Artist: Broadway Calls
Album: Broadway Calls (re-release.)
Label: Adeline Records
Rating: 8/10

Broadway Calls…let's face it, that gives the average passer-by images of spin kicks, dudes in mascara, and asymmetrical hair-cuts. I imagined whining and fourteen tracks of vaginal discharge, presented as art with substance.

Good news! It's pop-punk! It's really, really GOOD pop-punk! Kick ass melodies, slight cynicism outlined with self-introspection (see album closer: 'So Long My Friend, which has an awesome fucking horn section. It's honest, it's catchy,  and it makes me want to believe there's something worth believing in, in Oregon, but sadly, I get the idea this is pretty much it. But boy, oh boy does it kick ass.

Tongue-in-cheek lines that bade way to the truly emotive song, "Daniel, My Brother" calls out family issues in the most direct way, "You're a junkie for sympathy/ Why can't you fucking admit it?"

Aaron Hale (aaron@racketmag.com)

Band: Teenage Bottlerocket
Album: Warning Device
Label: Red Scare
Release Date: January 08, 2008.
Rating: 7.0/10

MAN! It’s so awesome to hear an album chock full of Ramones b-sides I hadn’t heard before… wait, this is a completely different band from Laramie, Wyoming? I didn’t even know Laramie, Wyoming had residents under the age of 67. Regardless, the boys in Teenage Bottlerocket kick ass. Check ‘em out on their current tour, and pick up “Warning Device.”  And relieve the awesomeness of bare-bones rock and roll, with no spin kicks and symmetrical haircuts.

Aaron Hale (aaron@racketmag.com)

Band: Murder by Death
Album: Red of Tooth and Claw
Label: Vagrant
Release Date: March 4th, 2008.
Rating: 9.0/10

Murder by Death are band that, pardon the pun; have always marched to the beat of a different drummer. While it’s easy to pick up on a lot of their references, namely the late Johnny Cash, it’s never a hindrance as it’s only a part of the formula that makes them work.

Past full length efforts like 2006’s “In Bocca al Lupo.” Drew concise lines that you either really liked a song, or really didn’t. But with their newest release, “Red of Tooth and Claw.” MBD provides their most cohesive album to date. With it’s clever lyrics and precise instrumentation, “Red of Tooth and Claw”, is as emotive and raw as anything they’ve ever done.

The album covers an anti-hero with no silver lining, with no redeeming qualities, however one can’t help but relate to said character on only the most of unnatural instincts, or maybe even because one is prone to cheer for the outlaw in every story. It really brings to mind a Spaghetti Western, only with a cello and drums…and really, that’s one of the best conceptual ideas for an album, ever.   According to lead singer Adam Turla, “[it’s like] “Homer’s Odyssey of revenge, only without the honorable character at the center.”

MBD have become masters of narrative, which is slowly becoming a lost art. Each one of the 11 tracks seemingly builds toward something greater, all culminating with the epic album closer, “Spring Break 1899”.
 

At the end of it all, this is the first great album of 2008, and the bar has been set high.

Stand out Tracks:
”Comin’ Home”, “Ball and Chain”, “Rumbrave”, “Ash”, “Spring Break 1899.” Although really, the whole album is just…awesome.



Aaron Hale (aaron@racketmag.com)

Artist: Lemuria
Album: Get Better
Label: Asian Man
Release Date: 2/26/2008
Rating: 9/10

It doesn’t get much better than Lemuria’s latest effort, the full length “Get Better.” Lemuria is kind of a hard band to classify, really. They aren’t necessarily a punk band or just a pop-rock band. They really do wind up standing on there own two legs, and they do so comfortably.

Each of the band members sings, with lead singer Sheena Ozzella handling the majority of the vocal duties. However, her voice melds so perfectly male counter-parts (Jason Draper/bass, and Alexander Kerns/drums respectively) that it makes each song so easy to get lost in.

For the majority of this album, Lemuria’s strong ear for strong musicianship becomes evident when you realize that while they are all very proficient songwriters, and singers they recognize that sometimes less is so much more. And it’s such a welcoming thing to witness, because a lot of the time I find myself becoming immersed in the textures of Ozzella’s amazing voice accompanied by Draper’s powerful bass lines, and Kern’s precise drumming.

Don’t miss this release. Really, do yourself a favor and support it. It’s completely engaging and textured, and I can’t help but feel that after hearing Sheena Ozzella’s stellar voice you’ll be convinced of the fact that Lemuria ain’t nothing to fuck with.


Aaron Hale (Aaron@racketmag.com)

Wu Tang Clan
8 Diagrams
9/10

Its not so much that Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with, it’s more a question of who would want to? With sick samples of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, guest appearances by George Clinton, and a an ode to ODB that would make my head bob more if it wasn’t so fucking depressing, 8 Diagrams is pretty fucking solid. However, other than a few threatening lyrics, I don’t understand this rep they’ve developed in the Young Republican crowd that they are ultra-thugged out gangstas who want nothing but to beat bitches and slap some hoes. Switching from funky to old school hi-hat beats, Wu Tang show that they aren’t just inner-circle fights and overdubbed martial arts films, though there are plenty of interludes featuring the latter of the two. With a vocabulary that can rival a college thesaurus, RZA, GZA, Ghostface and the billion other people on the record show that it’s not always tricky to rock a rhyme, if you’re the best.

-Jonathan Yost

Dear And The Headlights
Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
Equal Vision Records
8/10

Son of a bitch. I actually really dig a band on Equal Vision records. I have heard of these guys before, and really didn’t care to hear them, but they opened for The Color Fred and Straylight Run, and you know what? They blew them both out of the fucking water. Granted, they don’t have the uber-hot chick that Straylight has, but I’ve never seen someone actually rock the acoustic/electric mix of guitars that well before. Usually I think in a thick Swedish accent, “Oh, great, theys got the grandpa’s guitars mixing ins with the electrics, this is dildos.” Fuckers showed me, didn’t they? I’m Bored, You’re Amorous brings back some of the weird dual guitar melodies I dug on the older Taking Back Sunday records, while I Just Do brings back actual story telling to lyrics, which is always a bonus.
-Jonathan Yost

Puscifer
V is for Vagina
9/10

Holy shit, man. I always wonder why a recording artist does side projects rather than just do the new style with his regular band. Well, Maynard James Keenan cleared that the fuck up quick. While a lot of the foreboding basslines and epic instrumentations are still Tool-esque, this is not Tool. This isn’t A Perfect Circle. This is a new entity that is ballsier, more masculine. I’m not, in any way, shape or form, saying that Tool is feminine, but what I am saying is that Puscifer makes me want to fuck or fight. One of the two. Not party, not go clubbing, not go to sleep. Fuck or fight. That’s it. And I am pretty sure it makes my car go faster, too.
            With the opening line, “This lady got the thickness, can I get a witness. This lovely lady got the thickness, can I get a hell yeah,” you know it’s going to be a different experience. Track 4 tells you to take it like a man, and thank God that Maynard never became a preacher, because Keenan’s sermon on track 9 is really quite amazing. Like, seriously amazing. It’s some kind of “industrial gospel.” That’s right, I just coined that phrase. Kirk Franklin, if you try to start an industrial gospel genre, I will beat your ass.

-Jonathan Yost

Baby Elephants
Baby Elephants
7.5/10

            The only bitch I have about this sweet ass Prince Paul project is the excessive intros and segue ways between tracks. I mean, an intro and an outro is one thing, but six tracks of 30 second dialogue bits? Excessive. And I understand that you are trying to tell the story of how fucking amazing Bernie Worrell is, the dude is a keyboard virtuoso, but, well, I feel slightly ripped off by 6 of the 17 tracks being a waste of what could be Worrell’s screaming synths wailing on my eardrums and blowing my mind. Now, I know that many of Racket’s esteemed readers are saying to themselves “who the fuck is Bernie Worrell?” and running to Google to find the fuck out. Worrell is one of the sweetest keyboardists ever. I mean, when George Clinton says that this guy taught P-Funk how to layer sounds, that’s a big fuck deal, no? After P-Funk, Worrell was also in Talking Heads, so go look him up.
            Ok, so that was a long gripe. I know, but I had to get it off my chest. “But the tunes! How are the tunes?!” you ask. Well, amazing. Shifting between the funk organ riffs of track 3 to the circus-reggae of track 4 to the soulful R&B of track 7, Baby Elephants goes on a journey to spread the Gospel of Worrell to a new generation, Lord knows my hands are up in praise.
-Jonathan Yost

Viva La Bands
Various Artists
7/10

I am so confused. Bam Margera listens to the weirdest shit. But then again, RacketMike listens to the same shit. These dudes should hang out. Between Norwegian love metal dudes the 69 Eyes, Brandon DiCamillo-led Gnarkill and non-genre ridden GWAR lies some definite hints that Margera has some deep-seeded issues. Throw in metal-core schmucks A Life Once Lost and his bro’s band CKY, and you have a decent sampler CD to get you accustomed to the weirdness that is Margera. They should totally let me make a mix CD. That would rule.

-Jonathan Yost

Radiohead
In Rainbows
No Fucking Label.

Well, I really have to admit that the albums that get Radiohead the most pussy and dicksucking are the ones I am least impressed with. I still stand firm in my belief that OK Computer was their best. Now, when they started getting all kinds of atmospheric and trippy, I couldn’t get into it for fear of falling into a chronic depression. Though, that probably does explain why so many Radiohead fans are such little crybabies. However, In Rainbows does, I think, bridge the gap between Kid A hippiness and OK Computer melodies and sounds. All around, the album is pretty solid, though I think Fifteen Step is going to give me some kind of aural epilepsy. Solid effort, especially considering the lack of label support.

