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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)

Fall Out Boy

From Under the Cork Tree
Island (2005)

Selling out. Trying something new. Maturing. Call it what you will, but a substantial number of underground artists have become fairly well-known after changing up the musical scene they are involved with. First there was Ian MacKaye leaving behind Minor Threat for Fugazi, and eventually The Evens. Others followed suit. Gorilla Biscuits guitarist Walter Schreifels went from playing in one of the most influential hardcore bands to writing soft indie rock in Rival Schools. Neither of these had much mainstream success, but they were distinct transitions nonetheless. The ideal example would be when the remaining members of highly influential, but vastly overlooked, hardcore outfit Strongarm teamed up with a nobody by the name of Chris Carrabba to create Further Seems Forever. Similarly, Chad Gilbert left behind his friends in Shai Hulud to be the guitarist for New Found Glory. Fall Out Boy is leading the next wave of ex-hardcore kids making it big in pop music. And with their second full-length, From Under the Cork Tree, the fine fellas from Chicago will reach unimaginable heights. After my initial listen I was able to come to a couple of conclusions about the new album. First off, the hits on this album … Read more

Stars

Set Yourself on Fire
Arts & Crafts (2005)

"Ladies and gentlemen, set yourself on fire!" exclaims novelist Ibi Kaslik on the inside cover of Stars's sophomore album, Set … Read more

Keren Ann

Nolita
Blue Note (2005)

On The Blood Brothers' 2004 disc Crimes singers Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney scream, "Everybody needs a little devastation," from … Read more

Spitalfield

Stop Doing Bad Things
Victory (2005)

Ever since I accidentally saw them live in 2003, Spitalfield had been on my list of bands to avoid listening … Read more

The Fiery Furnaces

EP
Sanctuary (2005)

A 10-song, 40-minute EP? Talk about cocky! After releasing their 80-minute beast of an album, Blueberry Boat, to my (and … Read more

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Naturally
Daptone (2005)

Generally at the beginning of the year, you'll set your hopes high for a handful of releases and odds are, … Read more

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One from the archives

A Caesar Holiday

A Caesar Holiday
Independent (2008)

The five-piece A Caesar Holiday offer up six tracks totaling forty-five minutes on their self-titled debut release. Featuring the combined instrumentation of violin, dual guitars, bass, drums, and accordion the Indianapolis group offer moody and mostly instrumental music falling somewhere between prog and post-rock. The album is at its strongest in the tracks featuring the violin work of Eison, most notably "Let Bygones" and "The Narcissist." The violin separates it from many similar sounding contemporaries and adds a fluid soundscape to fill out the hypnotic rhythm section. The album starts out with "A Little Bird Told Me," an unspectacular track that sets the tone for the rest of the record. It utilizes a slow crescendo post-rock structure until building into a more repetitive rock 'n roll arrangement. The band mixes … Read more

More album reviews

Time for Change

Profound
Glory Kid (2005)

There was a time long long ago when Victory Records put out quality hardcore releases by bands like Integrity, The Path of Resistance, and Snapcase as opposed to the rubbish that they've been putting out as of late. In fact, the majority of what they release nowadays isn't even hardcore; it's closer to BSB (Backstreet Boys) than BFB (Blood for … Read more

Sabertooth Zombie / Jumpstreet

Headsplitterz 7"
Independent (2005)

Splits are traditionally a way two bands can get their music recorded/released by combining money. If you read that wrong you might even think bands combine monkeys. Sabertooth Zombie and Jumpstreet each contribute four songs towards proof that the bay area is a force not to be reckoned with. Sabertooth Zombie blasts balls with the first four songs. Sabbertooth Zombie … Read more

Dreadful Dollface

Untouched
Independent (2004)

I first happened upon this group in June of last year, when the lead singer Chris made a thread on a message board I was frequenting about his band. The samples on the main page were outstanding. They were melodic, tinged with something I thought was reminiscent of eighties New Wave, when it was still the dark brooding poetry of … Read more

