"This will be a better year."

It's obligimatory list time. Best of's and what not. So, because no one demanded it, the ten albums you should have listened to this year and some EP's as well, since they're cheap (half of them are free to download). Half of these bands are probably unheard of and the other half I've probably already covered, but you'll find that out for yourself as I start with #10 and work my way up.

#10) Brand New - Daisy

Excessively loud rock that is surprisingly contagious and accessible. Not their best effort ever, but still better than a lot of what was released this year.

#09) Aimee Allen - A Little Happiness

Melodic and mellow change of pace for this singer/songwriter. A great voice & just enough touch keeps every track sounding unique, but slightly similar.



#08) Eyedea & Abilities - By the Throat

Not a thing like what was expected from them. Such a great and bold decision by a group who knows what making music should be about.



#07) Killing Jazz - 12 is Enough (Free)

This band no longer exists, but they delivered one hell of a going away gift. This is a really fun jazz/blues album that you'd really should of had to pay for.



#06) The Patinettes - The Patinettes (Free)

A fantastic mixture of surf rock and folk, this is an album to remind you of summer. These Spaniards really nailed an oft-forgotten part of our music.



#05) Chewing on Tinfoil - Get Rich or Try Dyin' (Free)

Ska is being revived again and this is the band leading the charge. A wonderful debut album with a nice bouncing sing-along quality to it.


#04) The Gasoline Brothers - Tsk! (Free)

Indie rock that's all of great and unpretentious. This combination being a nice, strange, and incredibly welcome change of pace to the genre.



#03) Ike Reilly - Hard Luck Stories

Good ol' fashioned rock and roll mixed with a little country. Some of the best musicianship and song writing out there today all on one album.



#02) The Taxpayers - A Rhythm in the Cages (Free)

Punk mixed with folk, a lead singer/screamer that's both melodic and raspy. Everything you could want in an album mixed together perfectly.



#01) Cheap Girls - My Roaring 20's

I figure this should be number one since I've listened to it everyday for two months now. Fuzzy, catchy and beautiful, listen to this and I seriously doubt you won't want to sing along.


EP's (Alphabetical order, clickable = downloadable)

Farewell Continental - Farewell Continental, Hard Girls - Hello, I Fight Dragons - Cool Is Just a Number, The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears, The Micah Walk Band - Goodbye, Austin, Oh NO Its POk - Oh NO It's SHITE, Plugs - Rock 'n' Roll Zombie

Here's to 2011.

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Now playing: Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game

via FoxyTunes

"Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now."

For me, hell, or as I like to call it, everyday life, has finally frozen over. I started a Twitter account and, God help me, I'll try to use it in a proper sort of way. I know this is probably a lost cause already, but if you want the chance to read and hear some crazy, off the wall shit, well then add the feed. It won't cost you anything, except your self respect, but if you're reading this then you probably didn't have much to begin with.

Welcome, equal.

Since you are me and I am you and we is us, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you (I?) should listen to this free EP; It's called Rock 'n' Roll Zombie and it's by the French band Plugs.

Free Download

This is pretty straightforward. Four songs. Fourteen minutes. No frills punk rock. It seems like the French are becoming much better at this then us Americans. Don't believe me? Well, download this, and everything Louis Lingg and the Bombs have to offer and get back to me. I won't even wait for you 'cause I already know you'll learn just how right I am.

This is a full-frontal musical assault in the best way possible. Loud, melodic, and I can't understand a word of what the singer is saying (mostly because it's sung in French). Easily the title track is the standout one here, if only for one of the most kick-ass endings to a song to come out in a long while. This, my friends, is what rock 'n' roll should be.

Download it. It's free and it'll only take fifteen minutes of your life, which, if you're anything like me (and we've already established that you are), are fifteen minutes more than well spent.

Speaking of Kick-Ass: A new trailer for the movie, which is based on the comic by Mark Millar, has been posted online. This one features Nicolas Cage shooting a little girl. Movie of the year voting has now been officially closed. Check it out below.

I haven't seen you in forever and this whole meeting was brought upon us by a beautiful failure in communication. So, yes. What you heard was true, I meant every word and my only regret is forgetting to tell you how thankful I was that you didn't hang up on me right then and there. Thank you. Thank you for putting the beautiful into my failure.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now playing: Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
via FoxyTunes

She said, "Meet me out back when you're done with your show and I'll let you dump all your dreams down into my throat."

