Pink Nasty
Mold the Gold
Indie/None

Pink? Yes, singer/songwriter Sara Beck’s voice sounds all shades of feminine pink from raspy magenta to vulnerable pastel. I can hear the influence of Fiona Apple in Sara’s velvet vocal delivery. Nasty? Not so much, more so the opposite with sweet and innocence pouring through each poppy ballad. Although there are the occasional naughty words (swearing) in the lyrics, when you spin Pink Nasty’s second album, Mold the Gold, you can’t escape the feeling of summer in the 1970’s. As if belonging to the soundtrack of Now and Then, I imagine slow dancing a safe arm’s length away from boys and staying up rebelliously late in the confines of a treehouse. This album evokes safe pop and quirky fun with 13 tracks ranging from tambourine shakin’, hand clapping, good ol’ chants/rants to very slow, acoustic tunes. The instrumental backdrop of guitar, drums and piano are quite simplistic, directing listeners to pay greater attention to the vocals. My favourite songs include vivacious “Take it Back” and groovy “Thirsty Thursday”, with my preference to stay clear of the duet tracks she sings alongside songwriter brother, Black Nasty.

www.myspace.com/therealpinknasty

www.pinknasty.net

-cAthy

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Plumerai
Ses Cogitans
Siber Records

According to their press release, the name Plumerai “comes from a French lullaby about depluming a bird". Interesting name for an interesting band, that despite the lack of feathers, they demonstrate they can still take flight. Although Ses Cogitans is only 4 tracks long, each song is longer than the average with, "Avernal" lasting about 7 minutes. After two years of instability, the four-member band has solidified their sound and declared this 2007 EP to be their true debut album.

Fronted by a female vocalist, Elizabeth Ezell delivers her raw feminine tones, resembling at times like a sexed up Bjork, ending her lines in subtle quirky vibrato. The keyboards, guitar, bass and drums converge in good chemistry, emitting their influential roots—80's punk and alternative—to create dark, mysterious, enchanting modern rock. Their raw energy is captured in their production process by focusing on greater live recording with minor overdubs. And this steer away for that studio perfect sound is rather quite perfect for them.

My ears welcome the long musical breaks with my favourite found in the last few minutes of “Avernal” where instrumental noise entwine to blood pumping climax, sounding appropriate for a Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

www.plumerai.com

www.myspace.com/plumerai

-cAthy Lee

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Pomegranates
Everything Is Alive
Lujo Records

With their 2007 debut EP Two Eyes leaving fans wanting more, Pomegranates deliver an additional round of experimental pop goodness with their first full-length album. The Cincinnati-based quartet continue their off road path, with a sound ranging from jangly guitar bands of old to modern acts like the Unicorns and Modest Mouse. With guitar-driven tracks and dance-worthy drum beats, the album evokes instant head bobbing and foot tapping. “The Bellhop” would feel timeless if it weren’t for the modern production value. “Honey Moon Pie” also opens with a pure 1960's feel, with Byrds-esque guitars and a Phil Spector-like drum beat before evolving and ending the song with the screeching wail of guitar distortion. Fuzzy, heartwarming indie pop, like everything, is indeed alive.

http://www.myspace.com/pomegranatesart

-Jon Brazeau

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The Ponys
Turn the Lights Out
Matador

Sure it’s is a typically weak indie rock title, but this album is not typical indie rock by any stretch.  With this album The Pony’s step up and prove themselves worthy successors to Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo.  The whole thing is doused with feedback making it a post punk/grunge/new wave pleasure complete with vocal effects and styling reminiscent of Television and My Bloody Valentine.  “Poser Psychotic” has guitar work that is way more Stooges sounding than the new Stooges album and on the whole, Turn the Lights Out has no shortage of songs that sound strikingly familiar. As most great albums tend to do, these tracks remind the listener of something they are sure they’ve heard before.  It’s the feeling when something has such a catchy riff that you are positive you must have heard it before because it grabs you right away.  For me it took about three listens before the songs stood out, and all of a sudden the hooks became more apparent and the melodies grabbed me.  I don’t mean to suggest that this is 100% original, as many of the moments seem snatched from the groups listed above.  I was even reminded of The Guess Who at one point, but this group is successful because they combine all of these elements into their own brand, creating something unique. 