-Jonathan Yost

Entourage – A Lifestyle is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Simon And Schuster
Rating (for fans) 6 of 10 (for everyone else) 4 of 10

Here’s the thing: If you are a fan of the show itself, Entourage, is a good read. If you’re not, prepare to be confused. For those of you who are fans of the show, the book is an interesting read, but probably not something you’d read more than once. The interviews with the cast and the show’s creators, including some interviews with those the show is actually based on (contrary to popular belief, the show is not based on Mark and Donnie Wahlberg), are rather interesting. They at least clear up who inspired what character, who was nervous during the threesome, and who’s really the boss on set. There’s a lot of what I think is unnecessary material. This includes a plot synopsis of each episode (which I’ll admit is at least noteworthy for the little bits of trivia included after each one), and character wardrobe profile (because we all want to dress like Johnny Drama), and a detailed listing of the main character Vince’s conquests. Why not just watch the show? A couple things I found amusing were the pages of character quotes and the “glossary” in the back of the book, although I think I found those funny because I remember seeing those scenes in the show. Overall, I think the book is a must-have to complete your “I heart Adrian Grenier” collection stashed in your closet. Otherwise, pick it up, flip through it a few times, and then go buy the series on DVD. Let’s hug it out bitch.
-Caitlin Elgin

Protest The Hero – Fortress
Release Date – 01/29/08
Vagrant Records/Underground Operations
Rating: 11/10
Yes, you all read this correctly… 11 out of 10! I’m sure I’ll have someone disagree with me (most likely Matt since he has a knack for disagreeing with me and doubting my existence), but rest assured, I will stand by my call. Picture, for a second, an orgy between Faith No More, Iron Maiden, At The Drive-In, Rush, Coheed and Cambria, Dillinger Escape Plan, Refused, the Boston Philharmonic and Megan Fox (hot chick from Transformers)… OK maybe not Megan Fox, but it sounded hot… right?

This is exactly what you get from PTH’s sophomore release on Vagrant. Call it math-metal, hardcore, or whatever you want, but one thing is for sure…It is chalk full of off-time rhythms, string and organ backgrounds, spastic vocals, intense guitar solos and interludes that will blow you away. These young canucks sure know how to play their instruments (really, really well) and they manage to write another “symphony” based on goddess worship and the erosion of faith in the scientific process. The album opens with Bloodmeat (their first single and video off the record) that catches you right off guard with it’s off scatterbrain intro and then pulls you in with aggressive vocals and intricate guitar riffs and major shreddage. The album then continues through it’s three part storyline with songs like “Sequoia Throne” and “Limb From Limb” which also have their fair share of shreddage, off tune rhythms, and a raging synth keyboard that almost sounds like a soundtrack to a video game, but trust me… it’s still metal as fuck!

With lyrics like “Protected only by our skin” or “Our goddess gave birth to your god”, they seem to break out of the typical hardcore/metal mold and capture the imagination of anyone who is willing to listen (especially if you listen through headphones). There are just layers, upon layers of music and every listen brings something new to the table.  Now, you may think this may be too complex for the common listener, but it’s all broken down to the simplest, purest form so even idiots like me can fully interpret this album. But then again, maybe this album was not meant to be interpreted in a certain way… maybe it should be left to the listener, no matter the age, race, gender or whatever other stereotype we can muster up. All in all this album has something to offer almost anyone and offers something with a little more substance than some of the other regurgitated crap you can find on itunes. Heaven forbid someone actually write a smart record you can listen to from beginning to end…. Right? Look out 2008, because this should hold the crown for best album and breakout artist of the year. 

- RacketJeff

50x50
Simon and Schuster
7/10

“We used to play this game called ‘That’s mine,’ you’d look at something and say ‘that’s mine,’…it wasn’t a very complicated game.” Now, if that little snippet doesn’t catch your attention, nothing will. When I heard 50 wrote a book about himself, I was ready to drop a review score of 0/10 for not being the barely literate hood rat that I had built him to be. The kind of guy that I could take in a game of Scrabble, but also the kind of guy that could beat me down at any and every sport known to man. But then I got my hands on the book, and was so ecstatic to find that 50X50 (Fifty by Fifty…clever!) is a glorified pop-up book, complete with copies of pictures of Fitty when he was a youngin’ and stories about how his grandma loved him best. Fuck yea! The book’s actually pretty thick, but mostly because it was printed on, what I can only assume, leftover posterboard from someone’s 7th grade science project. Comes complete with the aforementioned pictures, copies of tour credentials and a CD just for the book! Epic!

-Jonathan Yost

Foo Fighters
Echos, Silence, Patience and Grace
7/10
            OK I’m not gonna lie to you, I love the Foo Fighters. The passion I have for Dave and his crew is near-sickening. Thus, I could never say anything bad about them, and I’m not going to start now. For those of you who say the latest installment on their long running career Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace is “the same as the rest,” you’re right. I’m not going to lie, the Foo Fighters have a formula and they stick to it. Dave Grohl and company have made a career on a distinctive sound, why change now? We have come to know and love the rock that they put before us. So if you picked up the album in hopes to hear a completely revolutionary new sound, don’t kid yourself. Dave knows what he’s doing. Do yourself a favor, buy the album, have a listen, and then bend over and say “Please sir, can I have another?” in hopes that the Fighters Foo will continue to grace us with their musical talents.
            Now that we’ve gotten past that, I’ll be honest- this is not my new favorite Foo Fighters cd, but it does offer up some new favorite songs. Skip the first track, chances are if you flip on the radio you’ll hear it at any given moment (which is not a good thing, sadly). For those of you craving something slightly new, fret not, Dave and his crew are no strangers to experimentation. While maintaining their same style, this album features a somewhat broader array of instruments than those we’ve seen in the past- songs like “Statues” and “Summer’s End” include some strings and accordion. Perhaps someone took notes during the acoustic tour. The two standout tracks of the album are “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” and “Home.” “Ballad” is a guitar-only song featuring some amazing crazy-good picking that I wish we would hear more frequently from Dave and crew.  Even if the rest of the album doesn’t peak your attention listen to “Home.” The song is lovely in its heartfelt simplicity. The lyrics, piano, strings, and Dave’s voice blend wonderfully into something amazingly earnest and beautiful. If the song doesn’t move you, you probably don’t have a soul. Jerk.

Caitlin Elgin

Against Me!
New Wave
Sire
8.5/10.00

Against Me! Have had more scrutiny in the past few years than any other band in recent memory. Maybe that’s for good reason. Signing to Sire, blah, blah, blah. It seems that there’s more of an eye on what they do now than the actual product they put out.

But this band has endless potential. In fact this band right here is primed to be the next Clash. That’s my opinion of it. When its all said and done, they’re selling out shows, and putting their heart and soul into everything.

But enough of the exterior: How does it sound?

New Wave opens with the title track, and it’s a good track. But this album truly comes to fruition when it those drums in the beginning of “Up the Cuts” kick in. They go straight for the throat. That’s what a lot of this album does, it goes for the throat.

But where this album loses its bite is that unfortunately Tom Gabel seems to just be rehashing some ideas for “Searching for a Former Clarity.” How many more songs can they do about the record industry? After awhile, it gets tedious to hear it over, and over, and over again. Its not even entirely a bad thing, but you can only do a subject to death so many times. The album also horribly fails with the cringe worthy track, “Animal.” It doesn’t even sound like the same band…and not even in a good way.

There’s redemption all over this album though. “Thrash Unreal”, “White People For Peace”, “Up the Cuts” “Americans Abroad”, and “The Ocean” are completely solid, and show a lot of room for the future. But what gets me about this album is, I feel that they could have done so much more with it. I feel that they could have extended some of the songs. A lot of the time, it feels rushed, and for the next time they put more songs to wax…I’d like it if they took some time, and let their ideas fully come out.

All in all, this major label debut is good. It’s really good. It shows room for improvement, and a lot of hope for the future. It shows a band that’s decidedly ready to try and change the world, and given enough time…they can, and will.

Aaron@racketmag.com

The Gaslight Anthem
Sink or Swim
XOXO Records
10.00/10.00

This is the album of the year. If you’re not listening to it, you need to be. The Gaslight Anthem are the next champions of rock music, undoubtedly.

Every song is chock full of nostalgia, every chord means something. It’s urgent, passionate, alive. It makes you feel alive. Emotive lyrics, passionate vocals, and fucking amazing music to accompany the entire album…and to think…this is only a DEBUT album. I can’t begin to imagine what they can accomplish in the future.

Right now, I could tell you the highs, and lows of the album, but it’s easier for me to just say….the highs are tracks 1-12, and the lows is that it ends. And it ends perfectly. Beautifully, with the track, “Red at Night” which leaves the listener aching for more.

You’ll experience everything there is to experience here, every emotion on the spectrum. Aesthetically the packing is beautiful, and no song sounds the same. Every bit of musical influence it sounds like these boys have, it sounds like they threw them in a blender. Sink or Swim should be the measuring stick for what an album should be.

You get the feeling they aimed for the stars with this one, and missed. They wound up in some other galaxy, far, far away.

This is the future. Get fucking with it while you still can, because they wont be Jerseys best kept secret for long..

Aaron@racketmag.com

Gary Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity
Santiagos Vest
5/10
 
First and formost, these band really needs to change the name of the band (Gary Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity) is not going to cut it no matter how great the music is. The album Santiago's Vest really shows you what "pop rock" is. These days we have bands that try to say they are "pop" and, well, those bands need to take tips from this band. Hints of the Beatles show up from time to time, not to compare these guys to the greatest band ever but thats what i mean by "pop rock". If you like old style pop you will enjoy this CD. If you don't, well, shit, don't get this CD.
 
