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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)

Constantines

Shine A Light
Sub Pop (2003)

I'm from California. I live near the ocean. I like driving. I like watching baseball. I'm the outside world's perception of a fairly typical American guy (except for my slightly unhealthy obsession with noise-rock, but this is neither the time nor the place to get into that). And like most Americans, Canada isn't really something with which I find myself concerning a lot of my time. Canada gets a bad rap from the United States a lot of the time, or, at the very best, an "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy is usually exercised. That is, until it comes to the music. Say what you want about the place, but the people up there aren't wasting their time on pop-punk or nu-metal. Instead, incredible rock records have been pouring out in a steady flow since the Montreal collective that unleashed Godspeed You Black Emperor onto the world kicked down the indie rock doors and flooded the market with great records from tiny bands on formerly unknown labels. More and more these days, these bands are able to make the jump onto a larger label with better distro and manage to make an impact in the United States. Call … Read more

The Beatles

Let It Be...Naked
Capitol (2003)

What if Ringo finally realized that he wasn't selling out shows like his buddy Paul? What if Paul's queen may … Read more

Death Cab For Cutie

Transatlanticism
Barsuk (2003)

The members of Death Cab For Cutie equal far more than the sum of their parts; this much has been … Read more

Jay-Z

The Black Album
Def Jam (2003)

Oh, the farewell. There are two kinds of retirement in music. The first is the graceful bow out of the … Read more

Horse the Band

R. Borlax
Pluto (2003)

We are a generation that grew up with Mario, The Power Pad and the o so godly Nintendo Entertainment System … Read more

Against Me!

As the Eternal Cowboy
Fat Wreck Chords (2003)

A nice hodge-podge of genres. I'm not going to get into the "genre" argument, though. This album is too good … Read more

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One from the archives

Petty Larcenists

Stolen Chords and Lifted Riffs
Rad Girlfriend Records (2019)

You’ve heard of no depression music? I’m coining a new term here: depression punk.Opening song “Loud and Ugly” might be a good description of vocalist Jesse Thorson’s approach in general. His songwriting has always been outspoken and focused on personal flaws, pointing to the uglier elements in life. I always referred to the Pretty Boy Thorson bands as essentially country songs set to punk music. He moved away from that approach somewhat with The Slow Death, but it’s back here. I mean, he named a song “Grown Man’s Tears.” Yes, there’s really a punk song about crying on this record -- take that up-the-punx.So what’s going on with Petty Larcenists? It takes that Pretty Boy Thorson downtrodden tone and it incorporates the more straight-forward punk of The Slow Death, but … Read more

More album reviews

Under A Dying Sun

Supernova
Substandard (2003)

Having carved a comfortable niche in the San Francisco Bay Area, by playing shows almost constantly for three or so years, Under A Dying Sun have created an album that breaks away from their original "emocore" sound, which judging by their last full-length, they have clearly out-grown. Instead of rehashing the same, tired, "screamo" formula with heavy melodramatics and melodic … Read more

The Strokes

Room On Fire
RCA (2003)

The first words to leap out at you on the sophomore LP by the Strokes are "I want to be forgotten." How literally this can be taken is anyone's guess, but for a band under the amount of pressure the Strokes have been, Julian Casablancas' turn of phrase might be the downright truth. Five children of fortune who formed a … Read more

Some Girls

The Blues
Deathwish Inc. (2003)

This one didn't immediately catch me like The Rains did. After maybe a half dozen listens, I think I'm starting to get it. I guess my main complaint is that some of the songs sound too similar to each other, but that starts to fade on closer examination. Oh well, first impressions are key often times. I'm also bummed that … Read more

Explosions in the Sky

The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
Temporary Residence (2003)

If Explosions in the Sky's previous LP, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, could be called one thing, it would be called "derivative." Not that it wasn't an incredible record crafted by a band on top of their game, but let's be honest: it simply regurgitated ideas that the forerunners of … Read more

The Unseen

Explode
Better Youth Organize (2003)

The Unseen: street punk for the masses. You could probably write this band's back history wihtout even knowing them. Hundreds of EPs, 7"s, and rare no-longer-in-production releases. Been around since the early 90's, all members have mohawks and/or dyed red hair, and their sound is influenced by bands like The Exploited. Lead single "False Hope" contains the line "Fuck the … Read more

Andrew W.K.

The Wolf
Island (2003)

I'll keep this short so you kids will understand me. I want the time back I spent listening to this. I feel cheated, robbed, and insulted. This is neither fun nor funny. It's devoid of any worth. It's stupid, it's banal, it's bland. So why does it get a 1.3? Two reasons: one point for not being pop-punk, a point … Read more

Zombie Apocalypse

This Is A Spark of Life
Indecision (2003)

You've probably heard of Zombie Apocalypse because you like Shai Hulud. Well, then in a sense you've heard this whole thing. It sounds like a bunch of unused Shai Hulud parts played at 78 rpms. There are a bunch of samples, practically one in each song, which aren't that funny or special. Side projects are fun because you can hear … Read more

Multiple Authors

Coheed and Cambria

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Equal Vision (2003)

I guess I'm one of the few people in the world that don't really like Coheed and Cambria. Sorry. But here's to all those that are with me in saying that Coheed and Cambria are overrated. The first track starts exactly like JR Ewing's song Graduation Day, but with a different ring of the phone, and when the phone is … Read more

Multiple Authors

Coheed and Cambria

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Equal Vision (2003)

IN KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH: 3 REVIEW A one act play CAST: Sean Apartimus.....our humble narrator Claudio.....our noble hero, leader of the clan Coheed Will Writinpahpsung.....elvin, Coheedian clansman King Concepticus......ruler of the kingdom Cambria, holder of the cherished concept album scroll Bordalon Pretentious.....brother of King Concepticus, but he smells of foul intentious! Boran Structuron.....the executioner, a dastardly fellow, and … Read more

A Perfect Circle

Thirteenth Step
Virgin (2003)

And so, our alt-rock heroes in a Perfect Circle return for the second installment, to see if the dreaded sophmore slump can be overcome. The band's first record was one of the last hopes of the dying breed of aggressive guitar-driven radio rock that was received to a fair amount of hoopla, understandably due to a handful of incredible tracks … Read more

The Distillers

Coral Fang
Warner Bros. (2003)

I hate the Distillers a lot less than I'd like to proclaim.....or do I? I'll admit, on each of the Distillers' previous works, I could find a song or two that was actually rather enjoyable. Amongst the array of other punk revivalist bands, the Distillers manage to stand above a good portion of those other bands who really have nothing … Read more

Himsa

Courting Tragedy and Disaster
Prosthetic (2003)

When I first downloabought the new Himsa record, I can't lie, I had really low expectations for it. I'm not a big fan of metalcore, and I've never liked anything by Himsa I've heard in the past. To my surprise, within the first couple tracks, I found myself quite entertained. Himsa really bring nothing new to the table at all, … Read more

Multiple Authors

Thursday

War All the Time
Island (2003)

Thursday is an odd band. They released their first record, Waiting, to complete apathy. Then, Full Collapse arrived, and suddenly Thursday found itself in the odd position of being everyone's favorite new band. Granted, there's many better, or more interesting bands out there; Thursday, starting with Waiting, never attempted to be the most challenging or innovative. They've always worked to … Read more

Multiple Authors

Thursday

War All the Time
Island (2003)

Of all these "emo" bands around right now, Thursday is the one that continually disappoints me. I see in Thursday the potential to do something good, but the band keeps falling into the same pitfalls and trappings of a genre that's been exploited and dumbed-down for the masses one too many times. The ideas they have are continually squashed by … Read more

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