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Orange Island

Orange Island
Triple Crown (2003)

Orange Island are one of those bands who have had the unfortunate luck of being horribly mislabeled as emo. A more accurate description of their sound would be calling them an abrasive yet matured indie-rock band with an awareness of a pop-filled past. With the help of two previous releases, an EP and full-length with Iodine Records, Orange Island have … Read more

The Mountain Goats

We Shall All Be Healed
4AD (2004)

As any lover of lo-fi already knows, the complexity of The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle and his work is vast. He records every album on a living room boombox, has a large backup band despite a very small amount of accompaniment on any given record, and has a penchant for weird lyrics of which he is the only person who … Read more

Paint It Black

CVA
Jade Tree (2003)

Now this is how hardcore is supposed to be played: fast, loud, and pissed off. From beginning to end this disc is brutal. You'll find no sissy, emo bullshit here. This is 17 songs in well under 20 minutes, or "fuckin' quick" as some may like to call it. "But wait," you may ask, "Isn't this on Jade Tree?" Yes, … Read more

Year of the Rabbit

Year of the Rabbit
Elektra (2003)

Before I even begin to go in depth about Year of the Rabbit's major-label debut I want to get one thing clear. I find it unfair to make comparisons and set standards to bands based upon their involvements in previous efforts. Yet, it happens all the time, most recently with The Fire Theft and their past as Sunny Day Real … Read more

Dispensing of False Halos

With Prayers and A Scalpel
Init (2003)

So comrade, this elderly man walks into a bar and asks the bartender, "Where can I find the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated?" Then out of fucking left field, sometimes inadvertently perceived as right, Dispensing Of False Halos busts through the adjacent wall and tears that geezer a new blowhole. Now, what exactly instigated this odd situation and, better … Read more

Notwist

Different Cars and Trains
Domino (2003)

In many cases, EPs of new material from bands who have released prolific albums in the last couple of years are enfuriating teases and rehashes that offer the faithful listener little new material if any at all. It's also difficult to accept an artist's re-rendering of some of your favorite songs. In most cases, tracks are placed in unfamiliar hands … Read more

Mental

Get an Oxygen Tank!
Bridge Nine (2003)

You know, I could sit here and lie to you about how there are certain artists that are doing something important and/or completely original. Why not? I mean most people who review albums for other websites do. I could do that, but it wouldn't really matter 'cause the people who will read this probably won't care anyway. Mental comes from … Read more

Ani DiFranco

Educated Guess
Righteous Babe (2005)

Ani DiFranco is, without a doubt, one of the most active singer/songwriters in music today. Since her 1990 debut, she's put out about 20 other releases on her very own label. Needless to say, she's a very hard worker and an even better writer. Over the years, her albums have featured a vast array of other instruments to help transform … Read more

None More Black

File Under Black
Fat Wreck Chords (2003)

Somewhere around the turn of the millennium, Fat Wreck Chords decided it wanted to be the best punk label around. File Under Black, None More Black's first full length offering is a perfect example of how Fat has come to be just that. The band is fronted by longtime scenester, Jason Shevchuk, front man of the legendary melodic hardcore band … Read more

Fantômas

Delirium Cordia
Ipecac (2004)

Fantômas is a musical group whose sound can best be described as a schizophrenic adventure through the world of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. The music of Fantômas is both unstable and methodical as well as beautiful and chaotic. Multitalented brainchild Mike Patton and musical cohorts Trevor Dunn, Dave Lombardo, and Buzz 'King Buzzo' Ozbourne return with a masterpiece of ambience … Read more

In Control

The Truth Hurts
Indecision/Martyr (2003)

When I first got into hardcore, I was exposed to the old shit'you know, Bad Religion, 7 Seconds, Minor Threat, DI'the stuff from when people still realized that hardcore IS punk. Slowly, as metal began to invade the scene, hardcore and punk split into, what seem today, two completely different genres. In Control bring it back to the old school, … Read more

Envy

A Dead Sinking Story
Level Plane (2003)

There're plenty of bands in the world, but the ones that really stick out are the ones that leave you scratching your head, unsure of what you've heard, but a little bruised, beaten, and fulfilled because of it. Japan's Envy is one of those bands, a flurry of sound that differentiates only in extremes, from pummeling assaults to lush, gorgeous … Read more

Bones Brigade

I Hate Myself When I'm Not Skateboarding
Fight Fire With Fire (2003)

In a time where skate boarding is about as punk rock as a walk through Disneyland, where skateboarding movie soundtracks are infiltrated by hip hop and pop punk, Bones Brigade skids in just in time to skate hard and rock even harder. Everything about this will make you want to get off your ass and plunge down a hill, unless … Read more

90 Day Men

Panda Park
Southern (2004)

It's hard writing about a band who's been around for a while that you're just hearing for the first time. Describing how they used to sound is crucial in ultimately describing how they sound now. Maybe it's not crucial, but it certainly makes the job a lot easier to have a point of reference through past records. All I know … Read more

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