July 7, 2008

Paper Rival Dialog [4/5] When Paper Rival’s members first came together in 2005, they were known as Keating and released a forgettable pop-punk EP, Thieves. Fast-forward three years and one name change, and you find a completely different band on Dialog, the first proper full-length from the Tennessee-based alterna-rockers. Introspective lyrics examining everything from gay...

No Age Nouns [4/5] If the Jesus And Mary Chain had grown up listening to Superchunk, Sonic Youth and early Nirvana, perhaps they would have sounded something like No Age. Nouns, the youthful Los Angeles duo’s fantastic Sub Pop debut, bristles with primal energy and guttural bursts of noise that sear like acid rain. Bashing...

Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster [3/5] Here’s a brief list of things that are slightly less exuberant than Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, the 2007 EP from indie whirling dervishes Los Campesinos!: Wriggling puppies, underwear dance parties, Tilly And The Wall–and the U.K. band’s full-length bow, Hold On Now, Youngster. Elements that were cute and...

Julie Ocean Long Gone And Nearly There [3/5] With big, round guitar hooks, Evan Dando-esque vocal inflections backed by woo-woo harmonies and tight little two-minute songs, Julie Ocean’s debut is a leap back to the power-pop past. Featuring former Velocity Girl drummer Jim Spellman on lead vocals and guitar and produced by Geoff Sanoff (Fountains...

The Heavenly States Delayer [4/5] Combining the scruffy shocks of guitar and dyspeptic swagger of pre-grunge rockers like Agitpop and Pavement with a layered, late-’90s indie-pop aesthetic best associated with Dave Fridmann, Bay Area quartet the Heavenly States find anappealing balance on their third release. The album opens strong with “Morning Exercise,” a noisy pop...

Gran Ronde Secret Rooms [3/5] Remember when Interpol came out and everyone said they were aping Joy Division? Then, Editors showed up and everyone said they came across like Interpol doing Joy Division? Well, Los Angeles foursome Gran Ronde sound like Editors doing Interpol doing Joy Division. Which is not a bad thing, necessarily, if...

Clinic Do It! [4/5] Liverpool foursome Clinic are one of those bands who never seem to falter in their upward progression. Every two years since 2000, the group have released a new full-length, each being consistently good and doing something slightly varied without losing the band’s edged indie-rock sound. Do It!, the fifth disc in...

Various Artists Un-Scene 4: 30 Seconds To Impact [3/5] Fat Wreck Chords’ 101-song, 49-minute compilation Short Music For Short People was a punk/hardcore godsend to the ADD-addled listener, containing all the big names of the time and even charting on the Billboard Top 200. Banquet Records and Punktastic.com’s 99-band sequel doesn’t contain near the caliber...

The Slackers Self Medication [3.5/5] The beauty of the Slackers is they’ve always seemed like throwback ambassadors from a land where ganja grows on trees and Red Stripe is the true king of beers. While the ska revivalists call New York City home, they’ve made a career out of sounding like Jamaica’s Studio One during...