Label: Lujo Records Released: February 12, 2008 For this review, Chuck and I decided to collaborate. We both queued up the album at the same time and had a conversation about our thoughts. It came out more as the anatomy of a review, but the result was at least interesting. We’ll be trying this again (maybe every other week) to… Read more »
Label: Kill Rock Stars Released: January 29, 2007 We Brave Bee Stings and All begins and ends like it may be a simple twee pop album. Both songs have a thin, light pop sound that could be mistaken for a novelty. What happens between those two songs, however, is anything but. There is no doubt that a twee influence runs… Read more »
Label: Jump Start Records Released: October 23, 2007 There are two things that outsiders often attribute to punk rock: angst and nihilism. While both of these are prevalent even today, to assume that these two things the very core of punk dismisses an awful lot, among which is One Win Choice. They replace angst with anger and nihilism with hope…. Read more »
Label: Joyful Noise Recordings Released: January 22, 2008 In a nutshell, Lafcadio could be described as King Crimson meets Dillinger Escape Plan meets Black Flag meets Black Sabbath meets Shel Silverstein. If you’re not immediately turned off by the threat of that, then their new album Kibosh is probably for you. At times, they are as refined (though not quite… Read more »
Label: Facedown Records/Dreamt Music Released: January 22, 2008 When Dreams Become Reality would be an ambitious album even if it was the fourth or fifth release for San Diego’s Thieves & Liars. As a debut, it’s even more impressive. They draw on a lot of influences, some of which entrench them in hard rock and others which allow them to… Read more »
Label: Universal Records Released: January 29, 2008 The Mars Volta really scaled things back for this one. Gone are the super-long songs (the longest here is comparatively radio-friendly at nine and a half minutes). All sarcasm aside, they run completely wild with music that’s almost impossible to follow, yet just as impossible to ignore. On previous efforts, their bold explorations… Read more »
Label: Released: October 9, 2007 A Wilhelm Scream doesn’t exactly break down all the walls on Career Suicide, but they do manage to put forth a solid album that isn’t the same old fare over and over again. The album is largely a metally hardcore affair, but its layered sound (particularly the guitar parts) gives it far greater dimension than… Read more »
Label: Image Entertainment Released: January 15, 2007 I’m a fan of Yes. I understand that they have serious flaws from Jon Anderson’s esoteric, eastern-philosophy-lite lyrics to their frequent substitution of calculation for emotion, but somehow, they manage to get away with it in my book. Like Yes’ better moments, this DVD often finds itself short on thrills, but long on… Read more »
Label: Flight Plan/Reignition Records Released: September 25, 2007 Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer is yet another power-pop band among what seems like an endless stream coming out these days. So, what sets this female-fronted hook-fest apart from the others? For one thing, energy. In a genre that seems to go through the motions, Zolof is engaged in what they’re… Read more »
Label: Self-released; buy it at CD Baby or Not Lame Released: September 4, 2007 Watts took their name from the drummer of perhaps the most over-rated rock band in history. However, the part of the Stones that they tap into is that of the band in its hungry 60s prime, not the bloated dinosaur of the last 35 years. And… Read more »