His Name Is Alive - Detrola

So, they are alive after all. Even the most die-hard His Name Is Alive fans could be forgiven for thinking that the band had broken up — or at least gone into a deep hibernation — after the release of their final 4AD album, Last Night. Though Warn Defever and Company were actually busier than ever with special MP3-only releases and albums and EPs on smaller labels like Ypsilanti, En/Of, and Defever's own Time Stereo, the lack of any widely released new material seemed ominous. Fortunately, Detrola, His Name Is Alive's debut album for the aptly named Reincarnate Music, puts to rest any worries about the band's existence and is definitely worth the four-year wait. Detrola sounds like the highlights of all of the band's previous albums chopped up and reconfigured into songs that sound familiar, fresh, and utterly His Name Is Alive; actually, it could make as good an introduction to their freewheeling musical invention as the 4AD comp Always Stay Sweet does. "Introduction" nods to the drama and spookiness of their earliest work: a heartbroken late-night lament surrounded by loops of noise and applause that turns into deafening noise, it sounds like it was recorded at Mulholland Drive's Club Silencio. "*C*A*T*S*," meanwhile, updates the ethereal atmospheres of Home Is in Your Head with meowing synths. "Your Bones" is a delicate acoustic ballad that could've easily appeared on Mouth by Mouth or Stars on ESP, while "Seven Minutes"' tight, sexy electro-jazz fusion proves that Lovetta Pippen is still a crucial part of the band's wide-ranging sound. Detrola finds the band exploring the same themes that have always run through their music: spirituality, sensuality, and mortality. It's doubtful that any other group could turn a simple statement like "you need a heart to live" into something as equally sweet and scary the way His Name Is Alive can. While Detrola sounds a lot like the band's earlier work, it's still inventive. The avant-pop on Mouth by Mouth, Stars on ESP, and Ft. Lake is still fresh-sounding, and this album's updates on that aesthetic are, in turn, a step forward. "After I Leave You" and "In My Dreams" use synth pop as an inspiration in a way that sounds futuristic, even alien, instead of stuck in the '80s. On the other hand, "I Thought I Saw" sounds like a slightly skewed take on "Wedding Bell Blues" and other sweet, sad soul classics, and "Get Your Curse" could be taken for '70s singer/songwriter pop if it weren't for unsettling lyrics like "Your house will burn for years and years." Detrola is slightly more subdued than some of His Name Is Alive's previous albums, but it's still a reminder of how much their beautiful, strange, oddly moving music has been missed. With any luck, their fans won't have to wait another four years before they make another album as good as this.

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Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving

Travelling Without Moving deepens the acid jazz and '70s soul fusions of Return of the Space Cowboy, yet it doesn't have the uniform consistency of its predecessor. Nevertheless, Jamiroquai's fusions sound more fully realized with each outing, which makes its patchy songwriting forgivable.

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Test Icicles - For Screening Purposes Only

With most of the hot U.K. bands of the mid-2000s borrowing from new wave, post-punk, and '90s Britpop, Test Icicles deserve some credit for having a slightly different set of influences, even if the band isn't radically inventive in its own right, either. On its debut album, For Screening Purposes Only, the trio crafts a chaotic sound that is heavily inspired by American and Canadian noise rock bands like the Mae Shi, the Blood Brothers, and Death from Above 1979, as well as heavy metal (which shouldn't come as a surprise, considering their Beavis and Butthead-ready name and song titles like "Party on Dudes"). Test Icicles can shriek and shred with the best of them, particularly on the album's opening track, "Your Biggest Mistake." However, by the second song, "Pull the Lever," the band can't resist throwing a poppy hook and vocal harmonies into the mathy, nimble noise, and by "Boa vs Python" and"Circle.Square.Triangle.," they sound like Bloc Party's brooding dance-punk with more piss and vinegar and less angst (in some of their press photos, Test Icicles even look like a bizarro version of that band). Most of For Screening Purposes Only falls somewhere between manicured noise rock and cleaned-up death-disco, but the band finds time to explore other sounds too: "Catch It!" flirts with screamo without fully committing to it, U.S. bonus track "What's Michelle Like?" is heavy and ugly, with thudding drum machines anchoring the chaos, and "Dancing on Pegs"' squeaky vocals and quick tempo shifts border on camp. Test Icicles try to do so much with their music that it could blow up in their faces at any moment; that they manage to pull off most of For Screening Purposes Only without embarrassing themselves (or annoying their audience) too much is a pleasant surprise — if you can call anything associated with music this willful and spazzy pleasant. Caught somewhere between challenging and accessible, For Screening Purposes is worth checking out for those who like their music prickly but with an undercurrent of pop to it, too.

