rock

shot” is probably the most radio-friendly track on the new record. It opens with a bouncing trumpet melody that leads into verses layered with driving guitar riffs. The cut is capped-off by an upbeat and memorable chorus. However, “Awake “¦ Slow Down” might be the album’s most noteworthy track for its interesting stop-and-go structure. Long, […]

“punk” music marketed to teenagers today isn’t really punk at all. The song “Play for Pay” expresses the group’s anger and frustration at the current music landscape: “I feel sorry for the kids today / MTV has ruined their day / Filling their heads with so much junk / This cookie-cutter crap is just not […]

Bent Wheel Records Midwestern troubador Jeff Finlin affects a John Hiatt growl for “Ballad of a Plain Man,” his stripped-down seventh album. The title is appropriate, for Finlin fronts a no-nonsense persona on this 12-track disc; “all I know is what I see,” he sings. And what he sees is what you get. With subtle […]

everythingthathappens.com Two pioneering rock heavyweights’ Talking Heads founder David Byrne and producer, musician and ambient aesthetician Brian Eno’ have again collaborated in “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today,” a bounding compendium of interesting and enjoyable songs. Byrne and Eno collaborated previously for “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” the seemingly important but largely unlistenable […]

Sub Pop The beast, whose snarly bite once tore through three wild EPs, has been tamed again, with the second full-length release from Montreal’s Wolf Parade. “Apologies to the Queen Mary” was among 2005’s most acclaimed releases, although the Canadian five-piece suffered a little backlash for spraying on studio shellac. The production lacquer on “At […]

g src=”/Images/Imported/CD%20review%20thumbnails/NineInchNails.jpg” width=100 border=0> The Null Corporation The latest full-length Nine Inch Nails album feels more like a trip than a “Slip.” Filled to the brim with buzz-saw electronics, distorted drums and Trent Reznor’s peculiar lyrical vitriol, the 11-song release fizzes with a distinct digital effervescence last felt on “The Downward Spiral.” Collectively, the songs […]

Essay The band’s name sounds like a booth game at the Hi-Lo Club, and the music on “Feelin’ Up” could easily be the jagged, broken soundtrack. The 33-track collection of absurdly short songs are performed by a trio of Indianans culled from the ranks of Magnolia Electric Co. and Impossible Shapes. The songs collectively waste […]

music older than last week with “Now That’s What I Call Classic Rock” (note the absence of the exclamation point, as if excessive punctuation is not needed to sell the theory). The disc contains 20 tracks, all of which likely can be heard on KRXO-FM 107.7 on any given day. Twice. This includes songs that […]

Columbia It’s been more than four years since the release of “Splinter,” a lackluster offering from The Offspring that didn’t bring any of the California band’s typical catchy punk-inspired wit. “Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace,” is graceful in the delivery of brisk guitar-driven rock songs and sometimes funny lyrics from Dexter Holland, but falls […]

Sony No longer content only leading other Wallflowers, Jakob Dylan has stepped out for his solo dance with his new album, “Seeing Things.” The “Seeing” songs are a mostly low-key, acoustic affair, which suits the soft, smoky singer quite nicely. With just enough of his father Bob Dylan’s gravelly delivery, songs like “Valley of the […]