Silkworm – It’ll Be Cool

Type: Indie Rock

Good Tracks:
1. Don’t Look Back
2. Insomnia
5. Xian Undertaker

Well I went ahead and listened to Silkworm after hearing Bottomless Pit. I noticed they sounded pretty similar to The New Year and upon further Wikipedia hunting I found out Matt Kadane did a lot of work on this album. The first 2 tracks are good but it trails off pretty hard after that. “Insomnia” is a great track. I’ve got a lot of Silkworm albums to get through. You’ll be informed.

Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
5. A Lot Like Me

Ok, I’m a pretty big Offspring fan, but this was just awful. I can’t say I’m surprised. They haven’t put out something that remotely caught my attention since “Americana” came out, and I don’t mean “Pretty Fly”, there were some great tracks on that album. The lyrics were awful, and I think Holland went way over his quota on “WHoooAaaaas”. I had a headache after listening to this.

Bottomless Pit – Hammer Of The Gods

Type: Alt Rock

Good Tracks:
1. Cardinal Movements
2. Dogtag
4. Leave The Light On
7. Greenery

These guys are touring with the Kadane Brothers so I figured I’d give them a listen before I go see them. The group is mostly members of Silkworm who I really don’t know much about, but i may check out their stuff because this was decent. “Dogtag” is a simple track but I’ve grown to like it most. If you’re looking for something mellow try them out.

Say Anything – In Defense Of The Genre

Type: Emo

Good Tracks:

Disc one
1. “Skinny, Mean Man” – 3:33
2. “No Soul” – 3:36
8. “Baby Girl, I’m a Blur” – 4:19
13. “Sorry, Dudes. My Bad.” – 2:43

Disc two
2. “In Defense of the Genre” – 4:02
6. “About Falling” – 4:13
9. “We Killed It” – 1:53

Finally got down to listening to this double album. Mediocre is how I’d best describe it. It certainly has its high points though. “Skinny, Mean Man”, “Baby Girl, I’m a Blur”, and “In Defense Of The Genre” are my favorites. Although I’m not often very critical of lyrics Max Bemis’ lyrics can either be fun or just plain annoying, and that kind of turned me off to a lot of songs. “Sorry, Dudes, My Bad.” is fun with a real catchy hook. The title track is great!

Robert Pollard – Robert Pollard Is Off to Business

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
1. The Original Heart
2. The Blondes
3. 1 Years Old
4. Gratification to Concrete
5. No One but I

Definitely pleased with this. Pollard actually has some good songs coming out again! The only problem with this is the second half of this album is pretty much forgettable, even after many repeated listens. “The Blondes”, “1 Years Old”, and “No One But I” are all really great. Totally worth a listen for any GBV/Pollard fan.

Kettel – My Dogan

Type: IDM

Good Tracks:
03 mauerbrecher’ 06:07
04 billiton beruh with cleo&wouter 02:09
05 little tongues 04:16
10 peeksje 1994 02:00
13 silvia 03:02
16 escape from eta th2 01:41

Not a terribly strong release from Kettel. “Peeksje 1994” stands out the most and is on par with his more recent works. “Escape From ETA Th2” is a neat mellow track that’ll grow on you if its accidentally played enough times. Besides that the album seems unfocused and sometimes just droning, which can be good sometimes if done properly.

RJD2 – Since We Last Spoke

Type: Rock/Hip-Hop/Phat Beats

Good Tracks:
3. “1976” – 2:27
5. “Making Days Longer” – 4:36
6. “Someone’s Second Kiss” – 4:28
9. “Iced Lightning” – 4:29
11. “Through The Walls” – 3:27

Not bad. Sounds less hip-hoppin than his most recent release, even though it was nearer to his beat selling days. I like “Making Days Longer” alot and “Through The Walls” is a pretty strange track, kind of like rock music in shuffle mode. Also check out “The Third Hand”, which is underrated i would say.

Film School – Hideout

Type: Alt Rock

Good Tracks:
1. Dear Me
6. Two Kinds
9. Compare

I wouldn’t say this album is great, but these are 3 songs worth hearing. These guys keep getting called poseurs and jerkoffs for making music that slightly resembles something good that came out of the 90s, and thats horse shit. So what if “Dear Me” sounds like something Sonic Youth may have created, it’s a good song. “Compare” is my favorite from this release and one of the better songs i’ve heard in a while.

Pinback – Autumn of the Seraphs (Bonus Disc)

Type: Sweet Bass Rock Action Mellow Party

Good Tracks:
2. “Kylie” – 3:59
3. “Autumn of the Seraphs” – 4:16

Three bonus tracks from their new album. “Kylie” is a fantastic song and really deserved to be on the album. Bouncy guitar and solid bass. It’s play count has already hit 18 in iTunes. The title track is also great, and it’s not even on the album that was named after it. Pinback has become one of my favorite bands.

The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour

Type: Canadian Rock

Good Tracks:
5. “Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure” – 4:08
7. “Sun in an Empty Room” – 4:00

2 fun songs, alot of not so memorable songs. “Sun in an Empty Room” has fantastic guitar work and is very much worth hearing. Track 5 is a continuation of a song from an earlier album and is much better than the first one. If you already like The Weakerthans then check it out.

Aloha – Light Works

Type: Indie

Good Tracks:
1. Body Buzz
4. The End
6. Gold World
7. Equinox

I really enjoyed this. It’s hard to say what my favorite is, they’re each nice in their own way. “Equinox” has grown on me as its popped up so many times on shuffle, so I guess thats my favorite by default, the song also has great piano work. This is supposedly just a teaser album as it’s only 7 tracks. Definitely going to check out their other albums. I’d describe it as Shins meets a mellow Radiohead.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ask Forgiveness

Type: Folk

Good Tracks:
8. The World’s Greatest

This was mostly a cover album with just one original track. Not particularly amazing. His cover of R.Kelly is quite nice though.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy – I See A Darkness

Type: Folk

Good Tracks:
3. “I See a Darkness”
4. “Another Day Full of Dread”

I don’t know, these 2 songs are really amazing but the rest of this album didn’t do anything for me. Seriously though these couple of songs are pretty much the best he’s ever done. Worth it just for the title track. A very overrated album with a few really great songs.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Letting Go

Type: Folk

Good Tracks:
2. “Strange Form of Life” – 3:46
4. “Cursed Sleep” – 5:35

Meh. I really like BPB but this effort was lacking. Track 2 is great, love the guitar. Overall just very blah.

Shugo Tokumaru – Exit

Type: Folk

Good Tracks:
1. Parachute
2. Green Rain
3. Clocca
5. Button
8. Hidamari

Great Japanese folk. Sounds alot like a mellow version of a katamari soundtrack. “Hidamari” is a great track, definitely my favorite. You won’t know what he’s saying unless you’re Japanese, but that’s ok.