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Three Mile Pilot

Planets / Grey Clouds
Temporary Residence (2009)

Thank (insert the deity or spirit or devil that you pay allegiance to here)! Three Mile Pilot is finally giving listeners new music to enjoy, which after years since their last record of new material, 1998's Three Mile Pilot EP (The two-CD compilation of rarities, Songs From an Old Town we Once Knew was released the following year). Comprised of … Read more

Korova

Another Happy Customer
Victimized (2009)

Korova are a DIY hardcore band from Alabama. They wear their influences on their sleeve, with latter-day Black Flag being the predominant one throughout Another Happy Customer, though other 80s bands pop through their discordant surface. The minimal, noisy tracks separate the band from a number of their crustcore peers, but they definitely developed their songwriting from 80s thrash and … Read more

This Time Next Year

Road Maps and Heart Attacks
Equal Vision (2009)

The term "pop-punk" has been tarnished and dragged through the mud quite a bit thanks to the surge of boy bands disguising themselves as pop-punk bands: All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, Mayday Parade, etc. These bands parade around giving a bad name to any band that draws any influence from the New Found Glory/Saves the Day school of … Read more

Izah

Finite Horizon / Crevice
Independent (2009)

Europe, as the old continent, contains a great deal of culture and a long history to help shape musicians and the work. Many in the United States move on obliviously with our lives while barely noticing some of the more well known bands from there. Izah is a group from the old continent that surely is under the radar of … Read more

Skeletonwitch

Breathing the Fire
Prosthetic (2009)

Skeletonwitch's name is known fairly well among the metal community. The band won a lot of new fans over with their sophomore record and Prosthetic Records debut, Beyond the Permafrost. Their combination of thrash and black metal was fairly different compared to what most neo-thrash bands were doing at the time. Now that a couple years have passed, there have … Read more

Black Cloud

Demo
Independent (2009)

Sometimes, there are chances that demos can surprise you while at other times they make you wish that you never put it on your stereo in the first place. Black Cloud's nondescript demo (in the most classic of terms), with its hand made heavy cardstock cover and barely visible cover image and homemade feel, falls squarely in the former category. … Read more

Keelhaul

Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity
Hydra Head (2009)

It's been five years since Cleveland-based Keelhaul last graced us with Subject to Change Without Notice. In that time a lot has transpired, and not just in the world of music. And yet it is refreshing to know that even though everything surrounding us appears to be in a state of flux, that there are some things that remain constant. … Read more

Food

Food
Molsook (2009)

Do you know the old bit of folk wisdom that goes something like "Never judge a book by its cover"? Well, substitute record for book, and the old axiom becomes apt the same way. Food's self-titled record is an example of this axiom working in this situation. At first, I completely mistake the cover image for something else because at … Read more

Celan

Halo
Exile on Mainstream (2009)

Celan is an intriguing collection of musicians that is comprised of members of Unsane, Oxbow, Einsturzende Neubauten, and others. Just reading the list of collaborators and knowing their other work definitely forces individuals to take notice as well as wonder at the possibilities of just what this particular effort might be capable of creating. Halo is the debut album from … Read more

Down-Stares

Cobras & Matadors
T.Rex Ate My Face (2008)

A couple of years ago, through my involvement with this website, I crossed paths with Down-Stares' independently released album The Watershed. This was an album that pushed me to my limits as a music critic because, as someone who prefers neatly defined genre categories and, even more so, inaccessibility in my music, Down-Stares is a challenge because of its blatant … Read more

The Black Heart Procession

Six
Temporary Residence (2009)

Can anyone truly describe the sound of The Black Heart Procession? At times there is an audible melancholy that seems to wrap itself in the music, and at other times the band produces a bit more of a "poppy" feel, all the while still maintaining something more dark. Pointless as it is, in an attempt to describe the group's style … Read more

Defeatist

Sharp Blade Sinks Deep into Dull Minds
Willowtip (2009)

I really hate bringing up the ex-members of thing when talking about records. No, seriously I do. Defeatist is the perfect example as to why. When doing research for this album I found a pedigree of underground metal. Members of Anodyne and Kalibas join forces to create a grindcore band indebted to early Napalm Death and Repulsion. To someone like … Read more

Sunny Day Real Estate

Diary / LP2 (Reissues)
Sub Pop (2009)

When it comes to album reissues, it is actually a much more difficult task to write a fair and unbiased review than you might think, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the reviewer - in this case, me - has heard the original recording; therefore there is a pre-conceived opinion of the material. Secondly, the majority of these types of … Read more

Strung Out

Agents of the Underground
Fat Wreck Chords (2009)

Strung Out's Blackhawks Over Los Angeles was a record that had a lot of ups and downs. The album showcased the band's improving musicianship and songwriting but the production really brought the record down. Singer Jason Cruz's voice felt processed in too many areas and it restricted the power that his vocals usually have. I also felt that the band … Read more

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