The Ponys exhibit great patience with their songs, and therefore the album never seems rushed or too long.  They could have gone from quick rock song to the next but what makes it different is that the band has no issue with taking it down once and a while for a slower track, or going off on a spacey jam session.  Maybe the beat slows down, but the guitars are always wailing somewhere in the mix, with riffage that can rarely be found outside of the greatest pre-punk records.  This is a very strong album and not to be ignored!

www.theponys.com

Daniel Demois

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Pop Levi
The Return to Form Black Magick Party
Counter Records

UK funk phenomenon Pop Levi sets the party on fire with his debut LP, an addictive mix reminiscent of Prince, Blue Cheer and the Bee Gees but fused with a contemporary electro edge. Full of energy and great hooks, the album runs a gamut of related genres, from the twitchy electro sensibility of album single “Pick-Me-Up Uppercut” to the smooth disco trip of “Skip Ghetto,” to the bass-driven psychedelic rock of Blue Honey. As Pop Levi himself describes it, “it’s bad music for bad people.” Right on. Get your bad self onto myspace and check a sample of the man’s work, available at www.myspace.com/poplevi - or watch for him as he tours across North America with Swedish rock gods Mando Diao.

 - James Sandham

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Porcupine Tree
Stupid Dream
Lava Records

There’s a long story behind the Porcupine Tree. Born in 1987 in London, it is the work of one Mr. Steven Wilson. Wilson had been recording music in his home studio for several years when, with friend Malcolm Stocks, he came up with the idea of a fake, legendary, 70s psychedelic rock band, complete with false discography and bio. Retreating into the studio, he recorded several hours of music to back up the façade. The Porcupine Tree was the end result of this indulgent endeavour. Two years later their music was being featured on UK underground compilations and now, with the release of Stupid Dreams almost 20 years later, the latest in a long-ranging string of albums, the charade continues. But thought their background may be fake, the quality of the Porcupine Tree’s music is certainly not. Less psychedelic than some of its forbearers, Stupid Dreams is an enthralling album of experimental sounds, swelling guitar anthems, rolling soundscapes, and gripping choruses that immediately enthral the listener. Nonetheless, hints of early psychedelic influences still abound and comparisons to early Pink Floyd can’t be avoided. Plus, the CD features a neato DVD to boot. How can you lose?

Porter Wagoner
Wagonmaster
Anti-

The thin man in the rhinestone suits is back!  Another country legend is given a push and some backing to release new material.  When Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin teamed up for the American Recordings, they started a trend of revisiting forgotten territory, and Porter Wagoner is the next on the list that is deserving of a new audience and some recognition.  The difference between Wagoner and Cash though, is that Wagoner isn’t changing his sound the same way Cash stripped his.  This way, old and new audiences can each appreciate what Wagoner is and always has been: a master showman, with stone country credibility.  One Cash penned song appears on the album, and covers a topic that both he and Wagoner are familiar with.  The song Committed to Parkview tells the stories of broken dreams inside an asylum that both Cash and Wagoner had resided at one time or another.  It’s a simple song, with minimal instrumentation, emphasizing the sadness of the lyrics.  Allegedly the song was given to Marty Stuart to give to Wagoner many years ago, but he forgot.  Luckily he finally remembered when he began producing this album, so listeners can finally enjoy the chilling track.  The whole album is filled with similar songs and common country themes of love, religion and redemption.  At 80 years old, with a lifetime of highs and lows behind him, Wagoner has never sounded more honest or timeless.

www.anti.com

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Pretty Girls Make Graves
Élan Vital
Matador Records

It’s been said that Pretty Girls Make Graves sound a lot like Sleater-Kinney.

They don’t.

They do, however, sound nothing like they used to. The album title, courtesy of Leona Marrs, a recent addition to the Seattle quartet, speaks volumes of the direction the band has taken. In it’s literal translation, Élan Vital is “the driving force of life”, and to PGMG it means evolution. With equally shared efforts on tracks like, “Pyrite Pedestal” and “The Number”, you no longer hear their musical styling of yester-year; think less shouting for the sake of making noise with guitar duels to the death, and more lyrical melodies and instrumental compromise.

