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This is Hell

This is Hell
State of Mind (2005)

This Is Hell was unavoidable in 2004. Whether it was This Is Hell's demo that quickly sold out, their rabid touring or people uttering, "This is hell..." after President Bush was elected, the band couldn't be ignored. Well boys and girls, This Is Hell will even be harder to ignore in 2005 with the wheels of the touring juggernaut beginning … Read more

Never Enough

Dead Set on Destruction
Organized Crime (2005)

I first heard about this band in the summer of 2003. I was buying a 7" from a band on tour when their merch guy told me about his band, Never Enough. He said they were a cross between Negative Approach and American Nightmare. He gave me a demo CD-R. Never Enough was just the sort of thing I wanted … Read more

Fall Out Boy

From Under the Cork Tree
Island (2005)

Selling out. Trying something new. Maturing. Call it what you will, but a substantial number of underground artists have become fairly well-known after changing up the musical scene they are involved with. First there was Ian MacKaye leaving behind Minor Threat for Fugazi, and eventually The Evens. Others followed suit. Gorilla Biscuits guitarist Walter Schreifels went from playing in one … Read more

Stars

Set Yourself on Fire
Arts & Crafts (2005)

"Ladies and gentlemen, set yourself on fire!" exclaims novelist Ibi Kaslik on the inside cover of Stars's sophomore album, Set Yourself on Fire. This begins a rather brief but punchy tirade about how we should not laze about while fascist dictators, ahem Bush, are in power. While there are only a handful of political songs, the rest of the album … Read more

Keren Ann

Nolita
Blue Note (2005)

On The Blood Brothers' 2004 disc Crimes singers Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney scream, "Everybody needs a little devastation," from "Devastator." Well you know what fellas, sometimes everybody needs a little benefaction. Sometimes we need love and flowers and pretty things, like rainbows and holding hands. Singer/songwriter Keren Ann Zeidel, whose recording name is simply Keren Ann, shows us the … Read more

Spitalfield

Stop Doing Bad Things
Victory (2005)

Ever since I accidentally saw them live in 2003, Spitalfield had been on my list of bands to avoid listening to. Their set was brain-implodingly bad - a sloppy mess of contrived pop-punk hooks, soulless songwriting, and the second whiniest vocals I?d ever heard (Rufio being the first.) It didn?t help that the sound quality was weak, or that the … Read more

The Fiery Furnaces

EP
Sanctuary (2005)

A 10-song, 40-minute EP? Talk about cocky! After releasing their 80-minute beast of an album, Blueberry Boat, to my (and a handful of other cultists') absolute euphoria in 2004, what would be a perfectly suitable song amount and running time for a full-length LP for virtually any other band in the musical spectrum is a mere EP to the sweeping, … Read more

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Naturally
Daptone (2005)

Generally at the beginning of the year, you'll set your hopes high for a handful of releases and odds are, one of those will be one of your albums of the year. The last two years for me though, has had surprising candidates come out of left field to steal my heart and take home that coveted award. This year … Read more

Time for Change

Profound
Glory Kid (2005)

There was a time long long ago when Victory Records put out quality hardcore releases by bands like Integrity, The Path of Resistance, and Snapcase as opposed to the rubbish that they've been putting out as of late. In fact, the majority of what they release nowadays isn't even hardcore; it's closer to BSB (Backstreet Boys) than BFB (Blood for … Read more

Sabertooth Zombie / Jumpstreet

Headsplitterz 7"
Independent (2005)

Splits are traditionally a way two bands can get their music recorded/released by combining money. If you read that wrong you might even think bands combine monkeys. Sabertooth Zombie and Jumpstreet each contribute four songs towards proof that the bay area is a force not to be reckoned with. Sabertooth Zombie blasts balls with the first four songs. Sabbertooth Zombie … Read more

Dreadful Dollface

Untouched
Independent (2004)

I first happened upon this group in June of last year, when the lead singer Chris made a thread on a message board I was frequenting about his band. The samples on the main page were outstanding. They were melodic, tinged with something I thought was reminiscent of eighties New Wave, when it was still the dark brooding poetry of … Read more

Hot Snakes

Peel Sessions
Swami (2005)

Last fall rock lost one of its true visionaries. John Peel was responsible for introducing the UK to acts like Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Undertones, Nirvana, The White Stripes, Napalm Death, Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror & Joy Division. How's that for diversity? It was an honor for any band to get to play Peel's BBC radio … Read more

Weezer

Make Believe
Geffen (2005)

By now you've scrolled down and seen that I've given Make Believe a score of 6.0. So you probably think I'm a biased fan who likes this album more than he should. Well, I am. But you should also know that if I were to review Weezer's previous catalogue, it would look something like this: 1) The Blue Album - … Read more

M.I.A.

Arular
XL Recordings (2005)

Superfluous. If I could describe the music press' fawning over female Sri-Lankan/British emcee M.I.A. in a single word, that would be it. This excessive praise for a new artist is not unique to her, of course. In 2004, it was Franz Ferdinand. In 2003, it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. To be honest, M.I.A.'s Arular does not live up to … Read more

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