March 4, 2009

The Bronx The Bronx (III) [3.5/5] Over the course of two albums and a handful of EPs and singles, Los Angeles-based street warriors the Bronx-singer Matt Caughthran, guitarist Joby J. Ford, drummer Jorma Vik and new recruits Brad Magers (bass) and Ken Horne (guitar)-have done much to blur the lines of demarcation between hard rock...

William Control Hate Culture [3.5/5] This year, the girl who Aiden frontman Wil Francis was going to marry left him, strife within his band took its toll and most importantly, he was completely over the contemporary punk scene. Dubbing himself William Control, Francis and engineer Kenny Fletcher holed up together in the woods of Washington...

Split From left-field film soundtracks to dark literary figures like the late David Foster Wallace, Thursday’s influences have never been limited to hardcore; it’s just that the media blitz around the band traditionally gravitates toward the louder, faster elements of Thursday’s sound. Heck, even if you’re talking strictly hardcore, Thursday’s influences have always leaned more...

Fear Before Fear Before [3.5/5] Fear Before are all about shedding excess on their new self-titled album, from officially shortening their band name to the disc’s considerably stripped-down nature. However, it’s still their most mysterious effort yet, bearing even more of a creepy, unsettling character than 2006’s The Always Open Mouth. The corrosively calculated opener...

Copeland You Are My Sunshine [3.5/5] Copeland records are generally lush affairs, but You Are My Sunshine, the band’s fourth proper full-length and first release for new label Tooth & Nail, finds them applying their knack for texture and arrangement to a shimmering collection of smart, concise indie-pop songs that hover around the three- or...