With shows, a holiday, work, shows, and work, I'm a little exhausted and really should be sleeping, but I feel it my duty to inform you of the CD that's keeping me awake and singing instead of letting me drift off into peaceful dreamland. This week that honor goes to Chicago's Ike Reilly (Blog/Facebook/MySpace/Twitter/YouTube) and his new album Hard Luck Stories.

Purchase: Amazon/iTunes

I first learned of this record through another blog that I read regularly, songs:illinois, and was drawn to the post not because of Reilly, but because of Shooter Jennings. The song was The War on the Terror and the Drugs (Download for free from Rock Ridge Music below) and it's a duet between the two that goes back and forth telling a story with the most beautifully subdued raunchy lyrics (See post title above) that I have heard in a song in a long while. Still, call it what you will, this country-ish, kind of bluesy number got my attention, so, last Monday, I downloaded the rest of the album - not really knowing what to expect seeing as how I've never really been into Ike Reilly.

I am now.

Non stop now, for seven days, it kicked My Roaring 20's out of my car's CD player, every chance I get to listen to the whole album or even just a part of it, I take it. I'm addicted to Mr. Reilly's stories, his voice, his way with a guitar and his even better way with words. I like the topics he covers, love, war vets, drugs, family, murder, and fun (not necessarily in that order or in just one song) and the way he does it with coming right out and saying it. Check out Girls In the Backroom and The Reformed Church of the Assault Rifle Band if you need clarification for my words.

And, though I fancy myself a word-smith, a lover of lyrics if you will, what really keeps me coming back is the music itself. Part of it may be the week (more on that later) but I'm really liking the blues notes in a lot of the songs. When paired with either a country strum or loud rock riff, it adds a lot of dynamic that many other artists with never catch and it meshes beautifully with Ike's sometimes Dylan-light voice. See Morning Glory and Good Work for more on that point.

Really, the stand out track above them all, in my opinion (Which are like assholes, I know), is The Ballad of Jack and Haley and, like most of the songs, it tells another story. This one is about a single father who grows weed in his basement to help make ends meet. In no time the daughter's school smells the weed on her, calls the cops, and Haley ends up with her aunt and Jack ends up in Stateville. The keep in touch, rarely talk about the past, and Jack promises to return to Haley so he can grow her another "indoor garden". Reading it out like that, the song sounds a little morally reprehensible, but, when played, it comes off as something much different, much sadder, and a real thought provoker into the world of drugs and the way our country chooses to handle the subject.

If you don't want to spend ten bucks to buy this, spend one and get this song.

Then spend nine more and get the rest of them.

In live shows of days not so long since passed:

The Righteous Hillbillies once again out did themselves in a performance that was attended by a who's who of the local music scene, including Brendan Loughrey and John Condron. But the real show stealer (and reason for my current blues indulgence) was an appearance (he actually stole my stool) and little performance by T-Bird Huck, who, if you haven't heard of him and love the blues, check out his CD here. With him and the Hillbillies playing together the room became filled with some absolutely insane hybrid of southern rock, country, rock & roll, and blues, all at the same time. It's a crying shame, but I don't think anyone filmed any of this. Though, it will live on in legends.

Not to be outdone, Chicago Farmer showed up two days later with his usually stories and sing-alongs, and had the crowd in a frenzy. I mean frenzy. They wouldn't let him finish his set, so he put the mic and amp aside, stepped off the stage with his guitar, and surrounded by people, led the whole bar through some more sing-alongs. Let's see you get that with Adam Lambert, well that without a performance of simulated oral sex.

That's never going to happen.

This is not only wrong, but it's really kind of stupid. This is pseudo-maturity. This will bring nothing but undesired consequences. What will become of our games and fun when this ridiculous experiment of yours is done?

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Download: Ike Reilly - The War on the Terror and the Drugs

"C'est pour toi malheureuse si jolie."

If you happen to wonder why this is being posted at such an odd hour, let me spell it out for you; I have a drinking problem, but it only surfaces when the Bears play. Don't worry, I have a solution for it though, from now on it's Blackhawks games only.

Which should give me plenty of time to focus on music, and today I'd like to help you accomplish that too, by letting you in on the secret of how to get up to 3 songs, from pretty much any popular or non-popular artist out there, absolutely free and absolutely legal. And, no. It's not iTunes.

It's Amazon.com!

