June 22, 2007

Kaddisfly Set Sail The Prairie [4.5/5] Set Sail The Prairie plays every statement-album gambit, from its cohesive storyline (each song documents a stop during a portentous year-long journey, as documented by a two-tiered tracklisting assigning each song date/destination coordinates) to its cinematic scope. Kaddisfly incorporate their narrator’s transportation and location into the music, both overtly...

The Higher On Fire [3/5] Is it cooler to crank out the same chords as everyone else or follow your musical heart and risk sounding like a boy band? That’s the question posed when listening to the Higher, the Las Vegas boys who take the R&B and disco sides of Panic! At The Disco and...

Call Me Lightning Soft Skeletons [3.5/5] When did it become en vogue to jerk off with your guitar? Call me as un-hip as the nameless protagonist of Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock ’N’ Roll To Me,” but sometimes you’ve got to call bullshit on the trends. Milwaukee’s Call Me Lightning do just that, with better...

The Agency Turn [3/5] As a veteran of Dashboard Confessional, Agency drummer Mike Marsh-who trades off vocals and lyrics with bassist Chris Drueke on Turn-is no stranger to playing heartfelt music to the back rows of a hockey rink. And that’s exactly what most songs on Turn do, from the Journey-ish pop-punk of “Walking Disaster”...

Jesse Malin Glitter In The Gutter [4/5] The third time is definitely the charm for Jesse Malin, the former D Generation frontman who manages to collect his wide-reaching thoughts and influences into a fine-tuned assortment of melodic, punk-tinged, mid-paced numbers on Glitter In The Gutter, his third solo album since DG’s breakup in 1999. At...

Lovedrug Everything Starts Where It Ends [3.5/5] The guitar riff that eases you into Lovedrug’s sophomore album, Everything Starts Where It Ends, could pass for an outtake from OK Computer. Or maybe The Bends. So no, the Ohio quartet haven’t outrun that comparison just yet. But Radiohead were never this intent on playing to the...

xDEATHSTARx We Are The Threat [3.5/5] In 11 well-crafted and ridiculously aggressive tracks, We Are The Threat demonstrates why xDEATHSTARx’s music is among the most enjoyable that metalcore currently has to offer. With blistering drums, pounding guitars and three-yes, three-pissed-off (but nearly identical-sounding) vocalists, this Redlands, California, band recall a time when aggressive music was...

Since The Flood No Compromise [1.5/5] Comedian Brian Posehn must have had Since The Flood in mind when he penned “Metal By Numbers.” No Compromise, the sophomore outing from the New Hampshire five-piece, has everything it is supposed to have, including mookish monotone vocals paired with lyrics about how truly underwhelming everything and everybody around...

Otep The Ascension [3.5/5] With Serj Tankian toiling away on a solo record and Dave Mustaine a born-again Christian, someone has to keep the conscientious and contemptuous flag flying in metal. Enter Otep Shamaya, who, three albums in, is still as pissed off as when she first formed the band bearing her name. Only one...