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Fastbreak - Fast Cars Fast Women

Connecticut's hardcore heros give us their first full-length album and their best outing yet. Not unlike legends Gorilla Biscuits and Turning Point, Fastbreak play energetic and powerful hardcore, backed with tons of melody and catchy hooks. Fast and upbeat rhythms, sincere shouted vocals, and sugar-coated melodic guitar riffs make this record so damn catchy and fun that you just can't say "no." Definitely leaders for the new straight edge generation.

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Horse the band - The Mechanical Hand

"Birdo" glides along at break-neck speed with monster riffs and intense vocals. The song's lyrics are pure nonsense, but it's the textures of the instruments that grab your attention. The group uses an interesting sound effect system (similar to early video game tones) throughout their music. I think it is what separates them from their hardcore peers. The intro to "A Million Exploding Suns" may sound like your advancing to the next level of Zelda, but once the heavy guitars, thumping bass, and pounding drums kick in, you'll realize your listening to the next level of heavy metal. If you're not ready to punch something at this point, you will be once you hear "House of Boo". Horse mixes things up by changing tempos, keys, and riff patterns here. "Heroes Die" is an instrumental track that is lead by a military drum pattern and mixed with sound effects of knights battling with swords on their mighty steeds. I know it seems a little Dungeons & Dragons, but it's actually a really cool tune that goes into modern and futuristic battles as well. I could see it as their live intro or outtro song.

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The Books - Lost and Safe

On their third full-length release, Lost and Safe, the Books show that they are back stronger than ever and from the beginning are subtly pushing new forms. Still present in the Books' song structures are string work and found sounds, but the inclusion of vocals from the bandmembers themselves gives Lost and Safe a depth that was only hinted at on Thought for Food and Lemon of Pink. The use of more vocals is never overbearing and works well with the other elements of speech, at times completing sentences or thoughts of particular samples — the lyrics are printed with the sample text included as well. Rhythms and textures of strings and other various instruments seem to complement the found sounds and samples to a wonderfully haunting effect, as on "It Never Changes to Stop," "An Animated Description of Mr. Maps," and "Venice." The Books manipulate sound elements that are found or created by their string playing, which can be jarring at times, as on "Be Good to Them Always." Lost and Safe is subtle and dramatic throughout, as the Books use all of their musical resources to create an album that sounds like the members of a modern Gastr del Sol might have discovered computers and sounds deep in the woods or in the cracks of high-tech buildings, and incorporated these elements in their music-making. From the songwriting to the production to the performance, the whole package that the Books present with Lost and Safe works wonderfully and makes for a very rewarding listen.

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This Mortal Coil- It`ll End In Tears