And while you may be thinking that another of your punk-rock bands has gone and matured, I will say that they have, but their follow-up effort to 2003’ debut, The New Romance, promises nothing and makes no apologies. I do dare you to try and press stop after hearing singer, Andrea Zollo’s strong, and mysterious vocals on the opening track, “The Nocturnal House”. It’s as if she’s standing at the end of a long tunnel, pleading to be heard and yet coming in loud and clear over the referee whistle at the beginning. Yes, change is good.

Former Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle returns to his indie rock roots with his new band, The Priddle Concern. Having also clocked in time with Broken Social Scene, Priddle’s album is filled with guitar-driven indie rock songs. A few familiar faces also make guest appearances, among them fellow Broken Social Scene members Brendan Canning and Justin Peroff as well as Stars’ Evan Cranley and Amy Millan (both of whom also spend time with the Toronto indie collective). The guests help flesh out the album greatly, especially Millan’s contributing vocals on “Back Around”, as her lush vocals provide the perfect extra ingredient to the acoustic tune. While there is some filler here, the album mostly hits the mark and shows a lot of promise along the way.

http://www.thepriddleconcern.com

-Jon Brazeau

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Priya Thomas
You and Me Against the World Baby
Priya Thomas/Boiling Pt

Almost two years ago, when You and Me Against the World Baby was originally slated for release, those in the know who had a chance to hear some of the early recordings were betting on this album as the one that finally garnered Priya Thomas the attention she deserved. 

While on tour in the UK is 2005, Thomas was approached by Paul Cartledge, who worked with Tony Visconti, who worked with David Bowie, T-Rex and Roxy Music, who was impressed with her art-punk, gas fire stage show.  He suggested remixing many of the tracks on the album to better capture her on stage presence with a more unrefined sound.

So after all of this time, with all of its mixing and remixing, the album seems particularly underwhelming.

Kudos to Priya for what she’s trying to do, which seems to be create a solid, head banging, rock out album full of inspired lyrics that make you think.  However, more often than not, this attempt seems to be buried underneath a bland rock-wash of similar arrangements that make you want to use your expectant, devil horned fingers to hit the “next track” button.  And how often can you use the word “baby”, really?

There’s real potential here and it’s unfortunate that it seems to be stuck in a vague cloud of guitars somewhere between “Patti Smith Hard” and “Souxie Sioux Lite”.  The 10 track album does pick up towards the end, most notably with track 8, “A Little More Fine” and track 9, “Fireflies”; the first songs which are clearly distinguishable from the ones that precede them.

This disc is worth a listen but I’m more interested in hearing what comes next.

- Sarafina DiFelice

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PROGRAMMED FOR DESTRUCTION
 SELF TITLED EP

 Programmed for Destruction wastes no time getting to
 the point of kicking your ass on their debut EP, with
 their killer riffs and punishing sound.  This band is
 a perfect mix of grindcore, screamo and straight up
 heavy metal giving them a very unique sound which is
 pretty impressive considering that the average age of band members is 16.

  If they sound this good now, it's scary to think what they'll be pulling out by the age of 20.

 The first track, "Infliction",  is an awesome way to introduce
 the listener to the PFD sound, in this track it's
 clear who has influenced their music, with shades of
 The Black Deliah Murder, Mysery Signals and Pantera,
 you get the sense that these guys clearly mean business.  This
 track is caked with layers of wicked guitar riffs and
 freakishly tight drums that are iced off with the
 ripping satanic barks from vocalist Jeff Donahue.

 The second track, "Volatile", showcases the band's killer
 musicianship throughout, with very difficult parts and
 changes carefully crafted to keep the listener on
 their toes and not for a second straying from sick-ass
 heaviness.

 The third track, "Reflection in Blood", touches on death metal
 while keeping it's songwriting maturity and slowing
 down at the right moments to keep the track complex
 and sounding well thought out.  "Reflection in Blood", is
 like a mini opus similar to tunes from Protest the
 Hero and Death.

 The fourth track, "Eradicated", demonstrates drummer Kyle Clarke's
 awesome ability behind the kit, where you can hear his
 tight double kick chops come out while
 keeping up with full-on coordinated insanity.  Once
 again the band pulls out the stops with complex verse
 to chorus changes over crushing guitar and bass riffs.

