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Sugar Stems

The Sweet Sounds of the Sugar Stems
Dusty Medical (2010)

The Sugar Stems know what sound they’re after, and that’s pretty clear from their name alone. The Sweet Sounds of the Sugar Stems immediately hits on an upbeat and, ahem, sugary sound led by singer/guitarist Betsy Borst’s energetic vocals and Drew Frederichsen’s backing harmonies. The Sugar Stems take the familiar saccharine love song and speed it up, giving a bit … Read more

Three Mile Pilot

The Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten
Temporary Residence (2010)

Well, all that I can say as this record sits in my hands is that this has certainly been a long, long time coming for Three Mile Pilot; I mean, the simple fact that another album from this group has been a rumor ever since they started practicing for their appearance at Touch and Go’s twenty-fifth anniversary, and now it … Read more

Planning For Burial

Leaving
Enemies List Home Recordings (2010)

Are late passes allowed in the internet age where people get to hear the latest music from musicians as soon as 2 minutes (give or take due to their proficiency with certain computer skills) and almost always before the record is released anymore? Leaving sat in an envelope in my house for several months (while I feverishly searched for the … Read more

Burning Love

Songs For Burning Lovers
Deranged (2010)

Upon the dissolution of Cursed, many people (including myself) let out a proverbial “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” when we saw that it actually had happened and right on the heels of releasing such a great album (if you have yet to experience any Cursed, you are missing out); but I knew deep down that breaking up one band would not hold the members … Read more

Terrible Things

Self Titled
Universal/Motown (2010)

Terrible things are like an early 2000’s super group of sorts. As much as I hate relying on ex member notations for new records this one seems apt. This is a band made up or former members of Hot Rod Circuit and Taking Back Sunday. Please keep in mind that this is not the second coming of either of these … Read more

Blacklist Royals

Semper Liberi
Paper + Plastick (2010)

Paper + Plastick seem to release new albums by fairly new bands at a pretty regular clip. Blacklist Royals are just the newest in that line. The band plays what has become a very popular style of punk rock at this point. Punk bands playing rock and roll is definitely not a new thing. Gaslight Anthem has shown that it … Read more

Imelda May

Mayhem
Decca (2010)

It’s been said that the second album is always a tough one. Following on from an album that you have been creating for all your life with record label deadlines, baying fans and the increase in expectations often leads to a critical mauling and a mass wave of indifference. Mayhem; the second album by Irish Rockabilly come Jazz singer Imelda … Read more

Iron Chic

Not Like This
Dead Broke Rekerds (2010)

There are albums that you listen to with headphones to catch every subtle detail in its production. Then there are albums you blast from whatever speakers you have available to you for no reason other than to break the walls and sing along. Iron Chic’s Not Like This is the latter kind of album! After two years, a demo, and … Read more

Coliseum

House With A Curse
Temporary Residence (2010)

One of the beautiful things about making music and sonic art, is that the artists and bands can take their work to interesting places at the drop of a hat if they so choose or are somehow led (by emotions, life changing events, calculated maneuvers, etc) to make such a sonic shift (through songwriting changes, production changes, personnel changes, etc); … Read more

Make Do and Mend

End Measured Mile
Paper + Plastick (2010)

This has been one the more highly anticipated records within the punk and hardcore scene in this year. How does a band overcome scene hype and shit talk to make a true album. The question is how does a band that has released to strong EPs parlay that into a complete full length. Many bands tend to fall short by … Read more

Various Artists

A Death Cinematic / Sons Of Alpha Centaurii - Split
Simple Box Construction (2010)

A good split record now and then is a great concept by two collaborating outfits, and even though people might be more familiar with one of the artists or groups more so than the other, such records could (and often does) introduce people to new artists and sounds that hitherto had gone unnoticed; in the case of this split album, … Read more

Various Artists

Fight Amp/Ladder Devils/Kowloon Walled City (Three-way split) – Lose Lose Lose
Brutal Panda (2010)

This three-way split features the New Jersey trio Fight Amp, Philadelphia’s Ladder Devils (former members of The Minor Times), and San Francisco’s sludgy Kowloon Walled City. While the three bands play three different styles of aggressive music, the sound of the split as a whole is entirely cohesive. Lose Lose Lose collectively is a great album from the three bands. … Read more

Cephalic Carnage

Misled By Certainty
Relapse (2010)

Cephalic Carnage have been around the block. For nearly twenty years they’ve been playing their unique blend of grindcore and technical death metal. When it comes to metal, these guys know what the fuck is up. Their previous album Xenosapien is one of my favorites from any genre to have been released in the past few years. That record was … Read more

Year of No Light

Ausserwelt
E-Music (2010)

Ausserwelt is the sophomore album from Year Of No Light following up their excellent debut, Nord; and while this outfit took a bit of time in between the two records, evidently some turmoil aided in the birthing of the four pieces to be heard on Ausserwelt; the band cleared these issues and underwent some lineup shuffling before finally laying this … Read more

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