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.

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.

Robert Pollard – Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love / Standard Gargoyle Decisions

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
CTCCOL
4. “Current Desperation (Angels Speak of Nothing)”
7. “Customer’s Throat”
SGD
12. “Folded Claws”

GAH! I was not impressed with this double album effort. “From A Compound Eye” was a great release, and ever since he’s been putting out slop. This is unacceptable. Fortunately he releases a new album every few months so it’s only a matter of time before he comes back into form.

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
1. Peacebone
5. Fireworks

LoLwut? Is this some kind of joke? Maybe everyone in the world likes this album but me. Ya, the first track was pretty awesome, but maybe that’s why it’s the first track. I listened carefully and couldn’t convince myself to like this album at all. Sounds like Deerhoof written by apes with brain tumors. Yes, I LIKE THE FIRST TRACK, and “Fireworks” is alright, but no. So boring, Do Not Want.

Annuals – Be He Me

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
2. Dry Clothes
6. Bleary-Eyed
11. Father

Ya, the rest of this album wasn’t so amazing at all , but “Dry Clothes” and “Bleary-Eyed” are really great songs. I love the way “Dry Clothes” bounces along, if it didn’t end so stupidly it would be awesome, but it is still sweet, which is slightly less than awesome. These guys could be going places, maybe.

Jeremy Enigk – World Waits

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
2. “Been Here Before”
4. “City Tonight”
5. “Cannons”
9. “World Waits”

2nd full solo album from the former singer for Sunny Day Real Estate. Sounds better than Sunny Day Real Estate and is catchier. You may not find most of this album appealing but these songs here are nice. “World Waits” is a nice closing track for this album.

Cursive – Domestica

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
1. “The Casualty” – 3:30
2. “The Martyr” – 3:57
4. “Making Friends and Acquaintances” – 2:58
6. “The Lament of Pretty Baby” – 3:15
8. “The Radiator Hums” – 3:24

Sweetness. Cursive is almost always worth listening to. Starts out amazing with “Casualty” and “The Lament of Pretty Baby” is classic. First half of this album is where its at.

Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
1. “The Mending of the Gown” – 5:37
2. “Magic vs. Midas” – 6:00
6. “Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns” – 4:55
7. “Stallion” – 6:46
8. “For the Pier (and Dead Shimmering)” – 5:15
9. “The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life” – 6:07
12. “Child-Heart Losers” – 2:01

Very excellent. First track feels like 10 different awesome songs, second track has a really great ending, sixth track has some fantastic guitar work. “Stallion” and “”The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life” are in a tie for best on the album. The last track closes out the album pretty perfectly.

Idlewild – Make Another World

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
2. Everything (As It Moves)
3. No Emotion
6. Future Works
9. Once In Your Life

Decent. Third track is great, and the second track is sort of growing on me. This is the only album of theirs i’ve heard, and i’ve read that they have at least one really good track on each album.

Benzos – Branches

Type: Rock/Trip-Pop

Good Tracks:
1. Sell This Thing
2. Phase 2
4. Portland

Starts off really strong and doesn’t offer much toward the end. It’s a shame because i really like the first two songs. “Phase 2″ has some pretty guitar work. The entire song is real nice. “Portland” is a really great instrumental.

RJD2 – The Third Hand

Type: Rock/Hip-Hop/Phat Beats

Good Tracks:
2. You Never Had It So Good
3. Have Mercy
4. Reality
5. Work It Out
6. Laws Of The Gods
7. Get It
9. The Bad Penny
10. Beyond
11. Sweet Piece
14. Just When
15. Evening Gospel

I don’t understand why everyone hates this so much. There are so many good songs on this release! This is a perfect example of Pitchfork giving a perfectly good release a shitty rating, and then everyone else has to follow suit and bash it. Way better than some of the bands they blindly hand 1000 point reviews to (examples: “TV On The Radio”, “Grizzly Bear”). Best tracks are “Have Mercy”, “The Bad Penny”, “Just When”, and “Evening Gospel”.

Pinback – Blue Screen Life

Type: Rock

Good Tracks:
5. Penelope
6. Talby
12. Tres

Gross . This album was such a let-down after hearing all their other releases.

Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist

Type : Rock

Good Tracks:
3. Bleeding the Orchid
4. That’s the Way
9. Bring the Light
10. Come On Let’s Go
11. For God And Country

Not especially great. Track 4 is def my favorite. If Bring The Light weren’t such a repetitive song it could be pretty sweet. This isn’t so much of a letdown compared with the train-wreck that is Zwan. If you forget that the rest of the album exists then it can be worth listening to.

Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary

Type : Rock

Good Tracks:
2. Modern World
3. Grounds For Divorce
4. We Built Another World
5. Fancy Claps
7. Shine A Light
8. Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts
9. I’ll Believe In Anything
10. It’s A Curse

VERY GOOD. Tracks 4 and 2 are my favorites, but all the tracks i listed are really good. Somehow i didn’t know about this band but i knew of “handsome furs” and “frog eyes” (the band is members from both of those bands). I’m glad i finally found out about this though.

Sunny Day Real Estate – How It Feels To Be Something On

Type : Emo / Rock

Good Tracks:
1. Pillars
3. Every Shining Time You Arrive
10. Days Were Golden

These three songs were great, but I don’t know about the rest of the album. I don’t think I dislike it, I may just need to give this a few more listens. The other tracks do seem to be growing on me.