May 29, 2008

This Is Hell Misfortunes [4/5] The “1-2 fuck you” ethos of hardcore has been gently eschewed in recent times by certain bands who understand that sometimes concocting brooding, slowly unraveling bursts of rage serve a better impact. This Is Hell have been progressive participants in this movement for the past four years. On their second...

Nada Surf Lucky [4/5] On Nada Surf’s fifth studio album, the band continue in the direction they took on 2003’s Let Go, the record that catapulted them from “that ‘Popular’ band” to critical darlings. Organically building upon their contemplative-rock base, Lucky is full of intricate bridges and melodies, intense while at the same time awash...

Hot Chip Made In The Dark [4.5/5] Hot Chip make genre mash-ups an art form on their elegant third album, Made In The Dark. In fact, the album’s list of influences is staggering, including (but not limited to) Prince, Four Tet, Kraftwerk, Of Montreal, Pixies, Basement Jaxx, XTC, R. Kelly and Pink (no, really). Like...

Horrorpops Kiss Kiss Kill Kill [4/5] The rockabilly underground never sees a lot of mainstream attention (at least, not since our parents were in high school and it was called “surf rock”), but this scene has maintained a remarkably loyal following despite questionable innovation through the years. Danish ex-pats HorrorPops have built a rabid following...

City And Colour Bring Me Your Love [4.5/5] With artists escaping the shadows cast by their bands with solo endeavors as routine these days as sunburns in summer, you’d almost have to ask: Is it bandwagon bravado or earnest expression? City And Colour are neither. The moniker belongs to Dallas Green, noted Alexisonfire vocalist and...

Del The Funky Homosapien 11th Hour [3/5] The last solo outing from Bay Area rhymesmith Del The Funky Homosapien dropped almost eight years ago, which is about five or six lifetimes in the constantly churning hip-hop universe. The voice behind Golden Age classics like 1991’s I Wish My Brother George Was Here and the Gorillaz...

Paint It Black New Lexicon [4/5] As a genre, hardcore is known for a lot of things (stage dives, sing-alongs, motivational lyrics), but experimentation generally isn’t one of them. For this reason, some people were understandably skeptical when Paint It Black announced they were working on their latest disc with Oktopus from the hip-hop duo...

God Fires Man A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun [3/5] New York City has become a somewhat inhospitable place for bands during the past 10 years, and surely the members of God Fires Man can remember more vibrant times there. Perhaps that’s why they toured the U.K. after releasing their first EP last year instead...

Lightspeed Champion Falling Off The Lavender Bridge [2.5/5] Test Icicles were going to change music, your life, the world. Or something. At least, that was what the British music press (and AP’s editor in chief) believed for a few months in 2005. While critics might have gone a little hyperbole-crazy with the band, the fact...