Meg & Dia - Here, Here And Here...
Here, Here and Here… Fans of the straightforward piano-and-acoustic-guitar touches on Meg & Dia's 2006 debut, Something Real, might be taken aback by the larger-than-life Here, Here And Here… Thanks to Howard Benson's production touches and the Frampton sisters' burgeoning confidence, the album features layered arrangements, radio-friendly vocals and thick guitar riffs. Here is nevertheless pleasingly diverse; country flourishes...
Young Love - One Of Us
One Of Us Rocker-turned-dancer can't decide whether to groove or brood. The first album from Young Love, 2007's Too Young To Fight It, was markedly uneven. At times, it was massively compelling ("Discotech"); at others, disappointingly lackluster ("Underneath The Night Sky"). Its follow-up has more cohesion, maybe because band mastermind Dan Keyes (also frontman of...
NOFX - Coaster
Coaster It's impressive that, entering their whopping 26th year of existence, Bay Area skate-punk staples NOFX not only still function as a band, they actually put forth effort to deliver new material every few years, like their comrades-in-arms Bad Religion and Pennywise. The inherent problem with this cycle is that punk rock was built on...
Take Notice - The Get-Go
The Get-Go There's something politely endearing about Take Notice's mandate on their debut EP, The Get-Go. This Michigan band are more eager than perhaps is healthy to tell their listeners that they're ultra-serious about this DIY punk-rock game, are "never looking back" and are ready to "get it right this time," including "spending all...
August Burns Red - Constellations
August Burns Red – Constellations Pennsylvania-based metalcore band August Burns Red get harder and heavier with each release. Constellations begins with a drum roll and pick slide straight off a Disfear album, and things don't slow down much from there. This is a fierce, punishing album loaded with muscular breakdowns, screaming guitar leads and ass-kicking double-bass-drum thunder....
Cage - Depart From Me
Depart From Me You're supposed to write what you know, and Chris "Cage" Palko's harrowing childhood is definitely reflected in his lyrics. Yet as bleak as his subject matter is, his songs manage to be disturbing without straying into the gratuitously grim. The key element may be the ongoing battle with his demons: "I'd like...
Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West
Strange Cousins From The West Always in a league of their own, Maryland's Clutch are back with another homespun slab of backwoods rebel rock. Strange Cousins From The West, issued on their newly formed Weathermaker label, is the ideal flagship for a self-financed release. It's one of their strongest albums, which is saying a lot for...
Cub Country - Stretch That Skull Cover And Smile
Stretch That Skull Cover And Smile Conceived in 1999 as a side project for then-Jets To Brazil bassist Jeremy Chatelain, Cub Country aren't quite the bedroom-AM-country-dream they once were; they're now a fully realized rock band in the spirit of Wilco and Beachwood Sparks. Stretch That Skull Cover And Smile is a solid record that succeeds in...
The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life And Death
Act III: Life And Death Casey Crescenzo, the multi-talented fountainhead of the Dear Hunter, has assembled a masterwork in Act III: Life And Death, ostensibly the midsection of his ongoing, six-act tale of a born-loser boy who falls for a whore. Life And Death expands the Danny Elfman-does-gypsy-vaudeville sound pioneered on TDH's two previous albums, dedicating more space...