Thursday, December 8, 2011

One sentence album reviews (#19)

Zebrahead - Get Nice! (2011): Just a fun pop/punk/rock album that doesn't take itself seriously at all, making it enjoyable to listen to 4/5

The Living End - The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating (2011): I promised not to write a review saying I miss their rockabilly days. So... um.. yeah. Very mainstream rock 3.4/5

The Horrible Crowes - Elsie (2011): The Gaslight Anthem's lead singer creates a stripped back folk album that is just beautiful 4.6/5

Saves the Day - Daybreak (2011): A surprising upswing in mood from their last 2 albums sees them lapse back in time to sound like 2003 4/5

Engineer - Crooked Voices (2011): Sludgy hardcore that seems to want to be metal, but just can't quite get there with it's vocals 3.6/5

Powerman 5000 - Copies, Clones & Replicants (2011): sounds like a bad nu-metal band butchers good songs to sound like bad new wave 2/5

VA - A Tribute To Alkaline Trio (2011): 39 mostly unknown mediocre artists for the most part butchering Alkaline Trio songs 2.2/5
There are a few good songs in there, but after a while they have the sameness that 90% of Alkaline Trio songs already have

Kevin Devine - Nevermind (2011): Sounds like a note for note copy musically of the Nirvana album, but with K-Dev's less gravelly voals. 3.9/5

VA - SPIN Presents Nevermind (2011): An interesting mix of different interpretations of Nirvana. Falls short on all but a few tracks 2.5/5

VA - Kerrang! Presents Nevermind Forever (2011): Heavier bands covering the Nirvana legacy. Some of the metal interpretations put a new spin on it. 4/5

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix (2011): I'm definitely getting a Coldplay meets Radiohead and goes hipster vibe from this 3.7/5

Wilco - The Whole Love (2011): An uncharacteristically noisy, electric and long opening song gives way to the classic Wilco sound 4.5/5

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011): 70 minutes of lush and beautiful shoegaze. This will be my future album for long hot baths 5/5

Tokyo Police Club - 10 Days, 10 Covers, 10 Years (2011): When they cover indie bands they sound okay, but there's some horrible song choices 2.4/5

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire (2011): He's about 1 album and a few whiskeys away from being Neil Young now. 4.4/5

I Am The Avalanche - Avalanche United (2011): I was not expecting this to be the fun punk album it is. Preconceptions can be very very wrong 4.3/5

Bjork - Biophilia (2011): typical Bjork: layered, quiet, weird, discombobulated and full of odd instruments and wavering vocals 3/5

This Is Hell - Black Mass (2011): it truly is a strange time we live in when one of the best thrash albums this year is by a hardcore band 4.2/5

Kevin Devine - Between The Concrete & Clouds (2011): More of his style than his Nirvana album this year, but nothing that really stands out 3/5

Northington - Borrowed Time (2011): An orgcore album that harks back to some of the punk of my earlier years 3.8/5

Polar Bear Club - Clash Battle Guilt Pride (2011): Solid, but doesn't make me pump my fist in the air and sing along like their 1st album 3.3/5

Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground (2011): He was one of the first punks to go folk-country, and he's still the best 4/5

The Medics - Dance Into The Dark (2011): I dub these boys the Two Door Cinema Club of the Netherlands. But better. 4/5
 
Misfits - The Devil's Rain (2011): Sounds like they haven't changed sound in 20+ years. Which is not a good thing. 2.4/5

Star Fucking Hipsters - From the Dumpster to the Grave (2011): A great mix of old school punk, hardcore and ska. It's me, in an album 4.3/5

The DC3 - The Future Sound Of Nostalgia (2011): The song "I Was the Guy in TISM" sums up this album perfectly. Best TISM spin-off yet. 4.7/5

Skalapper - Go Along Sing Along (2011): Japanese ska-punk in poor English. Or is it just bad Japanese? I can't quite tell. 3/5

Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist (2011): Unlike their previous albums, I like all of the songs on this, not just one good song 4/5

Dude Jams - How To Abuse Everything (2011): raw, rough and edgy punk which tips its hat to the sounds of the 70s and 80s 3.6/5

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Hysterical (2011): Another album of weird falsetto-vocals indie music. 2.8/5
 
We Were Promised Jetpacks - In The Pit Of The Stomach (2011): Embracing more of a post-rock sound on this album really pays off 4.3/5

Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - IV (2011): stepping away even further from their hardcore roots, this album is very mainstream US radio rock 3/5

The Kooks - Junk Of The Heart (2011): Embracing a 1960s Brit-pop sound, they've finally produced an album that lives up to their hype! 4.4/5

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man (2011): Quirky, acoustic-folk-punk. Although a common genre now, their more comedic take is a good spin 4.7/5

Nuclear Summer - ST (2011): locals' noodly heavy band's 1st album is good, with some ex-Ironhide thrash vocals thrown in for a surprise 4/5

Screaming Trees - Last Words: The Final Recordings (2011): a soft, for grunge, recording from the late 90s, highlighting Lanegan's brooding vocals mainly 3.6/5

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