recording gimmickry, not to talent and songwriting. Anyone’s dog need a new chew toy? –loveyoudead

Drudkh
Estrangement
Supernal Music
Street: 09.04
Drudkh = Burzum + Ulver + Crebain
Since first hearing Drudkh back in 2003, I knew there was something special about them. Granted, they are comprised of individuals with … erm … “questionable” political and personal beliefs, but the music is second-to-none in the extremely overdone black metal world. Though the musical presentation seems a little thin compared to the last opus, “Blood in Our Wells,” it’s easy to see that Drudkh excels at repeating themselves, but adding exponentially to each repetition. With three tracks clocking in at over 10 minutes and the final track at four, it seems a bit on the short side for an album from Drudkh’s chosen genre, but what “Estrangement” is lacking in length is made up for in absolute quality. Pony up the bucks and order the “DeLuxe” edition. Fucking amazing. –loveyoudead

Encomiast
Self-titled
Lens
Street: 08.28
Encomiast = Nurse with Wound + Stars of the Lid
Encomiast’s style of thick, glacial drones straddles the line between gorgeous and ominous, conjuring feelings of bliss and dread in equal measure. This, a reissue of their 1999 debut album, definitely tends towards darker shades on the whole, with some tracks sporting industrial beats, albeit slowed way down and stretched way out to the point where they’re almost part of the atmosphere. However, even the darkest moments are married with lighter, more delicate textures. Encomiast displays excellent attention to detail and a deft sense of dynamic composition, as on the nearly 30-minute “Concepture,” which moves from suffocating, clangy soundscapes to ethereal efflorescence, simultaneously channeling vintage Coil and The Orb into one epic moment. Sure, the synth sounds can seem a bit dated at times, but they are utilized with enough intelligence to make this is a consistently compelling listen. Highly recommended for those who like to drift. –Jona Gerlach

Eugene Blacknell
We Can’t Take Life For Granted
Ubiquity
Street 09.11
Eugene Blackwell = BB King + Marvin Gaye + San Francisco
Before listening to this record, I had never heard of Eugene Blackwell, despite his almost cult status among collectors of California soul and R&B. He recorded boatloads of material over a 20-year period, but never released a full-length LP. This compilation features a wide variety of Blackwell’s work. There is early stuff by Eugene Blackwell and the Savonics, some instrumental funk recorded under the name Eugene Blackwell and the New Breed, and other unreleased tracks dug up by Blackwell’s son. The final product is a healthy mix of funk, soul, R&B and blues. It is unbelievable that Blackwell only ever released singles during his life, because, as this cross-section of his career proves, he could have been a huge star in any number of music genres. But I guess he already is a star, and this record makes his life’s work available to all those who would seek after it. –James Bennett

Every Time I Die
The Big Dirty
Ferret Style
Street: 09.04
Every Time I Die = Thine Atreyu is Buried and Bleeding Underoath
The world’s going to hell, burning to the crispy consistency of a creme brulee cap and Every Time I Die are the soundtrack … not! They’re more like the soundtrack to the grand opening of the local town’s Hot Dog on a Stick Korner Store, or, to be more accurate, the local teen boutique salon or Dr. John’s. The songs are utterly repetitive in texture, content and riffage, and it’s a mystery what metalcore kids are hurting over these days; their pain is as shallow as a bloodless papercut. I’m starting to get reeeeallly testy about self-conscious, tee-hee song titles like “We’rewolf,” “Rebel Without Applause,” “Rendez-Voodoo” and “Depressionista.” I’m sick of scratch-n’-sniff teen angst. Sick of lyrics like “I’m no good at court-ordered goodbyes.” Golly, you sure are twisted, you big dissident, you. But really, you can take your rehashed cliches and shove it. –Rebecca Vernon

The Flatliners
The Great Awake
Fat Wreck Chords
Street: 09.04
The Flatliners = latter-era Suicide Machines + Kid Dynamite + Smoke or Fire
Science has proven that only two things of any value have ever come from Canada: Propagandhi and Rick Moranis. Someday, I think that The Flatliners will be added to that list. The Great Awake shows that these young Torontonians have a whole hell of a lot of potential, but they're still trying to find their own sound. Trapped somewhere in between the stellar ska-core of the Suicide Machines and the melodic hardcore of Kid Dynamite isn't always a bad thing, evident on tracks like “ ... And the World Files for Chapter 11,” ripe with frantic, up-stroked guitar and gang vocals and the furious “This is Giving Up.” However, the more ska and reggae-influenced tracks, like the 311-esque “The Respirator,” fall flat. Even worse than that bro-tastic track are the songs that are just plain forgettable. When The Great Awake is working, it's working incredibly well, but when it isn't, it's just cookie-cutter Fat Wreck punk. –Ricky Vigil

Fog
Ditherer
Lex Records
Street: 08.14
Fog = Modest Mouse + a hint of Animal Collective + a tad Comets on Fire
Largely the creative output of one man, Andrew Broder, this is the first album from Fog written as a trio, with almost no trace of Broder’s Minneapolis hip-hop scene background. In fact, more than once, there was a general reminiscence of Sufjan Stevens on acid, as in the song Hallelujah Daddy. Highly orchestrated arrangements fill out with un-standard chanting gospel choruses—with proggy anthemic space guitar and strained, almost shouted vocals. Rootsy talk of the devil permeates, sometimes with high and lonesome vocals, and glimmers of pedal steel waft in and out with rhythms wrought from the back porch and a bottle of hooch under blankets of programmed beats. A solid guest list helps add even more diversity: Andrew Bird, Phil Elvrum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, and the married kids from Low. Lyrics are borderline stream-of-consciousness, and while often good, sometimes delve into the outright goofy: “I am smothered in glistening chicken fat on my mother’s bedspread,” in any light save an early John Waters film, just doesn’t work for me. Still, the musical construction here is solid enough that the lyrics only slightly annoy here and there. Mostly, this is an intelligent rock album. While influences and assistance may abound, the sound is largely one unique to Fog. –Brian Roller

Feezepop
Future Future Future Perfect
Cordless Recordings
Street: 09.25
Freezepop = Ladytron’s debut + Vince Clarke
Freezepop are a quirky analogue band that blissfully recall the early days of post-disco electronic music. With their debut they stood beside Ladytron as retro-chic, cute and somewhat of a gimmick and while Ladytron transformed into a critical darling by tweaking their sound with each subsequent release Freezepop seem stuck in the place they began. Still they were charming with songs that are somewhat silly, summery with the occasional dance floor fillers. Future Future Future Perfect continues that tradition to a fault. Like the child actor that has outgrown their cuteness Freezepop have done the same thing one time too many. Only the lead single “Ninja of Love” with its Gary Numan touches seems inspired while in songs like “Do You Like My Wang” and “Do You Like Boys” the sexual camp and innuendo is a bit overdrawn and the banal “Pop Music Is Not A Crime” is about as inspirational as another Lee Greenwood compilation. ~ryan michael painter

The Fucking Wrath
Season of Evil
GoodFellow Records
Street: 08.14
The Fucking Wrath = Ringworm + Tragedy + Metallica.
OK, this is more fucking like it: a record that brings it well before it’s already been broughten … er … whatever. Straight fucking pissed from the get-go, this is the kind of record most punk bands wish they could make nowadays. Heavy, gritty, and just plain mean, this will absolutely satisfy anyone looking for some straightforward, pissed-off, heavy punk rock n’ roll. The Fucking Wrath is one of the few bands that can go from well done d-beat hardcore to old school punk to thrash without blinking an eye and do it fucking well. For fuck’s sake, man—the cover is a drawing of a dude slaying a dragon! Consider me a believer. –loveyoudead

Fueled by Fire
Spread the Fire
Metal Blade
Street: 08.07
Fueled by Fire = Metallica + Anthrax + Municipal Waste
Hell, yeah—you can’t go wrong with the instrumental album opener “Ernest Goes to Hell"—I would have liked to seen that made into a movie. The band started in 2002, but it took them five years to solidify a lineup, only releasing one demo in that time frame. The final product was well worth the turmoil … or better phrased: fine-tuning in the band. Spread the Fire relives thrash glory days, all with a modern take. Influences like Exodus, D.R.I., and Hirax shine through, not to mention the obvious old Metallica style. The music is fast, furious and lyrically cheesy; all great aesthetics of thrash metal. It is hard not to love songs on the album like “Thrash is Back,” “Striking Death,” “Metal Forever” and “Command of the Beast.” The guitar sound the band uses is great and the vocal assault is as old school as old school gets. While the newer thrash bands utilize lots of hardcore-sounding screams, it is refreshing to hear somebody copy Joey Belladonna. You can only stand that screamy stuff for a while; the old-school vocals are much more bearable and a hell of a lot less angry, it’s just more fun … dare I say, happy, in a way. Thanks, Fueled by Fire, for giving us some metal that relishes in the old sound, because that sound will always be enjoyed. –Bryer Wharton

