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Stars are Falling

The Consequence of Revenge
Blood & Ink (2007)

Sacramento's Stars are Falling are yet another in long line of bands coming out of California and inking a deal with Blood & Ink Records, an imprint of Facedown Records. So you basically know what you are going to get here even before you listen to it. Yup, you guessed it more Jesus loving metalcore that today's sleeveless t-shirt camo … Read more

Dohrn

Dohrn
Ethospine Noise (2006)

I have a soft spot for those noise punk and grindcore albums that blaze by in ten minutes or less. You know the kind. They're not something you listen to every day, but they are the perfect unrelenting catharsis on those days when you feel like the whole world is against you. Dohrn's self-titled debut is that kind of album. … Read more

Boxcar Satan / The Graves Brothers Deluxe

Black Water Rising
Dog Fingers (2007)

Charity records are always a tough breed to review; on the one hand you don't want to say anything bad because they are for a good cause and you have to respect that. On the other hand though, most are a big pile of shite that the majority of people with taste ignore with intent. So it was with some … Read more

Strangers

Holding
Action Man (2007)

Many Americans tend to take our music scene for granted, very rarely looking outside of our borders for new music. But if the last couple of years writing reviews has taught me anything, it's that there is a just as much music, if not more, deserving of recognition coming from areas outside the United States. Five-piece hardcore outfit Strangers may … Read more

Busdriver

RoadKillOvercoat
Epitaph (2007)

Busdriver is something of an anomaly in contemporary hip-hop. He is perpetually labeled as, if not "the next big thing", at least "someone to watch out for" by mainstream hip-hop media. And yet he never can quite break out of his underground, intelligent indie rapper niche. Whether this is due to his admittedly strange delivery or his legitimately politically aware … Read more

The Snake The Cross The Crown

Cotton Teeth
Equal Vision (2007)

In late 2004 when folk was just breaking through and about to become the new emo, I was caught off guard by a band called The Snake The Cross The Crown. Opening for Owen, I was dumbfounded by the passion these gentlemen brought to the stage. Shortly after witnessing the spectacle that was their live show, I picked up their … Read more

Short Sharp Shock

Short Sharp Shock
Dead & Gone (2006)

Anyone who's read any of my reviews probably has a pretty good idea of my old-school sensibilities when it comes to music. I've been listening to music for my whole life and it's tough to find anything that sounds fresh these days. So the reasons for my old-school tastes are simple. I'm old. I've heard a lot in my life. … Read more

xDeathstarx

We are the Threat
Facedown (2007)

Maybe I am the only one that can see the irony in a Christian straightedge band having a song called "The Great Opiate" since organized religion has always been thought of the opiate of the masses for free thinking atheists around the world. Then again, I don't think xDeathstarx could bang two brain cells in their collective seven heads to … Read more

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

Living with the Living
Touch & Go (2007)

Like a well-deserved punch to the face, a breath of fresh air in a smog-ridden city, or indeed, a good musician amongst a plethora of bad ones, Ted Leo and his illustrious Pharmacists have returned with their Touch & Go debut, Living with the Living. At just over an hour long, the record beats Leo's previous offering, 2004's Shake the … Read more

Since the Flood

No Compromise
Metal Blade (2007)

New Hampshire natives Since the Flood have worked hard to get where they are today. In their five years of existence the band has self-released a couple demos, signed as the first band to Ironclad Recordings (Trevor of Unearth's label), and toured their asses off, resulting in the promotion from imprint label Ironclad to the mother of metal, Metal Blade … Read more

Nicole Atkins

Bleeding Diamonds
Columbia (2006)

What is it with the recent explosion of male singer/songwriters? Almost like buses, none show up for ages and then all of a sudden a billion swarm you and the one that everyone jumps onboard turns out to be James Blunt. And where have all the female singer/songwriters gone? It seems that when there is a rise in one sex … Read more

Call it Fire

Demo
Independent (2007)

Oh wow, another Long Island hardcore band? Seriously? Man, I can't really say I saw this one coming. All sarcastic comments aside, Long Island, New York has cranked out some seriously great bands over the years. I mean, who else has a pedigree like Glassjaw, Silent Majority, Brand New and Crime in Stereo? More or less, you know the score … Read more

This Time Next Year

Demonstration
Independent (2006)

I know I've said this before, but God bless the Bay Area! Five-piece outfit This Time Next Year is the latest band to emerge from the thriving music scene of the Golden Gate. The young pop-punk outfit hits the scene with Demonstration, five tracks of fabulous pop-punk and melodic hardcore fused as one. "The Wise are Always Better" begins the … Read more

Escape the Floodwater Jug Band

Whiskey Will Fix It
Super Amigos (2006)

A half a century ago, when America was a more wholesome place than its current manifestation, a man by the name of Kerouac wrote the great American novel of its time. In the novel, On the Road, Kerouac recounts the adventures had when crisscrossing the newly developed highway system. Kerouac himself often romanticized of an even earlier America still: a … Read more

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