All you have to do is click here, sign up (if you haven't already), enter the code they give you, and you automatically get three free dollars in your account to use towards Amazon mp3's. You can purchase singles or albums with it, the songs can be added directly to your iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries, and with many of the albums only being five bucks, this is quite a fantastic deal.

So fantastic, in fact, that I've already used up my coupon and now have a list of songs you should you use your free money on.

1: Huffing the Proverbial Line Off the Proverbial Dong or The Blood and the Frog - The Falcon

With a title like that you know the song is going to be good, it's kind of a requirement for letting a song have such a kick-ass name. From the first album of Chicago punk-rock super group The Falcon, God Don't Make No Trash or Up Your Ass With Broken Glass, comes this loud, fast, loud, snotty and, it needs to be said, loud song that sounds just like lead singer Brendan Kelly's other group, the great, The Lawrence Arms.

2: Femme L'a Dit - Feufollet

What? French? No, sucka - CAJUN! Keeping the dream alive for Acadian musicians everywhere, Feufollet (Which, apparently, is the phenomenon where swamp gases create mysterious balls of light or fire) really excel in this slow building song that starts of with an air of sadness and finishes with with the sounds of a Mardi Gras parade. The track (translated to The Woman Says) is sung entirely in Cajun and its from their latest album, Cow Island Hop.

3: Eight Miles Wide - Storm Large

First heard this song on Friday, performed by a queen, in a drag show, at a gay bar - and, truthfully, it was not only the most appropriate, but the ONLY appropriate song for such a situation. It's from her new album, Crazy Enough, and it's raunchy, idealist, extravagant, facetious (God only hopes), and, most of all, fun. It's an anthem and Storm Large is definitely a performer, but to find out what exactly is eight miles wide, you're going to have to download this song.

And, finally, in live show news:

Wayne Brennan came all the way from Ireland to play in Joliet last Friday and couldn't have been been better. Friendly and talented, he was a ginormous pleasure to meet. I picked up a copy of his CD, In My Hands, and I'll post a review of it as soon as I've thoroughly dissected it.

Then there's Thanksgiving Week at Chicago St. where we should all be thankful for the line up of shows they have for it.

Wednesday - The Righteous Hillbillies/9PM
Thursday - Ed Anderson of Backyard Tire Fire (Acoustic)/9PM
Friday - Chicago Farmer/9PM

Go see some damn shows.

Drink it all up, tell us what you see.

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Now playing: Feufollet - Chère Bèbè Crèole
via FoxyTunes

"Big ideas, that's my game."

Mid-week post? Been awhile...

But this is a stop the presses kind of deal as it's about a band near to my heart. John Condron and the the Benefit (Myspace/Facebook), a great Joliet by way of Philly/Chicago rock group, have been more active than usual lately. In fact they've just put up three unmastered songs from their forthcoming (still no arrival date or artwork) release Eleventh Hour Grace. The pick of the litter, available in link form at the end of this post, is Paper Planes, a groovy little rock number that I've been hearing in various iterations live for the past year now. So, it's nice to actually have a copy I can listen to any time I want.

The other two, Blurred and Minutes to Hours are great in their own right and can be picked up from the audio link in the band's electronic press kit here. Please. Please. Please. Check this out. John's a great guy who has been releasing great music for years now and there is no man out there who deserves success doing what they love as much as him. Check out his other releases here, here, and here.

In bonus, nerd news:

If you read comic books, or don't, I don't care, check out this-

Cowboy Ninja Viking

Two issues have been put out already, but I still can't really explain what it's about. Something to do with an assassin afflicted with multiple personality disorder (Triplets specifically, hence the title name) traveling around the world killing people while dealing with the fact that at any time he could be a cowboy, a ninja or a viking. And the only way he's unique is in the personalities he has, there are others like him, but only he is a cowboy/ninja/viking. This is off the charts. Check it out.

I'm out of ideas. Let's just give up.

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Download: John Condron & The Benefit - Paper Planes (Unmastered)

"If God isn't dead, then I'll kill him myself."

I've already professed my love for Creative Commons and the music produced under it, so what follows shouldn't set the world on fire, at least from the prospective of me. The music I have for you today however, should the world ever choose for a day to be fair, could very well light this planet up.

Josh Woodward (Website/MySpace/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube) is a relatively (word used lightly for comedic effect) proficient, self-run singer/songwriter from Ohio who has produced an extremely large amount of music over the past five or so years, all of which is available for free. Yes. Again the key word is free. You don't have to pay for any of this, unless you want a physical copy of a CD or are feeling extremely generous. After you get done going through this collection, I'm going to have a hard time believing you aren't going to do at least one of those two things.

