Music Reviews of Modern Rock, Folk, Pop
Band Spotlight
Chiodos
Perhaps no one can explain the sheer ferocity and timid quietness it is better than when vocalist Craig Owens says “we don’t want to let the kids down” when discussing the group’s intense vocals live at shows. Well they never let a single kid down with their vicious assault on the ears and grip on the jugular...
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Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Converge - No Heroes
The Graduate - Anhedonia
Death By Stereo - Death Alive
Comeback Kid - Broadcasting
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
The Geeks - Every Time We Fall
Limbeck - Limbeck
WinterKids - Memoirs
03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Modern Rock, Folk, Alternative, Pop
The Hickories — Lost In Pennsylvania Buy it at Amazon
The Hickories never rest on their laurels. Instead they punctuate their songs with Americana-fused rock-n-roll and girl-group harmonies. From the Arlington, Virginia area of Northern Virginia, The Hickories find their neighboring city, Washington, DC can’t keep a secret—whether it’s political or in their case, a talented girl-fronted pop-rock outfit. Because believe me, people will be talking about this band. Once word gets out about how crafty they are with multiple layers of harmony, there’s no doubt that they’ll become more than just one of the more popular bands on The Washington Post’s MP3 site. Stellar inside and out.
- J-Sin
Lake Trout — Not Them, You Buy it at Amazon
Baltimore’s Lake Trout has been making a bit of a wave with anticipation of their “Not Them, You” album. This is their fifth album, and perhaps their best. You can only hope that the lyric that leads off the album “this is our final chapter” isn’t. Their sound is post-rock pop with shoegazing in full effect. Atmospheric like Tortoise and with the ability to write catchy pop hooks reminiscent of Coldplay, Lake Trout is simply going to become the standard for this stylize format of pop-rock. Watch as all the rock critics fall over themselves in a blissful attempt to out-write how incredible this album is—I simply will leave it at the fact that if you don’t have this album you’re missing out on one of the year’s best.
- J-Sin
The Meadows — The Meadows Buy it at Amazon
These two musicians have the Beatles best interests at heart no doubt. Why else would they write an album that seems to be a big “thank you” to the Fab Four? But don’t think that it’s just another singer/songwriter journey into Sgt. Peppers’s land; instead it’s a rockin’ pop album that is a testament to the glorious genius of Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting and mixing skills. Using a bevy of guitars, keyboards, bass, and percussion, The Meadows just might have an award-winning album of their own.
- J-Sin
Steve Mayone — Unfortunate Son Buy it at Amazon
A virtuoso in musicianship, Steve Mayone writes compelling singer/songwriter classics. But he’s a jack of all trades too as he plays guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, and percussion while singing on his “Unfortunate Son”. A great follow-up to his breathtaking “Bedroom Rockstar”, this album is another notch on a belt of talented pop-rock ventures with slight Americana bends and juicy roots rock. Good stuff.
- J-Sin
Bridges and a Bottle — Bridges and a Bottle Buy it at Amazon
Soon to be called Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s most famous brothers, Justin and Adam Smith write alternative pop rock hits with seemingly ease. Of course they sound eerily similar to the more muted Foo Fighters hits. But that’s okay because what the music world needs is a follow-up to the Foo. The charming gravelly voiced brother oozes lyrical wit. The other is just as strong a songsmith with an amped excitement in guitar strummed harmonies.
- J-Sin
Rob Reynolds — Take Me Sightseeing Buy it at Amazon
British artist Rob Reynolds travels around the world and then sat down to put his experiences down as his next album. Then he printed up a few thousand and mailed them out to the world with the hope that people will log on to his web site and use each CD’s unique number, enter their information and find out how that CD traveled to them. It’s an interesting concept wrapped in a tight pop-rock journey. Music this interactive must be shared.
- J-Sin
Kate Tucker — Eros Turannos Buy it at Amazon
Kate joins up with Nic Danielson (drums, synth, piano) and Brian Opalewski (bass) to record a great female-led singer/songwriter pop masterpiece. With a vocal delivery that reminds me one of Natalie Merchant covering The Cranberries, Kate Tucker lays on thick melodies and catchy hooks throughout this colorful pop-rock adventure. Her lush arrangements are breathtaking finding even the most remote note and being able to flip it into a dominant portion without ever seeming forced. Female indie-pop this golden hasn’t been around since Mazzy Star’s hey-day and it’s a welcome change to the male-dominated scene. Wow.
- J-Sin
TrueHeart — TrueHeart Buy it at Amazon
Comprised of three siblings, two brothers and one sister, TrueHeart wants you to know that they rock it—family style. But never fear Hanson haters. This is an adult pop-rock outfit with great chops and rock-n-roll songwriting skills that never come unhinged at the seams. While busy wrapping themselves around in multiple part harmonies, TrueHeart allows for folksy roots and alt-country themes that barely edge their way out of the mix. Life is grand when listening to one of Dallas’ more stellar up-and-coming acts.
- J-Sin
Chase Jedick — The Bitter and the Unbelievable Buy it at Amazon
Ohio was the original host for Chase but then he went to college in Indiana. There he began to write music and specifically some of the songs that make up “The Bitter and the Unbelievable”. What you have here is a simple listen of acoustic rock that has some intriguing and often times off-kilter lyrics sung with a surprisingly talented voice. It’s a good album with rare miscues and is perfect for a late night cram session.
- J-Sin
t.A.T.u. — Dangerous and Moving Buy it at Amazon
Fulfilling the demographic for horny young adults who craved hot lesbian Russians, t.A.T.u. found themselves within an inch of superstardom. Then the unspeakable happened. As it turned out they weren’t gay (oh I know it’s not acceptable to call lesbians gay since you know, lesbians are acceptable in our society as long as they’re hot and really just wanting some good dickin’ but men that are gay, that’s just gross!). In fact they were so not gay that one of them got pregnant and they were gone in a flash nowhere to be found. Well several months later they’ve popped back onto the radar with their manager no doubt hoping to capitalize on their previous success. But the biggest mistake after shedding the marketability of the lesbian slant and silly kissing routine that they would indulge on stage was that “Dangerous and Moving” isn’t as fun of an album. Gone are the huge dance hooks. Missing are those lyrics that are ridiculously catchy resulting in addictive ear worms. Instead it’s replaced with an album filled with love ballads. Boring! I could handle knowing that they weren’t gay for one another but if you remove the club-friendly beats and the sweeping melodies they become less Spice Girls and more Mariah Carey. And we all know there’s only so much “Glitter” to go around.
- J-Sin
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