-Abe Gastelum

Sick City
Nightlife
7/10
 
Although the band Sick City has only been around for about one year they were able to make a good cd. With help from a great producer in Zack Odom this young band came out with a pretty imporessive "pop rock" cd that will make you sing along to clever lyrics and catchy hooks. Other bands that you would probably compare these guys to would be Cartel and Anberlin, songs such as Turning Heads will definately display the simalarities. AP (alternative press) listed Sick City as one of the 100 bands you need to know and I agree. (*Editor's note: As a general rule, I do not condone any of my writers to agree with Alternative Press, Abe will soon be flogged for his insolence.)
 
-Abe Gastelum

The Black Dahlia Murder
Nocturnal
7/10
 
The new Black Dahlia CD Nocturnal is as extreme and as dark as death metal gets. If you dont believe me listen to the outstanding drums by the newest addition to the band, the great Shannon Lucas (ex all that remains,) and the gore infested lyrics such as "they dance by night and the blood of a child's broken neck" as screamed by front man Trevor Strnad.To get a good feel on how the entire album is listen to What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse; it will give you a good idea of what you are in for. METAAAAAL!
 
-Abe Gastelum

The Devil Wears Prada
Plagues
7/10
 
The CD plagues has its ups and its downs . The album was shot out , more time was needed to make this an album that would stand out and not just blend in with the rest of the hardcore scene. Granted the most recent album is better than the old one (Dear Love: A beautiful discord). Its not what I was expecting, with a good fan base and good record company it should have been a amazing sophomore album. People who enjoyed the debut album you will definitely like this one. I hope, for everyone’s sake, that these guys will take a little bit more time on their next CD and put out one of the most rockin’ records in hardcore. They absolutely have the talent for it. Plagues gets a 7 out of 10 in my book

-Abe Gastelum

Bang Camaro
Bang Camaro
7/10

Holy Jeez, their guitarist is amazing...for mid-80's shredding. Add in 17 or so singers and you have Bang Camaro. That's right, over a dozen dudes singing at once adds to the epic guitars and straightforward drumming. Toss in the standard rock ballad, appropriately entitled The Ballad and you are fucking set for the CD that can pretty accurately be described as the encapsulation of my dad and his friends rocking out all at once. Fun conversation tidbit from my dad:

Dad: Jonathan! Do you hear who's playing (at Best Buy)
Myself: Nope.
Dad: It's White Snake! The Gods of Metal!
Myself: Are you serious?
Dad: Ya, man, they totally rock!

Oh, wow, I just made myself sad. Back to the review! Nightlife Commando shows that classical guitar skills can help shred and, well, the entire thing sounds like it was made with Guitar Hero in mind, which could have helped them land Push Push (Lady Lightning) as a bonus song on the Guitar Hero 2 game. Yup, epic enough to be on Guitar Hero 2.

-Jonathan Yost

Dear Life
The Architect
8/10

Somehow I became worried about my own safety when I started this CD. The same sense of dread that accompanies any live hardcore show crept in. The amount of energy actually captured on the recording of songs I have seen live is fucking intense. Furious guitar work makes me sad about my own musical abilities, while the vocals make me think that I need to be drinking more Jack and Coke. It takes a special kind of hardcore for me to be into it, but when the time came for a second singer to come in and chime in their two cents, which has become all too common as of late, I was greeted not by lyrics that seem to be in some kind of Orc language, but a brutal metal-esque awesomeness. This is not your chugga-chugga hardcore soundtrack for the Bro Nation to beat up nerds to, this is the soundtrack for the small ones to fight back to.

-Jonathan Yost

Eisley
Combinations
8/10

Whoa. I usually hate all the buzz bands that get their figurative dicks sucked by Rolling Stone or AP, but damn, this chick is far more epic than she is given credit for. There's a lot more going on than most people realize. At times it sounds like there is a wall of sound that would give Phil Spector a hard-on (he's in jail, I'm not afraid of him!) and at others there are drum rhythms that give me an aural epileptic seizure. The production's effing perfect on this, with Eisley's vocals coming clear throughout the polyrhythms and creative instrumentation that is found in every song on the album. A Sight To Behold is the most epic track, featuring stinging synths, background singers up the ass and a drum beat that would easily support a kung fu battle of mythic proportions. Fucking rad.

-Jonathan Yost

Nile
Ithyphallic
7/10

Nile's back with more Egyptian-themed brutality. Because of Nile, I just see ancient Egypt as this place where all these Pharaohs ran around chopping off people's heads, ripping out hearts and fucking virgin's brains out. I have never wanted to be a Pharaoh more in my life. Listening to more Nile songs that are unbelievably frantic just gives me heart palpitations. The major disappointment from the last Nile album that Racket reviewed was the lack of over-the-top-complete-sentences as song titles. Here, we are given but one: Papyrus containing the spell to preserve its possessor against he who is in the water. That's not a song title, it's a goddamned tongue twister. The title track makes me want to kick a baby, Eat Of The Dead better damn well be used in a chase scene, and Even The Gods Must Die would be the hardest Guitar Hero song ever, Holy fuck, man, holy fuck.

-Jonathan Yost

Tegan and Sara
The Con
8/10

From the first thirty seconds of I Was Married, the lead off track from Tegan and Sara's latest full length, I am bummed out that there is absolutely no chance of me getting together with either one. Fuck. Wacky Canadian lesbian twins always gotta be liking girls as much as I do. Disappointment in my lack of Canadian make-outs aside, the tunes aren't lacking. The title track brings in some more crunchy guitar than can be found in a basic Tegan and Sara song which is a very good thing, It's always good to see a band be unafraid of adding in different aspects without their fans screaming that they sold out or whatever hoo-ha the kids scream about today. Anyways,even though the album is filled with tales spun forth from the heart, the main point is that twins playing guitar together is hot.

-Jonathan Yost

Two Gallants
The Scenery of Farewell
8/10

Well, as a general rule, I like Saddle Creek's artists, though Bright Eyes bores the crap out of me and some of the bands they put out makes me think that they only did it because someone in A&R lost a bet. Two Gallants, however, are a duo who embodies the awkward instrumentations and vocal stylings that are synonymous with Saddle Creek and their little indie darling image. Two dudes who play a variety of instruments in conjunction with their basic guitar/drum duties, the Scenery of Farewell is an acoustic-esque EP that shows that Two Gallants don't just write songs, they write stories put to sprawling musical backgrounds. While I am digging the acoustic EP, I would think they tunes would be more suited to the shitty singer/songwriter night at the local dive bar/coffee shop then any of LA's bright and shiny clubs. Linger On is definitely the tune to check out if you want to get a sample.

-Jonathan Yost

Ivan Ives
Iconoclast
9/10

Not only a white rapper, but a Russian white rapper. WTF, you say? I would agree, but Gee-Whiz this guy knows how to rock the mic right. Flowing between Russian and English is really the only time that Mr. Ives loses me because, well, I don't speak Russian. Put this shit on at your next party and you have just created an instant party mix. SHow all your friends that you have hip hop that they don't play on the radio and earn some instant street cred. Matching an amazing flow with great lyrics and awesome guest-MCs (2Mex, Cappadonna from Wu-Tang) and you have one fucking great album. Symphonic beats make all the girl's undies drop.

-Jonathan Yost

Schoolyard Heroes
Abomination
8/10

Besides the obvious fact that these fools have watched Nightmare Before Christmas way too many times, I not only do not hate Schoolyard Heroes, but I actually like them. It's like a chick-fronted My Chemical Romance but A) their songs of death don't seem to have an air of desperation about them, but more a very unhealthy glee and B) This chick looks way better in makeup. Schoolyard heroes turns the same material into tunes that can easily satisfy fans of the Faint as well as the Hot Topic/Mallrat goth kids that I see running around. Ripping flesh from bone, dancing in graveyards and horror film makeup has never been so much fun.

-Jonathan Yost

Every Time I Die
The Big Dirty
8/10

The new ETID album rocks my socks! Coming off of one best hardcore party albums in a while, (Gutter Phenomenon) you would think they would come with a second class CD. Well, they don’t, The Big Dirty is almost as good as the last. In The Big Dirty they capture not only the old ETID, but an ETID with a little more angry Keith Buckley. Not only is it apparent in his lyrics, its in his voice as well. Songs that really display this are No Son Of Mine, Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery, and We’rewolf. These guys really know how to come back with great songs and they also know how to keep up they’re own little genre of music, which still to this day no one can classify their style, all we know is that it rocks. This cd has everything from comedy, shredding riffs, wailing drums, romance, and last but not least ROCK! Trust me everyone if you like hardcore, metal, southern rock, or just like to beat the crap out of people in an upbeat way then this cd should be in your collection on September the fourth.

-Abe Gastelum

The Absence -
Riders Of The Plague
5/10

This album is rather mediocre. The reason being is due to the fact The Absence have five guest performances on five different songs , some even have two guests on one song. Anyone can have a good song if you get an all-star team together. Now I don’t mean to put them down completely, the band is still relatively good for the most part; good vocals and good drumming is never bad on a metal record and they definitely have both . They also do a great cover of Into The Pit by the Testaments which is the best track on the album. Another song to listen for would be The Murder, in which they have two guests; one on rhythm guitar and one on lead guitar and banjo. For this record all I am going to say is that anyone can make a good record with multiple cameos from renowned artists. I couldn’t tell if it was a metal cd or if it was just a WOW! Now that’s what I call metal hits compilation.

-Abe Gastelum

Full Blown Chaos
Heavy Lies The Crown
7/10

I am impressed with this cd. This album is very very good I love the fact that they have a few cd’s out and they are still able to give you the feeling that they are underground or undiscovered . Heavy riffs and some great drumming by the brothers Facci help the vocalist that has a good east coast hardcore/ thrash voice really seem intense and metal. Heavy Lies The Crown which is the album title as well as one of the songs that really stand out on this album shows off the talents of all the band members and makes you wonder, “why isn’t thrash big again?” and “why aren’t these guys on more peoples favorite metal bands of now?” Overall this CD is very impressive and I hope more people will start listening to more of Full Blown Chaos.

