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Reviews in Category : Reviews

With their fourth release, Gatsbys American Dream has finally realized all of the potential and promise they've been playing around with and put it to a record. Volcano is the culmination of ideas and sounds that the band has been experimenting and perfecting since their formation, and it takes all of the good from each of their past releases and attaches it to some truly stellar musicianship. Whereas their first record, Why We Fight, only announced their intentions, and their second (the better), Ribbons And Sugar, merely turned some heads, and their third, In The Land Of Monsters, just confused the hell out of people, their fourth, Volcano, projects its brilliance to the world with not a single qualm.

The confidence the band presents can be heard and felt with every note and every melody. There's no one out there doing what they're doing, and they know it. Other bands try to create stunningly profound rock with a purpose (like this), but most either only scratch the surface or...

Gatsbys American Dream - Volcano (CD)
Altsounds thinks Gatsbys American Dream - Volcano (CD) is terrible

The Bravery, then: priapic quiff-rockers about to de-flower(s) the Killers-obsessed indie-nation, or calculating chancers set to self-destruct in their own tsunami of hype?

You�d have to be Ellen MacArthur not to have an opinion. Formed barely a year ago in their adoptive New York and signed by Polydor subsidiary Loog, following the compulsory A&R scramble, they have since completed a riotous month-long residency at London�s Metro and blanket-bombed radio to the degree that debut single �Unconditional� already has the time-worn feel of an indie classic. What�s more, everyone from zeitgeist-hungry broadsheets to Jo Whiley have used their Sensyon-like powers to rubberstamp them as �band of 2005� � rivalled only by the far more cuddly Bloc Party.

Their cunning plan, of course, is to replicate The Killers� perfect pop-heist and return to the States as conquering heroes, just like The Strokes and The White Stripes before them. This sort of tit-for-tat cultural exchange has driven...

The Bravery - The Bravery (CD)
Altsounds thinks The Bravery - The Bravery (CD) is terrible

The Blue Van
The Art of Rolling

Rating: 5.0

The Blue Van are more a controlled science experiment-- what happens when four zealous Danes are brought up smack dab in the middle of nowhere listening almost exclusively to Kinks, Animals, Who, and Doors records?-- than a fresh rock outfit. Their LP The Art of Rolling is an exhumed time capsule of 60s mod and psychedelica. Of course, considering how fellow Scandinavians the Hives, Raveonettes, and Soundtrack of Our Lives have all scored hit singles in the U.K and/or U.S. by channeling British invasion bands, the Blue Van's gritty, unaffected emulation of 60s blues-rock seems pretty logical, right down to the Andy Warhol-inspired album cover and mop-top hairdos.

The Blue Van (CD)
Altsounds thinks The Blue Van (CD) is terrible

$Love as Laughter Laughter's Fifth For their first album since 2001's drastically underrated Sea to Shining Sea, Sam Jayne and his Love as Laughter mates have ratcheted down their expansive guitar onslaught several degrees, closing the roof and fastening all the bolts as they cruise their sound brazenly towards classic rock orthodoxy. It's an approach obviously not without risks, as the virtually quirk-free Laughter's Fifth settles nearly its entire weight onto Jayne's songwriting shoulders. Fortunately, however, it's a load Jayne sounds as if he was born to tote, and here he delivers what is undoubtedly his tightest, most satisfying batch of songs to date. It's certainly a far cry from the disjointed, garagey fray of such early albums as The Greks Bring Gifts or #1 U.S.A., although even back when L\A\L was essentially Jayne's lo-fi solo project his fondness for foursquare Keith Richards chords and distorted Crazy Horse jamming crept itself in like jimson weed. Now, with the...$
Love As Laughter
Altsounds thinks Love As Laughter is terrible

Altsounds thinks Love As Laughter is terrible

With this 4-song EP, Circa Survive gives us a nice glimpse at what is in store when they release their first full-length Juturna on April 19th. Featuring members of defunct legends This Day Forward and Saosin, Circa Survive provide an intense, masterful distraction from the headbanging and the clich�d mosh. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing I like more than a pulverizing breakdown.

