May 22, 2008

Thunderlip The Prophecy [3.5/5] Thunderlip’s biographical information speaks rather hyperbolically about the band’s resonance with the public, their set-the-world-ablaze future potential and most surprising, their originality. Sure, bios are supposed to trumpet, but let’s be realistic: Any band who cite Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as influences and sound like...

Pet Genius Pet Genius [4/5] Steven Brodsky’s pet project writhes and sasses its way toward one of the more unique meshes of dripping-wet desert metal and classic rock heard since Queens Of The Stone Age. There’s no slick veneer to be found on Pet Genius’ self-titled debut, only primitive bouts of indecision. Each song varies...

Never Enough 1 {1/5] Unless you’re a close MySpace friend or distant relative, feel free to ignore the fact Keith Barney is the guitarist in Never Enough, since the group bear little resemblance to the mook-metal he grinded out in Eighteen Visions and Throwdown. Frankly, you can barely hear the guy on the band’s debut,...

Dartz! This Is My Ship [4/5] It’s entirely too easy to compare Dartz! to another troupe of northern England post-punks, the Futureheads. Both specialize in short, frantic tunes fit for manic dancing; each band also take musical cues from Fugazi’s spiky throttling and early XTC’s whirlwind tempos. But on the excellent This Is My Ship,...

Black Mountain In The Future [4.5/5] Vancouver is a place where the locals smoke pot the way white-trash America sucks back Pabst Blue Ribbon. That probably explains why the city’s unwashed anti-heroes Black Mountain have been slapped with the stoner-rock tag more times than Josh Homme. In The Future’s rampaging kickoff track, “Stormy High,” is,...

Awake And Alert Devil In A Lambskin Suit [3.5/5] As far as album openers go, “Flight” is deceiving. One would expect the rest of the album to follow suit: After hearing a plaintive, smooth ballad marked by piano and female singing. In sharp contrast, most of the songs on Awake And Alert’s Devil In A...

Frank Turner Campfire Punkrock EP [4/5] Frank Turner used to front Million Dead, a British hardcore aggregate who decided to hang it up after four years of semi-obscurity. These days, Turner may have traded a wall of amps for an acoustic guitar, but on his American debut, Campfire Punkrock, he comes off more sincere than...

Toilet Boys Sex Music [3.5/5] NYC’s Toilet Boys have been M.I.A. for a few years, but by the sound of Sex Music, one couldn’t tell. To wit, the guys are on top of their sleazy rock ’n’ roll game with such fine fare as the title track (appropriately smoldering in its sensuous groove), while they...