-Abe Gastelum

Soul Sides Vol. 2: The Covers
Various Artists
Zealous Records

I love Al Green. I love The Beatles. I love it when Al Green covers The Beatles' I want to Hold Your Hand. Soul Sides' second volume is chock full of soulful renditions of songs you may know and a few you wont. With artists that are marginal hitmakers at best, Soul Sides Vol. 2 seems to break open the floodgates of these artists and release 14 of the best covers I have ever heard. Frrom the afro-cuban beats found in Los Mozambiques' cover of Viva Tirado (which also covers Summertime and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You for a cover trifecta) to O.V. Wright's heatbreaking rendition of Let's Straighten It Out, Sould Sides Vol. 2 is perfect for indie hipsters and R&B purists alike to be setting the mood. Instant romantic notions, just add SS Vol. 2.This album's nothing short of spectacular. Go! Go buy it!

-Jonathan Yost

The Lonely H
Hair
In Music We Trust Records
6/10

It's a crying shame these guys came out when they did. The art-pop music of these guys belongs smack dab in 1997. Clean vocal recordings, a solid mix of guitars and straightforward drumming make me think that these guys could have easily been opening for Live or Better Than Ezra. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing particularly bad, annoying or distracting about the Lonely H's mix of indie/blues and rock, it just makes me want to listen to the record collection I had in 10th grade. Yup, 10th grade for me was in '97. Fuck. Now I am mad at these dudes, for making me feel old. Solid tunes, but ten years too late. Sorry, dudes.

-Jonathan Yost

Sonata Arctica
Unia
Nuclear Blast Records
2/10

No. Stop. One of the things I like about Nuclear Blast Records is their track record for releasing brutal and often over-the-top metal that makes me want to dress in all black and stomp around while screaming about Belzebub. What this does is make me want to play Final Fantasy. There's times that they get so close to being metal that the dudes in Nile get a little spring in their step, but then they fall flat on their sissy faces with pussy wussy synth sounds and power ballads that need more power. It sounds like some dude tried to make a metal album in GarageBand, complete with shitty drum loops and weird synthesizers that have no place in there. The only thing that makes it get any points whatsoever is the guitarist. The damned guitars sound like a chainsaw at times, which is, needless to say, awesome! The rest of it, not so much.

- Jonathan Yost

Coolzey
Soixante-Neus
Help Records
9/10

This dude needs to get more popular so I can say, "Oh, yea, I've got both of his EPs, I knew that dude would be popular." It's fucking good tunes. A little bit of 80's hip hop/rap with far better production values. Oh, and he's from the Stereo M.C.s, and he's white, and he's from the midwest. But, even with the genetic handicap, these 6 songs make me wanna be that goofy white dude who tries to rap along with the album and make an ass out of myself. Yea yea. Oh, and that frenchy gobbledygook, yea, that's French for 69. Rad.

-Jonathan Yost

Benzos
Branches
Stinky Records
8/10

Dude, it was six songs into the damned album before I realized I had put it on. That's how completely unobstrusive this thing is. That is not a bad thing. Well, maybe wanting to take a nap while doing 85 on the freeway was a bad thing. It's like a slightly more edgy Album Leaf, with dreamy arrangements with repeated melodies layered with jazzy beats. The vocals are a bonus, because I can A) understand the lyrics and B) aren't all nasal, i.e. any current pop-rock band. While I can't find anything wrong with it, I can't really say this album rules because it's just too soothing. Therapeutic indie ambience? You know what, if you buy it, you won't be bummed out.

A Means to an End
Who cares what it's called?
1/10

Think rabid wolverines screaming over a goth club mix. That's Means to an End. I think my means to an end is this here eject button.

-Jonathan Yost

The Toasters
One More Bullet
Stomp Records
8/10

I want to grab a beer with anyone who makes music like this. Shit's so upbeat, you know these guys are just too fucking cool. With the Hammond Organ warbling and the horns a tootin', this has everything the ska kid needs in his life. "Where's the Freedom" is a good dash of politics to keep all the 16 year old punk kids who read too much Voltaire into it, while not being so fucking preachy as to offer any slogans fit for a t-shirt. And, you know what, for having been around as long as they have, I'm stoked that they kick ass much ass as they do. And mind you, this is coming from a man who is seriously not a particularly huge fan of ska, but this rules pretty good.

-Jonathan Yost

Kleveland
Kleveland
Pamplemoose Records
5/10

Bar-rock. If I had ten Heinekens in me, I'd be that dude moshing by himself in the corner. But without my beer-ears, I hear fairly simple and basic chick-fronted rock music. None of the drums are anything more advanced than what you can learn in three months, the guitars are straightword and the basslines don't try to dazzle you with any bells and whistles. Now, that's not to say they are boring, but when I can hum along without ever hearing it before, there's something to be desired. I can see chicks who want a little more oomph than most of your female leads digging on this, but personally, I'd rather just dream of less dirty rocker girls...seriously, anyone who doesn't want to bang Gwen Stefani likes dudes and only dudes.

-Jonathan Yost

Underminded
ElevenEleven
Uprising Records
6.5/10

Another band pissed off about God knows what screaming about I don't care. The drums melt my face and the guitars come along to shit on my remains. The bass is pretty trampled on by the drums, but that could also be my shitty speakers. The vocals are hard to make out, but I think the singer may, just may, be singing in Klingon. Now, listening to this gives me an insight into the reason behind hardcore dancing. When something this furious sounding is yelling at you like you're a fucking disease ridden marmot, you'd probably flail around, too. I wonder what it would be like to do it while listening to this...wait, maybe not.

-Jonathan Yost

Sexton Blake
Sings the Hits
Expunged Records
3/10

More like Sexton Blake makes pussy wussy versions of already pussy wussy eighties songs. Starts off with a fucking crybaby version of the Boss' Hungry Heart, and then delves into fucking up LL Cool J's I need Love and even attempts to do Elton John's Daniel, but without the sequins to back it up. I mean, seriously. Why? And I want Mr. Blake to respond. Why did you make this is this manner? Are you just that in touch with your feminine side? Get a distortion pedal and we'll talk.

-Jonathan Yost

Sean Na Na
Family Trees or Cope We Must
Dim Mak Records
7.5/10

These dudes are so effing happy. I'm sitting here, trying to be emo and brood about my favorite sweater getting a hole in it, and these assholes are cheering me up. What the fuck is that? I thought the musical trend was the slit your wrists and black your balls or whatever. Not make dancy pop-rock that makes me less likely to kill myself. Shit. What good tunes for a party mix. Bonus points for use of a vertically folded insert and the phrase "Coke Peppered Weed Mustache" behind the disc. Also, Nixon in a grave on the cover. You lose points for finishing off with a depressing ballad with bad grammar: "we don't got no hope, we're at the end of our rope". And another for making want to add extra "na"s to your name, i.e. Sean na na na nananananananananananananana. Jerks.

-Jonathan Yost

Gerald Collier
How Can There Be Another Day? Demos and B-Sides
In Music We Trust Records
8/10

First off, Gerald, you get three bonus points for having a chick with a great (and exposed!) rack on the cover. I always enjoy free smut with my albums. Next off, thanks for singing in a voice that's not only pleasant, but in which I can understand the lyrics. Collier's own tunes intertwine seamlessly with the covers of tunes such as Elton John's Rocket Man and Rolling Stones Jigsaw Puzzle. His voice does all the tunes justice, and the guitar work of Bill Bernhard is perfectly deliberate. Timeless tunes from a band that no longer exists. Great songwriting and amazing covers provide for an album that you should buy if you really do enjoy listening to songs that mean something.

-Jonathan Yost

Hopesfall
Magnetic North
Trustkill Records
6/10

While I can understand the lyrics, which, as many of you known, is my main bitch about hard music, but on he first track, it's more of a NickelBack style of raspy desperation than anything else. Fortunately for both them and me, it gets better. Vacation/ Add/ Vacation shows some form of mastery of music that is missing from other bands lumped into the same ____Core genre. And thank God that they aren't make-up wearing glammy glam glam rockers who make me want to beat them up just because I can. A couple of these dudes look pretty burly.

-Jonathan Yost

Northern State
Can I Keep This Pen?
Ipecac Records
8/10

When asked to describe Northern State, I have to say that they resemble either a chick version of the Beastie Boys, or a rap version, sans feminist rah rah, of Bikini Kill/Le Tigre. Super fun, maybe not for the hardcore hip hop fans, but for someone who likes their beats carefree with some good punchlines, Northern State's where it's at. Random rhymes are always fun, but when these chicks, especially Hesta Prynn, start rhyming about getting it on, well, I want to get it on. Hesta, you down?

-Jonathan Yost

Artist: Bad Religion
Album: New Maps of Hell
Label: Epitaph
Release Date: 7/10/07
Rating: 10.00/10.00

For fucks sake, 27-years is a long, long god damned time to making anything, and it's almost impossible to make anything for that long and have it worthwhile. At this point, Bad Religion should not work: Most music acts grow stagnant and irrelevant after about 8 years. They've added too many cooks, and too many cooks are supposed to spoil the broth. They haven't messed with the formula that's basically the standard for punk music today, only pinched and tweaked in here and there, yet...

New Maps of Hell may very well be the cornerstone of a career that's seen more than it's fair share of ups and downs. No one does melodic like this. No one. It still has bite, it still has prominence, and it's still captivating.

Here's what you do, and young bands, take note: Bad Religion. That's all you need to know. Bad Religion. No one does it better. Maybe no one has ever done it better. I say a little less Led Zeppelin revival, a little more Bad Religion emulation.