This is a nice break from the kinetic frenzy that is hardcore punk rock, though. The music ebbs and flows naturally, often experimenting with thoughtful, dreamy indie hard rock with powerful post-hardcore crecendos. The guitars and bass weave in and out with the vocals and drums creating emotional songs that will fill the listener with introspective thought. Oh, there's some heavy riffage here that you'll find yourself bobbing your head to no doubt...and the references to emotional post-hardcore are quite obvious, but these songs are mainly slow to mid tempo dreamscapes capable of lifting you off...

Circa Survive - The Inuit Sessions (CD)
Altsounds thinks Circa Survive - The Inuit Sessions (CD) is terrible

Elevator is Hot Hot Heat's first effort in three years, and
a period whose length is likely attributed to the fact that writing for
the band's major label debut resulted in roughly 30 scrapped songs. The
band had begun collaborating on new material during tour support of
2002's Make Up The Breakdown,
and, unhappy with the material, tossed it out, reportedly due to, among
other complaints, that despite the "darker, more expansive" nature,
they were essentially writing the same record over. So while Elevator
certainly has its differences, it's funny that in many ways, it's still
deathly similar to its predecessor, at least at the band's foundation.

Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (CD)
Altsounds thinks Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (CD) is terrible

In late 2001, Ryan Adams was inadvertently anointed the face-du-jour
for "alt-country," an idea scraped off the ink-smeared pages of No Depression
and tremulously shot into semi-mainstream consciousness by an
over-jubilant, rural-romanticizing press: Adams' "breakthrough" record,
Gold, turned out to be a lot more alt-rock than alt-country, and its proper, non-demo follow-up, 2003's spastic Rock N Roll, ditched the pedal steel altogether, embracing, instead, overblown riffs and smarmy vocal mugging. Cold Roses, which follows two weepy acoustic EPs (2003's Love Is Hell
Parts One and Two), sees Adams trudging back to his country roots,
turning up the twang, curling his cowboy boots into cold, east village
pavement, and transforming his frantic yawps into star-fed cries.

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (CD)
Altsounds thinks Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (CD) is terrible

Weezer
Make Believe

Rating: 0.4

If you're one of those poor souls who wile away the day job by keeping a scorecard of music review sites, there's one thing you already know: There are two distinct groups of bad albums. The more prevalent kind is the fodder that fills a critic's mailbox, bands with awkward names and laser-printed cover art that don't inspire ire so much as pity. The second group is more treacherous: Bands that yield high expectations due to past achievements, yet, for one reason or another, wipe out like "The Wide World of Sports"' agony-of-defeat skier.

Weezer - Make Believe (CD)
Altsounds thinks Weezer - Make Believe (CD) is terrible

I used to loathe Days Away. For years I passed the band off as a horribly bland take on Stay What You Are-ish Saves The Day, especially after seeing them open for Finch in 2003. Cut to the next time I saw Finch, late last year, and apparently the band had grown leaps and bounds, now opting for much more atmospheric arrangements and root-reaching influences.

The band's former label, Lava, completely dropped the ball with Mapping An Invisible World. The band's debut full-length finds Days Away injecting ambience and lush arrangements into their delicate emo pop, a majority of which seems to fit in line with their present-day contemporaries, sort of like a complex, lyrically competent, more-former-than-latter passive aggressive early Armor For Sleep in that sense. However, unlike those bands and more, DA take a *light* influence from more revered, 90's traditionalists like the often-extended instrumental atmospheres of Sunny Day Real Estate and the drifting, world-weary haze pop of...

Days Away - Mapping an Invisible World (CD)
Altsounds thinks Days Away - Mapping an Invisible World (CD) is terrible

Why? I mean, sure, hearing that Between The Buried And Me�s front-man Tommy Rogers has an electronic side project may lure you into listening, as it did for me. But without knowing such information, would anyone genuinely enjoy Giles? Maybe. But that in itself is uncomprehensible to me.

This album sounds like Marilyn Manson on ecstasy... at a rave... with glow-sticks... telling jokes. Jokes of which I cannot understand for the life of me; �You can�t stash a child / You can�t eat your shit / Fuck the rules, let�s squirm this pit.� I know that the coolest thing a band can do nowadays is not discuss emotion whatsoever, but stashing children and eating shit? Sounds like Cannibal Corpse to me. But it�s not fair to judge a band on lyrics alone.