 I have a feeling that we'll be hearing a lot more from
 this hard-hitting band in the near future. If PFD can
 keep up intensity and keep writing killer tunes
 while continuing to pack halls full of screaming teen
 angst, then I think their dreams of becoming rock gods
 will be a definite possibility.

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Proton Proton
Proton Proton
Self-produced

Here are the opening line’s of Proton Proton’s website: “paul, roving and trilling through northern spanish lands, parks his flxible™ back in brooklyn. amidst saw dust, transformers, and soldering fumes, aron amalgamates harmonics into a single entity. kaboom—jarrod, the band's christopher robin, unleashes his ardor. proton proton began during long spontaneous sessions in a dark, carpet-lined room on the mediterranean coast.” What this means, whether any of this is relevant or even true, is beside the point. It provides insight in that if this absurdity were translated into musical form, you would be enjoying the sounds of Proton Proton. Parenthetically, however, one may be interested to know that at least the second sentence of the above excerpt has in fact been translated into music. It refers to the creation of Aron Sanchez’s gass, a combination of guitar and bass. Perhaps that is what gives Proton Proton the sound I so very much need. Or perhaps it is the kindred sound as found in early Bowie and Ima Robot. Or, perhaps, it is the hole in my soul that Proton Proton so neatly fills.

Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot EP
Unsigned

The still free agents Ra Ra Riot have put together a sweet little mix of youthful energy and developed musical talent on their self-titled debut EP. The “six friends getting together and jamming” notion can get a little tired at times and conjure up some scary ideas about what these so-called musicians might think music sounds like but thankfully Ra Ra Riot aren’t one of those six friends. They’ve avoided the indie cliché of making garbage garage rock and included some quaint melody in their pop/rock roots.

The six-track EP subtly sounds like Dexy’s Midnight Runners but the bandmates avoid falling into the trap of being a reincarnated ‘80s band. The thumping bass line, charming honest lyrics and fine violin strumming smoothly weave together to create a new successful sound.

They’re indie enough to be in their own musical world but unique and talented enough to avoid the “what the hell are these guys doing?” unattractive indie sound.

www.rarariot.com

www.myspace.com/rarariot

-Antoinette Mercurio

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Raccoo-oo-oon
The Cave Of Spirits Forever
Time-Lag Records

No, not just a whack-load of instruments all playing in dis (harmony) at the same time. No, you want to be repulsed, but at the same time you know you’re also looking, and listening for the “inside” of the sound, the only point at which art really exists. Like the eye of the storm, that eerily calm interior space of nothingness and yet everything. Think of listening to the four guys who make up the art rock/manic psych/punk-free jazz band as looking at a magic eye poster. Relax your mind, your eyes and most importantly your ears. The sounds will present themselves.

As the album progresses, I am finding a strong resemblance to Sigur Ros, especially on the last two of the seven tracks, “Forever” and “In The Woods”, respectively. The former begins with an exciting drumbeat that builds in feverish anticipation likening the listening experience to the opening of a martial arts competition. Listening to this album gives you the sense that their music precedes them and not the other way around; music for music’s sake.

http://raccoo-oo-oon.org

Mpress Records' founding lady returns with yet another musical offering, this one a sultry mix of soul, folk, pop, jazz, and a few subtle yet intriguing Irish and Middle Eastern influences. Yes, the album is certainly eclectic in influence if nothing else. But after a life in the music community, perhaps such eclecticism should be expected. Currently based in New York's East Village, Sage has been making music in one kind or anther since she was three years old. However, despite her sprawling history of musical releases, including everything from jingles for national ad campaigns to award-garnering folk releases, the music on Blistering Sun too often and too closely resembles that of her contemporaries. Many of the tracks - "Featherwoman," for example - fall too neatly into the mould long-established by just about every performer on the Lilith Fair tour. Nonetheless, other tracks such as the opener "Alright, OK" and "Hit Song" present a unique context for Sage's long-honed skills as a singer-songwriter. This results in the innovative and experimental balladeering that distinguished similar acts such as Ani DiFranco. The final word: you'd better like Lisa Loeb before you think of picking up this album.

www.rachaelsage.com

The Radar Bros.
Self-titled
Merge Records

The Radar Bros. are back and out with their newest album off of Merge Records titled Auditorium.  This is the Los Angeles’ band’s fifth album.  There’s something comforting and soothing about this album, as well as poetic.  The last track titled “Morning Bird” has the sweet sound of birds chirping softly away in the distance, a great way to end the album.  It’s the kind of album to put on and lay back on the grass looking at the clouds or the stars and their sound will put a smile on your face making everything relaxed and alright.  This album definitely has a way with words and is a great grab.  To get an idea of what I’m talking about check out www.myspace.com/radarbros.