I could go on forever just on the merits of his collective work but, for all our sakes, I'm going to focus on his October release, Breadcrumbs.

Free Download/Listen/Buy

Welcome the winter.

At least that's the feeling I got over the eleven tracks of this album. It starts out upbeat enough, with Swansong providing a nice, bouncy acoustic riff to offset the lyrics of a man coming to terms with the end of a relationship. As other instruments come in, the song keeps your head moving, swaying back and forth, up and down, Josh's voice never overpowering or being overpowered, a perfect compliment to a very well produced track. A song you'll find it hard not to smile through.

Which will be enough of that. Everything slows down with the next song, 20/20, and doesn't really pick up until the back-end of the album. The music suddenly starts to make you feel like you're trapped in a gently falling snow and you would really like the record to act as your blanket. I use such a stretch of a metaphor only because the songs here really do give that effect, most effectively Border Blaster, a soft lament of illegal immigration from the point of those who the necessity of which affects the most. If you don't want to take the time to download this album, then at the very least download this song alone.

However, if you do take this lazy way out you'll miss out on the most disturbing of tracks, Under the Stairs, a story of what happens when you mess with the wrong person. With music as haunting as the lyrics, this happens to be another stand-out of a record full of stand-outs, especially when you take into account that this what happens when music is made for love and not money.

Tirade aside, the album is a bit melancholy, there's no getting around that, but not every artist can be Lady Gaga. Sometimes an album like this is needed for the listener just to lose themselves in, to help clear their mind from their own problems for a little while. And, in that respect, this CD works really well.

Less sad songs on the album (in music at least) include the aforementioned Swansong and Once Tomorrow and well, that's about it. The last two songs continue the cold tone of the record, ending with I'm Not Dreaming - a slow, steady, deliberate and beautiful tale of a man forever changed by war. It doesn't preach, but the only way for me to prove that to you is for you to listen to it for yourself.

Truly do take the time out for this. Breadcrumbs is professional music in every sense of the word - only it doesn't suck.

No. No. I didn't forget. I was trying to. But, no. I didn't forget.

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Now playing: Josh Woodward - I'm Not Dreaming
via FoxyTunes

"With all these realizations you'd think I'd find a way to change."

More and more music - but, this is what we all get when I go on a vinyl buying spree. That's right, I said vinyl. I'm turning into a hipster, but it's barely even slightly my choice. I'm being forced into it.

Right now I'll say that the record I won't be talking about here, as it still hasn't arrived to my door, is Buttsweat and Tears by The Lawrence Arms. I just know it'll be awesome, so go out and buy it.

Anyways, the reason for this buying spree is tied into my love for smaller labels, which causes the bands to do strange things, like only offer vinyl or mp3, and sometimes, I need my damn physical copy.

Which brings me to Lansing, Michigan's very own Cheap Girls and their second full-length release My Roaring 20's.

Purchase: Vinyl 1/Vinyl 2/mp3

This is a cool little band with a cool little sound, a mix of indie rock, pop, and a heaping helping of that decade we like to call the nineties. Ummmm.... the parts we actually like to remember.

With a focus on the music, rather than the production value (Thanks of which go to Rick Johnson from Bomb the Music Industry!) we the people are given an album full of chugging guitars, tight rhythms and lyrics that speak to a wide array of the many events in the lives of twenty-somethings. Drugs, alcohol, debt, school, love and love lost, if you're a believer in taking lyrics to heart, there's sure to be something here that speaks to you.

If you like the instruments more, don't worry, they got you covered too. Most songs fall into a mellower, indie-rock format with bursts of rocking guitar solos, nothing ever gets too heavy or too light, save for the opener Sunnyside which still provides an excellent opener for the album while gaining just enough rock towards the end to provide a nice jump point into the next song.

My littlest complaint comes in the length of the album, it's a little short, but that may just be a testament to how much I actually like it. I find myself listening to the CD (which comes packaged with the vinyl) straight through, back to song one and over, simply because it transitions so well from track ten to one. Unintended? Probably. Awesome? Definitely.

One of the intangibles that really makes this release cool (along with other Paper + Plastick releases) are the various and random vinyl options available. This is, after all, the same company that released the debut Farewell Continental EP as a square. For My Roaring 20's, they went with the classic circle shape and enhanced by making it either orange/white swirl, clear with orange dust, or, the one that I received, the clear/orange drop.