I don�t quite understand how Tommy Rogers mimics the voice of Jonathan Davis so precisely. Perhaps it�s a gift, whereas I�d call it a misfortune. Perhaps his voice is overproduced somewhere along the way. Regardless of the reason, it�s definitely a...

Giles - Giles (CD)
Altsounds thinks Giles - Giles (CD) is terrible

NIRVANA
'With the lights out'

Similar Bands:
Melvins, Soundgarden, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Jenoah,

Review:
Well here's a box set that is actually worth the cash you pay for it. One of the few. It's a 3 disc set and 1 DVD.
A lot of this is rough around the edges but it's meant to be like this. Some songs are demos some live and even a few b-sides and covers.
Nirvana was a very influential band in the 90's and this set of songs proves why. They were able to be different while still sounding like a really good rock band, which is all they ever tried to be.

Nirvana - With The Lights Out (Boxset)
Altsounds thinks Nirvana - With The Lights Out (Boxset) is terrible

BURDEN BROTHERS - BURIED IN YOUR BLACK HEART
(Trauma)

Sometimes in order to face your future, you need to crash into your past. With that said, Todd Lewis has put a chokehold on his Toadies legacy with Buried In Your Black Heart, which takes the cynicism of his former with the powerful glory of vintage Cheap Trick and pretties it all up with the warm guitars of The Smashing Pumpkins� Gish.

Lewis isn�t in any hurry to leave his Toadies similarities anytime soon, and how can he with his singular seeming spit and venom delivery. You can just imagine him over at the Last Beat Studios Todd cranking out the opening title track or �Beautiful Night� on his SG. This disc is closer in vibe to the brilliant ferocity of Velvet with its urgent beat and frantic rhythm, and of course there�s Lewis�s seductive murderer disguise. �You�re So Goddamn Beautiful� is almost soccer stadium built in its chanting chorus and huge sprawling riffs. This isn�t only Lewis�s show though; monster drummer Taz...

Burden Brothers CD- Ex- Toadies frontman
Altsounds thinks Burden Brothers CD- Ex- Toadies frontman is terrible

You could be forgiven for thinking that Ash had an impossible task on their hands when it came to writing and recording the follow up to 2001's pop drenched classic, Free All Angels. A lot of bands could have curled up and died after producing a number one album and five hit singles. But not Ash. Instead the debauched four-piece have returned in a blaze of glory with a record which quite simply rocks!

The genius of Meltdown, the band's fourth album, is that Tim Wheeler and the gang have managed to retain their instantly recognisable pop traits. But they have injected their melodies with a much harder edge. Producer Nick Raskulinecz, whose previous work includes the Foo Fighters and System Of A Down, is the man responsible for the band's beefed up new sound.

The opening title track is a prime example of this as Tim's harsh lyrics: "The rich doctors and the politicians, they rule by fear...keeping us down," are married up with stomping fiery riffs and Rick McMurray's ruthless...

Ash - Meltdown (CD)
Altsounds thinks Ash - Meltdown (CD) is terrible

Artist: Acceptance
Album: Phantoms
Label: Columbia Records
Release Date: 04/26/2005

by: AJ

We�re not reinventing the wheel here�it�s pop music. It�s sugary and sweet and it makes your ass shake. The Jimmy Eat World comparison is almost too obvious to make, but alas, there it is. The songs are well written, the vocals are great and the production is fantastic. But what really sets this record apart is how obvious it is that Jesus or Santa Claus or someone is looking down on this band from above. Producer/Genius, Aaron Sprinkle, makes his major label debut on Phantoms. Sprinkle was actually chosen by the BAND rather than the LABEL�an anomaly on its own. Phenomenon #2 comes when Columbia throws so much fucking promotion behind this release you would think John Lennon came back from the dead to sing back up vocals. I think next is locusts and the killing of the first born.

Is anyone else confused? On the real though, the record is good. It�s nothing groundbreaking or original, but the...

Acceptance - Phantoms (CD)
Altsounds thinks Acceptance - Phantoms (CD) is terrible

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