Gentlemen’s Pistols
Gentlemen’s Pistols
Candlelight
Street: 08.14
Gentlemen’s Pistols = Queens of the Stone Age + Clutch
Wow; I didn’t expect to hear this type of music coming from the predominately death/black metal label Candlelight. With that statement, one might wonder why Gentlemen’s Pistols chose Candlelight to represent them. Regardless, a great album is a great album and that is exactly what Gentlemen’s Pistols debut full-length is. If you’ve been looking for one of those feel-good groove rock albums this year, this is it. Album opener “Just a Fraction” croons you in with its meaty dual guitar combination, tasty bass line and toe-tapping melodies. The lyrics remind me a hell a lot of the great stortelling and rhyming of the mighty Clutch; song titles like “Parking Banshee,” “Mistress Mistrust,” and “Heavy Petting” can give you the inkling of the diversity of the songs. “Out of the Eye,” while speeding up the tempo, is still filled with the grooves that make the record not only fun to listen to but refreshing and new as well. Yeah, these guys may have listened to a lot of stoner and groove rock records from trailblazers like Fu Manchu and of course Black Sabbath, but they took the lessons and inspirations those bands provide and created their own glorious guitar-driven and lyrically intriguing music, I pray that Candlelight gives this band the credit and promotion they deserve. –Bryer Wharton

George S. Clinton
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee Soundtrack
Home Box Office, Inc.
Street: 05.27
George S. Clinton = No, not that George Clinton
George S. Clinton, with his many award-winning motion picture soundtracks and familiar namesake, has yet again delivered a musical score that can do nothing but greatly enhance its respective movie. With the soundtrack for Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Clinton extensively researched the authentic sound of Native American song and molded what he found to his unique style. Combining an 80-piece orchestra, 32-voice mail choir and the flute of Two Hawks' Lakota, the final product takes shape of an album that almost goes beyond being a mere soundtrack. Throughout its entirety, there is a persistent epic feeling that does a great job of accurately capturing authentic Native American musical style. Though he occupies a completely different genre than the funk mastermind George Clinton, George S. Clinton deserves recognition for his talent that takes the motion pictures he works with to an entire other level. –Ross Solomon

Gorefest
Rise to Ruin
Candlelight
Street: 09.25
Gorefest = Vader + Mindloss + Erase
I didn’t even know Gorefest was still around; apparently they had a comeback album a couple years ago. I remember listening to their older albums and not being to enthralled by them. Gorefest’s singer sounds exactly like Peter from Vader. One would almost think from the brand of Gorefest’s death metal that they would be Polish, but they are actually Dutch. There are some great riffs on Rise to Ruin and a truly killer vocal attack on the record’s first song, “Revolt”—it grabs you and makes you want to scream “Rise, revolt!” There is a simplicity to Gorefest’s brutality; the album doesn’t have a large quantity of leads or soloing; not disparaging their chops; they just wanted more of a pummeling effect than a blow-your-mind-with-intricate-solos effect. Did I mention that the band sounds almost exactly like Vader yet? It isn’t really a bad thing, but if I wanted to listen to something that sounded like Vader, I’d take Vader. All in all, the songs on Rise to Ruin seem to just meld together after a while; only the first track stands out, even with the nine-minute blast-fest “Babylon’s Whores.” While I’m not saying this record is horrible, it isn’t that grand either—just treads in mediocre land. –Bryer Wharton

Hearse
In These Veins
Candlelight USA
Street: 09.18
Hearse = Disillusion – progressive + more death metal
This album feels like progressive death metal without the “progressive” part. But not in a bad way! In fact, it gives this strange illusion that each song is going to run off on some strange bridge in an effort to end the song completely different from how it started. Although the writing doesn’t ever really go this direction, it does still somehow maintain a lasting appeal for me. I don’t know if this is just some roundabout way to say that I enjoyed this or maybe I’m really just trying to look deeper for something that isn’t really there, but I do feel positive about Hearse. The production on this album might be a bit too clean for my taste, always with the overdone post-processing and software-assisted timbre foiling my ears at every turn. Although to me these things are quite unnecessary, In These Veins is indeed an enjoyable listen. –Conor Dow

Heavy Trash
Going Way Out with Heavy Trash
Yep Roc
Street: 09.04
Heavy Trash = Jon Spencer Blues Explosion + The Sadies
If you’re going write a song like Charlie Feathers, you have to do more than come up with some clicky rockabilly riffs played through homemade tube amps; you have to write a motherfucker of a song that’s going to be remembered forever. Sadly, nothing on Heavy Trash’s debut fits that description. It’s mostly just another self-serving vehicle for Jon Spencer to mumble and yell about himself and whatever ad infinitum. There’s definitely some good musicianship going on here, but it’s all a fairly conservative re-tread of the roots of American rock n’ roll rather than an attempt to bring any new energy or ideas to it. In fact, despite his insistence on being WAY OUT, Spencer actually seems more tired and irrelevant than ever before. Seriously: if you want to hear this guy go WAY OUT, dig up some old Pussy Galore records and give this a pass. –Jona Gerlach

The Hex Dispensers
Self-released
Alien Snatch
Street: 03.30
The Hex Dispensers = The Ramones + Simply Saucer + Deadbolt
Someone needs a hug. In Provo there used to be this band called Thee Martinis—50s garage, a genre I used to with antiseptics. But they were angry angry angry. The lead singer never talked to anyone and his girlfriend wore Asian super-minis and was always scowling. The Hex Dispensers echo them in sound and ’tude. The hooks are simple 70s punk, but the fuzzed-out guitar and defiant, ass-kicking vocals are straight-up dark mid-20th-century garage. They are over-the-top good; the soundtrack to the worst sort of teen angst. Lyrics cover vicious revenge on ex-lovers, disturbance, insomnia, disillusionment, arsenic milkshakes, suicide and E.S.P. A lot of the songs repeat the same chord progressions, but that didn’t keep the Sex Pistols from leaving a legacy. –Rebecca Vernon

Information Society
Synthesizer
Dancing Ferret
Street: 10.07
Information Society = Seven Red Seven + early Red Flag
This is and isn’t exactly what you think it is. Following their third album, Peace & Love Incorporated, Information Society essentially went from the core trio of Paul Robb, James Cassidy and Kurt Harland (who handled the majority of the vocal duties) to a Harland solo project. Under Harland’s watch InSoc signed to Cleopatra records and moved towards a more industrial, dark electronic sound straying slightly from the sound of the three major label releases. Following one album and a handful of remixes Harland turned his focus over to scoring video games and returned the InSoc brand name back over to Robb and Cassidy who enlisted Christopher Anton to replace Harland on vocals. The result is Synthesizer an album that returns to the more dance floor friendly sound of their earlier releases (no surprise for anyone who followed Robb’s releases under the moniker Think Tank). Anton fills in well enough and the sonic elements are distinctly what you’d expect from an InSoc album written by Robb (high energy, bouncy electronics with dialogue samples clipped in between) but I can’t help but feel more comfortable when Harland makes an appearance on the albums finest moment “The Seeds of Pain.” A nice album even if it sounds like 1992 all over again. ~ryan michael painter

Innertie
Demo
Self-reased
Street: 10.02
Innertie = Converge + Botch + Cult of Luna
It makes me question record labels sometimes when bands with so much talent can’t get signed. Any label should be anxious to snatch up Innertie based on their five-song demo alone. Hailing from France, these guys have their ducks in a row and are ready to teach a lesson in pain and suffering. Opening cut “Glorification D-Une Chute Annoncee” starts off blazing, then wanders into dirge territory with tortured screams keeping the emotion and energy alive. The lead work on this demo is highly worthy of praise and brings forth memories of metalcore mastery from the likes of Botch and Converge. The whole thing is extremely cohesive and strangely for a demo, flows together in an ultimate chaotic blend with subtle mellow portions that just add a feeling of despair and impending doom. If you crave a little darkness with your chaos, Innertie is right up your alley. I look forward to the future full-length from these guys; keep it up, Innertie. –Bryer Wharton

Jamie T.
Panic Prevention
Caroline
Street: 09.04.07
Jamie T. = The Streets + Gorillaz + The Clash
Short listed for the UK’s Mercury Prize (best album of the year from an UK artist) Panic Prevention is distinctly British in lyric and mishmash of genres. While this may prove to be an obstacle to American audiences who don’t like their music genres mixed it is also the underlining reason why the album proves to be interesting, different and worthy (for a change) of the praise it has received in the UK press. Bringing a handbag full of hip-hop, rock, punk, reggae and drum machines Panic Prevention rushes through the day to day mediocrity that confines the masses with a sense of wit and recklessness. ~ryan michael painter

Japanther
Skuffed up my Huffy
CDB Records
Street: 09.11
Japanther = Guitar Wolf + The Ramones + Pink and Brown
Fueled by overdriven guitars and microphones manufactured from old telephone handsets, Japanther has created a niche in independent music that is as unique as it is passionate. Somewhere between proto-punk and neo-no-wave, Skuffed up my Huffy takes a progressive approach to the stripped-down noise sound by building an array of lo-fi and hi-fi recordings to give the listener a dynamic experience that matches the volume and sound of a live performance. Difficult to describe, the overwhelming vibe of Japanther is exceedingly positive, channeling the energy of Lightning Bolt, Wives, or even Black Eyes. Easily one of the most repeatedly listenable records, expect to see this record in my Top 10 of 2007. –Ryan Powers