The first of 4AD owner Ivo Watts-Russell's multi-artist studio sessions under the This Mortal Coil name, 1984's It'll End in Tears was a surprisingly influential album in many circles, key in the reawakening of interest in artists like Alex Chilton and the late Tim Buckley by a younger generation of listeners. (Two songs from Big Star's Third are included, a version of "Kangaroo" featuring Cindytalk vocalist Gordon Sharp that sounds even druggier and more disorienting than the original, and a chilling piano and strings version of "Holocaust" with haunted vocals by Howard Devoto; the simple but ravishing version of Buckley's "Song to the Siren" by Cocteau Twins Liz Fraser and Robin Guthrie was cited by David Lynch as the direct inspiration for Julee Cruise's first two albums and has since been used several times in commercials and films.) The covers are the most memorable part of the album — a Robbie Grey-sung version of Colin Newman's "Not Me," cleverly incorporating a hypnotic riff from another Newman song, "B," is the most conventionally hooky song on the album, to the point that folks who haven't listened to the album for a while tend to forget that half of the songs are "band" originals. These six songs mark 4AD's definitive break from its origins as an artsy post-punk imprint (Bauhaus, Modern English's first few records, etc.) to the development of "the 4AD sound," a heavily reverbed wash of treated guitars and atmospheric keyboards with vocals treated as another instrument in an amorphous wash of sound. The problem is that these largely instrumental tracks sound more like half-baked studio doodles than fully formed songs; a three-song stretch on side two featuring Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard is particularly tiresome. As a whole, It'll End in Tears is a lovely, often exquisite record; taken individually, the power of some of the songs is lost

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Spitalfield - Remember Right Now

Spitalfield are back with Remember Right Now, once again posing the musical question, "How melodic can melodic punk get and still reasonably be considered punk?" Of course, the only rational response to that question is "Who cares?," which is why we're not even going to discuss the glockenspiel that keeps popping up on the bridge during "Those Days You Felt Alive." Instead we'll focus on those irresistible hooks, those delirious harmonies, those big fat crunchy guitars, those sometimes-just-a-bit-too-dewy-eyed lyrics ("It's a brand new day/You've got someone to be/And that someone is you"). Given their age, it's no surprise that these guys seem mainly obsessed with questions about what life holds in store for them ("Stolen from Some Great Writer," "In the Same Lifetime," "Am I Ready?") and the incomprehensible vagaries of romantic love ("Make My Heart Attack," "Those Days You Felt Alive"), but you can tell they're growing up because they obviously feel something other than blind rage. In fact, they don't sound angry at all, even when their friends betray them and their girlfriends confuse them. It must be the joy of making music this hooky, harmonious and fun.

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Dance Hall Crashers - The Old Record 1989-1992

This is some choice third wave ska, fronted by two swell females. This is the record to own by this band. Avoid the other stuff unless you're a big fan. During this era, the band still had a brass section (and a damn good one, at that). They were also sticking to solid, upbeat ska riffs, rather than venturing in to rock or punk territory (like they did later in their career). Every track is pretty solid, with the exception of "Street Sweeper", which the gals do not sing on. The beauty of this CD (and the band in general) is the gorgeous harmonies that Elyse and Karina weave. These two play off of each other in a unique, fun way. Their voices sound more like instruments than simple means of providing us with the lyrics. "My Problem", "Keep On Runnin'", and "Better Than Anything" exemplify exactly how good this band can be. Lyrics revolve around guys, coffee, guys, relationship turmoil, and guys. The only version available now has bonus tracks that weren't on the original full length, including the slower live favorite "He Wants Me Back", the slightly muddy "Skinhead Barbecue", and four others. Why this great band later ditched their horns and went to playing so-so rock and punk with slight ska leanings is a complete mystery to me.

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Ghost Mice - Europe

this is the secong full length by ghost mice. ghost mice is me (chris) on guitar, hannah jones on violin and pascaloo benvenuitti on many small intruments. this album is an attempt at something that hasn't been done very much in the DIY punk scene. it's a concept album. all of the songs are about the trip that hannah and i took to europe in the summer of 2,000. it was not a tour, it was a traveling trip. we stayed for 90 days. we didn't have enough money. we didn't know anyone in europe. needless to say the trip was really hard and we learned a lot about life. there is one song about each country and one song about each body of water we crossed by boat, for a total of 11 songs (36min). all of the songs fit together to tell the whole story of our trip. the lyrics don't always give a play by play (day by day) description of our trip but always relate to the countries we were in or how we felt in those countries. this is also pascaloo's first apperance on a ghost mice recording. (pascaloo is from france, we met him on our first tour there). this CD is also enhanced and had CDROM files including 198 photos that we took on our trip and a bunch of somewhat random MP3's (including totally michael and some ghost mice demos).

