The Haunted
The Haunted The Dead Eye [4/5] Where 2004’s rEVOLVEr found many of the Haunted’s fans accusing the thrash-metal leaders of tampering with their formula, The Dead Eye confirms those fans’ worst fears. Not only more melodious, more groove-oriented and more distanced than ever from the driving, twin-guitar melancholia of pure Swedish thrash, The Dead Eye...
Fucked Up
Fucked Up Hidden World [5/5] Toronto’s Fucked Up play punk rock and roll in the spirit of everything punk used to be. Like a grittier, scarier and more nuanced version of something by the Bronx, Hidden World uses aggression and bouncy melodies to channel the likes of Tom Waits, Black Flag and ’90s post-hardcore legends...
Four Letter Lie
Four Letter Lie Let Your Body Take Over [1/5] Some bands draw influence from other bands. You know the type-the sound is essentially a bashful tribute, but it works well. But others employ the straight carbon-copy technique, sounding exactly like a certain act to the point where they are completely drained of any soul or...
The Esoteric
The Esoteric Subverter [4/5] Last February, the Esoteric’s Lawrence, Kansas, practice space-which also happened to be their home-burned to the ground. The band regrouped mentally and musically while remaining on the road through the end of 2005, and somewhere during that revelatory trek, the Esoteric decided that their sound, too, should be rebuilt, using atmosphere...
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
Deftones Saturday Night Wrist As you read earlier in this issue, Deftones went through their own personal hell making Saturday Night Wrist. But what doesn’t kill you always makes you stronger, and the bruising sound the Sacramento, California, quintet have patented over the last 10-plus years is here in spades, all turned up to 11...
TV On The Radio
TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain [5/5] Give TV On The Radio credit for refusing to take the easy route on Return To Cookie Mountain. At a time when they’re being touted as the biggest New York breakout band since the Strokes-or at least the Bravery-they chose art, not commerce, on their major-label...
Swan Lake
Swan Lake Beast Moans [5/5] Eat your heart out, Audioslave and (+44): You ain’t got nothing on the newest supergroup on the block, Swan Lake-comprised of indie-rock luminaries Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), Daniel Bejar (Destroyer, the New Pornographers) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). Their debut LP, Beast Moans, is aptly titled-with the saucy...
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom Ys [4/5] Gather ye to the drawing room, children, and be bewitched by the best pop album of 1884. From the ornate Romantic packaging to the epic sweep of storytelling and performance, this is by far singer-songstress Joanna Newsom’s most assured and mature statement of her career. Her prior “freak folk” forays only...
Mute Math
Mute Math Mute Math [4/5] What began in 2001 as a long-distance exchange of music a la the Postal Service between Paul Meany (vocals/keys) and Darren King (drums) has since blossomed into a full-fledged experimental rock group who now call New Orleans home. Electronica-heavy yet surprisingly hook-laden, Mute Math’s self-titled major-label debut bursts with hip-hop...