Enjoy fellow music lovers!

-Danielle Cowie

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Rage
Speak of the Dead
Nuclear Blast

I was totally unprepared for what I was about to hear from this metal outfit out of Germany, known as Rage. From the moment I heard a trumpet blast to kick off the disc, I knew this was not going to be your average metal band. This powerhouse trio is back with their (wait for it) seventeenth release, and last year marked the band’s twenty years together. Impressive.

Keep an open mind as you listen to the first half of the album, which is mostly instrumental. Classical meets metal to form a unique sound on the new disc. Influenced by the beauty of classical music, the band recorded with the Minsk (White Russia) symphonic Orchestra. Some of the songs start off with long introductions, something that is not uncommon in the musical European tradition. They tend to be more varied and more willing to experiment with music. On “No Regrets,” one of their better tracks, there is a distinct piano in the background.

“Beauty” is another stand-out track, which starts off extremely gentle, and just seems to flow sweetly. After that, Rage loses the Orchestra and launches head on into full metal mode beginning with “No Fear” to attack you with their biting guitars and growling vocals.

Fans are treated to a bonus on the disc, which is a non-english version of the fantastic track “full Moon,”. Future special editions promise Spanish, German and Russian versions of the song.

Watch for Speak of the Dead next month when it makes its North American release, and hopefully, as they are in Europe, they will be all the ‘rage’ here.

www.rage-on.de

- Charmaine Merchant

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Raising the Fawn
The Maginot Line
Sonic Unyon

The third album since their 2001 debut, Raising the Fawn’s “The Maginot Line” provides a good three-quarters of an hour of swelling drums and tumbling guitars, rushing melodies and half-dreamt lyrics, all recorded up “at Sarah Harmer’s home outside Kingston, ON March 05,” according to the liner notes. In the spirit of their affiliates Broken Social Scene, Raising the Fawn offers a ghostly, almost chaotic fare of aural intoxication. It’s good music for drugs. It carries you along with it. But perhaps not at first; it did take a while for it to grow on me, lordly sober as I was when I put the CD on. There is a lot of “ambient noise,” I guess you could say, in this album. You’ve got to get into it. It’s not a good album for making love to. It’s distracting, sometimes disconcerting. Performance can be affected. But if you’re forging on into the heart of a impassioned bender, or wallowing deep in the flames of a rising acid trip, or perhaps even you may simply be a spiritual type of person, this could be the music to put on. It’s very moody, and very groovy.

-James Sandham

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This Changes Nothing
Ready Fire Aim
Expansion Team Records

Dark synth pop is still alive, thanks to the debut album from Ready Fire Aim. Pieced together by singer Sage Rader and DJ/producer Stakka (Shaun Morris), the duo created an album loaded with twisted, hypnotizing synths, hard beats and Rader’s soft vocals. The sound is well established on opening track “End of Over” and through the course of the album the band rarely deviates from the formula. Rader’s vocals blend nicely with the music on “Beautiful Thing,” with his gentle vocals being an antithesis to the grimly layered syths and hard beats. However, the simplified lyrics demand more, especially on “So Fine” with the groan-inducing line, “You’re so fine/Gonna make you mine.” It’s a minor gripe though, as the album succeeds at creating dance-worthy tunes crafted by the gloomy side of the keyboard.

http://www.myspace.com/readyfireaimnyc

-Jon Brazeau

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The Reason
Things Couldn’t Be Better
Smallman Records / Warner

There’s no reason people shouldn’t pick up The Reason’s new album Things Couldn’t Be Better. From their opening track “My Broken Legs” to the intensely somber “Reset The Breaker,” this 12-track disc covers every mood and musical taste that a listener would be craving. Sounding a little like Bert McCracken from The Used, lead vocalist Adam White offers a youthful yet mature sound to the band’s cool rock, fine-tuned beats. Working together like a well oiled machine the band delivers a skillful simple sound that makes you think they’ve surpassed their small town status and moved onto to greener pastures but somehow they’ve maintained an adolescent passion about their artistic goals. At times bordering on emo, the few screaming verses that are sung can throw you off here and there but in the end you appreciate the track nonetheless. You realize afterwards the gut-wrenching verses and vocals work because this so-called labour of love the band created is indeed something that couldn’t be better.

