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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)

Look Mexico

This is Animal Music
Lujo (2007)

With the exception of Gainesville, nothing good ever comes out of Florida. Or so I thought until I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing Look Mexico. Astonishing, entrancing, downright entertaining: all proper verbs to describe their performance. The next day I couldn't remember what they sounded like due to circumstances I needn't get into, but I remembered I hadn't felt such unabashed delight since going to Warped Tour when I was sixteen. It became my prerogative to hear this band again if only to remember what brought me such glee. A quick look at the cover of This is Animal Music shows a rabbit and bear playing stringed instruments while a fox attempts to dance with a boy, maybe an attempt to get to him to smile, if only a little bit. This is a perfect metaphor for Look Mexico; they're not trying to win you over, they just want you smile, if only a little bit. The first band that comes to mind when trying to describe their likeness is American Football. The guitars are technical, but soft and warm. The rhythm section is jazzy but not merely a backbone to keep the song moving. The horns are the … Read more

Under Pressure

Black Bile
Escape Artist (2007)

Apparently, Under Pressure hails from Winnipeg, Canada - former home of the Jets hockey team before they became the Phoenix … Read more

Said Radio

Tidal Waves and Teeth
Mankind (2007)

The initial rumblings of Said Radio caused a lot of excitement in the punk/hardcore community, and for good reason. Rumors … Read more

Ozma

Pasadena
About a Girl (2007)

After splitting in 2004, it seemed initially unlikely that California's Ozma would ever resurface with their brand of power pop … Read more

Ambitions

Stranger
Bridge Nine (2007)

I've been a dedicated follower of Ambitions since their introduction as a side project band that featured three-fifths of With … Read more

Eskimo Joe

Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Rykodisc (2007)

"No one in our band is in it for their ego. It's all about the songs" The above is a … Read more

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One from the archives

Explosions in the Sky

The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
Temporary Residence (2003)

If Explosions in the Sky's previous LP, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, could be called one thing, it would be called "derivative." Not that it wasn't an incredible record crafted by a band on top of their game, but let's be honest: it simply regurgitated ideas that the forerunners of the post-rock genre had already come up with earlier. The band's motto of "extreme silence to extreme violence" was really all you needed to know, a band that was completely focused on dynamics, but fell a little by the wayside while trying to make the whole thing cohesive. Songs veered off in unexpected directions, sheets of white noise rained down unexpectedly, dramatic shifts launched at you from seemingly nowhere, and … Read more

More album reviews

Angel Eyes

...and for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars
Underground Communiqué (2007)

Let me get to this straight away; I love the movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so naming yourself after Lee Van Cleef's character in that movie, makes you a-okay in my book. and for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars is the third record from Angel Eyes, following 2005's Something to Do with Death and their … Read more

My Flea Circus

Fancy Feast
Independent (2006)

I've come across some weird avant-garde bands, but it's a rare occurrence that I hear a band as bizarre and creepy as My Flea Circus. I usually find a way to pin down even the most out-there bands, but this is kind of a first for me. I'm at a total loss for words. So I'm going to have to … Read more

Nirvana

Unplugged in New York
Geffen (2007)

At the risk of sounding like a filthy hippie droning on about the sixties and how you had to be there to understand it, the same could pretty much be said for the early nineties. The eighties were discovered to be an insanely vacuous era that by the turn of the decade had started to smell like anything but teen … Read more

Kaada & Patton

Live
Ipecac (2007)

Has it really been three, almost four, years now since Mike Patton and John Kaada released Romances? Apparently so! Live chronicles the first and only live performance of Patton and Kaada's music of Romances at the Roskilde Festival in 2005 on DVD format. The two constructed a band that contains members of Kaada's band Cloroform to perform the album, and … Read more

Make Do and Mend

We're All Just Living
Restless Minds (2007)

Don't you just hate it when an album, or in this case an EP, is marred by one or two horrible tracks? Connecticut's Make Do and Mend almost created a flawless melodic post-hardcore short player if it weren't for the second and third tracks. The latter of these two tracks, entitled "Interlewd," is a keyboard/piano driven sap fest that tries … Read more

Pusher

Pusher
Auxiliary (2007)

Pusher hails from Louisville and features an impressive cast of ex-members as Steve Sindoni (vocals) comes to the band after handling vocals in Breather Resist and Matt Jaha (drums) comes from his former drumming duties in Black Cross and Coliseum. Unfortunately this release is a posthumous document of a short-lived group that just could not keep it together, but at … Read more

Strangers

Weight
Action Man (2007)

Earlier this year Strangers really grabbed my interest with their four-song EP, Holding. On that release, five individuals from New Zealand delivered a devastating aural assault. So here we are a couple of months down the road and Strangers have unleashed their debut full-length, Weight, upon the masses. The album begins with "Expositions," a two-minute number that picks up exactly … Read more

Chosen

Promo 2007
Independent (2007)

HEY YOU! Metal Blade! Century Media! Lifeforce! Earache! All you record labels down with the metal: LISTEN UP! Chosen is an independent metal band hailing from Ireland and I can say with all sincerity that the fact that none of you have stepped up and signed these guys is a Goddamn travesty. Granted, this might be due to the fact … Read more

Air

Pocket Symphony
Astralwerks (2007)

You know those bands that everyone talks about but you never get the chance to check them out? This is one of those cases. I never knew anyone who listened to Air on any regular basis, and bands that have extremely simple names never really seem to stick in my mind. Plus, when I hear the word electronica, it doesn't … Read more

Alkaline Trio

Remains
Vagrant (2007)

I haven't met anyone in my life that is affiliated with hardcore or punk that doesn't like at least a handful of Alkaline Trio songs. Alkaline Trio's gothic twists on weathered topics like being drunk, drugs, and being heartbroken ring all but universal to the ears of every kid that has every thought about wearing black for a week and … Read more

Saves the Day

Under the Boards
Vagrant (2007)

Part two in the trilogy of concept (small C) albums, Under the Boards sees Saves the Day back on a quick release schedule. This follow up to Sound the Alarm took only a year to release, compared to the three that passed between Sound the Alarm and the critically-panned In Reverie. With a third record, Daybreak, already in the works … Read more

Tombs

Tombs
Black Box Recordings (2007)

Tombs is the latest project from Mike Hill (former member of the criminally underrated bands Anodyne and Versoma). Tombs seemingly picks up from where Hill's last and short lived project Versoma left off with their EP Life During Wartime; this short, seven song EP is a good starting point for Tombs with its thick guitars and loud sound. Opening with … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Spank Rock and Benny Blanco

Bangers & Cash
Downtown (2007)

The latest effort from Baltimore club/DJ/rapping outfit Spank Rock brings more to the table than one might think. The opening line, "Welcome to the fuck shop," gives you an idea of what you're in store for. Bangers & Cash is five tracks of sex and money, with Spank Rock rapper Naeem Juwan dominating the lyrical space. This is also two … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Terror

Rhythm Amongst the Chaos
Reaper (2007)

I love Terror. I don't care about what anyone has to say about this band being simple-minded or playing hardcore for the "wrong kids." Terror just flat out rules. Always have, and so far, always will. Rhythm Amongst the Chaos basically takes off where Always the Hard Way left off with Scott Vogel and company infusing the metallic overdrive of … Read more

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