The album starts off slightly slow, but right at "New Dark Ages" you realize that this is a classic. Bad Religion have gone and released yet another classic album.

At points it slows down, but this...this is a band that's hungry for it all over again. Who, throughout every song you can hear it, are guys who just grew tired of hearing the same songs on the radio, who got tired of music not having soul and depth, and set out to prove that rock can still be dangerous, and intelligent all in the same 40 minutes. With sixteen tracks, it's a worry this might get a bit murky, but in never does. At the points it does slow down for a brief second (see the end of 'Submission Complete') they go and hit you with a piano intro, and then a wailing, desperate solo in the truly inspiring 'Fields of Mars.'

There's something about the formula that Bad Religion has done, that gives you an idea of what to expect, but at the same time....it's completely fresh. In a time frame where whats happening around us in this world take a back seat to inconsequential agendas, there's a reminder lurking in (New Maps...). A reminder that slowly, we seem to be slipping back into the Dark Ages. With every strip mall, with every decision to forgo college for a quicker dime, and with every crooked politician that blind sides you with distorted media coverage...we are simply losing touch with reality, and slipping back into the dark ages.

Yet, from a band that's been consistently doing this for over a quarter of a century with this type of bite, and urgency when the people they've influenced have gone on to try and express deeper "artistic merit" (sell records) I think we're due for a Renaissance. And I think it starts with a kick in the ass, and 38 minutes of rock and roll.

God bless Bad Religion.

aaron@racketmag.com

ACUTE
Arms Around a Stranger
Help Records

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm into the whole "mellow music" thing, but there is something about this album I just cannot get into. It makes me feel like I should be in a taxi cab looking out of the window with tears pouring down my cheeks, hoping my man is chasing after me on a bicycle. I'm sure the lyrics are good, but I cannot be 100% sure, considering most of the instruments overpower his soft voice. Plus, it sounds too much like a chick flick soundtrack to pay too much attention. Although it does seem to be the type of CD that could grow on you overtime, just don't expect instant infatuation.

Chasing Victory
Fiends
Mono Vs Stereo
8.5/10

It seems that Chasing Victory’s Friends goes from crappy to AMAZING. I want to go out and buy this CD just for the booklet.  I didn't know who Chasing Victory was but now I want to go out and learn more about them.  My favorite songs on the CD were Janus, Fiends, and Zombies.  I would recommend this CD as the CD for May. It kind of reminded me of Bomb Child, if any of you know who that is.  Any way go buy this it was well worth the hour.
What really stood out to me was that every song was different. It wasn't the CD that you put on once and you know all the words and you knew all the different sound but this CD you have to listen to several times to really get the full experience.  Some of the songs were very repetitive and boring but then others had no words repeated.
Much of the work the band did on this album paid off. The singer had a voice that would change in every song and it always sounded great. This CD was crazy good and don't pass up the chance to buy this.

The Arcade Fire
Neon Bible
Merge
8/10

Stop the fucking presses. "Keep The Car Running" embodies everything that has made the Arcade Fire so completely entertaining, and reviving.

That said, at times, Neon Bible completely obliterates it's predecessor, Funeral. There's nothing that has changed too much on Neon Bible. It's a similar formula, with a twist (Robot Chicken, anyone...anyone?).

What's really intriguing about this CD is the promotion tactic: In late December 2006, they launched a phone number, toll free of course, (866) NEON BIBLE. Calling the number leads you to an extension (7777) which plays the US Single "Black Mirror".

The lyrics are just as introspective and soul baring as can be expected from Arcade Fire. The songs are textured, and layered so thick that it really builds a nearly euphoric and surreal atmosphere. The haunting back-up vocals truly send a slight shiver down your spine at moments.

Yet, when the Arcade Fire miss, they miss by a god damned mile. There are a few tracks that go on too long, wear thin the idea, or just simple don't fit the context of the album. I think this is a problem that's plagued Arcade Fire on both albums.

All in all, this album is a great follow up to their monumental break-through, Funeral. I didn't think they could, yet this new album is baroque pop at it's freshest. I thought it was too tall an order, but I was proven wrong. It feels damn good to be wrong.

Alesana
On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax
Fearless
6/10

Any band that has two vocalists is bound to be interesting. Just when the tiger-like shrills get to be too much, it stops and switches to some different vocals. It gives you enough sound variation from song to song for you to tell that many musical tastes were brought to the table when making this album. I for one can say that I am pleased, and give On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax a round of applause for keeping me into it with it's delicately dark, yet catchy, lyrics.

Grinderman
Grinderman
Anti-/Mute
7/10

Crunchy, scuzzy, and a complete blanket in well thought-out experimentation from a group of musicians that are no strangers to the world of music: Grinderman, comprised of basically Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (in fact, most the members were in the Bad Seeds... including Nick Cave himself). So it raises the question, why not call it "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds"?

The answer is simple, in the words of Martyn Casey: "It wasn't cautiously two fingers two maturity, but I remember thinking, all the way through, this isn't bad for a bunch of old farts."

Indeed, it isn't. Each of these seasoned musicians know their way around a pop melody, and in Grinderman, they combine that element with Nick Caves' English-Twinged baritone voice and his nearly caustic (and sometimes dirty) beat-poetry lyrics.

Touches of ambiance, combined with all things grunge, Grinderman is an excellent adaptation and extension of what these musicians have been doing all these years. Somehow, in all the instrument beating, there are very well layered and well conceived gems. (I Don't Need You) Set Me Free hits the mark completely.

The only drawback lies with Nick Cave, as he isn't everyone's cup of tea. While prolific, he almost seems to set out for obscurity with Grinderman, and at times I can't shake the feeling that this project could've been a little bit better.

As obscure as it aims to be, it does prove a few things about Grinderman: They are completely satisfied with themselves, and haven't lost the love of making music.

All in all, it's raw and gritty. Defined and detailed, young settling in with maturity.

Sound The Alarm
Closer
Geffen
6/10

I have a soft spot in my heart for sugary sweet pop-punk. So somehow, in a
strange, sick, and utterly disgusting way, Sound the Alarm's "Stay Inside"
resonates pretty well with me.

To be honest, when they sing the line "All imitations, we except", it's kind
of funny, because they aren't exactly the most original band...but
something tells me that they know this well, and could really care less.
Having been together since they were twelve, they have a good ear for each
other and play well together.

At times the lyrics are just too contrived, and the sugary elements are enough so to give the listener a touch of the diabetes. They
are currentally on tour with New Found Glory, and therefore in good company.

Let it be said, they've got nothing but potential, and are actually putting
said potential to use. I wish them well, and wouldn't mind catching them live. But overall, unless you really need that pop-y fix, this really isn't anything you really need to rush out and buy. But, when your girlfriend up and leaves you...throw on "Suffocated", or the title track "Stay Inside" which I don't care who calls me a queer for liking, is a damn good song.

 Fucking bitch girlfriends always leaving.

The Love Me Nots
In Black and White
Atomic A Go Go
4.5/10

When I first threw this album on I instantly realized I had seen/heard this band before and I was elated, the euphoria quickly vanished when I realized that was the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and not the Love Me Nots. (Easy mistake) Throughout the album all I could think about was how bad I wanted to watch James Bond because this entire album made me think about was the cheesy intro songs to the early Bond flicks. Light up some drugs, maybe a lava lamp or two, instant bond intro classic. Their only saving grace was the fact that this came in Vinyl form, which was sweet and more bands need to do that. Maybe Go-Go isn’t my thing but I honestly did not enjoy this album one bit. In fact, it will probably never leave my shelf again, unless The Love Me Nots come to Los Angeles and in that case I would offer their album back to them.

Mad Caddies
Keep It Going
Fat Wreck
9/10

Awesome. Just fucking awesome. It takes a ska album a whole lot for me to like it, let alone listen to it for a day straight. The cover of Ridin’ for a fall is plenty enough, but add great tunes such as Today and I’m fucking set. Songs about continually saying you’ll change your life around? Who hasn’t been there? I’m not usually for the ska/reggae deal, but this is just an awesome album. Switching from damn near mariachi basslines to rad ska-punk crazy shit, this album keeps you entertained. The Mad Caddies are fucking rad.

Eisley
Room Noises
Warner/Reprise
8/10

Eisley’s bio will tell you that they have been together ten years—easier to believe if you haven’t seen their pictures. They all look so young! But once you hear their beautiful, soulful and sweet songs, it is clear that they are the product of long collaboration or long suffering. Or, like most good art, maybe both.

They are a family band made up of the five DuPrees, two brothers and three sisters (probably the only way they could have been collaborating for ten years in their early 20’s). They have toured with some larger market bands (Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Fray), and while that is clearly an excellent game plan, I hope that they are able to headline their own tour soon.

There are a lot of good things to say about Room Noises. The melodies are simple and the lyrics are uplifting and hopeful. The instrumentation, while also simple, isn’t simplistic. My favorite parts of the album are the sisters’ hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies. They are well layered, not too complex, and the dynamics are well-executed.

Their “sounds like” section on their MySpace page was way too funny not to include in this review. It happens to be not only accurate, but also very Racket-like. Please enjoy and realize that I didn’t write this, but wish I had:

"Indie rock, (on a major; but that's just a style vs. status issue). Emotional but not Emo (stop saying emo). Pop, but not so popular (Warhol did pop in a commercial way. Rauchenberg did pop in fine art way). Soul-ful but not Soul (cuz like...no booty). Dream-pop, but not a Dreamsicle (well, maybe... if dark chocolate replaced the vanilla interior). Alt (because AP magazine says so.) but not alternative... Maybe if the Fathers of "Alt" endorsed it, but Stipe or Cobaine will never agree. Haunting, but not in an evil way… not like a scary, scary clown. Folkish, but not country. Catchy - like when you catch a fishy. Moody but not e-whiney. Melodic - yes. very. Rock, but take it out of the rock-tumbler after only 3 days (more than that and they get too polished).”

