May 21, 2008

Spank Rock & Benny Blanco Bangers & Cash EP [3.5/5] It’s no secret Spank Rock owe quite a bit to 2 Live Crew. They may call it B-More Club, but the speaker-shakin’ bass that rocked the group’s debut, YoYoYoYoYo, was basically the modern incarnation of Miami Bass. Besides the low end, their MC (also named...

LCD Soundsystem 12/31/1899 9:33:00 PM [4.5/5] Previously available as downloadable data from iTunes through the “evil” auspices of Nike, 45:33 was commissioned as a workout soundtrack for non-elite athletes. Now receiving the expanded CD/vinyl treatment, the album is meticulously orchestrated for aerobic activities, displaying LCD maestro James Murphy’s deft arranging skills and sense of dynamics....

Alexis Gideon Flight Of The Liophant [3/5] Alexis Gideon might be recognized for his part in Chicago’s cross-dressing duo Princess, but the self-proclaimed “schizo-rap New York hillbilly” now flies alone with his second solo release on Sickroom Records. Flight Of The Liophant takes the listener on a wild journey leaping from gospel to Miami bass-beats-all...

Ephel Duath Pain Remixes The Known [2/5] Deftly interweaving black/death metal, jazz fusion and progressive rock, Italian quintet Ephel Duath released two back-to-back awesome albums, 2003’s The Painter’s Palette and 2005’s Pain Necessary To Know, before stripping down to a trio and reportedly mapping out an even wilder direction for their next full-length. Here’s hoping...

Boys Noize Oi Oi Oi [3.5/5] For decades now, enterprising musicians have been trying to find ways to make the synthesizer head-bangable. But perhaps not since the Prodigy were in their mid-’90s heyday has anyone made it rock like German producer Alex Ridha. His formula, under the nom de pop Boyz Noize, is brutally elegant...

The Thrills Teenager [4/5] When Irish quintet the Thrills released their debut album So Much For The City in 2003, some hip critics ranked the disc alongside efforts from the Shins and Death Cab For Cutie as best indie-rock albums of the year. However, despite City reaching No. 3 on the U.K. charts and multiple...

Steel Train Trampoline [3.5/5] Maybe it has something to do with spending the last few months on tour with the Format, or the fact that it’s been four years since the band’s previous album, but Steel Train sound like a completely different band on their sophomore full-length Trampoline. Instead of unfocused jamming, the album is...

The Spill Canvas No Really, I’m Fine [3.5/5] Less than 20 seconds into his major-label debut, Spill Canvas mastermind Nick Thomas proclaims, “We don’t believe anything that these critics go writing in their magazines.” So we’ll go right ahead and say this disc is a solidly admirable record-and that comes as a bit of a...

So They Say Life In Surveillance [3.5/5] So They Say aren’t necessarily an Armor For Sleep clone, but one listen to the band’s sophomore full-length and it’s tough to deny Ben Jorgensen & Co.’s influence this time around. Life In Surveillance improves upon the problematic pop-punk practices of So They Say’s past with a heavier,...