Recorded in the summer of 2005 in a remote cottage in Ontario, the Hamilton natives let the music take them for a ride and in the end the music speaks for itself. Mellow and energetic with a yearning for trust and truth, this album is an honest expression of the band’s growth and optimism of things to come. If this is truly considered a departure from their last LP Ravenna, then I say keep going at it alone guys.

www.thereason.ca

www.myspace.com/thereasonrock

-Antoinette Mercurio
 

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Recoil
SubHuman
Mute Records

This is about the twelfth Recoil album to come out, but for those unfamiliar with them, it’s worth stating that Recoil is the musical project of ex-Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder. That said, it may be a redundant to comment that there’s definitely an element of Depeche Mode present in Recoil, but I will anyway. Beyond that you might also compare them to Moby because, like him, Recoil plays with discordant genres and fuses them into something new via a good beat and some catchy electro wizardry - witness, for example, opening track “Prey”. It’s got a definite British pre-rave era feel to it too, along the lines of Happy Mondays, but can then go and get all sound-scapey and ambient, and it’s like, “where did this come from?” But in the end, it doesn’t really matter, because it’s a solid album and probably the best course of action is just to go along for the ride and let Wilder look after the direction, because he’s been around, after all, and knows his sonic geography well.

www.recoil.co.uk

- James Sandham

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The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Don’t You Fake It
Virgin

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are a true testament to what can happen when determination takes precedence over defeat. Having tasted success back in 2003 when they first came together, the band quickly reverted back to struggle - enduring label rejections and discouraged band members leaving.

But frontman Ronnie Winters’ (one of two original members left) belief in the band pushed on, and the pace picked up again when they brought in a couple of new guys (who were actually old guys who were friends of friends, or who Winters had worked with before) and signed to Virgin Records.

Now, these young Floridians (The average age is just 21) have burst on the scene with their debut Don’t You Fake It. But, please don’t let their age fool you. Their songs are chock-full of meaning, and Winters isn’t afraid to tackle tough subject matters like he does on the confrontational “Face Down,” a song about domestic abuse. Nor does he mind laying his soul bare in the gentle, creamy love song “Your Guardian Angel.”

Their refusal to be categorized is evident on every track, which borrows elements of pop- punk, pop, screamo, love ballads and even metal. “In Fate’s Hands” is angry and guitar-driven, while the melancholy “Cat and Mouse” has a pretty piano thread. At the disc’s completion, listen out for the bonus track. Armed with a steady line up, a fresh sound, and a growing fan base, it looks like the boys are ready to take the world on.

www.redjumpsuit.com
www.myspace.com/redjumpsuit

- Charmaine Merchant

The Red Button
She’s About to Cross My Mind
Grimble

“Cruel girl/ Why you gotta treat me like a fool, girl? / Bring me down with everything you do girl? / Break my little faithful heart in two, girl? /You cruel girl.”  Pretty cute right?  Given the retro looking cover art, these are the kind of lyrics I might have expected from The Red Button.  I also however expected there to be some kind of new spin put on the music.  I thought it might combine a little bit of modern bite like The Pipettes’ album does.  It took very little time before my first scan through the album helped me realize just how weak and futile the whole thing is.  This is what The Beatles might have sounded like if an uninspired Elliot Smith imitator was the lead vocalist.  This is as wholesome as they come, complete with obvious harmonies and sugary lyrics.  Phrases like “You’ve got a thing / that I can get used to,” or “She’s about to cross my mind” start to venture into ‘too cute’ territory.  Even in the genres heyday, this probably wouldn’t have had much of an impact. “Pop music the way God and Paul McCartney intended,” says John Borack.  Sorry Paul, but what have you done for me lately?

