Various Artists, Drum Nation, Volume 3
“How do you know when a stage at a rock concert is level? Drool is coming out of both sides of the drummer’s mouth!” “What’s the last thing a drummer says before he/she is kicked out of a band?…”
Chad VanGaalen, Skelliconnection
Back in fall of 2005, when I first heard Vancouver-dweller Chad VanGaalen’s peculiar brand of indie-art-pop genius, on Infiniheart, his “debut” disc of two-year-old recordings, I found myself being pretty critical. It was great stuff when it worked, sure…
Slow Learner, In Their Time They Are Magnificent
Michael Napolitano doesn’t want to go, that much we know. How do we know it? Because “I don’t want to go” is the first line of the record. “Retreasion” (really spelled that way, btw) repeats the denial several times, with varying degrees of apprehension…
Matt Roberts, Now You Are Gone
A lot of good things have come out of Australia: Paul Hogan, boomerangs, shrimp on the barbie, The Living End, and now Matt Roberts, just to name a few. Roberts is on an indie label half a world away, so I will assume that like me, you’re not too familiar with his music…
Chad Rex and the Victorstands, gravity works fire burns
I really no idea what to expect from Chad Rex and the Victorstands’ debut, gravity works fire burns — a grainy, black-and-gray cover pic with two plastic cowboys facing off, a weird band name (what the hell is a “Victorstand”?)…
Bob Brozman, Blues Reflex
Picture yourself down by the bayou: barefoot, sipping on some lemonade, eating fried gator, and listening to some serious slide guitar. Imagine that you are drifting down a gentle stream on a piece of wood with Tom Sawyer, straw dangling from your mouth…
The Beatings, Holding on to Hand Grenades
Ah, yes. This is what I find myself wishing rock sounded like all the time. Which says something about my musical tastes, I guess, because this album sounds like a long-lost gem from that fertile period of the mid ’90s when indie-rock ruled college radio…
The Acrobrats, Go Down Swinging
My first experience with The Acrobrats was when I got to play guitar for them at the Toxic Summer fest; I was the Grim Reaper and played “Callout,” the second song on the album. Of course, I’m talking about Guitar Hero, a game of which a number of Boston bands were lucky enough to be a part…
Scanners, Violence Is Golden
Ladies and gentlemen, back from the dead, I give you…the triumphant resurrection of Elastica! Okay, so that’s not quite true; yes, on Scanners’ debut disc, Violence Is Golden, there is indeed a serious resemblance to those ’90s Brit-popsters, particularly in the sleek, sensual feel…
NOFX, Never Trust A Hippy
This is a NOFX album. You know what you’re going to get: of course, it’s going to be punk rock. It’s going to be the kind of punk rock that made you feel cool to crap in your pants or put egg yolk in your mohawk. You’re going to get power chords…
Mika Miko, C.Y.S.L.A.B.F.
C.Y.S.L.A.B.F. reminds me of all those times I used to play on the neighborhood rope swing during sweltering summers as a kid. I would make a running dash and jump onto this ratty rope before landing in a wide, grassy ditch filled with grimy filth…
MataHari, Shrine of Counterfeits
Passion. Intrigue. Supernova rock and roll? No. Well, yes, if you count CBS’s Rock Star: Supernova. In all fairness, Boston-based and female-fronted MataHari have probably just run into the wrong, grumpy, anti-pop/”punk”/alternative reviewer for their debut album…
Love is Chemicals, Love is Chemicals
With their self-titled debut album, the members of Love is Chemicals add a battery of art-rock to the arsenal of clean-sounding alternative music revolving around the west coast indie-rock scene. Hailing from San Francisco, the band resembles the slightly subconscious…
Kill Hannah, Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us
This Chicago band’s 2003 release, For Never and Ever, was arguably the guilty pleasure album of the year. Kill Hannah’s not a band you’re going to brag about liking, and it’s doubtful that given the chance, you’d bother to check them out live…
The Black, Tanglewood
The Black make a legitimate bargain with their listeners: efficiency. We will not do anything flashy, they seem to say, but neither will we indulge ourselves. Don’t expect to be amazed, but don’t expect to be bored, either. We will entertain you…
Andre Williams with The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Aphrodisiac
Andre Williams is a soul/R&B singer that got his start in the ’50s and came pretty close to stardom, but never quite made it, despite writing a number of songs that became hits for other artists. He released a few singles of his own…
Various Artists, Miami Vice Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
I hadn’t actually planned on reviewing this disc. It’s one of the perks of editor-dom — I have to listen to everything at least once, so I get to pick and choose the CDs I really give a crap about to review. And I hadn’t expected to be even remotely interested in this one…
The Story Of, foothill highway appalachian road
Simply awesome. And I mean that not in the high school sense, but in the panoramic 70mm high-definition sense. From the opening EQ automation of “Animals Can Reason” that morphs into an R.E.M homage, then takes a left turn at 2:00 into some of the most interesting…
Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album!