It's flippin' see through!

And, if all that wasn't cool enough, I also got a piece of cardboard with a handwritten note inside.

It's better than a love letter from your mom.

Clearly going above and beyond the bare minimum and adding these little personal touches, almost insuring that I'll be buying the bands next release, goes to further show just how much this band actually cares about their craft, as well as the fanbase they gather in the process.

What I'm trying to say is; splurge the $15 bucks and get one for yourself. At the very least buy the mp3 version of the album. Cheapskates.

Yes. Yes. I never forget. Going back to Quote/Unquote Records for this one; If you need more convincing to buy the album I just rambled on about, you can get their first release Find Me a Drink Home for free/donation - just click on the picture below.

Download: Free/Donation

One last bit of trivia, and this isn't a slam or slight against the band for doing what they do, in fact it's quite the opposite. But, I'd like to thank them for continuing the tradition of everyone (friends, press, musicians now) misspelling my first name. I just don't know what I'd do if someone were to ever get it right.

I hate myself for always saying there are only two choices in life, do or don't. 'Cause, when it comes time for me to heed my own advice, I always end up praying for another option.

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Now playing: Cheap Girls - All My Clean Friends
via FoxyTunes

"I'd like to get to know you just a little bit more."

Sorry for the extended break, unplanned illnesses have a way of wrecking havoc with my writing urges. 'Tis okay though, I have a great way to make it up to you; I went and made you a mixtape.

"Surely," you think, "there's no way in hell this can be legal."

Oh, but I assure you it it is. See, every song on this mixtape (I called it a sampler as a slap in the face of nostalgia) is licensed under the Creative Commons license, more specifically, they all fall under share and share alike. So, since these are the originals, and I will give plenty of credit to the origin artists, and I'm not charging anything for it, I'm in the clear.

I've actually fallen in love with this idea and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's an ass-ton of quality music being produced under it by bands so off the spectrum that they can't even be considered under the radar, most of these bands are off the fucking map completely. And that's where the beauty lies.

There's no pretense, no faking, no bending their musical values over a pleather covered foot board in order to appeal to a specific group of idiots. It's music at it's purest, it's one of the few things that make you hope the world WON'T actually be ending soon.

The problem? With the vast amount of music out there, and though I don't criticize these artists for expressing themselves and doing what they love, a large amount of it happens to be crap. It's a large pile to sift through, but in some strange way, it makes the nuggets of gold you find all the more rewarding.

The solution? Cut out the middle man, my main goal behind this sampler idea. In doing this I hope to expose you to some really fantastic music by some really fantastic bands and in the process, maybe encourage you to make a donation, buy some merchandise, or see a show (Inherent Problem - A good number of these bands are foreign and don't play the states, but if you're ever over seas...), or pretty much do anything you can think of to help encourage these artists to not only follow their dreams, but to continue doing it outside the system in such a way that rewards their fans for loving their music, instead of punishing them for it.

So, without further ado:

...Quite Useless Creative Commons Sampler: 01

Click to Download

Track Listing and Information:

1- The Uttica Stare - The Riot Before --- From the 2007 album So Long, the Lighthouse comes this fun pop-punk song, complete with sing-along chant. Check out their new album Fists Buried in Pockets out now (For Free!) from Paper + Plastick.

2- Bella Ciao - Talco --- Another (partial) sing-along, unless you know Italian, then feel free to sing along to the whole track. This up-tempo tune hails from the 2006 album Combat Circus and songs from their new album Mazel Tov can be heard on their Myspace page.

3- Evening Constitutional - Hard Girls --- Getting away from the punk/ska mix and moving into rock-land, we come across a nice little song that will have you tapping your feet to it in no time. Off the album Hello, the band can be found here.

4- She Don't Call Me Baby Till She Cries - Racecar --- Drop out of rock, fall into country. This song comes from a singer/songwriter who used to go under the Racecar moniker, but now uses the name Luke Tan. The album is Country Gold and Luke can be found here.

5- La Menteuse - Louis Lingg and the Bombs --- Try to not clap along to this. Anarchist punk at its best, done by the French and full of attitude. From the album Long Live the Anarchist Revolutionaries!, you can find them on MySpace.

6- Mississippi Voodoo - The Rogues --- Rock n' Roll this time. A gritty and dirty, bad-ass track from the album Project 69. These Italians can be found here.

