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Tim Easton

Porcupine
New West (2009)

This new release finds Easton actually fronting a band after many years of mainly playing solo acoustic. Electric guitar leads are abound, and the music is powered by the drumming of Sam Brown. But don't worry kids, the ace songwriting is still in full force. "Broke My Heart" is great pop song, but more heady subjects are also addressed. "7th … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Steve Kilbey

Painkiller
Second Motion (2009)

The first solo record from The Church frontman in seven years, Kilbey handles all the instruments here except drums. Thankfully it does not sound like a Paul McCartney record. Tim Powles, drummer from The Church covers the sticks and production duties. But there's still a strong guitar presence on this one. "Outbound" features a flowing bassline, while 'Wolfe" seems to … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Bulldozer

The Hammers
Motherbox (2008)

Sadly this is not a album by recently reformed Italian thrashers Bulldozer but a disc made by a New York band playing bog-standard punk rock with melodic and shouty sing-along choruses. It's hard to get wet and excited over another punk band that has flashes of rock'n roll and sounds like they came straight from the practice room - especially … Read more

Disappearer

The Clearing
Magic Bullet (2009)

Massachusetts-based Disappearer returns with their long-awaited second release. The Clearing marks the band's first full-length effort, which follows up the band's 2006's self-titled EP release (which is actually the group's 2004 demo reworked). So it has been, in a way, five years since we've gotten fresh material from Disappearer. For the super-fans, I am aware of last year's Steven Brodsky … Read more

We're All Broken

Blacktop Cry
Devildance (2009)

We're All Broken's name may sound familiar to you because they've opened for a lot of big names like Thursday, Minus the Bear, and The Gaslight Anthem over the years. This five-piece have just undergone a bit of a change in style with their new EP, Blacktop Cry. Their former post-hardcore stylings have been abandoned in favor of a more … Read more

Alexisonfire

Old Crows/Young Cardinals
Vagrant (2009)

I've always considered Alexisonfire one of the "better bands" in the whole "post-hardcore" scene or whatever you want to call it. However, their last album, Crisis received a lot of mixed reactions among fans with a lot of them believing that the band had lost their fire and were aiming for a more "commercial appealing" album. While that may be … Read more

Wrnlrd

Oneiromantical War
FSS (2008)

Wrnlrd drops a dense black metal album on listeners with this limited LP and digital album, Oneiromantical War - which I believe is the sixth album from the outfit. Now, in my growing education in black metal, this is my introduction to Wrnlrd, and it certainly provides me intrigue as the record mastering is the work of Bob Weston of … Read more

Paint It Black

Amnesia
Bridge Nine (2009)

I hate to be that guy, but I got to admit that it's getting more and more difficult to find an impressive hardcore album these days. I'm not talking about that record you listen to several times, really rock out to during the first week, rag on your friends for having never heard of it, and then retire it to … Read more

Geisha

Die Verbrechen der Liebe
Crucial Blast (2008)

What a weird mix (sound wise this is really thin sounding without much bottom end) for the opening track to a record because I really was hoping to be immediately crushed by Geisha's Die Verbrechen der Liebe, and instead, "Prelude to Amber Pays the Rent" is a bit of thin riffage being pushed through a thick haze of white noise, … Read more

Anti-Flag

The People or The Gun
Side One Dummy (2009)

It takes a lot for me to completely lose faith in some of my favorite bands, and I came pretty close to completely giving up on Anti-Flag after the disaster that was The Bright Lights of America. My faith was then restored a bit after hearing that they left RCA Records and joined the ever growing roster at Side One … Read more

Foundation

Chimborazo
Paper + Plastick (2009)

I like to refer to Foundation's self-titled record as campfire punk. It takes basic punk songs (often from the Ann Beretta catalog) and strips them down to the acoustic basics. In the process, Rob Huddleston doesn't run them through the genre-grinder and spit out new alt-country or folk versions of old songs so much as he creates Ann Beretta Unplugged … Read more

Pulling Teeth

Paranoid Delusions | Paradise Illusions
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

Pulling Teeth continues to be an extremely active and productive group - touring the world and releasing three full-lengths and several singles since their inception. Paranoid Delusions | Paradise Illusions marks the band's third full-length effort, though I use that term loosely as the length of this recording is a bit on the short end for a "long player" (though … Read more

Chickenfoot

Chickenfoot
earMUSIC (2009)

The reviewer of the following album would like to invite his readers to participate in the following drinking game: grab a shot glass, grab a bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage you wish to imbibe (for those in AA or under 21 years of age, feel free to use whatever is handy - remember, thumb off the carb) and take a … Read more

Coliseum

True Quiet / Last Wave
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

Yes, a new Coliseum record! Although they are not as prolific as they used to be, Coliseum continues to give listeners new music at least semi regularly. And even though we are still quite a ways away from hearing a new full-length from this touring machine, they still drop this single in an attempt to tide us all over. Although … Read more

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