Skip to content
Home » Album Reviews » Page 81

Album Reviews

Polysics: We Ate The Machine [Album Review]

Polysics

Written by bob_vinyl

Polysics (MySpace) make no secret of their love for Devo. The jumpsuits, the scientist-rock image, it all points to one thing. Their music however, goes further. Devo is clearly in the mix on this collection of synth-heavy, agitated new wave tunes and the result is fun, energetic… and entirely contrived. But they mix that 80s electronic pop with punk energy and more than just a small dose of old Japanese noisecore and that healthy dose of crazy keeps them from being trapped by their own hipness (a dangerous snare that many rehashers of the 80s have failed to avoid). Read More »Polysics: We Ate The Machine [Album Review]

Haakon Ellingsen: The Plum Album [Album Review]

Haakon Ellingsen

Written by Fense

Like Sweden, Norway churns out some pretty great pop bands and one of those is Haakon Ellingsen. Ellingsen’s music is a mixture of pop and folk that is occasionally reminiscent of The Beatles, but not in an distracting or negatively impacting, overtly-influenced manner; maybe a hint of The Polyphonic Spree’s epic nature, as well. Read More »Haakon Ellingsen: The Plum Album [Album Review]

The Sweetheart Parade: Sings Like A Priest [Album Review]

The Sweetheart Parade

Written by Fense

Sings Like A Priest, the latest from The Sweetheart Parade (MySpace), again sets the stage for a Jason Molina (Songs: Ohio, The Magnolia Electric Co.) reference. Simply put, Joshua Britton’s (or JB) voice sounds mighty like that of Molina; they’re entrenched in a deep emotive folk minimalism. It’s not surprising, however, that JB’s voice has a bit more power — the difference is definitely in volume. Read More »The Sweetheart Parade: Sings Like A Priest [Album Review]

Past Lives: Strange Symmetry [Album Review]

Past Lives by Rustee Pace

Written by Fense

The wake of The Blood Brothers demise has actually led to several viable new projects from former members. This list includes Jaguar Love, who released their first LP on Matador earlier this year, and Past Lives (MySpace). Strange Symmetry is the debut EP by the latter, currently out in digital form and slated for physical format release in the next month or so. Read More »Past Lives: Strange Symmetry [Album Review]

Teith: Oak City [Album Review]

Teith

Written by Fense

I can wholeheartedly understand the meaning behind Oak City opener “Coffee Is A Cruel Mistress”. Like cigarettes, one can easily become a coffee addict. Unlike cigarettes, I’m hooked on coffee. My other addictions (you could call them shortcomings, but I don’t) include obsessive compulsive alphabetization, abundant record purchasing, and food. Read More »Teith: Oak City [Album Review]

The Dears: Missiles [Album Review]

The Dears

Listening to Missiles, I get the distinct feeling The Dears (MySpace) were heavily influenced by two albums–unless you take the first few minutes of opening track “Disclaimer” into account, in which you could rephrase that statement to be two bands. If you look at the former, the albums are The Bends and OK Computer. It’s not only in select vocal tracks, but also in the sound of guitars and even a few guitar riffs. It’s not always like this, though, and “Disclaimer” is a prime example. That early sax solo reminded me a bit of Pink Floyd–though the relation is a bit of a stretch. Read More »The Dears: Missiles [Album Review]

The Absentee: Victory Shorts [Album Review]

The Absentee

No no no no no. This isn’t doing it for me. With vocals rivaling Calvin Johnson in pitch, and dubbing themselves indie-pop, there’s an obvious Beat Happening reference here. But where other artists succeed at setting themselves apart from their influences, and do so well, I’m not quite hearing it in The Absentee (MySpace)–at least, not at first. Read More »The Absentee: Victory Shorts [Album Review]

The Dodos

The Dodos: Visiter [Album Review]

A friend of mine recently pointed out how quickly disposable today’s technology has rendered music. Though this statement appears to be quite obvious in a superficial sense; i.e., gone, for the most part, are the days of unwrapping a new album and listening to it’s contents with entirely fresh ears, excitedly perusing the record’s album art and lyric sheet. It is also true in that, given today’s technology, after a few listens, if a record doesn’t catch one’s ear, one artist is conveniently and quickly replaced by another (or twenty others). As a young teenager, I purchased a number of deplorable records (ahhemmm, I’m looking at you, Stone Temple Pilots), and, no matter how bad they were, I repeatedly listened to them, desperate to hear some melodic nuance, some clever lyrical phrasing… shit, something that made me feel like I had not just blown fifteen hard earned dollars.

Read More »The Dodos: Visiter [Album Review]

Antony And The Johnsons: Another World [Album Review]

Antony And The Johnsons

After Antony Heggarty’s involvement in the phenomenal Hercules And Love Affair release from earlier this year, one might expect his more personal project to perhaps alter course. But Another World, for the most part, continues down the same path as earlier works, like I Am A Bird Now and the groups self-titled release. And that commonality is the stripped-down Heggarty on vocals with a melodramatic backing piano and string accompaniment. Read More »Antony And The Johnsons: Another World [Album Review]

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea: Family Family Family Meets The Magic Christian [Album Review]

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea

Written by Fense

The world appears to be crumbling around us and it seems like there’s nothing we can do. As I sit here typing, CNN is discussing the collapse of AIG, which affects IFLC, which in turn has great potential to harm Airbus and Boeing (I bet right now you’re calculating just how long this review has been sitting in the queue, waiting to be posted). Already in Washington the unemployment rate is greater than 6 percent—I am part of that statistic (also an item that has changed since this review was first “written”). There’s a growing desperation in the air and it’s tough not to get caught up in the stress of it all, cause there’s not much we can do but wait it out. Read More »Matthew And The Arrogant Sea: Family Family Family Meets The Magic Christian [Album Review]

Follow by Email
YouTube
YouTube
Instagram

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions