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 Brothers Martin are a 2-man electro-pop band from Riverside, CA.Consisting of Ronnie and Jason Martin, Brothers Martin debuts with this LP on Tooth And Nail Records. Jason(Starflyer 59) brings his influence of 80's-style rock and adds it to Ronnie's(Joy Electric) style of keyboard and beat-driven synths to produce sounds mainly heard from 80's-synth bands like New Order and Depeche Mode. The end result is a perfect blend of both artists' individual specialties with singable melodies and incredible amounts of drive. Over the years, Jason's project(SF59) has gone through different changes while Ronnie's project(JE) hasn't really evolved as much. Jason's style began with shoegazer and slowly evolved over time(16 LP's and EP's) to a more poppy and upbeat sound, to a slower, more indie sound and back to upbeat and poppy. I don't think they could've successfully combined their styles at any other time in their careers than now, actually. While Joy Electric has changed in varying degrees over the past few years, I think Ronnie couldn't have been more ready than now to do a project like this one either. Chances are, thats exactly why they waited until now to pull something like this off: Everything was right. Each brother shares in singing assignments and neither strays from their personal style very much. Instead, they blend their voices in such a way that its difficult to tell whos singing on a particular track at times... and speaking of styles, they also stay pretty loyal to themselves without straying too far in one direction or the other-- Its actually pretty seamless. As for negatives, they're really aren't very many. Their vocal styles have one thing in common where they tend to go slightly flat once in a while and it kinda bothered me on 'Deaf Will Hear', but the music was so strong that the discomfort didn't last very long. Other than that, its a pretty flaw-free LP. The best thing about an LP like this is when 2 people who could've potentially come together long ago wait until they're both ready to make music thats as good as this. It was only a matter of time and it was well-worth the wait...  9.3/10Communication- Myspace |
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 Fall Out Boy is a 4-member pop punk band from Wilmette, IL.Well, I don't typically talk about bands as corporate as this, but when I get an advance copy of something this popular, its hard to turn down a review. Since it was given to me and not actually purchased, it might be less illegal, but probably not. Either way, most of you will probably buy this whether my review chastises it or not. From Jay-Z's opening, denouncing critics(did you expect any less from a rapper?), to the various experimental elements on this LP, Fall Out Boy has made a significant jump in popularity from their previous record to this one. To those of you not sure of what they sound like, just think Panic! At The Disco with a pop punk edge and with less dramatics. Fall Out Boy is about as big as it gets in popular music and if you're not aware of their existence, you'll probably recognize their impact on music that got released and popular after their first single was released. For example, Panic! probably wouldn't have been as well-accepted as they were if it weren't for them. That, in itself, is quite a feat. For those of you who've heard their single, 'This Ain't A Scene, Its An Arms Race', you might think they've changed their style in favor of some sort of R&B-pop-punk hybrid band. Thankfully for everyone, they haven't. The other songs on the LP maintain the style that they've become popular for and though the previously mentioned style shows up again on another song(I've Got This Ringing In My Ears...), its largely an experiment. On the song,'Hum Hallelujah', their experimentation makes another appearance and ruins a perfectly good song with soul-type singers belting-out hallelujahs during a break on the song. It was just completely ridiculous and out of place. Also new was a strings section added to, 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs'. They never reoccur through the rest of the LP, but it was very Panic!-esque. There are plenty of single-worthy songs scattered on this record. Look for one of their next singles to be 'The Take Over, The Breaks Over', 'The Carpal Tunnel Of Love', 'I'm Like A Lawyer...' or 'Bang The Doldrums'. For this type of music, the music has to be melodic, powerful and catchy as hell. These songs meet those criteria. The rest, well, they're pretty average. The gems are there, you just have to sift through some mediocrity first. At least they never dip below mediocrity. For the most part, its pretty much Under The Cork Tree without as many 'hooks'. But honestly, they're already popular, so they really don't need them. If you've been a fan, you're definitely gonna want this. If not, there really isn't anything new here except for the songs previously mentioned to draw you in. Fortunately for them, all they needed to make was a fan-friendly record to be successful this time around. Next time, however, I don't think fans will be impressed with another photocopy--They'll definitely have to reinvent themselves. But again, for now, this is fine I'm sure... 7.0/10This Ain't A Scene, Its An Arms Race- video Myspace |
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 This is the 3rd LP from these indie instrumentalists based in Austin, TX.This may have come out in late 2003, but this record has strangely been able to keep me busy since its release. Explosions In The Sky's sound can be compared to that of Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mono. They may be instrumental, but they're as lyrical as anyone I typically talk about here. Dynamics shift gradually to ensure a more flowing feel to the album rather than suddenly like their peers, Mogwai. This record was well-thought-through and the finished product is emotional and amazing. Explosions In The Sky have always had a theme on their LP's and this one is no exception. Their debut, How Strange, Innocence was based upon their feelings coming onto the music scene and how naive they felt. Those That Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those That Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever was a war-like record based on the concept of extreme dynamics and the occasional marching beat.The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place is essentially a love album. The emotions portrayed on this LP show the emotional ups and downs as only music can express at times. When emotions run deeper than words, sometimes music can be a better expression of it. This is their best record in my opinion because at this point in their career, they've honed their musical skills to a point where their music is able to communicate without the use of lyrics. Their next record comes out next month... 9.7/10First Breath After Coma (Live) The Only Moment We Were Alone (Live) Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean (Live) Memorial Your Hand In Mine |
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8/10 Album: Pyramids [10/10] * - Pit Er Pat Once again I've come to the end of another year and its time to clean out the ol' closet thats full of LP's I never quite got to review, but ultimately meant to. With these records I was either stunned with disappointment or waiting to form an opinion after multiple listens. But yeah, better late than never...  Del Rey: A Pyramid For The Living... Wow. First of all, I love this band live. Their dynamics, ambience and energy are all admirable every single time. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate to an LP very well this time. Though I absolutely loved their previous 2 LP's, this is actually really repetitive and slow-paced. Songs are extremely long and I've always had a difficult time listening to instrumentals that exceed 6 or 7 minutes each and theres just too many on this album that do that. I kind of liked a couple of the songs, but again, the length... 4.1/10 Mogwai: Zidane:A 21st Century Portrait (Soundtrack)... What can I really say about a soundtrack? Mogwai is pretty much built to make soundtracks to begin with, so this was probably a pretty natural step for them to take. That said, they've returned to their roots on this LP and this best resembles their earlier work of long, droning guitars over catchy beats that swell with dynamics on multiple levels. Beyond a few classic-style Mogwai songs, its boring soundtrack stuff. Yeah, I know its for a movie and for that I cut it some slack. I gave it a somewhat average score because it all evens out in the end...7.3/10 Karate: In The Fishtank 12... This is their most-recent album and its mostly what I expected it to be: A bluesy, rock album with multiple jazzy guitar solos and Geoff Farina's awesome, awesome vocals. There were significant changes this time around though-- nearly every song was kept short and sweet and solos were also kept brief in stark contrast to previous releases that tended to stretch my patience at times. In fact, last time I said Pockets had too many songs that seemed to be built around the inevitable solos and that ruined it for me. Now it seems that the songs are a little too short without them. It sounded like they started writing a song and just decided to end it right in the middle. So yes, this was a bittersweet experience, but I think overall that its worth taking notice of...7.4/10 The Evens: Get Evens... The reason I got this to begin with was because I found out that this was Ian MacKaye's(Fugazi) new project and that was basically good enough for me because I love Fugazi. So naturally, when a situation presents itself like this, one abandons all reason and purchases something they think may fill the void left by a band's demise, but ultimately will be left with a more infinite void. Maybe its the fact that its just guitar, vocals and drums and they just can't seem to pull it off or maybe its because its completely uninteresting with songs that sound the same... either way, this is a sucky piece of suck. Sure, Ian MacKaye's vocals were sort of cool and interesting, but you can't build a band off that... well, you could, but you'd end up with this...3.0/10   Pit Er Pat: Pyramids... Pit Er Pat's lure is that they never seem to let you sit completely still during a song-- theres always so much to marvel at. Stacato has always dotted their style and this LP is no different with keyboards that are routinely abrupt, broken bass lines, driving drums and delicately-sung vocals that I never seem to get tired of. This record is a little more slower and experimental than their previous 2 releases, but I don't think that it took anything away from it in this case...8.4/10Olympus Mons- Del Rey 725- Mogwai Myspace Wake Up And Go Beserk- Mogwai Myspace Cut From The Cloth- The Evens Myspace Cache Is Empty- The Evens Myspace Solstice- Pit Er Pat |
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Make Believe is a 4-member experimental rock band from Chicago, IL.