7- Phänomenal - Bilk --- Rock n' Roll again, only slower... and from Germany. For some reason this song makes me think of a German No Doubt, don't know why. The album is Ich Will Hier Raus and they are all aboard the MySpace train.

8- Molten - No, Really --- Back to a singer/songwriter, this time female. Voice: Gorgeous. I can listen to this song over and over on that merit alone. Sounds like she would be a perfect fit for Chicago St. and seeing how she's based out of Murfreesboro, TN, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch. This is from the CD Rust and her website (complete with a bunch more of her songs) can be found here.

9- THERE'S My Bailout! - Bomb the Music Industry! --- Country/Rock/Punk song about the pitfalls of our current society. Heavy (not really) stuff from the split album with Laura Stevenson and the Cans. The album and more can be found here.

10- On the Way - SFH --- Apparently I've been on a bit of a ska kick lately. Nostalgia? Maybe. Still, who cares about genres when you can sing along to a song from a band you've never heard of? Not me, sir. Not me. Album: Welcome Yuppie Scum - Website Here.

11- Caro Amore - Rein --- Italian anti-war song. Beautiful lyrics beautifully sung in a beautiful language. That's all you need to know. From the album EST!, the band can be found here.

12- La Rose du Caire - Rachel Baz --- A perfect end to this little experiment. We've gone back to France and apparently back in time, to at least... the sixties. A great song to lounge about drinking expensive liquor at 10 in the morning. The album is Ramenez-moi and Rachel can be found here.

Enjoy.

Have you ever considered that, for me at least, not thinking might be a good thing? God knows my mind is filled with nothing but oh, so terrible thoughts.

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Bonus Track: An Open Door (Live) - Illinois

"We never are what we intend, or invent."

Time for another album review. This week it's a major label release - Daisy by Brand New.

CD/mp3/Vinyl

It would be wrong to used the word let-down when describing this record because, under normal circumstances, it wouldn't even evoke the thought. However, this is the fourth album by Brand New and though it still follows their trend of continuously getting further away from the pop-punk that was their first album (Your Favorite Weapon - 2001), it doesn't quite take the size of steps that both their second (Deja Entendu - 2003) and third ones (The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me - 2006) respectively take. Which isn't a slight against the band, it's actually quite the compliment, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, is the kind of album that all bands who are actually in the game for musical creation and not money would kill to make. Depressing, clever, a musical rendition of mood swings and God-complexes, death and loss, completely not radio-friendly, and yet to those willing to get past its quirks, it was an incredibly intense and yet, musically at least, pleasure to listen to.

I'll say this now; If you haven't heard The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me - get off your ass.

Daisy is not that album, there's no way it could be. Lyrically it tries, there are some biting tracks (At the Bottom) and God-complexed ones (In a Jar), but the music just doesn't seem to match the mood. Which is what I'm sure the band was going for, they've already depressed us and now they want to rock our faces.

Which, actually, doesn't seem like the case for the first minute or so of the opening track, Vices. You start off the CD with the gentle sounds of the piano and the stark contrast of a woman singing properly through what sounds like a blown speaker. For a second you start to think, "Did I buy the wrong damn album?" Then, if by chance, you've turned the volume up to better hear the words this woman is singing, you are now deaf. Apparently Brand New needed to remind us listeners just who the hell they are with that opening guitar riff, or just to let you know that the album has officially started.

And, that's the difference with this record; It rocks. It rocks hard, it rocks loud, and it rocks constantly. It rocks so much that you may need a couple listens and a pair of head phones just to appreciate the subtle nuances in each of the tracks, but if you put the effort into it you won't be disappointed. It definitely grows on you, the up-tempo tracks sound great and when it does (rarely) slow down, you're reminded that singer, Jesse Lacey, is better than most everyone at singing in the two extremes. The contrast is joyous.

Oh. If there's anyone out there who would happen to wonder how the piano song at the beginning would end if it wasn't interrupted by pure, unadulterated, face-blasting rock, DO NOT WORRY. The album finishes the listener off right back where they started, which is actually a nice way the tie the album into one cohesive package.

Do I recommend it? Yes. Highly even.

Just not as much as The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

That's the question you ask? What is SHE doing to ME? That's not important and you damn well know it! The question YOU should be asking, hell, the question that I should be asking is; Just what the hell am I doing to her?

