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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Memorial

The Creative Process/Berlin
Flight Plan (2008)

Some of you may recall a band by the name of Renee Heartfelt. They were a fairly short-lived group that released an EP and a full-length before abruptly disbanding a few years back; an unfortunate happening as their 2005 release Death of the Ghost was absolutely stunning. Well, vocalist Pete Appleby has returned with Memorial; so now we can feel a little better about the whole Renee Heartfelt breakup. Originally intended as two separate 7" EP's, The Creative Process/Berlin, is those two EP's on one piece of wax, five inches larger. The leadoff song is "Who are We to Say?" and it absolutely rocks. I know I sound like your dad trying to sound hip with that wording, but I can't help it. This is Quicksand-homage at its best; in fact it's better than many of those songs too. "Sideways" is a bit more artistic and focuses on the guitars in a more dynamic manner than the preceding track. "Spades" is equally as mesmerizing with its fabulous guitar interplay, and the co-titular track "The Creative Process" rounds out the a-side in stunning fashion that has you craving more - which makes sense given it was supposed to be the end … Read more

Tombs

Winter Hours
Relapse (2009)

Following their promising self-titled debut and their split with the European band Planks, Tombs drops Winter Hours (their debut for … Read more

Cursive

Mama, I'm Swollen
Saddle Creek (2009)

I first got the chance to interview Tim Kasher directly after the release of Cursive's Happy Hollow. A friend and … Read more

Try Me Bicycle

Voicings
Independent (2008)

Try Me Bicycle's Voicings is a dreamy and delicate offering, even when it tends towards the brooding and melancholy. Such … Read more

The Appleseed Cast

Sagarmatha
Vagrant (2009)

It's been almost three years since we were last graced with an album from The Appleseed Cast, 2006's much more … Read more

Ophiolatry

Transmutation
Forces of Satan/Regain (2008)

Ophiolatry is another band that, like their labelmates Black Flame, is a true force in the black arts to be … Read more

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One from the archives

Ian Anderson

Thick as a Brick 2
EMI (2012)

If there's anything movies have taught us, it's that sequels almost always suck in comparison to the original. While there aren't nearly as many sequels in the musical world, occasionally an artist will go back and revisit one of the ideas that made them famous in the first place. In almost all of these cases, such as with Mike Oldfield's endless Tubular Bells reinterpretations, the final product winds up, for lack of a better term, blowing. It languishes as a pale imitation of the original, merely a failed attempt to recapture one's own past greatness. But then, on that rare occasion, an artist will not only create a sequel that doesn't suck, but a sequel that holds up well in comparison to the original, and, even more rarely, a beautiful … Read more

More album reviews

Thursday

Common Existence
Epitaph (2009)

I always love it when bands make each album different from the last one. Which is why I love Thursday, each of their albums have been something different and something great. With that being said, their latest album, Common Existence is heavily influenced by their hardcore roots combined with the lighter approach of A City by the Light Divided. However, … Read more

Caithlin de Marrais

My Magic City
End Up (2008)

I will never forget the first time that I heard Caithlin de Marrais' voice; the opening lines of "Rise" off of Rainer Maria's Look Now Look Again reach out from speakers with a naked vulnerability that imbues each word with its own spark and each line with a lifetime of experience. Caithlin's mostly disembodied (save for the times I have … Read more

Fiancé

Please, Ambitious, Please
Independent (2008)

Denver-based quartet Fiancé has put forth a pretty catchy follow-up to 2007's, The Girl From the Ivory Coast. With 2008's Please, Ambitious, Please, Patrick Maguire (vocals, piano), Michael James (guitar), Tyler Reschke (bass) and Chris Sturniolo (drums) have produced a compelling little offering. The instrumentation is beautiful and quirky, and ultimately provides a satisfying listen. At times the lyrics are … Read more

Japanther

Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt
Menlo Park (2008)