I really couldn’t say it better myself.

Feist
The Reminder
Cherry Tree/Interscope
8/10

Feist has done, in less than a week, what most artists will not accomplish in their entire careers. This fresh, crisp collection that is a little bit Cat Power, a little bit Fiona Apple, but is clearly something entirely new. It encapsulates such a signature sound, not resulting solely from Leslie Feist’s undeniably intense and recognizable vocals, but from a solid instrumentation that complements rather than drowns out.

The tracks are varied in emotion and depth, which makes it the perfect candidate for a ‘straight-through’ listening album. My (current) favorite tracks are I Feel It All, a hand clapping tune much in the tradition of Mushaboom, (and equally enjoyable), and Limit To Your Love, which is pensive and moving without being sad. And, as might be expected, Leslie’s vocal control and lyrical observations are impressive on every single track.

I’ll admit: the album Let It Die, especially the single, was so special to me that I was hesitant to let the new album in. But I’m glad I did, and you will be too. It’s sometimes heartfelt, sometimes rock/glam. Just like you, pumpkin.

By the way, lucky fellow Los Angeles residents, she’s coming June 29th to the Wiltern.

The Format
Dog Problems
The Vanity Label
8/10

Okay, so I know I’m going to sound like I’m jumping on the already crowded bandwagon of this amazing, er… band, but I swear I fell in love with this record from the second its dulcet tones touched my ravaged ears. You want to play the tuba on a pop record? Cool. How about a cello, violin, viola (no, that’s not a typo, its a separate instrument), sax, trumpet, trombone, AND tuba? Stellar!

Look, I’m from Memphis, and for those of you who don’t know what that means to pop albums with a horn section, then you need to stop reading immediately and go listen to the entire Stax catalog, particularly Booker T. & the MG’s. Seriously. Your only other option is to stop pretending to be a music fan.

For those of you that do know the Memphis sound, you know that horns + pop = cool! And when it is done well, it is such a beauty. The Format does it well, and has decent writing chops to boot. The lyrics are thoughtful and playful, musing ironically at the disappointments in life while at the same time celebrating being in love as only the young can. The arrangements are mature and well thought out, and the production is simple, clean, and (thank you Jesus) not overdone.

It was a sure highlight of my musical year to finally buy this album, and I suggest that you do too! It will make you happy, and who doesn’t want to be happy!?

Also, check out their fun dog-flying themed website for hours of entertainment and… dog-flying!

Fair To Midland
Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell you Three Times is True
Universal
6/10

Okay, let me open this review with this honest fact: I am not really into this kind of music. Of course, I have very diverse tastes and listen to lots of different kinds of music, blah blah blah, but this is just not the type of thing I would voluntarily buy or download or listen to. Therefore I do not by any stretch of the imagination consider myself an expert in this area of review.

With that being said, this EP did surprise me quite a bit. Overall, the vocals are unique and interesting, and while I personally can’t really deal with the dark talk/screamy vocals going on in Dance of the Manatee, lots of people are into that, so more power to them. It’s at least well done screamy.

Now, the track Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes is not only cleverly named, but also has this great driving beat that kind of carries the whole song. Again, the vocals are solid, but there might actually be a little too much guitar effect… the verdict is still out on that one. My favorite track from the EP, however, is Walls of Jericho. The melody in the chorus is downright beautiful, and the instrumentation doesn’t drown out the lyrics.

All in all, the production is flawless, the tracks are well arranged, and the songs are catchy and melodic (Not to mention, the members of the band that I met were cool as shit). Why isn’t it my favorite? Please refer to the opening paragraph.

The Fold
Secrets Keep You Sick
Tooth And Nail
6/10

Boring. Not bad, just boring. However, they do earn bonus points for not being annoying. You think Tooth and Nail, you think preachy, but it’s not. As background tunes, it’s fine. Once I tried to listen to it, I got frustrated and went on to do other things while it played. It must have played a couple times through without me thinking “Damn, didn’t I hear this shit already?” But, I’m over it. Gunna go watch Raines.

Kaddisfly
Set Sail The Prairie
SubCity Records
7/10

I have no idea what the hell is going on with this album. Swimming from the more airy tunes of Incubus to the emo-stylings of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Kaddisfly keeps me guessing how to even describe them, let alone putting them in a convenient little label. Why won’t these fucks just play by the rules? Let me see what I can do to describe the tunes. The keyboards sound like they’re tripping balls, there’s some ethereal guitar sounds and the sine wave of calm/spaz vocals are the perfect accompaniment to any art student’s drug fueled exploration of their bi-polar psyche. Check out Silk Road to see what I’m talking about, cuz what I’m saying certainly doesn’t make any damned sense. Not bad, but enraging in their fluidity.

-Jonathan Yost

Fall Out Boy
Infinity On High
Island
6/10

FUUUUUUCKKKK!!! Now, I’ve never hated Fall Out Boy as a band, but I’ve hated them as an ideal. Poppy fuck music made by scrawny, tatted up dudes who spend more time and money on their hair/clothes than I do on rent and brings the Niagra to all the 15 year old scene sluts’ undies. That’s what I hate. I also hate that I like about 68.3% of this album. Songs that have sweet violin intros are generally fine by me, and FOB’s got one. Kickass basslines, yup, in there. Catchy beats that count as too many people’s guilty pleasure, you got it. But, there is also songs like I’m like a Lawyer with the Way I’m Always Trying to Get You Off, which, despite it’s quite clever name, is just filler.
            While Thnks fr th Mmrs shuns vowels, it doesn’t shun that aforementioned violin intro. Maybe it should shun the thirty second intervals between rock ass and suck ass. But, again, kudos for the gratuitous use of handclaps. Fall Out Boy is that much closer to being a real boy. Soon, Racket will have nothing to make fun of. No, that’s not true.

-Jonathan Yost

The Terrible Twos
If You Ever See An Owl
Poquito
8/10

The New Amsterdams take a cue from They Might Be Giants and create a kids album that anyone can enjoy. This isn’t some annoying song about looking both ways before crossing the street, and there’s certainly no fat pervs in purple dino suits. Great tunes with G-rated lyrics about cool kids, owls, and not growing up. What it comes down to is a fantastic sing-along album for all the aging hipsters who want their kids to get hooked on good music, but whose kids aren’t quite ready for The Get Up Kids Beer for Breakfast. Check it out, it’s good times.

-Jonathan Yost

Bloodjinn
This Machine Runs on Empty
Pluto/East West
5/10

Now, I’m not particularly thrilled about this, but Kyle Rakes fucking shreds on the guitar and brings some metal-ass shit to the shitty hardcore table. Joel Collins sings with the voice of all the world’s sins. Bad times. If not for those sweet meedly-meedly solos tearing through the uber-compressed double kick drums and annoying vocal grit, this would have been a shinny little target in a skeet range. With guitars: bearable, without guitars: skeet skeet.

- Jonathan Yost

Seamonster
White Whale EP
Self-Released
8/10

Comic Artist Todd Webb & Co. spread their creative wings to create Seamonster. Taking a surreal adventure through aqueous sounds and tripped out vocals, White Whale is what to listen to while you’re either getting high in the bathtub or moping about some girl who has no idea you exist. Advancing across the soundscape, the tunes make you look inwards to help give them meaning. Seamonster is a solid bet for those who are connoisseurs of music you won’t hear on the radio.

- Jonathan Yost

Take Action Tour 2007 Comp
Hopeless/SubCity
7/10

I love these CDs. I get to check out tons of bands for cheap as fuck. It also gives me the peace of mind knowing the bands with sentence fragments as names are as pretentious and/or horribly shitty as I was led to believe by their blood-splattered logos and the tight-jeaned fashion victims that sport them. Between the pop-rock of Meg and Dia and the non-sensical screaming of It Dies Today lies a benefit to a great cause, the Youth America Hotline. Having friends who have taken their own lives, I wish I would have known about this earlier, which is why I support the Take Action Tour, even if it has bands I could care less about this year. Go support as well. Buy the CD.

-Jonathan Yost

Modest Mouse
We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Epic
9/10

By now we're all well acquainted with a few things about Modest Mouse’s new album, "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank". It's now the number one selling album in the world (scanning nearly 130,000 copies in it's first week), it's the first album they've released since 2004 (probably because they knew "Float On" was still stuck in everyone's head.) Oh, and some dude named Marr from some band called the Smiths, or something, played on the record, and is some kind of honorary member.

To be honest, it's hard to get around the fact that the guitarist for one of the most influential bands of recent memory is now an active member of a band still (almost fourteen years later) cutting it's teeth on the fabric of today’s modern pop culture.

There is really a few missteps, and most obvious to me is the beginning bass intro to the anthemic song, Fire It Up:  I can't place my finger on it, but I can assure you it’s something I've heard from Modest Mouse before. At times, it gets almost too eclectic (Steam Engenius). But in the end, I truly have to say, this is a new Modest Mouse.

You can hear it in singer Isaac Brocks voice, on every song, that he doesn't worry about sounding pretty, that every word he says, he means it. It's almost impossible to pick out Johnny Marrs’ contributions, which delights me to no end, because instead of him simply outshining the band, he melds into them, providing a wall of bouncing riffs, echoed off Brock’s raw and unique vocal deliveries.
Where Modest Mouse succeeds, I think the most, is their formula. They have this unrivaled knack for making an album that sounds incredibly accessible, simple, and at the same time unapproachable and complex. They are in short, the masters of simple complexity.

