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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)

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

Not many albums open with a song like "Brianstorm." I'm talking Dick Dale on angel dust. I'm talking a sentient '68 Ford Mustang playing a sentient '68 Fender Mustang. Seriously, surfboards in the seventh dimension. The future of rock and roll, so retro it makes me want to dance like a Pulp Fiction character. Actually, Pulp Fiction came to mind a few times while listening to Favourite Worst Nightmare. First of all, there aren't a lot of reference points for intros combining surf-rock and deadliness. But there's more to the connection. Not only in the incongruously successful use of past clichés (see the wavering Crimson and Clover guitar on "The Only Ones Who Know," the pure 60's solo from "Teddy Picker," and the Wipeout tom-toms in "Do Me a Favor"), but in this album's combination of the harsh and the cartoonish. The basslines on the fast songs, "Balaclava" for instance, are only getting sillier and the drums, nasty as can be, do occasionally venture into camp. After the sixth superfast hi-hat break of the album, I started to feel like I was listening to Lil Jon. In spite of this sort of over-the-top orchestration, though; Arctic Monkeys never let go … Read more

Multiple Authors

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

If I am to believe Wikipedia.org, this album is one of the greatest albums ever released. If I have to … Read more

Volt

Rorhat
Exile on Mainstream/Southern (2006)

There are a lot of bands out there that sound like nothing more than the sum of their influences, without … Read more

Trash Talk

Walking Disease
Rumble (2007)

Some bands are like wine; they only get better with age. Trash Talk's new "full-length" effort is a great example … Read more

The Dustheads

Tall Tales I & II
Don Giovanni (2007)

Peanut butter and chocolate; Hall and Oates; French fries and nacho cheese. Some things were meant to be together, but … Read more

Type O Negative

Dead Again
SPV (2007)

Alright, stop thinking about Pete Steele holding his wang in Playgirl - don't lie, you know you've Googled the pictures. … Read more

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One from the archives

United Nations

The Next Four Years
Temporary Residence (2014)

United Nations have been locked away for a few years now. Members have come and gone and we aren't even exactly sure which ones. In those four years though, they created music, and that music is finally available to the masses in the form of The Next Four Years. While it's being released as a new full length, it's fair to also call it a compilation album. Even the cover and title pay tribute to Black Flag's compilation, The First Four Years. What gives the release a pass, is that it's mostly made up of previously unreleased, although rumored, material. United Nations did something special for this album. They released it across 3 forms of media: two 7-inches, a 10-inch, and a cassette. The idea behind that box set was … Read more

More album reviews

Cheap Tragedies

2000 and 7: Demo
Independent (2007)

Cheap Tragedies note that they formed shortly after the members ran into each other at this summer's Gorilla Biscuits reunion tour in Cleveland. Given this fact and their extensive collective resume of previous bands, one may be concerned that their current project might serve as nothing more than a nostalgia piece - worthy in its own right, but without any … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

The year I was born, Trent Reznor, under his Nine Inch Nails alias, released Pretty Hate Machine, an album which through the iconographic concept of the mix tape circuit launched his career. Fueled by a nihilistic sense of self-realization, and far too much booze, Reznor produced tracks which resonated with audiences for their highly inter personal lyrics and the "industrial" … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

Let me bring you up to speed on the world of Nine Inch Nails. 2005 saw the release of With Teeth, an album which boasted three number-one singles, a Grammy award nomination, and respectable position on many 'top albums of the year' lists. Like the widely acclaimed The Downward Spiral before it, With Teeth showcased distinct pop-sensibilities in frontman Trent … Read more

Bright Eyes

Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
Saddle Creek (2006)

If I had a bunch of superfans crocheting armwarmers for me I could sell my half-assed b-sides just like Connor Oberst. Connor/Imaginary Successful Me: Remember that song we made when we were drunk and then that girl came over? And that one where I was learning how to make drum sounds on my iMac but we got drunk and that … Read more

Maria Taylor

Lynn Teeter Flower
Saddle Creek (2007)

One of the first reviews I ever did for this website was for Maria Taylor's debut solo album, 11:11. It's been two years since our respective efforts and I think it's safe to say that we've both matured. On Lynn Teeter Flower, a record named for a family friend, Taylor succeeds in capturing her own sound, rather than borrowing from … Read more

Insect Warfare

Endless Execution Thru Violent Restitution
625 Thrash (2006)

Insect Warfare is back bringing their Gulf Coast grindcore obliteration in the form of a new 7" EP entitled Endless Execution Thru Violent Restitution on 625 Thrash. Although their fanbase and popularity soared in the wake of their debut EP, At War With Grindcore, this EP is sure to make them into the legends that they deserve to be. The … Read more

Mayhem

Ordo Ad Chao
Season of Mist (2007)

Black Metal: (n) a subgenre of heavy metal music that uses screamed Satanic lyrics, fast guitar playing and drumming, and heavily distorted music with a focus on satanic imagery and occult themes. For some, the above definition is redundant. Some of you reading this review are already familiar with Mayhem and their, shall we say, tumultuous history. For the rest, … Read more

Pagoda

Pagoda
Ecstatic Peace (2007)

It's 2005: Gus van Sant releases another part of his Death Trilogy: Last Days, a movie depicting the demise of a very Cobain-like character called Blake. It tore the fans of Nirvana apart; some loved it, others hated it. Arguments ranged from "Peeing on Kurt's legacy" to "a beautiful homage to Kurt's final days." During the movie Blake plays a … Read more

Drawing Voices

Drawing Voices
Double H Noise/Hydra Head (2007)

Drawing Voices is easily one the most experimental and groundbreaking projects that I have come across in all my years of listening to and reviewing music. Mastermind Craig Dongoski with help of Aaron Turner of Isis/House of Low Culture has taken the art of drawing and writing and transformed it into an auditory experience. The two as Drawing Voices have … Read more

Stars of the Lid

And Their Refinement of the Decline
Kranky (2007)

When it comes to currently running ambient acts, they do not get any more prolific than Stars of the Lid. Having released material since 1995, the duo made up of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie have relocated since releasing their last album and absolute masterpiece The Tired Sounds Of... and found themselves living more than 6,000 miles apart. This distance … Read more

Jesu

Sundown/Sunrise
Aurora Borealis (2007)

Justin Broadrick and company has been extremely busy. Sundown/ Sunrise is a two-song 12" EP that Aurora Borealis is releasing. These songs are also available on the Japanese import version of the latest Jesu album, Conqueror. The tracks are not remixes of songs on the album, but rather they are entities to and of themselves. With a combined running time … Read more

El-P

I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Definitive Jux (2007)

Nas' latest release makes the claim that hip-hop is dead. If he paid attention to the underground, he'd know the genre is not only alive and well but with a pulse fresher than ever. Five years after the release of his first solo release, Fantastic Damage, El-P returns with I'll Sleep When You're Dead, an album proving why El's label … Read more

Defiance, Ohio / Environmental Youth Crunch

Split
Dead Tank (2007)

This split basically had to happen. Environmental Youth Crunch loves the environment. Defiance, Ohio loves friendship and family. Both bands love punk rock and it's ideals. With this split 7", even if only for a brief time, they are able to crank out some great folk songs, as well as cover one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever. … Read more

Novembers Doom

The Novella Reservoir
The End (2007)

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Novembers Doom were first brought to my attention by a disgruntled Opeth fan, who, unimpressed with the band's last offering, was recommending Novembers Doom's The Pale Haunt Departure instead. He informed me that the vocals - clean and harsh - were just as good as Mikael Ã"¦kerfeldt's and the songs were simply "much better", his words, … 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)