Bronze – Calypso Shakedown / 2006 Self / http://www.myspace.com/bronzechicago / “On The Clock†literally sounds as if Bronze is coming out of the late seventies or early eighties. Whether it is through the heavy use of synthesizers, or through the emotive vocals, the band loves their musical predecessors. Like current retro-looking acts like The Darkness or the Scissor Sisters, Bronze are able to be deeply involved in earlier musical styles…
Silveth – The Elemental / 2007 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.silveth.com / “Storm†shows that Silveth is an act that has no desire to finesse their fans. The metal that the band puts forth is full of shredding guitars, splashing drums, and growled-out vocals that never bend or break. The band can scale back their intensity but never budges on the intricacy present in their music. “Storm†shows that…
Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter / 2007 Sony / 14 Tracks / http://www.joshritter.com / http://www.sony.com / The first track on “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter†is “To The Dogs or Whoeverâ€, and it shows Ritter as someone that blends together Bob Dylan with Conor Oberst. The style approached during this inaugural track is a jangly bit of indie rock that will allow individuals to sing…
Shock Cinema – Our Way Is Revenge / 2007 Kanine / 8 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/shockshockcinema / http://www.kkaninerecords.com / What Shock Cinema does on their “Our Way Is Revengeâ€, and particularly during the opening track “Breathe Againâ€, is recall the goth rock of bands like Siouxie and the Banshees and the Sisters of Mercy. The punk-like tempo is the only derivation from that formula, and it is this blending together of…
Sah – 06/06 / 2007 Phiatry / 5 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/sah / http://www.phratryrecords.com / It is always a risky gambit for a band to go forth and start off their EP with an instrumental song. Sah is a band that does just that with the opening to their 06/06, “Inside You There’s A Part of Me Scared Shitlessâ€. Luckily for the listeners, Sah is an act that can create a…
The Challenger Deep – S/T / 2007 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/thechallengerdeep The Challenger Deep introduce themselves with “Historianâ€, a track that has a very tempestuous and chaotic flow. In a way, the instrumentation that takes place before the vocals kick in seem like a more jacked up version of At The Drive-In. The style of The Challenger Deep is not easy to categorize. There are hints of hardcore,…
Okay Paddy – Where You Went? / 2007 Prison Jazz / 5 Tracks / http://www.okaypaddy.com / Okay Paddy play a brand of rock music during their “Dumbwater†that blends together acts like Weezer with Matthew Sweet to create a sound that is very well located in the mid to late nineties alternative rock genres. Unlike Weezer, there seems to be a little more energy in the arrangements during tracks like…
Jesea Hoop – Kismet / 2007 Sony / 3 Tracks / http://www.jescahoop.com / http://www.columbiarecords.com / This “EP†version starts out with “Seed of Wonderâ€, a track that blows away any conception that I might have had about Hoop before playing this disc. There are so many instrumental and vocal layers in this track that individuals can be satisfied one of twelve different ways. In much the same way, Hoop et…
Oreskaband – S/T / 2006 Sony / 6 Tracks / http://www.oreskaband.com / http://www.sony.com / As one can likely game from the band’s name, what Oreskaband play is a brand of ska that is in the same vein as a Mighty Mighty Bosstones or a Reel Big Fish. The first track on the disc is “Pantimeâ€, and it is a quick, barely-minute long track that gives individuals some sort of context…
Mello Mello – An Abstract Love Story / 2007 Mello-Soul / 16 Tracks / http://www.mello-soul.com / Mello Mello have a pretty good description of their general sound in their act’s name. What results from tracks like their eponymous opening track is something that resembles Jodeci, Tony Toni Tone, or even Boyz II Men. “Tha Best Thing 4 U Iz Me†has a much more current type of sound, and this…
Chip Raman – Edge of a Song / 2007 Rosebud / http://www.chipraman.com / It has been quite a while since a straight-forward chap with a guitar sounded this was. Individuals will hear a lot of the sixties (Neil Young, Bob Dylan) in Raman’s style. Obviously, Young or Dylan never said anything about opening up their Nokia, but the style of Raman is unmistakenly influenced by these two giants of rock.…
Dave Sasscer – Quiet Mind / 2007 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.davesasscer.com / Dave Sasscer is the lynchpin of the eponymous project that released “Quiet Mind†this year. Joining Sasscer are the Mojo Conga Jam, a group of talented musicians that have spent time in the supporting acts of the Indigo Girls, Shaun Mullins, Omar Hakim, and Hiram Bullock. The first track on “Quiet Mind†is “(When) She’s in…
Lorrie Ruiz – Chewy / 2007 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.chewyonline.com / The funk meets jazz sound of “Slipping Away†gives first-time listeners to Lorrie Ruiz a good grounding in the styles that will present themselves throughout “Chewyâ€. While Ruiz does craft a sound that is rooted heavily in earlier music styles, the resulting music does not sound dated in the least. Instead, the allure of a “Slipping Away 
Onesidezero – S/T / 2007 Corporate Punishment / 13 Tracks / http://www.onesidezero.com / http://www.corporatepunishment.com / Onesidezero start off their self-titled album with a musically heavy track in “Carry Your Gunâ€. When the band throws the vocals into the mix, what results is something that does not mesh completely. The vocals struggle to approximate the roughness of the instrumentation. This means that there are two distinct threads present in this opening…
John Phillips – Jack Of Diamonds / 2007 Phoenix / http://www.varesevintage.com / This album marks music from John Phillips’ “Jack of Diamondsâ€. For those that might not know, this was a previously unreleased album that marked music that Phllips created from 1972 and 1973, and was unreleased for whatever reason.  Varese Vintage here has not only committed the disc to the CD format, but has added 5 new tracks, whether…
Judee Sill – Live In London / 2007 Water / 18 Tracks / http://www.runtdistribution.com/water.html / While it is true that some individuals in the current period know who Judee Sill was (Water Records released the demos for Sill’s unreleased third album as “Dreams Come True†back in 2005), chances are still strong that if you were not a fan of eir music when ey released eir self-titled (1971) and “Heart…
Psychic TV – Hell Is Invisible / Heaven is Her/E / 2007 Sweet Nothing / 10 Tracks / http://www.genesisp-orridge.com / In regards to actual full-length albums, and not singles (2002’s Snowflake/Illusive) and live albums (2003’s Live…series, 2006’s Live in Russia), it’s been a few years since Psychic TV has released anything. Genesis P-Orridge’s band’s last foray into studio albums were the triplet of albums that were Breathe, Cold Blue Torch,…
Canvas Solaris – Cortical Tectonics / 2007 Sensory / 6 Tracks / http://www.canvassolaris.com / http://www.lasersedgegroup.com / Despite the fact that “Berserker Hypothesis†is a mere four minutes long, the harder progressive metal played by Canvas Solaris here bends and breaks an individual’s sense of time, with the band’s detailed arrangements being what stretches the perceived runtime of the track to a time much longer than reality. “Sinusoid Mirage†follows up…
Delft – The Brain Is Wider Than The Sky / 2007 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.purevolume.com/delft / “Declare Your Love To The Person On the Right†is the first track on “The Brain Iss Wider Than The Skyâ€, and it immediately defies categorization. The band is able to go forth and create a rock style that draws influences from Coldplay, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, and even Interpol…
The Hibernauts – Periodic Table / 2007 Self / 7 Tracks / http://www.thehibernauts.com / While the opening of “Off Key And Violent†does not sound much different from what a countless number of indie rock bands are doing at the current, The Hibernauts step up their game immediately and come forth with a catchy, hooky set of vocals. Of course, the instrumentation is driving and supports the vocals much the…