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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Current Top Ten Chart
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
Dream Art Science — Hydrogen Burning Buy it at Amazon
Mixing in reggae rhythms with smooth soft rock, Dream Art Science are a cerebral mash-up. With beautiful female vocals, these San Francisco natives write compelling songs about dreams and spirituality. Singer Beverly was raised in Jamaica and that’s perhaps where the reggae influences originate while Kevin has had a storied musical background that includes a stint backing up blues legend T-Bone Walker.
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Diamond Nights — Popsicle Buy it at Amazon
Another entry in the crowded hallway of retro garage rock is Diamond Nights. It’s beer-soaked rock-n-roll that recalls the ‘80’s sound of rock-n-roll that made your Trans-Am the best car on the block. Their vocalist is great and will remind you of someone you’ve heard before on the classic rock radio station. For fans of The Darkness and anything that’s melodic rock with the volume knob turned to a Spinal Tap-esque 11.
- J-Sin
Aerosmith — Rockin' the Joint Buy it at Amazon
One of America’s most famous (and old!) rock-n-roll outfits Aerosmith turns in their live album debut of classic album cuts with “Rockin’ the Joint”. Recorded live at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, the album highlights their career with stops on some of their most popular songs. But it also makes sure to include some of their newer tracks and hits like “Seasons of Wither”, “Rattlesnake Shake”, and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”. I’m not a huge Aerosmith fan but I have to appreciate not just their longevity but their ability to remain classically vital and relevant without tweaking their sound too much.
- J-Sin
Oosterdok — Twilights of the Weary Soul Buy it at Amazon
I gave high marks to their last EP “Some Day We Will Part Forever” so I was already somewhat accustomed to Oosterdok’s tremendous creativity. But nothing prepared me for this addictive catchy electro orchestration. Singer Becky Naylor hits all the right notes with stirring accuracy. The album begins with the spine-tingling and soaring “Elysium” and shakes your booty on the next track. An interesting marriage of classical orchestra strings, electro beats, synth sweeps, perfectly blended soundscapes, and beautiful female vocals, “Twilights of the Weary Soul” is what Joy Division fans have been awaiting. Rousing electro-pop that’s radiant, infectiously splendid, and first-rate is precisely what Oosterdok accomplishes time and again.
- J-Sin
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
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