It’s possible I can’t stand this because it may be growing on me, but I’m not ready to admit that.  Even if I ignored my lyrical and structural qualms with these songs, as an album the whole sound tires quickly.  The music these folks are trying to revitalize was made for being played on singles, in a one or two song package.  Trying to stretch this sound over a full album is hard to pull off and in the past has traditionally resulted in a lot of filler between two or three singles.  That’s why they didn’t release LPs back in the day.  Despite being a short album, The Red Button can’t quite hold my attention for the full length.  They just can’t help sounding like the cover band for a failed pop group from forty years ago.  Even if you like this kind of thing, I’d suggest only venturing this territory if you’ve already exhausted all the classic brit pop available.

www.myspace.com/theredbuttonband
 

Daniel Demois

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Red Light Rippers
Nobody Likes a Rat
Fading Ways UK

A quote from the bands’ website states, “In a world where bands are a dime a dozen, Red Light Rippers have arrived to save the day.” Hmmm…Well…I’ll give them that no, they are not another generic dance/pop act, but, Red Light Rippers are just about as generic a rock act as there ever was.

Nobody Likes a Rat, the bands’ first full-length album, employs approximately every cheesy rock stereotype there is. Fast cars, fast women, and fast times? “Drag Race”, “Trailer Trash Trixie”, and “Addicted” are the first three songs. Musically, they remain as banal as their subject matter. For those who have been listening to sleaze/glam/punk rock for ages, there is nothing innovative about this album. It’s not bad…it’s just been done.

The influence of bands such as AC/DC, Van Halen and Guns n’ Roses can be felt; RLR emulate gritty, sleazy, 80’s rock well. However, the band doesn’t appear to have found their own sound, or their own style, and I’m not sure if they want to. The unsurprising cover of the New York Dolls’ “Pills”, which felt a little bit like a drunken sing-along at the Bovine, was conventional. This hard-rock “conventionality” is what makes the Rippers’ album so uninteresting. I wanted them to break out and do something tremendous, track after track, until…the album ended.

Thankfully, Staci T. Rat is an outstanding guitar player. The albums’ best ingredients are without a doubt, his. The intensity of his playing needs to bleed into the rest of their music. Perhaps something is lost in the recording. I can envision Red Light Rippers as a good live act, but the album feels incredibly lacklustre. Give them a chance to prove me wrong, they’re playing April 7th @ the Elmocambo (w/ Automatic and Romeo Liquor Store), and April 8th @ the Wick (w/ Dyneomight).

www.redlightrippers.com

Sara Percival

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Red Shag Carpet
Lift and Drop
Self-Produced

With a sound somewhere between Spoon and Wilco, Alberta’s Red Shag Carpet have released a consistent if not particularly innovative album of indie rock and roll. Piano-driven melodies such as “Drop” help to raise this album above its competitors, but Lift and Drop often lack the hooks to truly distinguish this work. Other notable tracks, such as “So and So,” are clever and catchy but again somehow miss the essential element of the great song status. Though they playfully tease the listener, they fail to grip the listener in that visceral way powerful music is supposed to. The result is an album that is enjoyable, danceable and upbeat, but not particularly memorable save for a select few tracks. Of course, to the band’s credit, the album has been completely self-produced – there’s no fancy label standing by to inject their magic commercial juice. Featuring Daniel Yarmon, Ted Ani, Allan Pickard and Matt Darrah, Red Shag Carpet are nonetheless a promising new outfit and touring furiously in support of their latest release.

www.redshagcarpet.com

James Sandham

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Reset

No Worries, No Limits

Union Label Group

Before there was Simple Plan, there was Reset. And I don’t mean that figuratively. Before Canada’s most commercially successful candy punk outfit actually became candy and blew up in the States, they were a bunch of hardcore kids cranking out blazing fast power-punk, singing about stuff that’s actually semi-relevant socially, and playing with punk masters like Pennywise and NOFX. I don’t know what happened, but I guess somewhere along the line they decided that being millionaires south of the border would be more fun than remaining poor, struggling and authentic in Canada, and I can’t say I really blame them for selling out. Their music may have suffered, but thanks to the Union Label Group, the best of Reset’s first two albums are now available, reissued almost ten years after the fact on this 25 song compilation. Sounds like most Canadian hardcore. Makes me want to rock out.

