June 5, 2008

The Sword Gods Of The Earth [4/5] If the Sword’s planet-leveling 2006 debut, Age Of Winters, spearheaded the “hipster metal” movement simply by virtue of its release on a New York indie-rock label, the band members didn’t become intrinsically cooler in the process. What the Sword gained from their hipster cachet, however, is the sort...

Phantom Planet Raise The Dead [4/5] Phantom Planet are back with as big a departure from 2004’s self-titled effort as that album was from the power-pop moves of 2002’s The Guest. On Raise The Dead, it’s out with the tightly wound post-punk adrenalin, in with the atmosphere, strings and dynamics. It’s not that they haven’t...

Glorytellers Glorytellers [4/5] Geoff Farina’s music is best described in relation to itself because no one sounds quite like him. His folk-pop duo Secret Stars had a peculiar distance and chill, while the jazzy, elliptical arrangements of his post-rock quartet Karate matched his fractured lyrical ambiguities. His latest project splits the difference sonically, offering pretty,...

Atmosphere When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold [4/5] What has often gone unnoticed in Atmosphere’s dozen-year-rise to the indie-rap pinnacle is that Slug is one of the few MCs in that scene with an interest in talking about more than himself. It’s an easy mistake to make, given the vivid autobiographical...

Anti-Flag The Bright Lights Of America [4/5] First, they signed to a major label–a big no-no for many rebellion-culture purists within the punk-listening public. Now, Anti-Flag present what might be called their “artistic growth” record, complete with compulsory famous big-rock producer–in this case, Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Thin Lizzy, Morrissey). While a number of new...

From First To Last From First To Last [2/5] Following some controversy ignited by supposed vocal problems, From First To Last singer Sonny Moore parted ways with his band of five years in February 2007, citing a desire to pursue a solo career. The remaining three members, lead by the group’s guitarist, primary songwriter and...

Dj BC VS Big D And The Kids Table Strictly Mixed And Mashed [3/5] The world of mash-up albums is a prickly pear of compromise. Obviously, whichever genres or beats are being sandwiched in by the DJ are at risk of being diluted to their most basic levels for the sake of the coalescing. Which...

In Flames A Sense Of Purpose [3.5/5] Nine albums in, Sweden’s In Flames continue to be a defining force in melodic death metal. Part of their basic excellence is that they take the “melodic” part seriously and continue to craft songs that surge with power but don’t sacrifice the melody for the mosh. From the...

The Hush Sound Goodbye Blues [3.5/5] There’s such an old-timey, theatrical flair to the vocals on Goodbye Blues, at times it almost sounds like Gwen Stefani doing cabaret (in a good way). Greta Salpeter’s vocals are huge, expressive and steeped in the traditions of jazz and Tin Pan Alley–and so is the bulk of the...