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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Scale The Summit

The Collective
Prosthetic (2011)

I don't know about you, but a band with a name like 'Scale the Summit' evokes some pretty specific musical imagery for me--huge guitar lines, tons of stylistic shifts, and a definite sense of grandeur all come to mind. What's cool is that's exactly what the Texan instrumental progressive metal quartet sounds like. If you're not following me here, try imagining Canvas Solaris playing with a minor case of sleep deprivation, or a queer combination of Atheist and Fates Warning. You'll get a good idea of what their new album The Collective sounds like.Scale the Summit's sound is absolutely defined by the word 'triumphant:' all of their releases produce this euphoric sense of accomplishment not uncommon to bands in post-rock like Explosions in the Sky. It's designed to leave the listener feeling drained, or in some state of emotional release. Seemingly at odds with this, a lot of the pieces on their first two albums sounded unnaturally mechanical. Their music to often felt like it should be a lot better than it actually sounded, due in a large part to how soulless the recording seemed to be. This was most noticeable with the lead guitar lines, which seemed to exist … Read more

Tom Waits

Bad As me
Anti (2011)

How many national music treasures come from the United States? You know those ones that are still alive that you … Read more

Polar Bear Club

Clash Battle Guilt Pride
Bridge Nine (2011)

Clash Battle Guilt Pride is Polar Bear Club’s third release and second on Bridge Nine. The veteran band sets their … Read more

Leatherface

Viva La Arthouse: Live In Melbourne
No Idea (2011)

On the Stormy Petrel World Tour in 2010 bassist Graeme Philliskirk made an arrangement with The Arthouse in Melbourne, Australia … Read more

[The] Caseworker

Letters From The Coast
Hidden Shoal (2011)

Dream pop as a genre seems to have made a slight comeback in recent years. While this may be due … Read more

The Blind Shake

Seriousness
Learning Curve (2011)

It’s Seriousness indeed for The Blind Shake. The Minneapolis three-piece plays concise, to the point garage rock. From their matching … Read more

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One from the archives

Fingers Cut, Megamachine

Fingers Cut, Megamachine
Thick (2005)

Osker was well known as being the most hated band on Epitaph in their brief stint as a band. Being roughly around the age of 18 when their final album, Idle Will Kill came out, they managed to release a pop-punk masterpiece having hardly entered adulthood. Now Devon Williams, lead singer/songwriter of Osker, is back in the spotlight some odd years later with his new band, Fingers Cut, Megamachine. While Devon's voice may be very similar now to the days of Osker, the music he is playing is not so much. Fingers Cut, Megamachine has the hint of pop-punk in their music that Osker had but it follows a much more alt-country feel this time. At certain points of the disc, you can even hear some hints of early Counting … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Triac

...Always Meant To Hurt You
A389 (2011)

Triac has had a rather long history much of which seems unnoticed by those who aren't on top of their game. Over the course of a handful of releases and a massive appearance on Volume 2 of the "This Comp Kills Fascists" series the band have made themselves known to the metal underground worldwide. Where does this leave the band? … Read more

Mastodon

The Hunter
Reprise (2011)

I was a bit of a latecomer to the Mastodon party. I hadn't discovered them until Crack the Skye, and from that, you can imagine my surprise going back through their discography afterwards. Mastodon's sound, though it has a distinctive flavour, is constantly changing, and their newest release, The Hunter, is no exception.The Hunter is a serious departure from Crack … Read more

Celestiial

Desolate North (Re-Issue)
Handmade Birds (2011)

Allow me to be quite frank with this one, please; if you do not own the vinyl release of Desolate North from Celestiial (no that is not a typo) that Handmade Birds put out, than my friend, you are doing it all wrong because this record is a singularly beautiful release (and I am not just talking about the artwork … Read more

Steve Reich

WTC 9/11
Nonesuch (2011)

Steve Reich occupies a weird place in modern music. He's one of the most-respected modern classical composers and right on the cusp of the avant-garde, winning prestigious accolades like a Pulitzer and a Grammy. Yet at the same time, he's something of a rock star in the classical world. He writes pieces that successfully connect with a younger generation of … Read more

Antonymes

The Licence To Interperet Dreams
Hidden Shoal (2011)

Antonymes is one Ian M. Hazeldine. The North Welsh based artist has in the last two years released more than a couple works of almost ambient music. I say almost since it has some characteristics of the ambient genre it also bases much of its work in the classical realm as well. The pieces have been everything from short singular … Read more

Larry And His Flask

All That We Know
Silver Sprocket (2011)

Larry and His Flask have been getting more and more attention over the past year and a half. They reached a new plateau this past Summer--making a big splash on the Vans Warped Tour, and being labeled as the band to see. Towards the end of the tour they released, All That We Know, which has come to be the … Read more

Planning For Burial

Late Twenties Blues
Self Released (2011)

Alright laugh all you want at my horrid addictions, but until you plunge into Late Twenties Blues yourself, you will not have the faintest idea why this tape is on its fourteenth spin already today in my tape deck (not kidding, I am going to have to get another copy as a backup for this in case I completely wear … Read more

Wreck and Reference

Black Cassette
Music Ruins Lives (2011)

I’ll say this, Black Cassette from Wreck And Reference is good, real good; in fact, this debut has a bunch of people really going out of their way praising this “record” (OK, OK I know this is either on cassette tape or CD but stop hassling me and just listen for minute) and for good reason because the band eschews … Read more

Long Distance Calling

Self Titled
Century Media (2011)

Long Distance Calling are everything that Mogwai wants to be and can't exactly accomplish. They artfully blend elements of progressive rock, post-metal and even alternarock into a result that works so perfectly that it's nothing short of sublime. They've had two prior releases to this album: their debut album Satellite Bay in 2007 and their follow-up Avoid the Light in … Read more

Have Nots

Proud
Paper + Plastick (2011)

Ska-Punk is a loaded genre. That is to say there are only a handful of bands who could balance on the tight rope most tend to fall on either side more often than not. So needless to say for every Clash record there are 3 subpar version of Less Than Jake as well. So when I hear something described as … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Protagonist

States
Paper + Plastick (2011)

Protagonist made their name a couple years ago by releasing a strong skate punk record. This is to say they brought back the glory days of Pennywise or Millencolin. Fast riffs and melodic vocals with a ton of sing alongs ensued. The band must have read the reviews because nothing has really changed. This is not to complain either since … Read more

Tenement

Napalm Dream
Hanged Up (2011)

Wow, this isn’t at all what I was expecting. With a one word name and the title Napalm Dream, I had images of guttural-voice hardcore and power stomps instead of Replacements’-schooled Midwest punk. Sure, I’d seen the name a lot in various Wisconsin-related shows over the past couple of years, but for some reason I associated the band with a … Read more

Pirate

Left Of Mind
Bird's Robes (2011)

How on Earth do you achieve a goal as lofty and vaguely-defined as “to break out of the norm and push boundaries?” Well, Sydney-based progressive four-piece Pirate aimed to find out with their 2011 debut EP, Left of Mind, which was created with that exact goal in mind. Whether or not they actually succeeded is a different case entirely.I'll admit, … Read more

The Cool Kids

When Fish Ride Bicycles
Green Label Sound (2011)

The Cool Kids return with, oddly enough, their debut album. Seems weird, considering these Midwestern boys have been in the game roughly 5 years now, but When Fish Ride Bicycles is technically their first full-length record. With a series of singles, mixtapes, and EPs under their belts, dating back to 2007’s excellent “Black Mags” single, Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish … Read more

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