THE ALWAYS ALREADY â THE RED BIRD EP (Complicate Everything)
Combining indie rock with a two octave Casio Keyboard, Iâd be lying if I said Iâd never heard anything like this before; but that doesnât mean itâs bad. The Always Already bring the proverbial âitâ with their rock and dance influenced sound. Itâs like having seconds of your favorite meal.
RATING: THREE STARS
BAYSIDE â THE WALKING WOUNDED (Victory Records)
If youâve heard âDuality,â the first single off The Walking Wounded, you might be really quick to tell this punk/indie rock outfit to go âFallout Boyâ themselves, and Iâd be right there with you. The rest of the album, though, does show a little bit of promise. Music snobs will hate it, and Iâll be playing a few tracks from this album, like âThe Walking Wounded,â in my car with the windows rolled up. Why do I do this to myself?
RATING: TWO STARS
THE BIRD AND THE BEE â THE BIRD AND THE BEE (Metro Blue/Blue Note Records)
With a great pop sensibility, The Bird And The Bee bring together elements of electronic music, bossa nova, dance, and other genres Iâm too lazy to mention. If it wasnât for the FCC (or Nazis, whatever you wanna call âem), youâd probably already have at least one of their songs, âFucking Boyfriend,â stuck in your head.
RATING: FOUR STARS
THE CHALETS â CHECK IN (Setanta Records)
The Chalets have that guitar pop, girl & guy singer dynamic that is sure to hook and reel in a good chunk of fans. Theyâve also had some of their songs featured in Greyâs Anatomy. Hence, their rating goes down one star.
RATING: THREE STARS
FU MANCHU â WE MUST OBEY (Century Media Records)
Not too much I can say about Fu Manchu that you probably donât already know. Solid riff-driven, balls out rock. Not bad.
RATING: THREE STARS
KADDISFLY â SET SAIL THE PRAIRIE (Hopeless/Sub City Records)
I read a lot about how this band has an unclassifiable and indefinable sound. Personally, I think their sound draws a lot of influence from Incubus and some other less talented bands that share a similar genre. So I guess itâs OK, unless you happen to truly hate what I just described.
RATING: THREE STARS
LEFTOVER CRACK & CITIZEN FISH â DEADLINE (Fat Wreck Chords)
Remember the old Super Mario Bros. & Zelda breakfast cereal. One box with two different cereals, it was awesome. If you do remember it, youâll also recall you had to inevitably pick a favorite. I was partial to the Mario cereal, which is here represented by Citizen Fish, on this split album between them and Leftover Crack. Both bands have some good tunes here, and itâs refreshing to hear something that actually sounds more like real punk rock, but Citizen Fish just went down better. Sure Zeldaâs great and all, but thereâs nothing like taking down King Koopa.
RATING: FOUR STARS (Citizen Fish) / THREE STARS (Leftover Crack)
THE QUEERS â MUNKI BRAIN (Asian Man Records)
Running strong for 25 years, The Queers are still delivering Ramones-esque punk rock with pop hooks. This band has paid their dues and I refuse to say anything bad about them. The only thing Iâve done for twenty-five years is breathe. No wait, I held my breath for a few minutes once. Fuck.
RATING: THREE STARS
THIS MOMENT â STAR PARALLEL (Uprising Records)
For the most part thereâs nothing new here, just another âmelodic metalâ band that would seemingly use the words âbrutalâ and âbeautifulâ to describe themselves. The album has its moments, but itâs like looking for a peanut in a turd. Thereâs too much shit surrounding it to really care.
RATING: ONE STAR
TURD FERGUSON â PARTY POOPERS (Double Bubble Records)
When trying to insult a white rapper, there are several routes one can take. Vanilla Ice, Fred Durst, Snow: just pick your poison and run with it. However, I wonât be doing that here. That being said, Turd Ferguson isnât going to save your soul, but it wonât ruin your life either. Party Poopers is a hip-hop record that knows not to take itself seriously and even delivers a few catchy tracks. Some may scoff at this. To them I say: âHey, It could be a lot worse.â So thank you Turd Ferguson, for not making me ashamed to be white.
RATING: THREE STARS
XBXRX â WARS (Polyvinyl Records)
With a shit-ton of energy, XBXRXâs is, in many ways, a welcome throwback to the hardcore bands of the â80s with some Q and Not U thrown in for good measure. Theyâre fast, abrasive, and pissed.
RATING: FOUR STARS
Comments