- James Sandham

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Richard Ashcroft
Keys to the World
Parlophone/EMI

With each Richard Ashcroft album, I miss The Verve less because the band’s ex-front man is doing more than filling the void. He’s leaving his own legacy. Ashcroft lingers in a place somewhere between depression and introspection; seemingly a lonely observer of the outside world weighing in on the bloody mess we call life with his guitar and army of rented studio musicians. The songs connect and they resonate which, at the end of the day, makes for a great album. Musically still very close to The Verve albeit less poppy and more serious, Ashcroft takes over the room with his distinct vocals leaving you no choice but to listen. A fine recording and worthy of repeat spins.

www.richardashcroft.com

Michael Cool

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Richard Swift
Dressed Up For The Letdown
Secretly Canadian

Presenting himself as “an honest man with some honest songs”, the ten songs on Richard Swift’s album are just that, an incredibly earnest collection of folk rock gems from an inspired and talented singer-songwriter. Each song is presented with an open-heart tenderness, wrapped in a self-deprecating humour and doubt that makes the whole album accessible and endearing. Dressed Up For the Letdown is anything but one.

Swift bounces back and forth between two distinct styles on the album, that of an acoustic guitarist and the other, a Late period-Beatles Paul McCartney-esque piano rocker. Richard Swift is fully capable of both methods of delivery however it is with a guitar in hand that he succeeds most brilliantly. “Buildings In America”, a gentle guitar track that builds to a fuzz-bass crescendo captures beautifully the embarrassed recognition of a failed relationship, as narrated by a hung-over and pathetic Swift. “Most of What I Know” a rocking reflection on faith, American imperialism and love, and the eerie title track also standout on a wonderfully thick album, both lyrically and musically.

The only fault to be found with Dressed Up For The Letdown is a mid-album sag found in the successive tracks “P.S. It All Falls Down” and the overtly long “Ballad of You Know Who”. It is here where Swift’s own self-criticism  “there’s no radio /that likes to play the songs/ of your lover’s sorrow” (plucked from the coy “Artists & Repertoire”) rings true.

Richard Swift’s penchant for songwriting and acute ear for melody is so mesmerizing you may find yourself humming “I wish I was dead/ most of the time” (the refrain from “The Million Dollar Baby”) with a smile on your face. Dressed Up For The Letdown is a near perfect album and a great early step in what looks to be a successful and prosperous career for Richard Swift.

www.myspace.com/richardswift 

- Sam Stilson

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Rilo Kiley
Under The Blacklight
Warner Bros.

If anyone else were to make this album, I’d hate it; I would trash it and then throw it in the trash. But because of Rilo Kiley’s frontwoman, the Queen of Indie, Jenny Lewis, and her delightful bandmates, Pierre de Reeder, Blake Sennett and Jason Boesel, it works.  Fresh from her solo tour, giving fans less than a second to refill their Kombucha tea cups, Lewis et al. work it out and by work I mean wringing out the tired, drenched hanky that catches all the tears of California’s lost ones.  From Lindsay to Perez Hilton and all that is inside the Hollywood sandwich, smatterings of sparkle and flash have dulled and broken down at a break-neck pace, leaving none other than Silverlake’s darlings, Rilo Kiley to pay mock (?) homage to their place of residence and to pull out into the glare, the seediest and seamiest bits and pieces of the Holyland. 

The album is a collection of less Jenny and those other guys and more togetherness, Lewis playing live alongside the band instead of out front in a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel.  A smart move on her part considering the latest disc is glamourous, shiny and slap-happy without sounding bitchy, cheesy or annoying; hence my allowance of their focus on rougher, rowdier tracks like, “The Moneymaker” which surprised me when I heard it because it was almost brash and tacky at first, but after opening with such a warm lullaby as “Silver Lining”, crashing cymbals are in order for a wake-up/shake-up of Indie-rock and in Hollyweird; literally shaking the rich and famous from their self-indulgent slumber, or causing them to nod their heads in agreement over the bizarre bubble that has been created to preserve it’s inner workings. Like Hollywood, Rilo Kiley’s newest offering is entertainment at its best: weird, wild, soothing for a moment and then back to weird again.

http://www.myspace.com/rilokiley

-Jess Shulist

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