Jens Lekman
Night Falls Over Kortedala
Secretly Canadian
Street: 10.09
Jens Lekman = Smiths + Felt + Orange Juice
For me and my taste, you can take your Belle and Sebastian, your singer/songwriters and any other emotional drivel and shove it. I am not in the least interested in pop records … especially ones that sound like any of the above-mentioned bands. But I can’t help but swallow my pride here and take one for the team—this album is amazing. It’s kind of like being way into metal only to find out that, secretly and with disgust, you are in love with a Postal Service album. While Lekman might not intentionally wear his predecessors on his sleeve, it quite obviously shows; the melodies and rhythms can almost be identified by name from your favorite B&S or Smiths song, but this doesn’t stop it from being charming and endearing. What really pulls this album together is its catchy, creative storytelling that throws you off guard once you find out what he is really singing about. I caught myself humming and singing the lyrics only to find out I was singing about a lesbian who needs a fake boyfriend to bring home to father. Brilliant! If you can trust my taste for only a second, you should check out this album by an incredible Swedish pop star. –Erik Lopez

Junius
The Fires of Antediluvia
Radar Recordings
Street: 10.09
Junius = Joy Division + Duran Duran + ISIS + Mogwai
This was a huge surprise for me. After reading “post-wave” in the press release, I was skeptical, but after listening for five minutes, I was sold. Somehow these gentlemen write a flavor of spacey dark rock in the vein of Joy Division and New Order without being a parody of their contemporaries, who try so very hard to be those bands. No, Junius has their own way of making slight nods to other experimental influences as well, melding them effectively so that the songs are interesting enough to stand out from one another. This means that there were many moments in this disc where I wanted to listen again just for those specific parts. While digesting those parts, I continued to hear more moments that I wanted to experience over again as well, which is the classic formula of a potentially favorite or even timeless album. Without hesitation, I consider their upcoming Martyrdom of a Catastrophist one of my most anticipated albums of 2008. –Conor Dow

KMFDM
Tohuvabohu
Metropolis
Street: 08.21
KMFDM = Rammstein + Ministry + danceability at your local goth club
OK, I’ve never been the biggest fan of KMFDM, and this record does an excellent job of summing up why. This entire album would be (and probably will be, eventually) inserted into some shitty big-budget action movie during the “dudes-get-violent-in-a-goth-nightclub” scene. For a band that’s been around as long as KMFDM has, you’d bank on one of two things happening to them: either continually re-inventing themselves or continually repeating themselves … in this case, the latter appears to be the path they’ve chosen. If you like KMFDM, you’ll undoubtedly be all over this. If you’re looking for something with a bit more bite to it, subscribe to the Subconscious “From the Vault” series. –loveyoudead

Knights of the Abyss
Juggernaut
Candlelight USA
Street: 09.09
Knights of the Abyss = slightly more fun than Job for a Cowboy
After several listens, I can’t quite put my finger on it. On one hand, this is a fun listen with plenty of hilarious lyrics, decent, grooving riffs and a good dose of chug-chug breakdowns. On the other hand, it’s still your standard deathcore album. Sure, it probably is fun for reasons such as the ridiculous titles such as I Pledge Agrievance and Dragon Pie. But the persistent deathcore keeps back-handing my face to remind me that it’s only slightly more interesting than Job for a Cowboy’s new album but still writing the same exact songs, perhaps with a little more ... zest. I have no problem with this style of metal which Six Feet Under basically coined. What I do have a hard time getting past is any band that doesn’t strive to find or express their unique style or vision. To me, this is what separates the unique listening experience from the “blah blah blastbeat bullshit” that is over-saturating the market lately. –Conor Dow

Malignancy
Inhuman Grotesqueries
Willowtip
Street: 08.07
Malignancy = Necrophagist + Dying Fetus + Cephalic Carnage
Are you wearing socks? Well, be prepared to lose them, because Malignancy is in the house! These New Yorkers have been grinding away in the underground since 1999. The album’s 12 songs fly by, leaving you in a stupor. This is due to the fact that the tempo of Inhuman Grotesqueries is all over the place, said tempo changes on the tip of a knife, so to speak. One-second things are insanely fast, blasting, utterly pounding away. Then next you’re in a land of heavy and syrupy grooves. Capping things off, you go into dirge territory where things are even slower and filled with even more grungy, violent discord. It is almost as if Malignancy took a bunch of classic grind albums, added their own choice ingredients and threw them in a blender that has three speeds, mixed it all up in no particular order and poured it out into a mold resembling a CD and voila—Inhuman Grotesqueries. Don’t confuse that statement and think the band is sloppy or unorganized. There is a reason for this madness; there is a thought behind every tempo change and brutal chord, because while things are chaotic, it all flows together in a strangely non-uniform way. –Bryer Wharton

Marissa Nadler
Songs III: Bird on the Water
Peacefrog
Street: 08.07
Marissa Nadler = Simon & Garfunkel + Hope Sandoval
I don’t dig Joanna Newsom. She ... just ... doesn’t ... make ... sense. It’s nice to know that the folk underground has more cards up its sleeve than kooky harpists. Marissa has the voice of legend; misty, wistful and expressive, it caresses the airwaves like awe-filled hands touching skin for the first time. Lyrics spin simple stories of grief and love. There’s nothing mind-blowing or eclectic about Marissa’s dreamy songwriting, but her mix of acoustic guitar-picking, flutey synth, mandolin, cello and harmonizing vocals has that rare quality of classicism that you find in an artist every decade or so. Pretty exquisite. –Rebecca Vernon

Mathias Delplanque
Le Pavillon Tmoin
Low Impedance
Street: 06.20
Mathias Deplanque = Four Tet + CoH
Mathias Deplanque is a French artist who splits his time equally between many musical projects. One of his other projects, Lena, is music primarily influenced by Jamaican dub, but his second solo record released as Mathias Deplanque explores musical boundaries defined by abstract sound and layered acoustics, some songs even containing hushed whispers and ghost-like sound quips. While most of the songs are instrumental, “It’s Spring on the Moon” is filled with haunting voice bits that perfectly match the distressed tone of the piece. Mathias Deplanque truly shows his talent as a multiple style composer with this release, and I can’t wait to hear his next solo project. –Tom Carbone Jr.

Matteah Baim
Death of the Sun
DiCristina/Revolver USA
Street: 06.12
Matteah Baim = Nocturnal Emissions + CocoRosie + M83
Death of the Sun is folk music stripped naked. Amidst an airy, desolate backdrop of somber echoes and reverberations, Matteah croons cold dusty vapors while either piano, guitar, or drum provides a tangible tangle of melody and rhythm. The result is pale sound shivering in minimalism and darkness. It’s eerie and quite—just like you’d imagine if the sun were to die—but Baim, amongst her nine contributors, keeps things organic. Thus, there’s a strange warmth, a warmth similar to that which comes from free jazz or a vinyl seat after someone has sat on it. –Spanther

McRad
F.D.R.
Uprising Records
Street: 09.04
McRad = NoFX + a pinch of Rancid + a singing voice more out of place than a Communist in Wal-Mart
McRad has some pretty cool music, but that’s about it. I can’t seem to track who the lead singer is, but his voice is terrible. It’s whiney, soft and out of place with the fast paced “skate-rock” playing in the background. The vocals detract from the whole experience, which is really a shame, considering this is the first new material to be release by McRad in the past twenty years. Singing aside, McRad’s music is very good. There are more guitar solos than I can count on both my hands, and luckily, there are even a few instrumental tracks on F.D.R., which is good, but doesn’t quite make up for the terrible vocals. F.D.R. isn’t the best album I’ve ever heard, but it’s not too shabby, either. –Josh McGillis

Mehida
Blood and Water
Napalm Records
Street: 09.11
Mehida = Something I almost stepped in outside my apartment this morning
Oh, fuck. Seeing “Napalm Records” stamped on anything is an automatic red flag, and this is precisely why. This is, without a doubt, the most pussified excuse for “metal” I’ve ever heard. Usually, I make an attempt to find something redeeming about anything I review, but in this case, I can’t even muster the courage to attempt an attempt. If you’ve ever wondered what David Bowie’s stuff from the Labyrinth soundtrack would sound like being played over a bad imitation of Iron Maiden, well, here’s your answer. –loveyoudead

Metalocalypse: Dethklok
Dethalbum
Williams Street
Street: 09.25
Metalocalypse: Dethklok = Zimmers Hole + Gwar
This album is apparently from the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocaplypse, which I haven’t seen (unfortunately). My non-cable cave-man ass is going to have to find a way to see it because this band is truly awesome, in a good and cheesy sort of way. The show follows the semi-fictional Norwegian heavy metal band Dethklok and the CD release is promoting the new season in addition to bringing fans their favorite songs from the cartoon as well as new stuff. They remind me of Zimmers Hole, a band that lyrically has songs that are funny as hell, but musically are actually good musicians and songwriters. Though one might find it odd or ironic that the band is from Norway and they play death metal, not black metal, it’s not important. Then again, pretty much just the vocals are straight death metal, with a few exceptions, like in the song “Kill You,” which contains some falsetto vocals, some thrash moments and soloing and some really cool groove-ridden guitar riffing. With the humorous lyrics, my personal favorite is the “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle,” which starts out with standard death metal vocals screaming ‘Do you folks like coffee!’ and goes into “Prepare for ultimate flavor … I scream for your cream!” Maybe it’s funnier if you actually hear it. I definitely want to see this cartoon based on the humor and killer music, my only complaint is my review copy is riddled with stupid voiceover crap telling you that the CD is a promo, which normally doesn’t bother me, but when it pops up every minute or so it gets pretty damn distracting. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to buy the actual record. –Bryer Wharton