Those of you familiar with the Owls, Joan of Arc or Cap'n Jazz will recognize Tim Kinsella's spastic yelling, screaming and nonsensical lyrics over experimental guitars and odd drum beats. The important thing that separates this project from ones previously mentioned are solid song structures. Cap'n Jazz was all-out spastic punk/emo. When they broke up, some of the members formed Joan of Arc: an ultra-experimental band with songs that evolved towards a point that they weren't even songs anymore. Owls was a project that touched on the idea of adding the experimentation of Joan of Arc to the driving punk of Cap'n Jazz. Ultimately, the songs more resembled Joan of Arc than anything they could come up with, though the songs had definite structures-- they just sounded like early Joan of Arc material. Now we have Make Believe: a perfect blend of experimentation and rock that sounds like nothing I've ever heard them or anyone else produce.  This is their self-titled debut and an astounding one at that. The incredible spontaneousness of Kinsella's vocals are reminiscent of his days in Cap'n Jazz and are a welcomed change from his softer spoken style used in Joan of Arc. The tempos of the songs range from moderate to fast and rarely give you a chance to get settled. Spastic, complicated and altogether amazing...9.2/10 Of Course continues where their debut left off with all the trademarks I mentioned previously. The songs are actually a lot less experimental than I thought they'd be as they've continued to evolve into their own a little more. They don't have a 'typical' sound on this record by any means, but its much more rock-based than ever before. This is my favorite record the Kinsellas have put together since A Portable Model Of was released...9.6/10What I didn't mention was the release that came in between these 2 records: The Shock of Being. I have this record, but I wasn't impressed by it in the least. It mostly reminded me of more recent Joan of Arc and as most of you know, I can't stand them anymore. Its as if they decided to incorporate that experimentation into their sound and it just ended up sounding the same. Incidentally, I'm glad they've found themselves with Of Course. Temping As A Shaman- S/T Britt's Favorite- S/T We're All Going To Die- video S/T A Song About Camping- Of Course Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till- Of Course Political Mysticism- Myspace |
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 Owen is one guy, Mike Kinsella, from Chicago, IL.Mike Kinsella has been in a few bands... Cap'n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, Owls(playing drums) and American Football where he played guitar and sang lead. Owen features him by himself playing nearly everything... acoustic-only live, of course. Over the past few years, Owen has put out 5 records and throughout all of those releases, one thing remained the same: He is as consistently good as he ever has been. All of Owen's songs are acoustic-based and Kinsella's earnest vocals and lyrics shine-through as always. I've always enjoyed just about everything he's done with his other bands, but there seems to be a little more to this project. The lyrical content makes it a lot more personal and honestly, its my favorite part. The fact that the music is interesting and complex at times only makes the experience that much more sweet. The only song I didn't really care for wasn't even his own song-- a cover of Lou Reed's 'Femme Fatale'. So, its a perfect LP of original songs and a so-so cover. For all intensive purposes, its fine, but technically it isn't as good as the other tracks. I read a review where this critic was totally impressed that he covered a Lou Reed song and did it so well... I think he was more enamored than anything that someone even bothered to acknowledge Lou Reed in the first place. I myself haven't heard it and I don't think it matters if I've heard it or not. The fact is, it doesn't measure-up to the rest of the album, plain and simple. Other than a lackluster cover, At Home With Owen is great from start to finish and by the time its over, you've already forgotten about the cover song... 9.6/10Bad News Pietro Crespi- Myspace Use Your Words- Myspace |
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Damien Jurado is a folk singer/songwriter from Seattle, WA.