In the city of Brooklyn, New York's hippest borough, the pretensions of musicians trying to create songs that are both avant garde and widely accessible (a clear paradox) makes for a stifling scene. Lofts and warehouse spaces across the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick are filling with passive young professionals being bludgeoned with art. While every incarnation of noise, folk, … Read more

Black Flame

Imperivm
Forces of Satan/Regain (2008)

Black Flame is an Italian black metal trio that holds the distinction of being one of the first bands signed to Forces of Satan Records, a label created by Gorgoroth founder and guitarist Infernus. Now, the future of Gorgoroth may be uncertain, at least until there's a ruling on who owns the rights to the name, but the future and … Read more

The Dalloways

Dirty Money and Filthy Love
Bird in a Box (2008)

Sold; I'll take two, please. From start to finish, this five-track EP from California's The Dalloways is a gem. Dirty Money and Filthy Love, with its dry easy wit and lush pop sensibilities, is delightful in all the right ways. From the outset, it's instantly reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian, and vocalist/lyricist Gerhard Enns delivers breathy pop vocals that seem … Read more

The Pink Spiders

Sweat it Out
Mean Buzz (2008)

This might be the first band I've reviewed that I've also loaded gear for. I worked a show a couple years back when The Pink Spiders were opening for Kill Hannah, and helped load their stuff in. So I have a strange complex with them. It's like I'm their servant, their underling. And I don't like it. What I have … Read more

Killing Kings

...The One You Feed the Most
Independent (2008)

Killing Kings 2007 release Delusions of Grandeur was an under appreciated gem of 90's inspired hardcore. It was equally as destructive as it was thought provoking. The album was a combination of bruising metallic hardcore and searing metal that often had me dreaming of dance-floor incited frenzy sing-alongs. The album's social and political lyrical themes only added further fuel to … Read more

Crystal Antlers

Crystal Antlers
Touch & Go (2008)

1. This is soundtrack music. I couldn't hear it at all until I took a drive through the hills, windows down at night, blaring this EP to stay awake until I got home. I put it on because all I could hear in it was THE KIND OF SHIT TO WHICH YOU CANNOT FALL SLEEP. Which I more or less … Read more

Virgins

Miscarriage
Kiss of Death (2008)

Orlando's Virgins play hook orientated, chorus heavy punk with scratchy throat vocals. The three-piece formed from the ashes of New Mexican Disaster Squad and their sound is a logical development. While the band has clear roots in early hardcore, they maintain an approach that's easier on the palate with a stronger focus on catchiness instead of sheer ferocity. "Another's Gun" … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Dirt Mall

Got the Goat by the Horns
Daykamp (2008)

Raw, grimy in your face rock from these Bostonians. The guitar is mixed high, which is a good thing for these tunes. Most of these songs are under the four minute mark. Except for "The Demons & the Damned" which clocks in at a whopping nine plus minutes. I can definitely relate to "Medicate (Today)." But song number seven is … Read more

200 Words Or Less

The Oswald Effect

Love & Sabotage
Independent (2008)

This looked promising when it first showed up in the mail. But as some wise person once said, looks can be deceiving. This Seattle four-piece certainly have their chops together, but the styles presented here are such a mish mash that it's hard to swallow. Musically they are rocking enough, but vocally I just couldn't get into them. The singer … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Coffins / XXX Maniak

The Cracks of Doom
Creeping Vine (2008)

To offend me takes special talent, talent that knows no boundaries to how far the one can push idea of indecency. People who believe there is nothing sacred, no subject matter too taboo that they cannot molest it. These people play in the XXX Maniak. The cover art alone on this made me ashamed to have the CD in my … Read more

Above this Fire

Last Ones
Forest City (2008)

It's been over three years since Above this Fire released their debut full-length, In Perspective. Since that recording the band has grown immensely as songwriters, something that is evident when you listen to the two albums back to back. The band's growth and evolution since their initial recordings is something that helps put in perspective - pardon the pun - … Read more

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)