Melt-Banana
Bambi’s Dilemma
A-Zap
Street: 05.08
Melt-Banana = Deerhoof + Boredoms + Discordance Axis
A lot of noise has been made about this being Melt-Banana’s “pop” album, a turn away from their Technicolor grind onslaught to more conventional rock territory. This listener doesn’t really see it that way. Sure, they’ve never written anything as straight-up melodic as “Cracked Plaster Cast,” but hasn’t the appeal always been their ability to marry squalor and blastbeats with ridiculously catchy and infectious pop? Bambi’s Dilemma, much like Yo La Tengo’s last record, plays more like a career summary of sorts than a significant departure. There’s hooky punk rock, under-60-second bursts of hardcore noise, and the occasional forays into atmospheric psychedelic electronica. If anything, Melt-Banana sound more assured and in control of their aesthetic than ever. Bottom line: fans already know they need this, and for the uninitiated, it’s as good a place to start as any. –Jona Gerlach

M.I.A.
Kala
Interscope
Street 08.20
M.I.A. = Missy Elliott + Africa Djol
After tasting the fame as an opening act for biter Gwen Stefani, you might think Maya “M.I.A” Arulpragasam would water down her music a little and watch the money pile up. Not so. M.I.A. returns with the most interesting, undanceable dance record of the last few years (think of all those times you fell on your face trying to pull off something graceful during “Get Ur Freak On” and double the difficulty level). The beat is still present, but the rhythms and textures generally fall a few miles south of her previous efforts. The single “Boys” is an exploration of Moroccan percussion and stop/start moments that derail an easy head-nod; the hyper-compressed, neo-crunk “20 Dollar” slinks along, dirge-like, as Arulpragasam’s auto-tuned vocals soar above; “Bird Flu” sounds like a scene out of an over-the-top Bollywood wedding movie, scores of drummers pounding out a serious stomp; mechanical djembes churn and synths rip under Afrikan Boy’s rap of “you think it’s tough now/come to Africa” on “Hussel.” M.I.A. and producer Switch (Diplo and Timbaland also make appearances) gracefully turn whatever rhythm they fancy into catchy cohesion, resulting in a disorderly delight. –Dave Madden

Michael Hurley
The Ancestral Swamp
Gnomonsong
Street: 09.18
Michael Hurley = Devendra Banhart + about 25 or 30 years
For those of you who haven’t heard of Michael Hurley, just try to imagine Devendra Banhart as a grizzled old man and you’ve got the right idea. Hurley specializes in a cracked, slightly eccentric take on traditional folk and blues, spinning long-winded yarns about gamblers and criminals, drinking and dying while accompanying himself on guitar, organ and fiddle. Sometimes this works very well, as on the toe-tapping opener “Knockando,” but the meandering nature of these songs isn’t always terribly engrossing, leading to an occasionally tedious listen. Nevertheless, Hurley is a talented player, and his unique style makes this worth checking into for diehard fans of the New Weird America scene. –Jona Gerlach

Miles Davis Remixed
Evolution of the Groove
Columbia Records
Street: 08.21
Miles Davis Remixed = classic Jazz genius with a twist
Miles Davis sounds damn good no matter how you look at it. His classic music still sounds fresh despite its age. Evolution of the Groove brings Davis and his timeless sound into the present with a handful of remixes. The five tracks blend into one another seamlessly to create a very solid EP. Nas, Santana and Olu Dara are all featured on the EP reinventing Davis’s songs. My favorite track was “Freedom Jazz Dance” featuring Nas. It is very clear that this was a well-thought-out and carefully planned remix album—not just a random mix thrown into a bag and shaken up. Everything about Evolution of the Groove is incredible. –Jeanette Moses

Ministry
The Last Sucker
Thirteenth Planet/Megaforce Records
Street: 09.18
Ministry = If I have to explain, you’ve been under a rock for the past 20 years
The third part in Ministry’s “Dubya” trilogy, as well as their last studio output (according to mainman Al Jourgensen), “The Last Sucker” comes off as extremely weak when compared to 2004’s return-to-form release Houses of the Mole, and 2006’s Rio Grande Blood. Don’t get me wrong: this is the pissed off version of Al and the gang that we’ve all come to know and love since they stopped being poofy and released The Land of Rape and Honey in 1987, but it’s nowhere near as good as a “final” Ministry release should be. The buzzsaw guitars are still present, but the programming, bass and drums are all much too tinny when compared to earlier releases, and the songs seem like they were originally all unused tracks from recording sessions over the last 14 years. If nothing else, check it out and give Ministry respect for being one of the best industrial/metal bands of all time, but this one isn’t really anything to write home to mom about. –loveyoudead

M.O.D.
Red, White and Screwed
Index EnterModeselektor
Happy Birthday!
BPiTCH Control
Modeselektor = Jab Micah Och El + Kraftwerk + Aphex Twin
Street Date: 10.09
Admittedly a fan of minimal electro, I was immediately won over by Modeselektor’s distinctly reserved style of ephereal dance jams. Think a shit-ton of analog performing as a symphony orchestra, subsequently run down by a team of assassins, leaving only a quartet of percussive electronics to carry on, and maybe you can imagine the weight each beat and rhythm plays in Happy Birthday. Additionally, guest spots from TTC, Paul St. Hillaire, Thom Yorke and Maximo Park allow the group to expand the listening palette by highlighting Modeselektor’s contrasting style. At times the fractured beats and wide soundscapes are reminiscent of Aphex Twin, while at other times the overdriven keyboards bring Justice to mind. In the end, pigeonholing the group’s sound becomes an impossible task, and while distinctly electro, the orchestral magnitude of Modeselektor’s compositions will undoubtedly cross more musical niches and sub-genres than any other electro group to date. –Ryan Powers

Mono
Gone: A Collection of EPs 2000-2007
Temporary Residence Limited
Street: 09.11
Mono = Mono + The best stuff Pelican and Red Sparowes have ever done
Ah, Mono. For my money, the absolute best from a genre that is about as overdone as black metal (there’s a kick in the ribs for ya!) This isn’t exactly a collection of anything that I would call “mandatory,” but it’s a great listen, nonetheless. Ten tracks from various EPs, splits, and compilations, “Gone” seems to be an exorcism of sorts for Mono … you know, make the older, sort-of-hard-to-find-stuff available to the people that have jumped on the instrumental/post-rock bandwagon over the last year so they can move on to bigger and better things. If you like older Mogwai, this is right up your alley and if you think Pelican has jumped the shark, this is right up your alley. –loveyoudead

Mustard Plug
In Black and White
Hopeless Records
Street: 09.11
Mustard Plug = Mighty Mighty Bosstones + Buck-O-Nine + Against All Authority
I seriously have no idea why there has been a sort of resurgence of ska-punk this year. It seems that most of the big players of the ska explosion of the late 90s are putting out new stuff, and strangely enough, most of it is actually quite good. Mustard Plug continue the trend of good, new ska-punk with In Black and White. It's full of happy, horn-filled skankers for the kids like “Hit Me! Hit Me!” and “You Can't Go Back,” but where the album really shines is on the more aggressive, politically influenced tracks. The opening two tracks, “Who Benefits?” and “Over the Edge” find the group more angry than they've ever been before, especially evident in the delivery of vocalist Dave Kirchgessner. Most of the tracks are really short, so things don't get too stale, even though the band isn't breaking any new territory. If you don't like ska-punk, this album isn't gonna change your mind, but you could definitely find much, much worse ska-punk out there. –Ricky Vigil

Mother and the Addicts
Science Fiction Illustrated
Chemikal Underground
Street: 09.18
Mother and the Addicts = Talking Heads + Grinderman
Take a little bit of indie, add in a whole heaping pile of dancy grooves, and top it off with a creamy dose of really creative dark-yet-not-too-dark lyrics, and you've got Science Fiction Illustrated, the sophomore release of Mother and the Addicts. The great thing about this album is that no particular feature is ever over-pronounced, and everything just melds together incredibly well. Tracks such as “Watch the Lines” have more of a pronounced dancehall style than ones such as “Going Native,” which seems to stem from more punk-like roots, but all of them borrow from the other. This creates a very cohesive feeling for all of the tracks, creating an album (and a great one at that) rather than just a collection of songs. –Ross Solomon