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The Good Life - Album Of The Year

Take a listen to this album. Album of the Year tells the story of Tim Kasher's (Cursive) doomed marriage. It's bittersweet and brutally honest. Not as depressing as previous albums like Novena on a Nocturn and Black Out, songs like "Lovers Need Lawyers" and "Notes in His Pocket" boom with energy and pop sensibility without demeaning the qualms at hand. But it's "Album of the Year", "Under a Honeymoon," and "You're Not You" that ultimately encompass the mood of this record. "Two Years This Month" encapsules the entire album as one huge mess; perhaps symbolizing the entire relationship. This album is for anyone whose loved and lost. For those who haven't, prepare to have your heart broken.

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Since By Man - Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse

A year has gone by, and Milwaukee's Since By Man are back again with their sophomore full length, Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse. This time they've picked up their instruments and crafted one of the most explosive albums to come out in years.

The continued evolution of Since By Man is evident on both an artistic and content level. The strained vocals remain over what is their most aggressive effort yet. It maintains elements that warrant comparison to bands such as Mogwai or Jesu, but there is a discordant, riff heavy assault in the vein of Converge, Botch and Dillinger Escape Plan. On top of this, Since By Man has created a compelling and ever-expanding approach to melody.

Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse seamlessly transitions from their previous release (A Love Hate Relationship EP), building upon those elements in a progressive style that has become synonymous with Since By Man. With Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse, the band breaks new ground once again.

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Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures

Rogue Wave's second album is at its heart no great departure from their first. Like Out of the Shadow, Descended Like Vultures is indie rock through and through. There isn't a moment that doesn't feel influenced, borrowed, or previously released by Death Cab, Elliott Smith, Yo La Tengo, Lou Barlow, and so on. Luckily there also isn't a moment that's not tuneful, exciting, or ingratiating; it's second-hand but runs just like new. Indeed, sweet vocal harmonies, melodies that hook you instantly, and arrangements that envelop you in their gooey goodness are still the backbone of the Rogue Wave sound. And again there is a nice mix of rockers ("10:1," "Publish My Love"), mellow and intimate acoustic ballads ("California," "Temporary"), and moody pop tunes ("Catform," "Are You on My Side"). This time out Zach Rogue is joined by a full band, though it's mainly Pat Spurgeon who plays jack of all by providing able backing on drums, guitars, keys, bass, and autoharp. This reliance on other people doesn't tamper with the winning formula much, though the production does. Unlike the first album, which had a homey, lo-fi energy, this one feels shiny and professional like it was cut by real musicians doing it for real in a real studio. The guitars are thick and layered, the drums upfront and loud, the lead vocals very lush and reverbed. It gives the album's big ballads like the opening "Bird on a Wire" or the ebbing-and-flowing "You" a naturally epic feel that other bands have to try way too hard to achieve. Unfortunately, on the rest of the record it adds an extra layer of studio realness that takes away most of the intimate charm the group had so much of previously. With Descended Like Vultures, Rogue Wave have become just another indie rock band, one that has delivered a strong album without a weak song on it, but a real band just the same. Hopefully, the people who fell in love with the first album will stick with Rogue Wave and see through the shine to the substance, because it is there and the album is good, just in a different way.

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The Fiery Furnaces-ep

An EP virtually in name only, the Fiery Furnaces' B-sides collection is pretty generous, gathering ten tracks and running 41 minutes (which is relatively short compared to their 80-minute epic, Blueberry Boat). It's not a totally complete collection of their odds 'n' sods, which may frustrate fans still looking for the band's cover of the Clash's "One More Time" that appeared on Uncut Magazine's tribute to the legendary punks, or for the honky tonk-inspired version of "We Got Back the Plague" that appeared on the CD release of the U.K. Tropical Ice-Land single. However, what does appear on EP not only reflects how well the Furnaces' B-sides complement their albums, it also makes an enjoyable and fairly coherent mini-album in its own right.

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You Say Party! We Say Die!

