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System of a Down

Hypnotize
Sony (2005)

It's official. System of a Down can't spell. I'm sorry to any Americans out there who like to get involved with this whole using a "zed" instead of an "ess" thing, but they can't. And yes, I did say "zed," none of that "zee" crap either. Let's face it. America was born from the remnants of a British people who … Read more

Gospel

The Moon is a Dead World
Level Plane (2005)

I, for one, was initially startled by The Mars Volta. Their melding of prog-rock and post-hardcore required the status of a level-32 dwarf. Maybe it was Cedric's multidimensional vocabulary or Omar's guitarscapades, but they got boring real quick. Simply put, the Mars lacked Volta. My replacement and newest musical addiction was run by a thousand engines and possessed by one … Read more

Coliseum

Goddamage
Auxiliary (2005)

Coliseum's Goddamage EP must be listened to in order to be believed. Hell, looking at the cover art, one has to know what to expect. That is not to say that the record is so obvious. The cover simply represents the mood and salvo of sound on the record completely, even down to the faux sticker on the back: "As … Read more

Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

Mile Markers
Texicali (2005)

Be not afraid. Mile Markers by Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash is not the soundtrack to Aunt Edna's covert line-dancing ops at the Iron Horse Saloon. This is good country. Mellifluous, melodious, easy on the ears and heavy on the heart; it's where the best of country music always meant to go before it got sidetracked by private jets, monster … Read more

The Wives

Erect the Youth Problem
Cold Sweat/Sweet Nothing (2005)

Let's get the formalities and the predictabilities out the way right off the bat. Wives are a straight up rock band from Los Angeles whose main claim to fame is that their singer's car got hit by a reckless driving Backstreet Boy - the blonde one, if memory serves. The money from the resulting settlement allowed him to set up … Read more

Against Me!

Searching for a Former Clarity
Fat Wreck Chords (2005)

Music fans are fucking assholes. For those of us in the world who obsess about music, we fail to realize this one fact. We can be incredibly annoying. We can be demanding. We can influence the musical and aesthetic choices a band makes simply because they want to please us, the musical consumers, so they can continue "doing what they … Read more

Hoods

The King is Dead
Eulogy (2005)

Hoods, the reigning kings of Sacramento hardcore, have endured a lot throughout their decade of existence. The band have released a slew of recordings in all forms - LP's, EP's, splits, and compilations - on a handful of labels. Such an unwillingness to give up is rare for a band, especially in the genre of hardcore. And yet, here they … Read more

Brian Posehn

Nerd Rage
Independent (2005)

Stand-up comedians aren't funny. With very few exceptions, this is a truism that has become stronger and stronger over the years with every "I drive my spouse nuts" line and "Black people do things differently" joke. Brian Posehn is one of those exceptions. Culled from the last bastion of laughter - The Comedians of Comedy Tour, Nerd Rage reminds us … Read more

Head Wound City

Head Wound City
Three One G (2005)

Let's get the roster out of the way because that usually draws people in like moths to a blowtorch. Jordan Blilie (The Blood Brothers) (Vocals), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) (Guitar), Cody Votolato (The Blood Brothers) (Guitar), Justin Pearson (The Locust) (Bass), and Gabe Serbian (The Locust) (Drums). You're either feeling the flame or I'm feeling the draft of the … Read more

Scarling

So Long, Scarecrow
Sympathy for the Record Industry (2005)

It's going to sound silly, but in recent months, Scarling has taken on Moby Dick-like proportions in my life. They were that band that everyone told me I absolutely had to listen to, and each time I heard this, I grew a bit more reluctant to bother for no solid reason other than the fact that I hate to be … Read more

Green Day

Bullet in a Bible
Reprise (2005)

You could almost imagine the epitaph on Green Day's headstone from the moment Reprise got into the whole contract-fulfilling kiss-of-death releases that beset Green Day just this side of the turn of the millennium. A "best of" collection and then the certain doom of the "rarities" compilation followed in quick succession and it seemed that a dying cash cow was … Read more

Since By Man

Pictures from the Hotel Apocalypse
Revelation (2005)

Was it really only two years ago that Since By Man unleashed their debut CD, We Sing the Body Electric? Granted, an EP in the form of A Love Hate Relationship was designed to tide over their salivating audience in between tours and writing sessions, but personally it feels like a great deal more time has passed in between. Enter … Read more

With Honor

This is Our Revenge
Victory (2005)

I have a boom box where you load the CD's on the top, so when I put in This is Our Revenge into my kickin' stereophonic listening system I thought I accidentally left in my copy of Ignite's Past Our Means. Todd Mackey's vocals sound so eerily close to Zoli Teglas that I actually thought I had just left in … Read more

Multiple Authors

Propagandhi

Potemkin City Limits
Fat Wreck Chords (2005)

Propaghandi has always held a place in many people's hearts for their impassioned and political stances that they take on their record, and I always respected that political basis of much of their lyrical content and overall message of the band. Musically though, they had always been missing something for me. Every genre of punk and or hardcore has had … Read more

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