Mystery of Two
Arrows Are All You Know
Exit Stencil Recordings
Street: 08.27
Mystery of Two = Clutch + Pere Ubu
The singer of Mystery of Two has an interesting diaphragm; it doesn’t allow him to fully inhale or exhale. Consequently, his voice is entropic due to the wasted energy and breathlessness. The singer’s diaphragm also works as a great metaphor for the rest of the band: Mystery of Two canters the tightrope of caveman rock—punch-rock drumming, crunchy, cacophonous guitaring, and unintelligible bellowing—never straying or swaying in style or direction. They’re like a retarded Clutch with one eyeball and a lop-sided hunchback—like Sloth from the Goonies. –Spanther

The Narrows
Benjamin
Wantage USA
Street: 07.23
The Narrows = Boris + Big Business on Dimenhydrinate
After reading the press release for this, I really didn’t know what to expect. What I got was five tracks (six with the intro) that I haven’t exactly removed from my rotation for quite some time. Here is some rather bluesy rock with a heavy, slowed-down progression to it, though not exactly heavy enough to be “sludge metal.” In fact, it’s much more mellow and downtrodden than it initially allowed me to notice. I think this definitely could appeal to the stoner-rock crowd, but they also have an appeal that could wrangle in those who may enjoy bands such as Neurosis. This isn’t to hint that they are anywhere near metal, but I imagine there’s enough dirty production and density in these riffs to help even the most casual stoner-rock listener get their foot in the door. This style crossover is great stuff. –Conor Dow

The Newspapers
Lakeview EP
Montgomery Records
Street: 08.21
The Newspapers = The Shins + Minus The Bear + Snakes & Music
With how much indie rock there is going around these days, it’s hard to find a unique indie band. Indie rock has become, in all reality, less independent and more readily accepted by the masses. This evolution has changed—generally speaking—the sound of what is considered to be independent/experimental rock. On Lakeview EP, The Newspapers capture the overwhelming essence of what indie rock is supposed to be and is supposed to sound like: fun, unordinary, full of different blending musical structures and all done on a DIY basis; music for music’s sake, not for money and fame. Six tracks, each with a sound all their own, give Lakeview EP a thick skin, free of the identity theft that so often plagues music. Each song feels like a breath of fresh air, new and vital. Some breaths are like the light breeze of a cool spring day, while others are closer to the heavy humid winds on which the rain and lightning ride in on, ready to wreak havoc. In short, The Newspapers, who originate from Portland, Ore., are a beautiful example of what good independent can be—even in a musical world where indie rock loses its meaning more everyday. –Jeremy C. Wilkins

Noah Earle
Postcards From Home
MayApple Records
Street: 08.21
Noah Earle = Jeff Tweedy + Tom Petty + Dustin Kensrue + Mason Jennings + Jack Johnson +a massive Americana vibe
I grabbed Postcards From Home, Noah Earle’s second release, from a stack of CDs at SLUG headquarters after reading a small portion of the press release for the record, thinking, “Hey, this looks pretty promising.” I’m a big fan of folk-oriented music and had high hopes that Earle’s brand of folk would appeal to me. After several listens, I can’t say he isn’t talented and Postcards isn’t a great record, but it definitely was not the brand of folk close to what I was hoping for. Earle’s music, though it is folk, leans more toward Americana and a bit of blues, shows talent and is tremendously honest in all it portrays. The imagery of the Midwest and Americana life throughout the 13 tracks is vivid and real. Postcards wasn’t what I had thought it might be and even though I’m not a huge fan of what this record is all about and the sound exhibited on it, it is crystal clear that Earle is something special in his respective field. –Jeremy C. Wilkins

Orange
Escape From L.A.
Hellcat Records
Street: 09.11
Orange = old school Green Day - anything good about them + Sum 41 + Blink 182 – their popularity and probably all of their talent
Escape From L.A. is probably the pinnacle of impersonator punk rock. I haven’t heard this kind of crap since I was nine years old, but mostly by choice than out of luck. The reason I don’t turn on my radio to listen to corporate radio is because of garbage like Orange. I once met a girl who thought crap like this was real punk rock and I almost punched her in the face—before the hate mail starts rolling in, I said “almost.” Orange sounds almost exactly like the bands mentioned above, but a little bit worse because lead singer Joe Dexter sounds like he’s putting on some sort of fake, completely horrible British accent. Perhaps he thinks it will make them sound more like Oi. Maybe he’s just a little retarded. Either way, I’d rather go eat some brown than listen to some Orange. –Josh McGillis

Overkill
Immortalis
Bodog Music
Street: 10.09
Overkill = Metallica + Anthrax + Megadeth
There is a certain consistency that the thrash metal world has come to love and count on and that name is Overkill. These fellows have been around since 1980 and been putting out records all along the way, never taking a break, which is something to be said since thrash, like all metal, took a big hit in the early 90s when grunge reared its head. The band has come quite a ways since their horrifically under-produced albums in the 80s, as classic as they may be, such as the great Under the Influence and The Years of Decay. I truly never really got into the band with fervor until the band’s 1999 classic Necroshine. They have never really let up or changed their style throughout their career and their latest Immortalis displays that fact. Purveying amongst the pack and being pretty much the leader of the East Coast thrash scene, Overkill have returned to satisfy fans and newcomers alike with this new record. Unmistakable is frontman Bobby Blitz’s vocal attack. High and snarling, it sort of takes some getting used to, but once you’re hooked, you’re hooked. Don’t forget the band is home to one of metal’s best bassists, D.D. Verni. Immortalis pretty much contains everything all the Overkill records since Necroshine have had, fast guitar attacks with a hell of a lot of groove and great bass-lines. Blitz changes up his vocals slightly on this new offering, adding more of his type of clean singing, which has a sort of bluesy feel. If you worship thrash metal, then you already have a place in your heart for Overkill and I don’t need to tell you to pick this new offering up. But if you’re tired of the offerings of the supposed new school of metal like Lamb of God or As I Lay Dying, then get a taste of the old school with Overkill, something I’m sure they will never abandon. –Bryer Wharton

Oxbow
The Narcotic Story
Hydra Head
Street: 06.19
Oxbow = violent sexual aggression + failure + a handful of pills
Oxbow is the best band in the world that you will most likely hate; a harrowing, ugly and unflinchingly confrontational amalgam of heavy blues rock, noise, and naked, howling emotion that sends even the most jaded listeners running for the nearest confessional. On The Narcotic Story, they’ve followed 2002’s brilliant An Evil Heat (still their masterwork to date) with an album of more restrained intensity—less outwardly bombastic but no less devastating. Sociopathic frontman Eugene Robinson’s lyrics read uncharacteristically spare here, but he infuses them with so much violence, hysterical fervor and sexuality that the performance completely transcends the words on the page. Oxbow may be maturing in their approach, but they are no less tame, no more satisfied. Their drug-addled masculine disappointment continues to decimate everything in its path, being at once fiercer, more epic, and more disturbingly emotive than any of their current labelmates; and yet they remain ostracized, prowling the shadowy hinterlands of post-metal like a deranged predatory animal. Unparalleled and without precedent, this is definitely one of the best records of the year. Go ahead and pick it up; you may regret it. –Jona Gerlach

Patrick Watson
Close to Paradise
Secret City Records
Street: 09.25
Patrick Watson = Coldplay + Devendra Banhart
Lovely lollygag-a-pop. If I could put Watson’s Close to Paradise in two words, that’d be it. However, SLUG makes me do a minimum of 70 or so, so I guess I’ll expand on those two words a bit. Imagine a pair-a-dice; now imagine something close to a pair-a-dice—let’s say, those fuzzy dice stupid folk hang from their rear-view mirrors—and pretend that every dot on those die make heartfelt pop sounds. Okay, now roll them dice! You hear that? That’s the sound of constructed-variable pop music. Sometimes the track comes up snake eyes, sometimes yo-eleven or midnight. Mr. Watson is undoubtedly using the aforementioned guys at the craps table; however, he always comes out on top because when he’s ahead, he puts chips in his pocket instead of gagging on the free casino lollypops. –Spanther

Port O’Brien
The Wind And The Swell
American Dust
Street: 07.01
Port O’Brien = Bright Eyes + Neil Young + M. Ward’s favorite new band
Van Pierszalowski, originator of the now four-piece band Port O’Brien, sure has an interesting story and full-length debut to boot. Spending his summers on Kodiak Island in Alaska fishing with his father on a commercial fishing boat, Pierszalowski was inspired by his time at sea to create music. The fishing influence is prevalent throughout the entire album with references to time spent in Alaska in many songs. Songs like “Five and Dime” bring Conor Oberst to mind immediately with a solo Pierszlowaski strumming his guitar, and songs like “Tree Bones” incorporate the whole band and a female singer to round out the group. –Tom Carbone Jr.