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Now playing: Brand New - At the Bottom
via FoxyTunes

"There's been no lesson learned that I'll soon remember."

!URGENT BREAKING NEWS!

MySpace has released the track listing for the soundtrack of the sure to be blockbuster film, New Moon. Prep your razors boys and girls, you're not going to want to nick yourselves when shaving for the big event.

Via MySpace:

1. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox

2. Band Of Skulls – Friends

3. Thom Yorke- Hearing Damage

4. Lykke Li – Possibility

5. The Killers - A White Demon Love Song

6. Anya Marina – Satellite Heart

7. Muse - I Belong To You (New Moon Remix)

8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent – Rosyln

9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Done All Wrong

10. Hurricane Bells – Monsters

11. Sea Wolf – The Violet Hour

12. Ok Go- Shooting The Moon

13. Grizzly Bear - Slow Life

14. Editors – No Sound But The Wind

15. Alexandre Desplat – New Moon (The Meadow)

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I'm going to be truthful here; I'm confused. You get the obligatory bands that the author loves (Muse) and popular bands (The Killers), but the rest just seems like, to me at least, a random collection of semi-known indie bands, bands with names that fit the mood of the story, or bands with songs with names that fit the mood of the story. Of course, I'll also admit that this isn't for me.

I'm not the audience for this movie, so I don't really get a say. That is until some chick finally makes me see it and I laugh and laugh and laugh, and then I'll complain about the music, but only then.

Anya Marina sounds cool. I like her voice and the cover of T.I.'s Whatever You Like that's on her MySpace page is freaking awesome.

This spells disaster. Yet... it smells of something not-unpleasant.

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Now playing: Cheap Girls - Stay High (Magic)
via FoxyTunes

"Plot Devices: Bike locks and tons of fucking people throwing molotovs and rocks."

Take back your rotting flowers, they are not needed here anymore. For punk, sirs, is not in fact dead, and if it ever were, then it has been miraculously reborn! For living proof I show you Portland, Oregon's very own The Taxpayers!

Yeah. As fuck.

They want word about them spread far and wide and, well, look at them. If that were you, wouldn't you want the same? They have the usual outlets, website, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, but then they have the unusual as well, their own record label, Useless State. Which "celebrates the diversity and ingenuity of the DIY culture." by supporting all kinds of independent media, using environmentally friendly companies and practices (including the use of an occasional stolen CD-R) and putting out music that can only do so much to prevent your face from melting off due to awesomeness.

Case in point: A Rhythm in the Cages by The Taxpayers

Looking at the cover, I'm sure you're thinking, "Sure. They could be squatters. Even still, that building doesn't look very punk.", and you have a very valid point. But, let me run something by you here for a quick second. The way this planet we exist on works makes it impossible for anyone to release a straight up punk album, it'd be quite the conundrum if it weren't so simple. To rehash is to follow, which in turn is so not punk, so you have to do something to up the dosage of punk. And, even though genre stuffing was surely not the point behind this album, The Taxpayers still managed to find the magic answer.

The cleanest way I can pigeon-hole this album is to call it Folk-Punk, and even in there it doesn't want to sit still. Which is kind of the point; This album shouldn't be tied down and lumped into a category or two, it should be allowed to spread its wings and sore justly like the eagles above.

Which it does, quite nicely, to the tune of probably being my favorite album of the year so far. (It just barely qualifies, being released in January). The songs are varied, yet cohesive and at any moment any one of them could relate to any of your possible mood swings. Are you feeling folksy anarchic in Europe? Take a listen to Never Getting Warm. Militant for the poor who may or may not be in Russia? I believe Dig Too Deep might be for you. Could you be a southerner, raised on country music who happens to hate your situation in life? You'll absolutely love No Lodging For the Mad. (To be fair, every working man in the world will love that song.) Revolutionary longings for love told through a folk song? - Needle's Eye - Anarchy you can dance to? - Militaristic Kitchen - Stuck on a fucking train in Montana? - Montana - Or, just plain love bootleg liquor made of apples stolen from major oil corporations? Stealing Apples From the Man will quench your thirst.

It's music for the personality disordered. It's music for us all.

And when I say for us all, I really mean it. At least Quote Unquote Records does; As part of their Maximum Summer promotion they have made this album available for free. All they ask is, at some point, you can even do it from their website, you support this band monetarily. Throw them a few bucks, they may love you forever.

!Free Download Here!