Sufjan Stevens just doesn’t do that much for me. There, I said it, so now I can breathe a bit easier. I feel bizarre even thinking it, to be honest, since it seems like the general consensus in Ye Magical Land of Independente Musick is that the guy’s a freakin’ genius…
Spoon, Telephono/Soft Effects EP
Back in ’96, Merge Records had enough common sense to give a precocious young band called Spoon a chance. Marking the 10-year anniversary of Spoon’s debut, Merge is now re-releasing Telephono, re-mastered and packaged with the Soft Effects EP…
Single Frame, Everything Wants To Be Used For What It Was Made For
Hmm…wow. Okay, this is a little awkward. I’ve listened to Everything Wants To Be Used For What It Was Made For, the latest release from Single Frame, and I’m still not sure exactly what it is. The album toys with your musical sensibilities…
The Radium Screen, White Faces
So I was driving around California, and to my surprise, there was nothing good on the radio. Believe it or not, the radio in Laguna Beach is worse than Houston’s very lackluster channel selection…
My Education, Moody Dipper EP
With 5 Popes, Texas drone rockers My Education wowed critics and won legions of fans with their spacey, Britrock-influenced songs. With their latest EP, the aptly titled Moody Dipper, the band hopes to gain even more exposure…
Candye Kane, White Trash Girl
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to talk about Candye Kane’s music without first discussing her life or at least that of her persona (assuming that there is a distinct difference between them which, we’ll get to in a moment). So: purportedly born in the mean streets of East L.A. (Highland Park, specifically), Candye’s early life […]
Imogen Heap, Speak For Yourself
I’ve fallen in love with a song. Hopelessly, insanely, head-over-heels in love with it, so much so that it’s a little freaky. Not that it’s anything intimate, mind you — my wife’s got nothing to worry about — but more that this one particular song is just so damn cool…
Anathallo, Floating World
There’s a certain flea market quality to the instrumentation / configuration on Anathallo’s debut, a little bit of everything laid out in cardboard boxes. A far-from-inclusive list would still have to include glockenspiel, bleacher stomp, well-miked children’s bikes, strings…
The Dead Science, Frost Giant
A syrupy, crooning falsetto, Sam Mickens’s voice is clearly the centerpiece of the band, and as he goes, so goes The Dead Science. This type of vocal is extremely difficult to record, and I must say that for that, Mickens sounds great…
CSS, Cansei de Ser Sexy
You can’t say CSS sucks, because they’re way ahead of you. Track number one of their self-titled album is, in fact, “CSS Suxxx.” I’m not sure if “suxx” is the same as “sucks,” but let’s say that it is. It’s the cleverest thing on the album…
The Coma Recovery, Drown That Holy End in Wine
The Coma Recovery puts out a solid progressive/hard rock epic with Drown That Holy End in Wine. After listening to the album, I can see a lot of potential in this band down the road. Unfortunately, the album gets mired and lost in itself…
Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners, Sev7en
So unlistenable as to call into question whether X was worth it in the first place. Shut up and stop pretending that your name isn’t Christine, lady.
Barbez, Insignificance
This will make the fourth time I’ve sat down and tried to write a review for this album, with many apologies to our illustrious editors. I can honestly say the delay is in large part due to the feeling that I wasn’t giving Barbez enough of a try…
Various Artists, Houston Band Coalition Presents Music for the Masses, Volume 1
Compilation discs are difficult to review. It gets even more difficult with a disc like Music for the Masses, Volume 1, where all of the bands are a part of small but beloved local scene, I get a single song from each band to review…
Speakers for the Dead, Prey for Murder
If you spend part of your day playing the washboard or attending Bible studies, you should probably drop this CD and run. Unless you are into death metal or ominous portents of the second coming, you may not want to give this CD a spin…
The Seldon Plan, Making Circles
You know that feeling you get when you run across something you used to like but then forgot about, and then seeing or hearing or tasting it reminds you all over again of the way you used to feel? That’s kind of what The Seldon Plan’s debut full-length…
The North Atlantic, Wires In The Walls
Sometimes a band is its own worst enemy, and that seems to be the case with avant-garde punks The North Alantic. On their sophomore album, Wires In The Walls, the guys can’t seem to decide if they want to thrash or chill…
Mr. Lif, Mo’ Mega
Mr. Lif’s third album, Mo’ Mega, is the latest blast at the government from the undie-rapper’s undie-rapper. Lif may be right to be afraid of government interference, considering that he’s one of the most unabashed political commentators…
Eugene Mirman, En Garde, Society!
“I can kill a dog in six ways. Five of them are throwing missiles at it.” I’d be lying if I said I was much of an expert on recorded comedy. The only comedy album I own is Mitch Hedberg’s Mitch All Together, a document of genius from a sadly-deceased comedian…
Liars, Drum’s Not Dead
If they had any other band name, you could probably take Liars to court for some of the most jarring stylistic changes since Neil Young got sued for transmogrifying his roots-rock sound into Trans. Their first album fit snugly in the school of spastic dance rock…
The Invincible Czars, Gods of Convenience
“Keep Austin weird.” A friend of mine who lived in Austin for ten years told me that when these bumper stickers popped up, longtime Austinites began uttering the phrase ironically when they saw things truly strange and unsettling…
Ghost of the Russian Empire, with fiercest demolition
The easiest verdict for an album is how many tracks you skip past. When you get a new CD and you only skip maybe two songs, even after repeated listens, that’s probably a sign of a damn good CD…