Pre
Epic Fits
Skin Graft
Street: 09.18
Pre = DNA + Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pre’s first full-length effort is called Epic Fits, though there’s nothing particularly grand or timeless about it. Clocking in at just under 27 minutes, this collection of grinding spazz-outs seems more a whim than a big statement. Drawing inspiration blatantly from the no wave movement (as well as Melt-Banana with the whole cute-screaming-Japanese-girl thing), Pre doesn’t really bring anything particularly unique to the table. When they do decide to stretch out past the two-minute mark (as on the Ex-like“Scenes from a 1963 Los Angeles Love-In”) they achieve a kind of hypnotic epiphany that’s great to hear. However, this is mostly your basic art-punk noise record sure to please fans of Lydia Lunch but with very little crossover appeal. The limited first edition is individually numbered and packaged in a handsome metal box with a foldout poster sleeve. –Jona Gerlach

Prints
Prints
Temporary Residence Ltd.
Street Date: 10.15
Prints= Pinback+ Talking Heads
Kenseth Thibideau from Pinback decided it was time to go on a new musical adventure and merged his musical genius with the vocal talent of Zac Nelson (Who’s Your Favorite Son God) to produce this new ultimate super group. At first there were only a few tracks that stood out as gems, but with repeated listening, the ‘CD slowly starts to grow on you. Too Much Water and Meditation still stick out in my mind as the best songs on the band’s premiere LP. Although this CD is really good, I must say that unless you’re in the mood for something that mellows you out, it is definitely a hard record to get into. But when you feel like kicking back and listening to some dreamy sounds and imaginative lyrics, this is what you will want to pop into the old musical-making device. Sit back and enjoy. –Adam Dorobiala

Pyschic TV/PTV3
Hell is Invisible … Heaven Is Her/E
Cargo Records
Street: 06.12
Pyschic TV/PTV3 = early Floyd/Stones + Frank Zappa + Destroyer
There’s a lot going on in this album. I’m not just talking about the music, either. The newest incarnation of the 80s visual art and music collective, Pychic TV, create an album “viewed through the magical lens of pandrogeny.” Pandrogeny, of course, being the philosophy governing PTV3, which “celebrates the similarities between humans rather than be at the mercy of fear of differences as the only viable path to a unified evolution of the human species.” Pandrogenous propaganda aside, this album is chockful of quality music. Dirty funk, acid punk, sludge, industrial, noise, and spurts of krautrock all creep in, steeped in the heavy, rich syrup of 60s psychedelia and experimental pop. Dominating most of these tracks are the vocal affections of PTV mainstay (and pandrogeny poster boy/girl) Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, whose voice finds common ground somewhere between that of Destroyer’s Dan Bejar and Oscar the Grouch. An experimental album with enough pop sensibilities to keep you attached, it may not change your worldview, but it beats whatever you’re watching right now. The cover by itself is more entertaining than the majority of primetime these days. So turn off the boob tube and turn on to some Psychic TV. –Brian Roller

The Red Chord
Prey For Eyes
Metal Blade Records
Street: 07.24
The Red Chord = Despised Icon + hardcore tough guy vocals
I both enjoy and hate this album, and this review has made me grateful that I only have to do the musical equation (above) and not a final score as well. Besides, having a score in a review defeats the purpose of a review, and folks, I desperately need this outlet. I guess I’ll get it out of the way and first state that I absolutely hate the lyrics and most of the vocals here. They make me feel like I’m privy to one side of an angry telephone conversation, which is not only completely distracting but almost borderline hilarious. I’m not looking for Shakespeare, but I do generally try to avoid the tough-guy scat singing. Musically, however, the album is quite proficient with its “grind lite” deathcore feel. While it doesn’t quite feel up to snuff when compared to Clients, it probably won’t disappoint the boys in the pit needing to pull all those damned invisible weeds out of the concrete. –Conor Dow

Red Handed
Wounds Remain
Rivalry Records
Street: 09.11
Red Handed = Career Soldiers + Sick Of It All + Black Flag + SSD
Red Handed has refreshed my feeling for “hardcore punk”. Lead singer “Ding Dong” Dustin has more passion in his vocals than most groups out there, and their music is fast, brutal and showcases the early hardcore that come out of California in the 80s. The guitars are relentless, continually pounding out quick power chords and the occasional sick solo. Though the music is relatively simple, it still manages to sound great and is melodic enough to keep from being too generic. With 17 songs on Wounds Remain—along with a Black Flag and a Void cover—it is definitely worth a purchase even with the disgusting prices of many CD’s. Hell, I’d say download some, then buy the album straight from the band so they make a little well earned cash. –Josh McGillis

Rick Wakeman
The Burning
MVD Audio
Street: 07.24
Rick Wakeman = Rick the Motherfucking Wakeman!
I have neither heard of nor seen The Burning, but I sure as hell want to now! This soundtrack, apparently long awaited by Rick’s adoring, loyal fans, is completely hilarious. It’s totally wanky and corny, not at all menacing, and would probably sound really out of place in a horror film. Ol’ Rick’s no Goblin, that’s for goddamn sure. I mean, “Shear Terror & More” sounds like a mash-up of the music from Chariots of Fire, Escape From New York and some really bad 80s comedy. And I’m supposed to be picturing, what, people running away from a flaming, cannibalistic slasher or something? If the awesomeness of a horror film is proportionate to the lameness of its soundtrack (which I feel is the case more often than not), then The Burning is probably one of the greatest films ever. Totally, amazingly stupid. –Jona Gerlach

Ride the Sky
New Protection
Nuclear Blast
Street: 09.18
Ride the Sky = Masterplan + Tears of Anger + Dream Theater
Are you like the many, including Erik Lopez, that were at the E-Center recently rocking out to the stylings of Dream Theater? Then Ride the Sky is right up your alley, whether it be a genuine love for progressive or power metal or just the enjoyment of the whole cheesy aesthetic of it. Ride the Sky is pretty much a super-group featuring members of the likes of Helloween, Beyond Twighlight, XsavioR, Dionysus, Masterplan, and Tears of Anger. Some of which I honestly haven’t heard, but you don’t need to be familiar with said bands to enjoy New Protection. The songs contained on this album created by musicians with years of experience are infectious as all hell. In fact, listening to the album prompted me to dig up prog/power metal albums I haven’t listened to in years and find a whole new enjoyment out of them. Yeah it’s that powerful. Everything with New Protection seems to just flow together in some strange symbiotic form. The vocals, while containing some falsetto, don’t overpower the music. There are thick guitar riffs with plenty of solo work, that like the vocals, mostly complement and flow together with everything instead of overpower or take the spotlight away. Don’t forget some truly majestic and epic keyboard work. Ride the Sky is ultimately a creation of very seasoned musicians in the prog/power metal world and the songs reflect that fact by being pretty much flawless. I went into listening to this record thinking it would be generic stuff and found something far from it. –Bryer Wharton

Sh
06/06
Phratry
Street: 09.18
Sh = Drrive Like Jehu + Explosions In The Sky
Sh’s third album, 06/06, has two of the best instrumental songs I have ever heard. This first track, “Inside You There’s a Part of Me Scared Shitless” and the second track, “The Stuff Dreams are Made of,” are some seriously cool songs, each of them clocking in somewhere over 10 minutes. This is how instrumental music is supposed to be written. These three dudes are bodacious. The album’s back three songs are also good but, they have random vocals in the background. They aren’t horrible vocals, I just thought that it took away from the intensity of the music and some of the mystery of these sweet, sweet jams. Sh consists of three members and depending on the song, there are either two guitar players or one of the guitar players hopping off the axe and jumping on a second set of drums. So either way, you’ve got dual guitar action or some double drums and that just can’t be beat. The one drawback of the album is the recording quality; although everything is audible, it has a low volume and I think could use a good mixdown. But that’s what underground is all about, baby. All in all, I am glad that I have discovered Sh’s music. This is one band that definitely drops the bombs on ya moms; hard rockin’ yet atmospheric. –Jon Robertson

Sandro Perri
Tiny Mirrors
Constellation
Street: 09.24
Sandro Perri = John Cale + Seu Jorge
I may be wrong, but I have a suspicion that Sandro Perri is from … the future! In the year 2525, the Polmo Polpo member and his crew of archaeologists (all Constellation Records regulars) discovered the only remaining bits of earthling music—a Nick Drake record, some bossa-nova and Hawaiian luau guitar chord charts. Fusing the fragments, the group returned to 2007 and released Tiny Mirrors. All jokes aside, this is an odd record whose excessive bottle-neck slides and sleepy vocals cross the line of annoyance, then come back around to interesting via subtle touches. First, the production is skewed in a wonderful way, drums panned wide and in the foreground, the band sounding as if they’re in the room with the listener. Unusual instruments such as trombone, bass clarinet and euphonium find favor with guitar and various keys (“Family Tree”), and electronics mix with modal jazz on the same guitar solo (“Double Suicide”). Perri’s lilting and sometimes lustful delivery is the cherry on top, uniting this contrary detritus and freeing the music of its historical influences. Together, the group forms a unique, timeless personality and vision, free from the potential kitsch and clich that should exist with their formula. –Dave Madden

Serpentcult
Trident nor Fire
I Hate Records
Street: 04.23
Serpentcult = Iota + Madder Mortem + Heart
Towering, deliberate riffs thick as blood-sausages come galloping out of speakers like black death-stallions, accented with pounding groovage and discordant jaggedness l Crisis. Serpentcult lead singer Michelle shines like a bright gem in a dark pool of mediocre contemporary female metal vocalists (cheesy trophy front-girl Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) worst of all). Instead of aiming for purdy goth-metal Nightwish/Elis operatics or the respectable guttural leanings of Archenemy’s Angela, Michelle goes for a straight-up snarling, raw, melodic howling with occult overtones reminiscent of classic Ann Wilson. Her chanting voice has the power to call up the dead. This four-song EP is drony and doomy while remaining vitally energetic; my favorite songs are “Screams from the Deep” and “Rainbow Demon,” a Uriah Heep cover with its priceless and addictive riff. Serpentcult is my one o’ my favorite new bands of the year. –Rebecca Vernon

