From the dreamy and rhythmic “News”, to the strange world of Fuzzy Ambience that is the song “Playtime”, it is clear this band has sonic and tonal capabilities. Although this was in some ways squashed by the lo-fi recording quality, which I felt was a downfall for the recordings. I’m a sucker for special and limited edition pressings, and so I was immediately enchanted with this Audio Cassette pressing, of only 61 copies (A strangely odd number if you ask me). So whats the low down from yours truly? To be fair, Thralls is an outfit of musicians who knows exactly what they want, but I personally was not (get ready for the pun) enThralled with them. What can I say? Sometimes you like your music muddy and dissonant, and sometimes you like it clear and melodic. I guess I’m just all for the latter.

-Nikolaus Bartunek

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myspace.com/soundsofthethralls

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From the opening chords of this Ontario punk quartet’s third full-length, Cavalcade hits the gate with a full force of uncontrollable audial magnitude. Armed with a lyrical complexity embedded within a handful of catchy choruses, the group reveals much more depth than one would typically attribute to a punk band, as the years of refinement and development have paid off for these guys. Lead singer Chris Cresswell’s voice evokes both the euphoria of glory and despair of defeat, each being common themes found throughout the album. Rest assured though you’ll still find them thrashing their way through the record, with tracks like “The Calming Collection” and “Monumental” as notable highlights. Another standout song would have to be “He Was A Jazzman,” which exhibits the band’s ability to produce a track at a slower tempo without sacrificing their hard-hitting essence or compromising their raw aggression. Throw in the few Spinal Tap sound bytes for good measure and I’m sold.

-Sean Logic

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the flatliners.com
Fat Wreck Chords

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-Alexander Zeddemore

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superfinosvto.com

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride an elevator all the way to Africa? Look no further than this CD. It’s less than an hour’s worth of tracks, but you’ll swear entire election cycles have come and gone in the span of a single listen.

The music of Africa is richly infused with virtuosity and tradition—it’s where Soul music gets its soul. Sadly, Tan Lines, a supposed “African” effort, is a bunch of drum loops and synthesizers that harkens to a 1980’s, post-disco hangover. Remember the first time you walked into a department store and heard the Muzak version of Smells Like Teen Spirit? Felt pretty awful, huh?

If you like Muzak, great, I’ve got a real gem for you. Play it at the mall, play it in the elevator. Just don’t play it around me.

-Matthew Monte

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truepanther.com
myspace.com/tanlinestheband

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Oh Gainesville, you just don’t want to leave me alone this year, do you? Here we have another band from the Florida music Mecca, but don’t let their location fool you. Young Livers have nothing of the poppy punk we’ve come to expect from that scene. Noisy and brooding, their music reminds me a lot of early Isis (you know, before they started doing what a friend of mine calls “ambient space metal”).

Progressive hardcore is an accurate summation of Young Livers’ sound. Citing bands like Big Business and Baroness as influences, my expectations for the album were high. The Livers delivered (get it? delivered?) on their share of prog, but unfortunately a lot of those elements got lost underneath the distortion. Though all members are clearly excellent musicians, the songs take a couple listens to pick up on the intricate instrumental work. It’s a shame that it isn’t showcased more.

Regardless, the awesome hopelessness of the lyrics paired with the gritty vocals and surprisingly complex ocean of distortion make Young Livers’ latest album well worth a listen (or two). Recommended for moments of greater fear and loathing.

-Kelly Dalbeck

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myspace.com/younglivers
noidearecords.com

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Four Days Deep

The album starts out slow with a track called “Kinda Light Up” -probably more accurate a title than Sentinel would have hoped.  As with most of the tracks on the album, its beginning is crisp and tight, but takes an inevitable turn for the repetitive.  This cloak of monotony seems to be lifted with “All That’s Necessary”, a song that does start strong and fresh but ultimately falls victim to the same fate. There are a string of three or so forgettable tracks, most of which should be described as bumbling. “Locator” in particular hints at Sentinel’s ambition but ends up sounding like the ’90s took Quaalude and stared at the wall for five hours.

“Whaley”, a middle track that showcases some very pretty sounding guitar, is a welcome respite from the tedium, as is “Sunset”, the album’s last –and best- track. This is where the guitar and vocals are strongest and Sentinel is able to demonstrate a bit of originality.  Incidentally, it’s the only song that made me tap my foot, though it’s also worth mentioning that the reason for this may be, as my boyfriend says, that it sounds like a Dance Dance Revolution track.  I suppose something that can elicit such conflicting responses is worth listening to.

-Lindsey Piscitell

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myspace.com/sentinel

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When you settle into the rhythm of a long car ride you don’t want bumps. You want smooth, chilled out conditions, no hassles, just the landscape passing through your idyll.