 Limited copies of Gathered In Song were originally released in early 1998 and were an early indication of the direction he would eventually go in and become best-known for: Soft-spoken, ambient, lo-fi folk that sounds like it was written in the early days of its inception. Gathered In Song has been a favorite of mine for years and now that Made In Mexico has seen fit to re-release it remastered, autographed, with an unreleased track from his new LP and with 4 additional demo versions of songs from the Rehearsals For Departure sessions, I found it irresistable. The original 5 songs are each beautiful and stripped-down the way Jurado does it best. The demos are best for comparing to the originals which are very interesting. The new track is great and could have easily been included on his new record, but instead serves as an incentive to buy this extended release. Very impressive... 9.7/10 Ever since Jurado released his first LP, his records have alternated between being upbeat folk rock to slowed-down folk with tons of ambience... And Now That I'm In Your Shadow is the latter. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for anything he puts out... I always have been. The best thing about his music is that hes a consistent song writer: Solid, heartfelt and dynamic. Thats his draw, plain and simple. Songs on this album are dark and convey emotions that some may find hard to deal with. Whether its anger, deception, depression, love or joy, everything is covered and then some. His earnesty is undoubtedly his best quality and provides an emotional rollercoaster that will most likely drain you. The ambience provided by the cello and organs alone are enough to evoke your emotions. This is a hauntingly beautiful piece of work that latches-on to you and makes you explore the sometimes uncomfortable aspects of yourself and if any music can evoke that, I think its definitely worth paying attention-to...9.5/10What Were The Chances Denton, TX- Myspace There Goes Your Man- Myspace |
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 Sparta is a 4-member post-punk band from my home town of El Paso, TX.Sparta released Wiretap Scars in 2002 after the demise of their former band, At The Drive-In. Wiretap Scars was a remarkable achievement in modern post-punk and pushed Sparta to the forefront of the indie scene with a near-perfect blend of clever guitar riffs, singable vocals and incredibly catchy rhythms and melodies that were hard to ignore. They followed-up their debut with Porcelain in 2004 and came about as close as a band can possibly come to duplicating the catchiness and innovation of their 1st record. After 2 incredible LPs, Sparta has finally released Threes... When I first listen to a record, I wait for something to grab me and give me a reason to take notice. I found it difficult to find a song that completely grabbed me. Sure, there were about 3 songs that were great from start to finish, but the rest were disappointing. Most songs had a dull-to-mediocre verse topped-off with a great, melodic chorus. So yeah, most of the time, I felt pretty empty after a song ended. Now, I won't say that they've totally changed their style, because they haven't. I think a better way to put it is that they've largely become a mediocre rock band. A perfect example of my point is the song, 'Atlas'. It sounds exactly like something Coldplay would write... vocals and all. Remember, this is Sparta we're talking about here. Then the guest vocals on 'Translations'... they were unnecessary, annoying and did more harm than good. There are still traces of their former selves now and again, but mostly this sounds as mediocre as most mainstream rock bands do. It isn't bad, it just isn't great. A mediocre album by a great band... 7.1/10Taking Back Control- Myspace 9/10 Unstitch Your Mouth- Myspace 5/10 Erase It Again- Myspace 8/10 |