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars
Living Like A Refugee
Anti-
Street Date: 9.26.06
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars= Bob Marley + Roots and Blues
Straight out of the Sembakounya refugee camp in the heart of Guinea, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars sing about the life they had to endure as refugees of their hometown, Freetown. Every single song on this album has this intoxicating beat that sticks with you throughout the day. The title track, Living Like A Refugee, is such a deep-hearted song about their times in the camps before returning home, but it has such a happy feel to it you wouldn’t even know they are explaining the horrible conditions of the refugee camps if you didn’t listen to the lyrics. They are actually on tour right now and if you had the chance to see them at Red Butte Gardens, I am sure that you were not disappointed with the performance. This CD will bring a smile to your face and make your worries melt away, so get lost in the West African “Goombay” beat and pick this LP up. –Adam Dorobiala

Snowglobe
Doing the Distance
Makeshift
Street: 08.21
Snowglobe = The Shins + Dirty Projectors + Evan Dando + Flaming Lips
It’s hard to know whether to hate or semi-like Snowglobe. They’re an ultra-mainstream guitar-pop/singer-songwriter cream puff flavored with some rad Spanishy-sounding trumpet, piano and proggy/experimental synth sounds, all amazingly executed and making me want to go catch a bullfight. Whimsical songs like “Changes,” “Big Machine” and the trumpet line at the end of “Comforted” smack of promise and have some immortal hooks, but it’s painful to add Flaming Lips to the above equation because Snowglobe comes not even close to their genius. See, there’s nothing new under the sun, and by the 16 tracks’ end, the repetitive melody lines will make you weary, or puke, or wearily puke. –Rebecca Vernon

Sons of Azrael
The Conjuration of Vengeance
Metal Blade
Street: 08.07
Sons of Azrael = The Black Dahlia Murder + Job For a Cowboy + Dying Fetus
Ready for some groovy, pulsating, grinding madness? Then the Sons of Azrael has your number. These guys use their tools of destruction to create a pleasing record that encompasses extreme metal realms such as grindcore, death and thrash. The band on the road with the big boys of death and grind are sure to turn some heads as they slay nightly. With the band’s groove, breakdowns and mad soloing, I can’t imagine how they turn their already murder-worthy metal on CD into an explicit and brutal live show. The Buffalo band’s debut reminds me of the promise that the Black Dahlia Murder showed in their early days—the songs, while simple, are enough to catch listeners quickly with their chunky riffing. They go off on these mad tangents in their leads and solos, blazing paths not known to the world of brutal metal. It is always great to find a debut from a band that doesn’t scream mediocrity and the Sons of Azrael, also known as the Angel of Death, are swooping down on their devilish wings to spread their message of death and destruction for the masses in a huge way. Expect to hear the band’s name in the circle of extreme metal often. –Bryer Wharton

Soul Control
Involution
Rivalry Records
Street: 09.11
Soul Control = I Rise + Quicksand + Unbroken
Soul Patrol embodies the self-improving style of previous hardcore bands like 108, Shelter, and the Bad Brains in a more modern formula. This new wave of bands playing styles similar to the more thoughtful bands of old and is a nice switch from the youth crew revival and the spazzy metalcore that are growing monotonous in hardcore. Soul Control takes time and care in playing their songs; much of the pace of Involution is slower than the typical hardcore record coming out these days and it’s fitting for the self-reflexive style of Matt Amore’s lyrics. Soul Control will be more than at home sharing space with bands like I Rise and Lion of Judah on a bill. Many of the guitar tones are reminiscent of Quicksand, while the vocals are Unbroken-esque. This is a fine release for the thinking man set rather than the meathead crowd. The oldest quote in the book is “flex your head;” Soul Control is taking that to heart and has followed that mantra by putting out a great record. –Peter Fryer

Stars
In Our Bedroom After the War
Arts & Crafts
Street: 09.25
Stars = Aztec Camera + Smiths + Belle & Sebastian
Like a fine Morrissey lyric backed with the jangling guitar of Johnny Marr Stars have a way of taking the morose and tying it to a sound that betrays its depression. They’re constantly crafting beautiful pop songs that transcend the trivial nature of the genre. In Our Bedroom After the War might be their best yet, but then again that shouldn’t surprise you. With each album they’ve become more and more apt, comfortable and confident. “Life 2: Unhappy Ending” is wistfully dramatic while “Bitches in Tokyo” goes from the happiest “I miss you” pop song into a bizarre keyboard solo. “The Night Starts Here” is a mini-epic with a beautiful interplay of Even Cranley and Amy Millan’s vocals above souring synths and strings while “Take Me to the Riot” might actually wake the neighbors with its crescendo; its simply guiltless pop perfection. ~ryan michael painter

Sunburned Hand of the Man
Fire Escape
Smalltown Supersound
Street: 10.15
Sunburned Hand of the Man = Four Tet + Spoils of War + Gang Gang Dance
Sound-making is all the rage as guitars have become so “1994” in the current vernacular of electronic music. Poised to take over psychedelia as it did dance music, sound is the new Beatles and if sound is the new Beatles, this is the new White Album. What is so rad about this album isn't so much its tight arrangements and hit-yourself-in-the-donger epic escapades but the story behind its conception. Kieran Hebden, a.k.a. Four Tet, is a huge SHOTM fan and as such, asked them if he could make a SHOTM record. They agreed and he “envisioned, produced, mixed and edited” the wiley motherfucker and what you see is what you get. Fire Escape is huge on deep, bellowing sound, the urgent time-stretched underbelly of the beat and jazzy noise. While it still retains hints of “Hebden sound,” it’s a completely unwieldy animal of a record (in the nature sense). 2007 is the new summer of love. –Erik Lopez

Talib Kweli
Ear Drum
Warner Bros. Records/Blacksmith Music
Street: 08.21
Talib Kweli = Mos Def + Jay-Z
Tipping his hat in respect for fellow New York emcee, towering Brooklynite and entrepreneurial success story, Jay-Z once said of Talib Kweli on the seminal Black Album, “If lyrics sold, truth be told, I’d probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli.” After listening to the 20 tedious tracks of Talib’s sixth album, Ear Drum, I have to wonder if Hova would assert the veracity of this statement. “Country Cousins,” featuring southern gentlemen UGK, is the only song on the album I would ever go back to listen to again. The album, while at least not the usual litany of guns and bitches, is only distinguished by the amazing voices that sing most of the choruses. Talib should at least be congratulated on getting these persons on record: Norah Jones, Coi Mattison, Lyfe Jennings. This is old rap music, an assessment Mr. Kweli would probably embrace, thinking age synonymous with wisdom, but which I mean as an indictment of dullness. Neither great nor horrible, it operates rather as a big, flaccid declarative. –Makena

Tangorodrim
Unholy and Unlimited
Southern Lord
Street: 09.25
Tangorodrim = Darkthrone + Mayhem + Impaled Nazarene
Black metal from Israel … cool. This is about as raw and grim as black metal gets; six songs of scathing hatred coming from one of the most tumultuous places in the world at the moment. What better environment to breed sonic hatred—and that is just what Tangorodrim have done. Unholy and Unlimited is the band’s fourth album; while it carries forth the embodiment of what other black metal bands before them have brought front and center, it carries its own sense of self-satisfaction. Be it the lo-fi production giving it a cult feel or just the scary grimness of the thing, it is a beast to be reckoned with. I hadn’t heard of the band before, but thanks to the trusty Southern Lord label, we all get something that might not have been available to us in the States prior. One can’t help but noticing the punk-rock undertone of the album, a sensibility that Impaled Nazarene has utilized on some of their albums but Tangorodrim do it in a different way, in a sense a bit rawer. The guitar tone is highly reminiscent of Discharge, just with an increase in volume. While I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard something really similar to this album before, it still nestles its way into my darkened heart. Fans of raw black metal would do well to welcome it too. –Bryer Wharton

True West
Hollywood Holiday Revisited
Atavistic
Street: 06.05
True West = Marquee Moon + Murmur
Atavistic has seen fit to reissue the first two records by this little-known Paisley Underground group, combined here on one disc with a few demos as Hollywood Holiday Revisited. This is the kind of record that is very hard for me to review. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it per se, but there’s nothing especially spectacular about it, either. With True West you’re treated to songs that are dead ringers for Television and R.E.M., and yet somehow lack the je ne sais quoi that made those bands utterly indispensable. Proto-indie rock and post-punk completists will want to check this out for sure, but for everyone else, this is a pleasant listen that will probably just make you want to revisit the records in the above equation again. –Jona Gerlach