The passion alone is felt strongest in tracks like Parting of The Sensory, Florida, Spitting Venom and Fly Trapped in a Jar, where Brock and company loosely explore a theme of characters like "Flat Top" Tony, and Gary, of Nautical Russian origins. Instead of each song sounding the same, they take simple time measures and loop the story together with reoccurring lyrical themes, all the while making each song distinctly different from the other. At one point, they even sound like Elvis meeting an acid-trip (Steam Engenius). It gives me hope for the future of music; I do feel we're in for a turn. Pop-punk has long since faded, and those left merely attempt to "cross-over" into pop sensations. There’s more substance in "We Were Dead..." than there is in an entire back catalog of bands like Medina Lake, or Avenged Sevenfold.

Get along for the ride. If a band that’s been around this long can completely reinvent themselves, while still maintaining what it is that makes them them, then I have to believe there’s hope.

Aaron Hale (Aaron@racketmag.com)

Oh No! Not Stereo!
Oh No Not Stereo EP
Takeover Records

The All-American Rejects on steroids… slightly heavier, more distorted, about equal in shitiness.

When the CD started playing I said “Oh No,” then I took it out… Seriously, you can buy this CD on Amazon.com for $0.92. I say keep the money, save up 7 more cents, buy two Jack N’ The Box tacos, that way the shit you flush down the toilet will be worth
something.
-Adam Spraker

Pablo
Half The Time
Curb Appeal

Pablo, despite the name which somehow leaves a bad taste in my mouth, was quite impressive with their folk sing-a-long style of song writing, reminiscent of the older days of My Morning Jacket or Damien Rice. I left it in my cd player for a good week.

Listen to this cd with your girlfriend, she’ll love them, and she’ll love you for loving them too.
-Adam Spraker

See You Next Tuesday
Parasite
Ferret

How can you not love a band that has song titles like “Good Christians don’t get Jiggy With it Til after Mariage,” and “Honey, I’ve Never had Sex That Wasn’t Akward?” I mean seriously you got to give them points for trying, but in the end they are just some kids who play fast and know how to yell… wont change the world, just add more shitty metal to it.

P.S. I bet they wear girl pants
-Adam Spraker

The Annuals
Be He Me
Ace Fu

This album is really catchy, and the band is really talented, but you know how sometimes you are listening to a CD and you think you’ve heard the song before, but it really is just that every one of their songs sounds exactly same? Yeah, Annuals suffers from that, but that ONE song is good (Doesn’t matter the name really since they are sound alike). So much potential, I say pick them up in like 2 or 3 years cause the singer is only 20.

And if your like me and like band comparisons, I’d say they sound like Arcade Fire, and maybe… no, they are pretty much are Arcade Fire rip-offs.
-Adam Spraker

One Man Army and the Undead Quartet
Error In Evolution
Nuclear Blast
7/10

Everyone needs some metal in their life. That's a fact that has been documented in many a Biology Textbook and book of faith. One Man Army and the Undead Quartet (one of the most ridiculous names ever) brings the metal spoken of in the book of Rock. The Alice Cooper cover of He's Back doesn't hurt.

The Icarus Line
Black Lives At the Golden Coast
Dim Mak
7/10

What the fuck? Did The Icarus Line seriously cover Giant Drag's Slayer? Fuck. My love of cover songs gets the best of me again! Despite what comes off as a rad cover of a rad song, the rest of the album is quite obviously art music for art fags. Recorded solely on tape, like the subtle nuances will be noticed as kids rip that shit into inadequate MP3 formats. However, unlike the Mars Volta's 60 minute static solos, the Icarus Line keeps the fluttering guitars and lack of harmonies going steady throughout. You dig the Mars Volta, but aren't high 24/7, this may be your gig.

The Shins
Wincing the Night Away
Sub Pop

Ah, The Shins. Where would you be without Zach Braff?

Ok, not fair, especially since this album assures us that their talent is solid. Yet, maybe in a limited sense, since… oops, it sounds like they accidentally remade one of their previous records.

To be fair, maybe they got really excited by their ever-increasing fame and subsequently panicked… Or maybe they weren’t quite finished with Oh, Inverted World, so this is the second half. Whatever the case might be, I don’t think they were too concerned with making this album sound completely “original”… although, what’s the alternative? Make an album that does not sound like the Shins?

At any rate, this is a good record. The opening track, Sleeping Lessons– and, incidentally, the song they (surprise!) opened with at their in-store Amoeba records disaster show last month—softly coerces you into listening to it (and the rest of the album) very intently. James Mercer begins by singing over a digital loop and, as boring as that possibly sounds, the effect is pretty cool. What can I say? It’s nicely done.

Phantom Limb, a.k.a. Track 4, and perhaps the most Oh, Inverted World sounding track, also happens to be one of my favorite on the album despite a catchy “O-O-O” melody that will leave you cursing—or perhaps enjoying— it in your head for the rest of the day.

There are some definite gems on the album that will no doubt invade mixed tapes for some time to come. So yes, the entire album is like an addendum to Oh, Inverted World… but I don’t hate them for it. And although it’s not the most urgent or fresh thing out there right now, it’s still a good set of tunes.

The good news is: If you like The Shins, you will like this record.

Go figure.

-Dawn Apang

Billy Reese Peters
Almost Heaven
No Idea Records
10/10

In all the time I've wrote for Racket, I've got a lot of free c.d's, and that's on of the best perks I think anybody could ever get. A lot of the time. it's very shitty, and I mean SHITTY metal c.d's, or something equally cringing. But a few days ago, I got a package from No Idea Records. Even a bad No Records release is better then most good one's from other labels. This is the indie label that can. Look at some of the bands they've helped "break":
Against Me!
Hot Water Music
Planes Mistaken For Stars
etc.
The list goes on. I've got to feel somehow they are the freshest label out there. They have a knack for just releasing some of the most amazing records. Then theres Billy Reese Peters "Almost Heaven". Let me sum up a lot of things with this simple statement: if the Hold Steady are the bastard children of Bruce Springsteen and Thin Lizzy, then Billy Reese Peters are the drunken, wide eye'd, kick-in-the-ass drunken cousins of the Hold Steady meeting AC/DC with a shot of coke, a fifth of Jack, and a slap in the face of the "Gainsville movement."

Plain and simple, this is delicious, sweaty, booze and smoke induced rock and roll. Never has an album cover done a c.d this much justice. It makes me realize that I personally want to live this uninhibited. Beat my bare chest, and run naked through a field while drinking cheap Tequilla. The third track, "Mexico" is simply put, the best Anthem since another No Idea Alumni, Against Me!'s "We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)

If you're not listening to this, you're missing a movement. A movement of singing with your best friends to the greatest rock n' roll possible. A movement that's a mere tribute to inhibition, and youth. This is a tribute to those nights you can't really recal due to too many shots of Jager, and chasers of New Castle. This is the tribute to waking up next to the fat chick you picked up at the bar, and this is a tribute first and foremost...to believing that production values, and "artsy" faux pas DON'T make a good record.
Cheers to you, Billy Reese Peters, if this is Almost Heaven, then it's good enough for me.
-Aaron Hale (aaron@racketmag.com)

Cold War Kids
Rivianna Junction
Downtown Records

Who doesn’t love the intro for the Cold War Kids opening song, We Used To Vacation? If somehow you don’t, I want to meet you. And then kick you in the face.

The album starts out strong, and doesn’t disappoint. I’m sure you might be thinking, why, oh why, would I want to listen to another critics’ darlings’ indie wonder-band? But really, these Kids are really onto something with their swaying, funky, southern, bluesy rock. They remind me of the White Stripes in the best way possible (especially Hospital Beds and Saint John), even if they do slightly abuse their tambourine privileges...

Hospital Beds is definitely one of the band’s strongest tracks; it succeeds in saying a lot while only really saying a little. Here are some of the lyrics:

I've got one friend
laying across from me
I did not choose him
he did not choose me
we've got no chance of recovery
Sharing hospital
joy and misery
joy and misery

Overall, their album Robbers and Cowards is a solid effort from a band that has released three EPs and still sports a pretty embarrassing cover version of Fiona Apple’s Fast As You Can on their website (although, arguably any boy trying to sing Fiona Apple is an effort that’s bound to end in tears; if you’ve ever seen Jamie Randolph and the Bloodsuckers play live, you know what I mean. But, I digress).

Getting back to the point, this band’s music is like something you feel like you’ve heard before—but in a comforting way. It’s like meeting someone for the first time and realizing you have something in common. Ok, asshole, too cheesy for you? The Cold War Kids have created music that is convicted and dare I say passionate… for instance, the track Passing the Hat reminds me of Spanish dancers and redemption. See what I mean!? No? Sounds like you need to listen to it again.

By Dawn Apang

Alkaline Trio
Remains
Vagrant
CD=/9.8/10, DVD 8/10

It's not often that a band who has built it's solid foundation in the, for lack of a more appropriate term: underground, has the type of longevity that the Alkaline Trio have. But in that own right, they've accrued much praise, and almost as much criticism, as once stated on this site for the Heavens review "Matt Skiba could fart on a bus, and some shit-suck kid would say "His farting was so much cooler back in the 'Maybe I'll Catch Fire' days."

But while they've garned that criticism, they've also got one of the most devote and rabid cult followings the world over. Something had to happen for them to earn that, and this second collection of B-sides shows us why.

Part of the fun, part of the mystique of the Trio has, and always be the songs that never make the albums, for whatever reason. "Jaked on Green Beers" being one of the most blatant exsamples. That song is one of the most explosive tracks this band has ever recorded. At the climax of the song, you can hear it in Matt Skiba's waining voice, as he screams "I hope this is good-bye". You believe him. You goddamned believe him.

