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