!Buy Physical Copy Here!

One more thing in the spirit of punk rock:

Click the cover for The Taxpayer's first CD Exhilarating News.

Your actions have resulted in a clearly drawn line. Stay the hell on your side.

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Now playing: The Taxpayers - Stealing Apples From the Man
via FoxyTunes

"I'll change your mind and the metric system to time."

Good lord. I never realized how much I occasionally need a good rock show. The type of event where the music gets so loud that your equilibrium gets screwed up, walking becomes a chore, and even if you only drank water all night, you're still afraid you'll get pulled over for suspicion of a DUI. Where, at the end of the evening, you've managed to piss off at least one person just by being there and having a good time. So, thank you John and your Benefit for providing such an evening for a reasonable price, and even though your voice was a little hard to make out, the new guitar solos were more than enough to make up for it.

Actually, a lot of thanks needs to go out to PoundCake who were the real headlining band of the evening. I don't know a lot about them, other than the bassist used to be the drummer in Deconstructing Jim, but they managed to pick up where the Benefit left off, and then managed to find a few louder notches on the amp dial. Simply awesome. Definitely keep an eye out for them.

So, if the political rant of my previous post proved anything, it was that I needed an outlet to let loose and have my brain melted back to its usual stupor with wave after wave of sonic aggression. Having successfully accomplished this, I'm back to a mellower mood and mellower shade of music. (Current track aside)

I'm going to embarrass myself something severe here, but I have no other way of setting up this transition. I like the television show iCarly. There, it's out. I'm a twelve-year old girl. Seriously though, it's a well produced and acted show, with humor that hearkens back to a couple of my favorite old Nickelodeon shows, Rocko's Modern Life and Kenan & Kel. Not to mention, both lead actresses, Miranda Cosgrove and Jennette McCurdy, are active singers trying to make their way in the music business as well.

Now, Miranda (Carly) essentially has a CD out already in the form of the iCarly Soundtrack. Where, amongst audio clips from the show and some other bands, she sings a few tracks. It's not bad, per-say, and if I were really a twelve-year old girl I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Besides the surprisingly good show opener Leave it All to Me which features Drake Bell, Headphones On, and Stay My Baby (Once again, nothing special and done better by European tween star Amy Diamond), the album produced one single for her, the insanely catchy Sugababes (click this link for the best inappropriate jump ever) cover, About You Now. For it's audience and even for jaded misanthropes like myself, it was a good way to spend a few minutes killing your nervous system with bubble gum and pop. However, it drips generic and there's nothing to make me want to spend my time wanting more, not to mention it's heavily draped in an auto-tune that even Lil' Wayne would have suggested they turn down, if only slightly.

Which brings us to the other star of the show, and the real reason for my post, one Miss Jennette McCurdy (Sam). I'm actually a little saddened to say this, but I fear she's going to be a waste of talent. She's signed to Columbia Nashville and, if you couldn't tell, I have quite an aversion to major labels, even if they happen to be country. She's already released two singles, So Close and a cover of the Amanda Stott song Homeless Heart. The latter of which is a vanilla ballad that's not good, not bad, just there. It's not really my cup of tea, however, her voice does shine in this piece, not to mention twenty percent of the proceeds go the Cody Waters Foundation, both of which are enough reason to buy the track from iTunes.

The former of which is the basis for my talent wasting fears. As stated above (and about to be shown below) she has a fantastic voice. So Close, which, once again, is a song that's just kind of there, save for the vocals, just screams to me that Jennette is going to be swept up into the machine that is modern music and her talents are going to be pillaged and twisted until she's a Taylor Swift clone, winning VMA's, getting attacked by Kanye, and being used to make millions of dollars for people who will drop her from the label as soon as the tweens stop caring.

God. I hope I'm wrong on this. She's not only a developing singer, but a budding songwriter as well. And, I'm more than sure, that with the right label and producers guiding her way, her talents could be put to much better use. She has the type of voice that doesn't need Columbia's hype machine and over production. Just strip everything down, put her in a room with an acoustic guitar and let her voice do the work. Hell, it's not rocket science, it's something YouTube has already proved to us.

That's a cover of Carole King's So Far Away and it's a shame that it's only a YouTube clip and not a single. Otherwise, I might have some clue as to where you could download a copy of it.

The biggest disappointment of all was the smile upon my face.

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Now playing: The Hives - The Hives-Introduce the Metric System in Time
via FoxyTunes