This review is going to bias to a point: those of you who know me, know that I perpetually wear my heart on my sleeve (The Trio symbol) and for very personal reasons, this band has meant to me more then I could ever iterate to you, the readers of Racket, and that's a shame.

B-sides are usually a dirty word. Songs that weren't "good enough" (read: no profitability) for a full length. It shows a side of our favorite bands that often get lost in translation: recording very, very bad ideas. But here, it's vastly different.

As I mentioned, this is Alkaline Trio's second b-side collection. The first is heraled by fans of the band, almost unanynomously as their finest work.

"Remains" shows us that everything that made this band work, from the broad differences in style of both vocalists (Dan Andriano/bass, and Matt Skiba/guitar, respectivley) the clever word play "I'm not much of a jester, but I'd test poison food for you." to the cartoonishly, and massivley enjoyable "bless me dark father, I have sinned." It's all here. Everything that shouldn't work for a band, works for them.

The contrasts between Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano are great. But I guess opposites really do attrack, because I couldn't fathom it any other way. Comparing the two of them, to me, is like comparing Elvis to the Beatles. Even if you like both, you tend to side more with one or the other. It's never an equal appreciation, and that's what makes this band so fun, and unique.

It's my belief that music lacks sincerity. When I hear a song, It's very hard for me to believe it. It's kind of like in the movie "Walk The Line" when the owner of Sun tells Johnny Cash "If you were lying in a ditch dying, and you had one time to sing a song, one song, a song that let God, and everyone else know about your time on this earth, what would you sing?" Thats the criteria I hold for many bands, and songs.

But I believe it here. It's hard, too, to say that, because this is the same band that dresses very different from how they did when they were humble Chicago kids.

The hard part though, is the selling point of this CD. I feel a strong duty here, not just as some schmuck assed writer for Racket, but as a fan, that I should give you a reason as to why this should be a purchase for you.

If you're a fan, you've most likely heard most of these songs. Especially as it gets closer to the end of the disc, with several songs still very accessible on the One Man Army split.

So heres why you should buy this disc. In essence, the packaging is unrivaled. You get very good, very funny liner notes for each song. You get the lyrics to all their originals. Most of the songs contain liner notes from all three band members (Derek Grant/Drummer doesn't appear in the liner notes until Jaked on Green Beers, which is the first song he recorded with them).

And the DVD....while short, is fantastic. As a resident of Arizona, it was great seeing him refrence a story he tells every single time he comes here. It just shows a band having fun, and it really is, the DVD alone, worth the price of the CD.

The DVD, what impressed me most, was that the Alkaline Trio, instead of going the route that every band takes (that of which cleaning up their live performances so it sounds like they just rolled out of the studio) they don't master it at all. It's there, in all it's sloppy glory.

What bothers me though, about this disc, which is why it didn't recieve a full 10, was that I'm honestally tired of seeing "Sadie" pop up on every cd they release. Also, in the DVD section, for their videos, while the live footage itself is not censored, for whatever unknown reason, the video for "We've Had Enough" is.

The CD includes three live tracks, 22 overall. The whole package encompasses a band that has been extremely active throughout their tenure with Vagrant (which came to an end late last year) and leaves with with a lot of optimism for them in the future.

Stand out tracks: "Dead End Road", "Jaked on Green Beers" "While You're Waiting" "Hating Every Moment" "Standard Break From Live (Live)" "Don't Say You Won't" "Rooftops" "Queen Of Pain". As well as the radio performances.

Slip up's: While it's a good song, I'm sick of hearing "Sadie". "Dethbed (Live) kind of lacks, and the very oddly placed censorship for the video of "We've Had Enough"

-Aaron Hale (aaron@racketmag.com)

Apocalyptica
Life Burns DVD
10/10

Holy Fuck Balls! Most of the time, these live show DVDs suck turds out of my ass, but fewer things have been more awesome and epic than the Life Burns DVD. These Finnish cellists rock like none other. What’s a cellist? It’s a dude/chick who plays the cello. Yup. Cellos. Four of ‘em in the DVD. Cellos doing metal. Finnish metal. Epic Finnish metal. Metallica covers galore fill this amazingly rockin’ concert DVD. Add in videos featuring HIM’s Ville, The Rasmus’ Lauri and Nina fuck Hagen and you have a killer fucking DVD for parties and drunken loneliness alike.

- Jonathan Yost

Tim Barry
Rivianna Junction
Suburban Home Records
9/10

I want to start this off by saying that I don't have a massive boner for Avail. I mean, I like them. They're certainly worth listening to. However, I've never felt a very deep connection with them. However, Riviana Junction is far more personal, and has made much more of an impression on my recent playlists than Avail ever has.

With that said, Riviana Junction is the debut solo full-length from Avail's own throat, Tim Barry. What is Riviana Junction? Is it some kind of crazy rock n' roll rollercoaster? Poignant pop-rock? Try country. Really good country. I think the best way to describe it is "van country." Riviana Junction sounds like the soundtrack to a long road trip through the heartland of America. And why not? I'm sure Barry has seen his fair share of mileage through the dumpy, red, white and blue boondocks of the US.

"Avoiding Catatonic Surrender" is one of the best songs I've heard this past year. It's so simple, yet so powerful. "So long/So long/I can't keep singing these songs." Such a simple line, but Tim's delivery is ace. "Dog Bumped" is a fun country tale, telling of a man standing up against his sister's redneck, abusive husband. Seems a little cliché, but yet again, Barry's delivery is the key. The energy Barry brings to his slow country jams is incredible, but I guess that's why he's also a top-tier punk frontman.

Tim's laments on poverty, low living, touring, and life in general are certainly interesting to say the least. Avail always hinted at country signs, and with Riviana Junction, these ideas are finally being fully developed. If you like Avail or country, you are in for a treat with Riviana Junction.

-Joe Hoey

My Bitter End
The Renovation
Uprising Records
0/10

Maybe it's just that I've been into more poppy music recently, but this may be the worst thing I've heard in the last year. There are honestly no stand out qualities here. This is by-the-numbers cookie monster metal with random melodic moments, where the vocals still retain the "COOKIE, COOKIE" quality. Think Between the Buried and Me, minus any talent. Honestly, this music isn't even worth the paper booklet I assume will come in its package, (or the time it took the artist to develop the artwork.) let alone the poor CD this abomination is imbued onto. Who gave these dudes the okay to record this? Bad, bad call, that guy should be fired. I could probably make some lame joke about the title of this mess, and how it relates to what it contains, but it's not even worth the effort. Simply put, just say no to My Bitter End.

-Joe Hoey

Plan B
Who Needs Actions When You Have Words
Pet Cemetary Records
7/10

At first it's very hard to take a white rapper from England seriously. Especially when he says Dingaling. But, it doesn't take very long for Plan B to grow on you. Slick beats underscore the lyrics, which are hard to make out. But this import CD I got a hold of is pretty fucking sweet. Mixing strong beats with acoustic guitar melodies and long verses are a far cry from the over-produced, 3-minute-hook bling-hop that's taken root in America. While the themes are similar, sex, drugs, violence, Plan B takes the high road, talking shit on drugs, the state of kids today, religious nutjob parents, and fucked up relationships. Accents aside (Condoms sounds like cone-domes) Plan B is pretty fucking sweet.

-Jonathan Yost

Fake Problems
Spurs And Spokes/Bull > Matador EP
Sabot
11/14/2006
9.5/10
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my fucking Christ, if this EP we're any goddamned better, it would be illegal in any state within the Bible belt. "Spurs and Spokes/Bull>Matador" is a compilation of their now out of print 7'' on Sabot Productions. While some of the songs have been re-recorded and some of the songs are well over a year old, the breath and life re-introduced into these songs makes them feel like they were just written last month. The vocal delivery is dead on, sharpy, and focused. It drips with wry wit, dripping with a hint of wreckless abandon, and youthful vigor.

In Hi-Fidelity, Cusacks character talks about making the perfect mix-tape starting off with a big punch, and then following it up with an even more intense song. That’s what Fake Problems have done with "Spurs and Spokes/Bull>Matador." The rhythmic delivery is so tight, that it sounds like they've been doing it since conception; each guitar strum hits directly where it aims: the jugular. Energetic, with out being ridiculous.

What really threw me for a loop was the ambition of this EP. It’s such a triumph too. Each song is cohesive with the other, and it’s not a concept album. A rare feat indeed. These gang vocals are un-fucking-touchable. This is THE band to watch in 2007. This is a band with an amazing future right in-front of them.

Track 5 "Degree’d Or Denounced." I've always wanted to say this: MORE COWBELL.
More. More of everything your doing, guys. This is fucking incredible.
"...someone tell my crying mother, "your baby’s in a better place now...". "
Some one tell him that he's not leaving the road anytime soon.

File this under "I wish I heard it last year."
-Aaron Hale

Only Crime
Virulence
Fat Wreck Chords
1/23/2007
7.0/10

Okay, I’m going to admit it right now. You put Bill Stevenson, and Russ Rankin together; I’m going to be automatically intrigued. Add in members of Hagfish, GWAR, and Converge...Yeah. I’m definitely going to be intrigued. My first initial thoughts, with the first two songs, was that something felt like it was being held back, and I think it was mostly in the vocals. By the third song, I was on board.

See, the problem with Supergroups, is that each of the bands that comprise said group really seems to fall victim to the old adage, "too many cooks spoil the broth."  But where Virulence really, really succeeds, is that it plays off every bit of those bands that comprise Only Crime, while being daring. Virulence really gives each respective a member a chance to spread their creative wings and soar.

Plus, it’s just a good day, any day to hear Stevenson playing drums. His nearly unrivaled deliverance is worth a first listen to begin with.

What pains me about this though, in a side note, is that there’s nothing here ground breaking. Maybe its because these 5 veterans of th