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 Jeremy Enigk is a singer/songwriter from Seattle, WA.Jeremy Enigk tends to be defined by his former band, Sunny Day Real Estate and by his current project, The Fire Theft way before his solo work that began in 1996 and stopped there... until now. Return of The Frog Queen was an anomaly in the music world and went largely unnoticed by mainstream audiences and was a rarity even in the indie scene. Primarily driven by acoustic guitars over a backdrop of a full orchestra, Return of The Frog Queen showed the many dimensions he was capable of producing aside from the standard rock format he had been known for up to that point. World Waits is more reminiscent of the work hes done with The Fire Theft, but there are still a lot of noticeable differences. As with his first record, the orchestra is an ever-present force behind most of the songs, but not in the same way as before. In fact, you have to actually listen closely to notice them sometimes because the instruments seamlessly blend together better this time around. More distinctive to his earlier work are his deeper-sung vocals, although his excellent falsetto is still around making all the songs as beautiful as they can possibly be. Personally, I would've bought this for his vocals alone... they're just that good. Anyone whos familiar with his work knows that he has one of the most distinctive voices in rock. In a lot of instances, some of these songs could have just as easily been Fire Theft songs because of their full orchestration. Needless to say, if you like The Fire Theft, you'll love this just as much if not more. I liked this a bit more than their LP but not quite as much as his first solo record. It was very close, but whatdya do? Its hard to outdo a classic. The greatest obstacle Enigk faced was living up to the standards he had already set with his previous work. Fortunately, his consistency pays off... 9.3/10Been Here Before River To Sea Canons- Myspace |
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These are some brief reviews from artists that either I've written about extensively or barely know much about. In both cases, I thought it better to keep them more brief than my usual format. They're all decent, so pay attention.
 Tortoise: A Lazarus Taxon-- This isn't a new LP. Instead, its actually 3 CD's of rare tracks, unreleased songs and a DVD with all of their music videos and more than a few choice performances. As far as the song ratings go, they're all over the place. I rated the 1st 2 discs as both 9s. The 3rd disc(remixes) was sadly... well, sad. It turns out that remixes by dj's are an utter disappointment. I have a record with a remix by Derrick Carter that wasn't included on the compilation, so that was a little disappointing too. The DVD was really awesome because I've been a fan of theirs for awhile and their songs are all really interesting when put to film. Despite all the problems I have with the 3rd disc, this is still a quality release...7.3/10 Yo La Tengo: ...I Will Beat Your Ass-- This is the latest LP from a long list of releases from these indie rock icons... honestly, thats all I really know about them. I've never really 'heard' them until now. I can tell you that I really liked most of these songs. They have a variety of styles they use in their music... basically every level of indie rock. They're all over the place in style and yet, they just about succeed on all those levels. In all cases, this is a great LP... 8.6/10 Beauty Pill: The Unsustainable Lifestyle-- This experimental band from Washington, D.C. formed from the ashes of Smart Went Crazy and basically picked-up where they left off: writing catchy experimental indie rock that really highlights the D.C. sound. This is a much better release than their debut EP that mostly disappointed me. This, however, is better than anything they've done since SWC... 8.7/10 Early Day Miners: Offshore-- When I first heard this, I was a little confused: 4 out of 6 of the songs all had elements of a song they wrote for their Let Us Garlands Bring album. Then I found out that the song was 'Offshore'... ah yes, of course. After I realized this, I re-reviewed it and saw what they were trying to do. Although I wouldn't do it myself, they did and basically wasted my time. The songs that were new and original were good, but I still can't see the point in releasing an album and calling it 'new' when you obviously can't deliver that. This is barely recommendable... 5.9/10 Tiger Lou: Trouble And Desire-- Is My Head Still On? demonstrated to me that Tiger Lou really knows how to write great pop songs. This EP was no exception and these 4 songs were well worth my time and money... 10/10Seneca- video by Tortoise Ice- video by Tortoise Salt The Skies- video by Tortoise The Suspension Bridge At Iguazu Falls- video by Tortoise Dear Grandma & Grandpa- video by Tortoise Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind- Yo La Tengo Beanbag Chair- Yo La Tengo Mule On The Plane- Beauty Pill Return Of The Native- Early Day Miners Sam, As In Samantha- video by Tiger Lou |
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