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)

Caïna

Mourner
Profound Lore (2007)

This is the kind record that I enjoy from time to time, a big surprise; it is not what I expected in any way, shape, or form and caught me completely off guard. Mourner is the second full-length, first on Profound Lore, from Caïna, the solo project of Andrew Curtis-Brignell - a twenty-year-old who already has a strong grasp on his musical vision. The album plants it feet firmly in several different musical forms, and Mourner encompasses some of the best elements of them. Steeped in the stripped down aesthetic of black metal while still traversing the sonic waters similar to (and I hate trying to fit things into genres but that is a point of reference for people) folk, post-rock, and shoegaze, Caïna drops a fully enthralling album that touches on several styles while still maintaining its own voice. Caïna utilize a plethora of interesting noise passages and ambient droning to create an equally palpable and strange mood that affect the listener with songs such as "Waves Engulf a Pier" while at other times toy with the listeners' ears by switching to sparse piano pieces or soft guitar and vocal songs like "Morgawr." Sometimes these drastic changes occur within … Read more

New Found Glory

From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2
Drive-Thru (2007)

Last year I interviewed New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki about the possibility of another cover album in similar fashion … Read more

Die! Die! Die!

Die! Die! Die!
S.A.F. (2007)

I don't know why, but there is something really unsubtle about naming a band Die! Die! Die!. It's like using … Read more

Flobots

Fight with Tools
Independent (2007)

Every era has seen the chocolate/peanut butter combination of music and activism mixed together to create the tasty sensation of … Read more

Hi Ho Six Shooter!

Empire
Good Night (2007)

I'm not going to classify Hi Ho Six Shooter! as a gimmick band. Granted they play shows with bandannas wrapped … Read more

Soul Control

Involution
Rivalry (2007)

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, so you would think that with them already delivering Verse, … Read more

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One from the archives

Worriers

You or Someone You Know
6131 (2020)

If it weren’t for playing in a certain scene, Worriers would likely be branded as a pop band instead of punk. The band is DIY all the way, with a growing discography, plus a back catalogue of previous bands dating into the early 2000s. As the project has grown since debut Cruel Optimist, it’s shifted more and more pop in song structure and production, though always with a personal, yet political, narrative that would still be neatly summed up as cynical but hopeful in tone. It’s soothing and thoughtful rather than aggressive.With You or Someone You Know that transition continues. Lauren Denitzio has always been the central figure and literal voice of the band and it’s grown more personal with each record. This time around, it feels like it could … Read more

More album reviews

Cold War Kids

Robbers and Cowards
Downtown (2006)

With a few EP's and a couple of renowned festivals under their belt - Lollapalooza and South by Southwest - Cold War Kids have finally released (in late 2006 actually) their full-length album, Robbers and Cowards. Like a few of their indie predecessors, Cold War Kids borrows from 1970's legends like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground for their sound, … Read more

Coliseum

No Salvation
Relapse/Auxiliary (2007)

In less than four years, Coliseum has proven to be a busy band with their touring crisscrossing the United States as well as Europe, undergoing multiple line-up changes and configurations, and releasing a bunch of records (a self-titled full-length, the split 7" with Lords, the Goddamage EP, and the split with Young Widows); sometimes I take for granted that they … Read more

Rilo Kiley

Under the Blacklight
Warner Bros. (2007)

Rilo Kiley has finally joined forces again with their fourth full-length album, Under the Blacklight. It has been three years since the band made their widely praised More Adventurous album, released in 2004. Since then, Rilo Kiley took a break from each other with solo projects. Jenny Lewis released Rabbit Fur Coat featuring the Watson Twins in 2006, while Blake … Read more

Patton Oswalt

Werewolves and Lollipops
Sub Pop (2007)

For the most part, humor is always subjective. Not in this case, however. If Patton Oswalt doesn't make you laugh, then you, my sad little friend are wrong. Dead wrong. So wrong in fact, that I can't even look at you. Go on. Get out of my sight. Go to Target and buy the new Bill Engvall album, you jagoff. … Read more

Between the Wars

Death and the Sea
Think Fast! (2007)

Everyone has his or her favorite guitar virtuoso. For some it might be the finger-tapping charmer Eddie Van Halen or maybe they go way back and think of the blues inspired violin bow using wizardry of Jimmy Page. There are even some people out that really know their collective six-string shit and cite Yngwie Malmsteen as their favorite axe man. … Read more

Tegan and Sara

The Con
Sire (2007)

What is it about Canada? You know, Due South, The Arcade Fire, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Dan Aykroyd, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Terrance & Philip. Perhaps it's merely been a case of overwhelming ignorance, but lately it seems that all of the best things in the world originated in this faraway place. Last summer whilst sitting in a friend's bedroom … Read more

Engineer

The Dregs
Black Market Activities (2007)

The first time I saw Engineer was when they opened for fellow New Yorkers Another Breath. I had anticipated another youth crew styled band to be playing and I was absolutely astonished when they turned out the lights and performed the loudest set I'd ever seen. From then on I was a fan, no question. For those of you unfamiliar, … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Old Sun

Old Sun
Faux Fetus (2006)

I received this release and was intrigued by its DIY packaging: card stock covered in some kind of blue block print with a heavier cardboard latch closing the front. I'm unable to decipher the artwork, but it looks awesome. Old Sun is from the city of brotherly love, my new hometown. One of the first things I noticed about this … Read more

Love, Hope and Fear

Fate's Frowned on Us
Escapist (2007)

Love, Hope and Fear are not what they used to be. And I mean that literally as well as musically. Their latest release, the four-song Fate's Frowned on Us, is the band's third official release in the band's five year (give or take) career. However, it is their second release since the revival of the lineup. Love, Hope And Fear … Read more

Multiple Authors

Black Cross

Severance Pays
Auxiliary (2007)

What's wrong with more of the same, especially when what you've got is solid? If you're dating Scarlett Johansson, is Demi Moore really an improvement? Unfortunately, Black Cross' newest, Severance Pays, makes me question my acceptance of change and long for their days as a four-piece. With Evan Paterson's move from bass to guitar, Black Cross seems to have moved … Read more

Multiple Authors

Black Cross

Severance Pays
Auxiliary (2007)

Where the hell have you been for the last four years Black Cross? The circumstances that have hampered this woefully underrated band need not be espoused because it really does not make a difference; the fact remains that Severance Pays has been a long time coming, and thankfully it hits in ways that are completely unexpected and leaves a definite … Read more

Torche

In Return
Robotic Empire (2007)

Without a doubt, this just might be one of the more beautifully packaged records to come out in recent memory; Torche's latest record, In Return has been released as a ten inch vinyl record that includes the CD (a great idea that Shellac also hit on with their latest, which more record labels and bands need to start doing), and … Read more

Public Enemy

How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???
Slam Jamz (2007)

Soul (noun) : A sense of ethnic pride among Black people and especially African Americans, expressed in areas such as language, social customs, religion, and music. relevant (adjective) : Connected with or saying something important about what is being spoken about or discussed It's been twenty years since the release ofYo, Bum Rush the Show and Public Enemy are still … Read more

Burden of a Day

Pilots & Paper Planes
Blood & Ink (2006)

It might say something for my enthusiasm for this record that it has sat for almost a year in my 'to review' pile since first receiving it. While I do attempt to avoid at least complete bias in my reviews, in the case of Florida's Burden of a Day, I knew exactly what I was going to hear when I … Read more

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