Vashti Bunyan
Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind—Singles and Demos 1964–1967
Dichristina/Spinney
Street 10.16
Vashti Bunyan = Dusty Springfield + Nico + a female Mick Jagger
This double CD is a veritable “Al Capone’s vault” of hard-to-find Vashti Bunyan material. But where Geraldo Rivera found Mr. Capone’s vault to be empty, listeners of this collection will find it stuffed to the gills with songs from early singles and demo reels. And honestly, it is unfathomably good. It is hard to imagine why this fragile and cryptic British songstress had such a hard time getting her music to the public—every record company should have been vying for her acoustic pop songs. And while she was often thought of more as folk singer than a pop artist, it becomes obvious after listening to this collection that the two styles are actually the same. That is the genius of Ms. Bunyan—composing songs about love, attachment and freedom that transcend conventional music categorization. Her inability to be pigeonholed led to record labels never releasing songs that she recorded for them. Her disappointment led to a 30-year hiatus in her music career. This collection of early work, a large portion of which is just Bunyan and a guitar, helps to reestablish her place in Brit-pop history. And with rumors of new material in the works, this could prove to be a hell of a year for her fans. –James Bennett

Vreid
I Krig
Candlelight USA
Street: 09.28
Vreid = Windir – Valfar
I would be an absolute bastard to review a Vreid album and not mention Valfar, lead man of Windir, which is where this band came from after Valfar’s tragic death. What we have here is a brand of Viking-tinged melodic black metal not unlike Windir; however, there’s definitely something missing. This is their third album and improvements have been made, but most of the songs only tease a listener with great moments. Below the surface, there isn’t much there to support the structure for the epic, memorable songs they are capable of writing. The only one that comes close is the title track, weighing in at almost nine minutes and certainly proving my point. I’m not at all discommending this band, but I am encouraging new metal listeners to pay their respects and put on Windir’s 1184 when the opportunity arises. –Conor Dow

Waldteufel
Sanguis
Beta-Iactam Ring Records
Street: 06.01
Waldteufel = weird German music meets bizarre pagan chants
When I first listened to Sanguis, the first thought that came into my head was, what the hell is this? I haven’t heard anything like it before; the record pretty much takes the conventions of music and tosses them to the side. There is enough atmosphere here to kill a goat or two, but these guys aren’t evil, they just have a weird or “creative” side to them. Honestly, it is really hard listen to this record from start to finish and I’m not really quite sure why. It’s really interesting, even though the lyrics are in German—actually,, they are from two obscure German authors Stegan George and Alfred Schulder, “a group of mystically inclined authors that were active in Fin de Siecel Munich,” according to the band’s bio. It also says that they “can be considered the two opposite poled of the ‘Cosmic Circle’.” It is all really obscure and even alien, like listening to some bizarre pagan chant. The music is heavy on the percussion end and utilizes a plethora of instruments, some recognizable and some foreign to any channel of popular music. The band itself has members with roots in numerous black metal bands as well as members that are part of other experimental acts. If experimental music drives you and you look for something that has not been done before, then by all means look into the bizarre creation that is Waldteufel. If you are more into listening to something that resembles music, then this will just chase you away, you narrow-minded person, you. –Bryer Wharton

The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour
Epitaph/Anti-
Street 09.25
The Weakerthans = the Decemberists + Ted Leo and the Pharmacists + long Manitoba winters
This fourth studio release from Winnipeg’s finest group of poetic revolutionaries comes a full five years after their last record, Reconstruction Site. And where I thought that Reconstruction Site was good, Reunion Tour is much more the record that I knew they could make. As a band, they are in perfect form. This album revisits many of the same themes as their past recordings—empty buildings, missed interactions and songs narrated by a cat—and adds to this some more recognizably Canadian themes, like the sport of curling and Bigfoot. Several of the 11 new tracks have been mainstays in the band’s live sets for a number of years now, and this is quickly becomes clear. The songs have been worked on so completely that they are as perfectly formed and as well worn as a band could ever want them to be. The final result is a subtle rock masterpiece. There are elements of alt-country, a twinge or two of punk rock, and enough straightforward folk lyricism and storytelling to push this record to bigger and broader audiences. It is uncommonly fantastic. It’s hard to believe how much John K. Sampson has evolved as a songwriter since his days playing bass with Propagandhi. He has become a true poet and a Canadian treasure, and I’ll be surprised if he’s not celebrated the world over once this disc hits the streets. –James Bennett

Wiley
Playtime Is Over
Big Dada
Street: 08.27
Wiley = Dizzee Rascal + Lotek Hi-Fi + New Flesh
The controversial history of UK Grime and the Roll Deep collective is about as messy as that of early 90s trip-hop, three groups emerging at the same time (Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky) and all claiming to be first. Though he was there first, Wiley is doomed to be the guy people say “who?” about when someone mentions Grime. He’s like Dizzee Rascal.” “Ohhhh, OK!” His second strike is his ego. Wiley publicly criticizes Rascal for switching up his steeze, then offers duplicitous, Diddy-esque comments such as “If my ear likes it, I know that a hundred million ears are going to like it too/I never stop searching for these sounds.” Well, he got the first part right on Playtime Is Over, as he musically panders to the Grime purists, plunking out preset synth string stabs, square-wave basslines and blas drum machine beats, mixing them into an undeviating pattern then hyperactively spitting over it. His lyrics and delivery are interesting because of his decidedly London-centric vernacular and inflection, but the novelty wears off after a few tracks. Those hoping for the next stage in Grime evolution should look elsewhere. –Dave Madden

Wolves in the Throneroom
Two Hunters
Southern Lord
Street: 09.25
Wolves in the Throneroom = Agalloch + Darkthrone + Sunn0))
When I first spun this latest from Wolves in the Throneroom, my jaw literally hit the floor in amazement. The band brings a whole new refreshing quality to the black metal genre, much like Agalloch did with their first album, Pale Folklore. Then again, if I wasn’t floored enough, the band’s bio sold me even further; it was extremely well written and totally informative and un-pretentious; I wish all bios came like this. The bio quotes somebody from the band (doesn’t say who) that I can’t help but repeat in this review: “Black Metal is the cleansing fire that frees us from the bondage of rationality, science, morality, religion, leaving us free to choose our own path.” The record consists of four songs that can be described on a singular level because all four songs are different. The opening tune, “Dia Artio,” the shortest, is a sort of ambient introduction heavy with atmosphere and melody, not hinting at the next track, “Behold the Vastness and Sorr,” at all. Said song rips right into the black metal mayhem, yet it strangely retains a sort of soothing feel to it instead of the raw, unabashed hatred in typical black metal. Yes, it is fast, its vocals are scathing and painful, but the atmosphere of it just seems to lift pain, despair and the weight of the world off your shoulders and just transports you into another realm of consciousness. I have never felt so mellowed from black metal, ever. The flow of everything is mesmerizing and natural, even with the rough recording quality. The band is ultimately about nature in every essence and it has that feel and even conjures up imagery of a ravaged landscape or just staring into a forest at night, or wherever your mind takes you. The third song, “Cleansing,” starts out with guest vocals from Jessica Kinney, best described as heavenly, then reverbs back into that same strange, comforting black metal cleansing, albeit a bit slower than the song before. The last and longest song, “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots,” I won’t describe, only that Kinney makes another vocal appearance. I will leave it up to you to find out, mainly because its sheer brilliance cannot be described by my meager words. If you long for music that moves you deeply emotionally in a way that isn’t forced at all, then by all means take the trip that Wolves in the Throneroom are offering with Two Hunters. –Bryer Wharton (10.26, Broken Record Bar)

The World/Inferno Friendship Society
Addicted to Bad Ideas
Chunksaah Records
Street: 09.11
World/Inferno = Gogol Bordello + Throw Rag
Brooklyn's wackiest punk/cabaret collective is back with a solid collection of boisterous and energetic tunes, this time all centered around Hungarian actor Peter Lorre. There's a sort of cinematic quality to the songs, particularly in the first half of the opening track, “Peter Lorre Overture.” Horns, piano and strings set the mood and tell a twisted story before World/Inferno vocalist Jack Terricloth jumps in to transform the austere atmosphere into a rollicking punk rock party. Terricloth is really the star throughout the entire album, and that's saying something, because the instrumentation, heavy on sounds that aren't traditionally used in punk rock, is amazing. “'M' is for Morphine”, inspired by Lorre's movie M as well as his addiction to morphine, is one of Terricloth's strongest performances. The album can be a bit exhausting, though, since so much is happening in every song. In small chunks, though, Addicted to Bad Ideas is one of the most fun and entertaining albums I've heard in quite some time. –Ricky Vigil

X27
Antilove
Narnack Records
Street: 06.12
X27 = Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Sonic Youth + The Kills
A combination of Kim Gordon-esque vocals with an early 90s garage rock sound is basically what X27 is. Carmen X (vocals, bass, drums) and Rikkeh Suhtn (guitar, vocals) create teeth clenching, riot grrrrrl, dance punk that will definitely increase your heart-rate with it’s fast-paced anthems like “Chemical Romance,” and the simple album opener “Da-Na-Do.” One aspect of Antilove that sets it apart from all of the other garage punk out there is its production value, probably due to the fact that Steve Albini (In Utero and Surfer Rosa) lent a helping hand and his Chicago studio to the duo. –Tom Carbone Jr.