And that’s just what you get listening to the Skygreen Leopards. Gorgeous Johnny, their latest, serves up nostalgic grooves and the omnipresence of Johnny, their eponymous muse with his own theme song (the tuneful instrumental, Johnny’s Theme).

San Francisco fixtures Glenn Donaldson and Donovan Quinn, the band’s nucleus, host friends from other bands as they have on past projects; Jason Quever of the Papercuts is a notable mention here.

During my first listen, a friend dropped by and asked if I was watching a Thomas Campbell surf flick. I wasn’t, but it was a well-aimed question. Anyone who has visited the Sunset district’s Mollusk Surf Shop is familiar with the neo-retro vibe in that pocket of the universe—you’ll find it in this album as well. Whispery pop-psychedelia and jingle-jangle Norcal folk are heavy in the mix. Goodnight Anna is the album’s high water mark and reason enough to buy the whole slab of vinyl (Tell me you pressed some vinyl!).

I suspect the Leopard’s friend Johnny has made a carefree life of slacking because this album has one gorgeous speed, brother: mellow.

-Matthew Monte

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myspace.com/skygreenleopards
jagjaguwar.com

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Ford’s disarming voice and infectious guitar hooks propel lyrics that unflinchingly explore the depths of mental illness and loss.

On “Every Tomorrow,” the albums opening track, Ford is joined by guitarist Lars Frederiksen of Rancid whose riffing charges the emotionally taut verses:

I want you to see me in this brightly colored place/I want you to think that I’m OK/I don’t want you to see me in the blackness of the night/I don’t want you to see my fading light…

“January 29” seeks to understand a tormented mind contemplating suicide. It begins with a mélange of taunting voices that course hauntingly through the music. By song’s end the hateful voices rise seamlessly into angelic choirs, suggesting a man’s hoped for peace in death that the living are left to ponder.

The title track, Home, harkens to the White Album with multi-layered instrumentation and shimmery slide guitar for an almost orchestral finish. Even the simple joys of life find their way into otherwise dark terrain (as in “Somewhere”), and “My Dear God” adds humor where you least expect it.

Hard-edged as it is introspective, Home is a gift to the listener and a resolution for the artist. Catch Ford live. He’s a must see.

-Matthew Monte

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myspace.com/davefordmusic

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Just when you thought that all the pop-punk bands worth their mid tempo mustard had gone the way of the dinosaur, Teenage Bottlerocket comes out blasting sing along choruses with more “Whoa oh oh’s” than The Ramones and Screeching Weasel combined.  With a sound somewhere between Randy and MTX, they take you back to a time when punk was simple, snotty and catchy.  The opening track, “Skate or Die” is probably the best song of the bunch and makes me want to pop in a VHS copy of The Search For Animal Chin.  Several of the songs are sung by Kody Templeman of Lillingtons fame; he injects some of the same Sci-Fi/horror movie magic that you’d come to expect from a guy with his track record.  Kody’s clean vocals are offset by Ray Carlisle’s more snotty vocal stylings on tracks like “Do What?” and “Call In Sick.” It’s a good mix and the two styles complement each other well.  Pop punk may be dead, but if it is then Teenage Bottlerocket is a zombie that will rock your face off and bang your girlfriend afterward.

-Wally Westside

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teenagebottlerocket.com
myspace.com/teenagebottlerocket

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If you were ever in doubt that any kind of music whatsoever can be mixed into hip hop beats, let “Dr. No” cure you. Producers are reaching into ever deeper tunnels looking for sonic gems, and Oh No has found a very rich vein to tap with the world of Ethiopian music. Dr. No’s Ethiopium, an album of hip-hop instrumentals, is a 36-track storehouse of soundtracks for future late-night freestyle sessions.

Some of the tracks call to mind the Ethio-jazz many are familiar with from the Ethiopique series, weaving a hip-hop beat under the sinewy horns and keys. These tracks keep the original sound intact while adding some low-end weight and an urban edge. Others are more experimental, dicing and chopping evocative, Eastern-scaled Ethiopian folk and traditional music and squeezing them into hard loops that crunch against each other with a satisfying crispness.

The atmosphere on Ethiopium is druggy and dark, but Oh No is forward-thinking enough to avoid pumping out dungeon beats or Wu-Tang style jazz-hop. The tracks vary enough in tempo and style that sometimes they jar against each other more than blend into a continuous mix, so this one works on “shuffle” just as well as front-to-back. If possible, this is one to have on wax, and I’m guessing that outside of the limited audience for hip-hop instrumental albums on MP3 and CD, the turntables are where Ethiopium is going to have an active second life.

-Justin Allen

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Oh No — Stones Throw Records

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