Hot Snakes

Peel Sessions
Swami (2005)

Last fall rock lost one of its true visionaries. John Peel was responsible for introducing the UK to acts like Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Undertones, Nirvana, The White Stripes, Napalm Death, Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror & Joy Division. How's that for diversity? It was an honor for any band to get to play Peel's BBC radio … Read more

Weezer

Make Believe
Geffen (2005)

By now you've scrolled down and seen that I've given Make Believe a score of 6.0. So you probably think I'm a biased fan who likes this album more than he should. Well, I am. But you should also know that if I were to review Weezer's previous catalogue, it would look something like this: 1) The Blue Album - … Read more

M.I.A.

Arular
XL Recordings (2005)

Superfluous. If I could describe the music press' fawning over female Sri-Lankan/British emcee M.I.A. in a single word, that would be it. This excessive praise for a new artist is not unique to her, of course. In 2004, it was Franz Ferdinand. In 2003, it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. To be honest, M.I.A.'s Arular does not live up to … Read more

Enola Grey

Cabal
Feeling Faint (2005)

Beginning a band is no easy task, there are many pressures involved with the entire process. Those pressures intensify when you're coming from a previous band that was considered to be fairly popular; it's a double-edged sword. You're pretty much ensured free exposure and publicity based on the fact that the new project gets the "ex-members of..." tagline. But with … Read more

Big Business

Head for the Shallow
Hydra Head (2005)

In the late 80's and early 90's, Seattle was the place for any musician to be. A brief yet socially relevant counterculture was spawned, not too dissimilar to punk in the early 80's. The movement, being simply music or something more, had no name but was knighted "grunge" by the media. Much of the music was dirty, aggressive, brooding, and … Read more

Paint It Black

Paradise
Jade Tree (2005)

CVA was fucking perfect. Naysayers beware: I am willing to defend that position. A hardcore supergroup of sorts (combining members of The Curse, Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, and Good Riddance), Paint It Black released one of the best melodic hardcore albums I've ever heard. I'm a sucker for melody and I'm a sucker for speed. They combined them with such precision … Read more

Transistor Transistor

Erase All Names and Likeness
Level Plane (2005)

It's not very often these days one gets the opportunity to use the phrase "This brings the ROCK" without sounding like some kind of crotch grabbing throwback Darkness fan. If you miss (or totally missed out on) the days when Iggy Pop mocked Hells Angels while boasting about the size of his "Johnson," Dinosaur Jr. consuming more green than Cheech … Read more

Hank Jones

Saturdays of Thunder
Undecided (2005)

An album cover with a skull, blood streaks and three fingers makes the viewer think of death, violence, periods and the very impolite action of pointing. In the hardcore scene this is all very cliché, although the fingers are a territory not plundered yet. Instead of surprising the viewer, now the listener, Saturdays of Thunder is filled with very mundane … Read more

Daft Punk

Human After All
Virgin (2005)

Considering the phalanx of albums due for release, and with previous offering Discovery bringing all the musical vision and ingenuity of a series of polyphonic ring-tones, Human After All found itself rated rather low on my list of desires and expectations for the first half of 2005. Being honest, I expected absolutely nothing of real musical value from this album, … Read more

Fingers Cut, Megamachine

Fingers Cut, Megamachine
Thick (2005)

Osker was well known as being the most hated band on Epitaph in their brief stint as a band. Being roughly around the age of 18 when their final album, Idle Will Kill came out, they managed to release a pop-punk masterpiece having hardly entered adulthood. Now Devon Williams, lead singer/songwriter of Osker, is back in the spotlight some odd … Read more

Lucero / Loggia

Split 7
Soul is Cheap (2005)

This is the kind of split 7" I like to see. On one side you have Lucero, a Memphis band who have recently gained a lot of popularity. They have a style that is as equally influenced by Jawbreaker as it is by Waylon Jennings. They constantly are on tour, put out records on large indie labels, and have drawn … Read more

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