Recent reviews

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)

Smoke or Fire

This Sinking Ship
Fat Wreck Chords (2007)

Sophomore slumps are a bitch. Smoke or Fire's debut full-length, Above the City, was a nice, short, potent shot of melodic punk with introspective lyrics that felt honest and kept it simple, but This Sinking Ship sounds more like the band is trying too hard to prove that they're relevant. This Sinking Ship is overflowing with political rants, tales of drinking, and what feel like personal journal excerpts bitching about how hard it is being constantly on tour, yet the lyrics still don't feel as sincere as they did on the band's first album. The sudden hard-on for politically fueled songs could have turned out well, but the blue-collar themes they've integrated in the past don't come through as much, making their political perspective fall flat. In the opening track, vocalist Joe McMahon sings "as you walk along on stolen ground / ignoring poverty / remember anyone becomes a criminal / when you leave them starving" and I cringe every time I hear it because it sounds like something you hear on one of those commercials that are supposed to guilt trip you into giving more to the homeless. Basically, if I want to be preached at I'll listen to … Read more

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Some Loud Thunder
Wichita Recordings (2007)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had a lot of pressure on them for their second album, mainly due to them … Read more

Multiple Authors

Hot Cross

Risk Revival
Equal Vision/Hope Division (2007)

If you consider yourself a fan of traditional screamo, you're already familiar with Hot Cross's roots. If not, no big … Read more

Multiple Authors

Hot Cross

Risk Revival
Equal Vision/Hope Division (2007)

Contemporary hardcore is beginning to swing toward a repetitive joke. If drop-d jun jun's and massive amounts of double bass … Read more

Justice

Escapades
Reflections/Youngblood (2007)

A band of Belgian hardcore enthusiasts who, in the summer of 2003, had only one goal: to stir, shake and … Read more

Hoods

Ghetto Blaster
Eulogy (2007)

In the event of a worldwide nuclear war, I have come to the conclusion that only one thing will survive. … Read more

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One from the archives

Roaming Herds of Buffalo

Alien Canyons
Independent (2013)

Self-released in November of 2013, Roaming Herds of Buffalo’s Alien Canyons is the band’s second release to date. The Seattle-based group has described this outing as a “collaborative project” in their web-based press kit, although I’m not sure what to conclude from this vague statement. Maybe everyone played everything and everyone got songwriting credits? Maybe the band considers these types of details irrelevant? In any case, all members are active in other projects, and there seems to be a broad spectrum of different/differing influences present. The record kicks off with the brief “Wild Oats” – strummed chords and tin-can-telephone vocals introduce the album’s prevailing aesthetic, while cryptic lyrics present its consistent thematic content. The follow-up is the album’s title track, which provides a pretty good idea of what to expect … Read more

More album reviews

Marillion

Somewhere Else
Intact (2007)

Throughout their over twenty-five year history, Marillion and their music have maintained what many thought impossible: prog without pretension. This has been a key component to their rabidly loyal fan base. It would appear that nobody jumped ship after the band's loss of their original frontman, Fish, way back in 1988. What would have signaled the death of many a … Read more

LCD Soundsystem

Sound of Silver
DFA (2007)

This is the LCD Soundsystem experience; the more you test it and the more you take a sip, the more you become engulfed in it. Suddenly you realize you're singing LCD at your school, in your dorm, in your bathroom. Suddenly your shower is the best party you have ever been to. Your life turns over like an overdone pancake … Read more

Champion

Different Directions | The Last Show
Bridge Nine (2007)

I'm not going to lie; I was never the hugest fan of Champion. Actually, I think Champion's greatest achievement lies nine seconds within "Harrison and Broadway" where the music stops suddenly and Timm McIntosh does that little guitar squeak. I don't know why I think this is so splendid but I love it every time I hear it. Throughout Champion's … Read more

Multiple Authors

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

Not many albums open with a song like "Brianstorm." I'm talking Dick Dale on angel dust. I'm talking a sentient '68 Ford Mustang playing a sentient '68 Fender Mustang. Seriously, surfboards in the seventh dimension. The future of rock and roll, so retro it makes me want to dance like a Pulp Fiction character. Actually, Pulp Fiction came to mind … Read more

Multiple Authors

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

If I am to believe Wikipedia.org, this album is one of the greatest albums ever released. If I have to believe Wikipedia.org, this band is one of the greatest ever to spawn from the United Kingdom. If I have to believe the professors at my school, Wikipedia.org should never be trusted - and damn, they're absolutely right. Favourite Worst Nightmare … Read more

Volt

Rorhat
Exile on Mainstream/Southern (2006)

There are a lot of bands out there that sound like nothing more than the sum of their influences, without adding anything particularly interesting to the mix. But then there is a rare breed of band whose influences are obvious, yet at the same time, manages to produce something compelling in its own right. Volts, a three-piece hailing from Chemnitz, … Read more

Trash Talk

Walking Disease
Rumble (2007)

Some bands are like wine; they only get better with age. Trash Talk's new "full-length" effort is a great example of just that. Trash Talk has been playing shows since late 2005, with a demo, seven inch, and split with Bay Area friends Steel Trap put out in just over a year. But this is what we've really been waiting … Read more

The Dustheads

Tall Tales I & II
Don Giovanni (2007)

Peanut butter and chocolate; Hall and Oates; French fries and nacho cheese. Some things were meant to be together, but punk and stoner metal? That's kind of like touching two jumper cables together. Explosive! Tall Tales I serves as a nice introduction to what this New York City band is all about. Side A boasts the track "Save Our Souls," … Read more

Type O Negative

Dead Again
SPV (2007)

Alright, stop thinking about Pete Steele holding his wang in Playgirl - don't lie, you know you've Googled the pictures. Instead let's talk about better things, like Dead Again the "4 Dicks from Brooklyn's" seventh studio album, sixth if you're nit-picky and don't consider the faux-live Origin of the Feces a studio album. Anyone familiar with Type O Negative will … Read more

Cheap Tragedies

2000 and 7: Demo
Independent (2007)

Cheap Tragedies note that they formed shortly after the members ran into each other at this summer's Gorilla Biscuits reunion tour in Cleveland. Given this fact and their extensive collective resume of previous bands, one may be concerned that their current project might serve as nothing more than a nostalgia piece - worthy in its own right, but without any … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

The year I was born, Trent Reznor, under his Nine Inch Nails alias, released Pretty Hate Machine, an album which through the iconographic concept of the mix tape circuit launched his career. Fueled by a nihilistic sense of self-realization, and far too much booze, Reznor produced tracks which resonated with audiences for their highly inter personal lyrics and the "industrial" … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

Let me bring you up to speed on the world of Nine Inch Nails. 2005 saw the release of With Teeth, an album which boasted three number-one singles, a Grammy award nomination, and respectable position on many 'top albums of the year' lists. Like the widely acclaimed The Downward Spiral before it, With Teeth showcased distinct pop-sensibilities in frontman Trent … Read more

Bright Eyes

Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
Saddle Creek (2006)

If I had a bunch of superfans crocheting armwarmers for me I could sell my half-assed b-sides just like Connor Oberst. Connor/Imaginary Successful Me: Remember that song we made when we were drunk and then that girl came over? And that one where I was learning how to make drum sounds on my iMac but we got drunk and that … Read more

Maria Taylor

Lynn Teeter Flower
Saddle Creek (2007)

One of the first reviews I ever did for this website was for Maria Taylor's debut solo album, 11:11. It's been two years since our respective efforts and I think it's safe to say that we've both matured. On Lynn Teeter Flower, a record named for a family friend, Taylor succeeds in capturing her own sound, rather than borrowing from … 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)