Fusing the leftist party-punk of Le Tigre with the dark, militant dramatics of Pretty Girls Make Graves, full-length debut Hit the Floor! neatly strips punk rock and politics alike (one and the same, really) to just get with the beat-- or get beaten. Exclamation point, exclamation point. Synthesizer!Nocturnal guitar stabs, mournful harmonies, dance-mother-fucker bass, and clanging hardcore beats advance the band's agenda of overthrowing, well, something. YSP!WSD! has a knack for emphatic codas that all but slip its agitprop past the brain's trusting hook receptors. Singer Becky Minkovic's voice exudes a horn-rimmed idealism that charms even as she shouts breathlessly for violence.

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Just Surrender - If These Streets Could

The internet is a wonderful thing, Purevolume.com is almost completely responsible for blowing up this out-of-Poughkeepsie band. Just Surrender went from a pretty much unknown band to one of the more popular bands on Pure Volume, and with good reason. Just Surrender creates a brand of pop-punk that we all know and love, any comparisons to Taking Back Sunday or Armor for Sleep are more than justified. "If These Streets Could Talk" is the follow up to "Tell All Your Friends" that Taking Back Sunday never released. However, Just Surrender still manages to keep this release from getting lost in all of emo-branded music that floods our play lists and itunes libraries. "If These Streets Could Talk" may sound somewhat generic, but it's filled with energy that seems to be lacking in so many releases, making up for the minor identity crisis.

With a little more effort, more inspired lyrics, and more consistent instrumentals, this album could have been an epic release. However, "If These Streets Could Talk" manages to pump out a lot of energy, and the first few listens are a lot of fun. The next release from this band could be awesome, there is a lot of raw energy that has yet to be tapped into. A few more songs like "She Broke My Heart" and "I Can Barely Breathe" are just want this band needs to break it big, but for now, the band is doing fine. With a growing fan base, a good live set, and a nice set of songs to be heard, Just Surrender is on the long road to success. I recommend this album to anyone who loves the growing emo/post-hardcore genre, or anyone looking for a fun album. Don't expect any groundbreaking or earth shattering, because that's not what Just Surrender was trying to do. This album is a solid, fun release, and that's all you need to expect. It wouldn't be right to ignore the album artwork in this review, because it managed to pull me into the band. The album art is truly beautiful, and is reason enough to pick up this release.

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Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit

If Andrew McMahon is the Ben Folds of Something Corporate, then his side project Jack's Mannequin is his Fear of Pop, his opportunity to step out of the group and try something different. Except in McMahon's case, it isn't so much fear of pop as much as an embrace of pop, since he sheds the loud guitars and punky overtones of his main band for a sunny, unabashedly tuneful Californian pop on Jack's Mannequin's debut album, Everything in Transit. In truth, it's not all that far removed from his contributions to Something Corporate, which were also tightly written and tuneful, but it sounds truer to his artistic inclinations than either of SC's studio albums, since underneath its guise as a loose concept album about a year of turbulent relationships on Venice Beach, it's a full-blown singer/songwriter piano-pop album. More than ever, on Everything in Transit McMahon sounds like the heir to Ben Folds' wise-ass interpretation of Joe Jackson, but McMahon isn't as cynical or goofy as Folds. His humor is sardonic and low-key, plus he's more concerned with affairs of the heart. Although he relies a little bit too heavily on first-person narratives, he has a keener eye for character and behavior than his emo peers, and he's a better tunesmith, too, not just content to write hooks, but taking the time to let the music build and breathe. With producer Jim Wirt, McMahon has given Everything in Transit an appropriately colorful, even cinematic, scope and, thanks to drums provided by Tommy Lee (who proves here that he's a more versatile drummer than he ever did in Mötley Crüe), it also has strong backbone. So the album has momentum, but it's as sweetly melancholy as a fading summer, yet not nearly as transient as that, either. It really shouldn't work — it's a conceptual power pop album, delivered by an emo songwriter, backed by an aging metalhead, and co-produced by a guy who gave Hoobastank hits — but the result is one of the more pleasant surprises of 2005. It's good enough that it makes you hope that McMahon makes Jack's Mannequin his full-time band.

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