Placebo
Placebo Meds [4/5] With their stellar fifth album, Meds, U.K. androgyny kings Placebo have somehow managed to pay tribute to Depeche Mode, embrace their inner cabaret-pop starlet and crank their guitars to levels not attained since 2001’s Black Market Music. Electro-shocked riffs and poppin’-and-lockin’ beats sparkle on tunes such as “Infra-red,” in sharp contrast to...
The New Amsterdams - Story Like A Scar
The New Amsterdams Story Like A Scar In his latest attempt to shift from being the leader of a beloved pop-punk band to going the introspective-singer/songwriter route, former Get Up Kids frontman Matt Pryor returns to the spotlight with the fourth album from his other band, the New Amsterdams. But despite masking his apparent intention...
Magneta Lane
Magneta Lane Dancing With Daggers [5/5] The term “brilliant debut” gets thrown around so much that you could be forgiven for ignoring it, but in the case of Canada’s Magneta Lane, trust us: It fits. On their inaugural album, Dancing With Daggers, the all-female trio take the gritty edge of Pacific Northwestern riot-grrrl punk (e.g.,...
Loose Fur
Loose Fur Born Again In The USA [4/5] Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy’s side projects have always been prequels to the band’s albums. When he was in Golden Smog with Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner, Wilco’s songs kept their twang; and, after the last record by Loose Fur–Tweedy’s mini-group with Sonic Youth/Wilco producer Jim O’ Rourke and...
Controller.Controller
Controller.Controller X-Amounts [4/5] Perhaps because they have no direct affiliation with the Arcade Fire and don’t share members with Broken Social Scene, Toronto’s Controller.Controller often get overlooked in discussions of Canada’s most exciting musical exports. Well, they won’t be much longer. Nifty time signatures, dueling downstrokes and whip-smart songwriting are still the quintet’s calling cards,...
Aereogramme
Aereogramme Seclusion [5/5] It’s taken them a few albums to get there, but Scotland’s Aereogramme have finally found their niche. Instead of melting into the post-rock ether, as their countrymates (and sonic brethren) Mogwai are prone to doing, the quartet have chosen the more straight-ahead wall-of-guitar rock sound for Seclusion, and it’s a style that...
Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely
Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely Disclaimer: Regardless of what that ratings key says in the upper right-hand corner of this page, when it comes down to it, a 3 means “good.” And that’s what the new Hawthorne Heights album is: good. It’s not a 5 (perfect, if you will) or a 4 (great);...
In Flames
In Flames Come Clarity [3/5] When you spend six years and two studio albums fumbling through an identity crisis–as In Flames have since 2000’s Clayman broke them into, well, if not the mainstream, then at least the popular underground–you don’t really need to have high expectations for your next release. After all, when you consider...