Jason Heller

Decemberunderground Having established the fact that they can do whatever the hell they want with their major-label breakthrough, 2003’s Sing The Sorrow, AFI used their second big-budget disc, Decemberunderground, to do something eminently self-indulgent: make the kind of album that got them into music when they were kids. Even slicker, sleeker and more imm ...

Sing The Sorrow Following the 2001 release of Son Of Sam’s Songs From The Earth, a one-off album recorded with members of Samhain, AFI singer Davey Havok was offered the chance of a lifetime: to front the reformed Misfits. He said no. As it turns ...

The Art Of Drowning So soon after making the major breakthrough that is 1999’s Black Sails In The Sunset, AFI found themselves maintaining their newfound artistic side with The Art Of Drowning. It's dark, sure, but at the same time, the b ...

Black Sails In The Sunset AFI threw many fans for a loop with the 1998 EP A Fire Inside, which featured covers of gloomy classics by Misfits and the Cure. But 1999’s Black Sails In The Sunset proves the EP was no fluke—and it also shows that the band have invaded and conquered previously unexplored territory. With new guitarist Jade Puget adding a sense of broodin ...

Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes "Keeping Out Of Direct Sunlight (An Introduction)," the minute-long burst of angst, rage, and crushing breakdowns that kicks off AFI's third album, Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes, is more than just a little intro. It's a statement of in ...

Very Proud Of Ya There's a point in adolescence when all the bad grades, zits and hormones stop being funny and start being seriously traumatizing—and AFI's 1996 sophomore album, Very Proud Of Ya, marks that turning point in the group. Granted, there's still plenty of ...

Answer That And Stay Fashionable With all of the songs on Answer That And Stay Fashionable credited to Anthems For Insubordinates, it's clear where AFI got not only their name (A Fire Inside), but the disc's irreverent sense of humor. The California group's debut fu ...

Say No To Love EP In case anyone's worried that the jump to a big-league producer--in this case, James Brown of U2 and Foo Fighters fame--has in any way softened The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's new EP, "Say No To Love": Your concerns are totally justified. The title track ...

Here's To Your Future Steve Brodsky shouldn't be making solo albums. With Cave In recently reformed, he ought to be in the studio or on the road with the band 24/7. That's an unlikely scenario--and Brodsky seems to have plenty of time on his hands--which means the singer/songwriter has unleashed his latest solo full-length,Here's To Your Future. Delicate, ...

Rifoki Before his current incarnation as a globetrotting DJ, Steve Aoki made music the old fashioned way: with his throat. In This Machine Kills, he screamed and preached a righteous hardcore gospel inspired by Born Against and the Ebullition Records roster ...

American Idiot (The Original Broadway Cast Recording) Despite what the haters may say, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with a punk band, especially one as big as Green Day, making a musical. They've got the funds, guts and chops, so more power to them. The only misstep ...

Of Misery And Toil More damaged and yet more whole than the band's 2007 debut, The New Drop Era, Young Livers' new album, Of Misery And Toil, is a drunken, fucking, bloody paradox. It shouldn't be possible to probe your own guts and ghosts with such precision, especially when your scalpel is this blunt and rusted--but Young Livers pull it off. "A Sad State In Affa ...