Week of December 12, 2005

Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself

When teamed with producer Guy Sigsworth, she is one half of Frou Frou, purveyors of refined dream-pop brought into the limelight when their song "Let Go" was thrown into the mix for the movie Garden State. On her own - as she is on her second album Speak for Yourself - she is Imogen Heap, purveyor of refined dream-pop brought into the limelight when her song "Hide and Seek" was thrown into the mix for television's The O.C. The album and that song in particular (an icy ode to good intentions, whose vocoder-only structure is a direct descendent of performance artist Laurie Anderson's classic "O Superman") set off a flurry of activity here at the station when Jeff St. Pierre made Heap a recent "Flavor of the Week." Much of the album is full of finely atmospheric orchestrations in the style of Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, and Kate Bush, but Heap is also capable of guitar-charged tracks like "Daylight Robbery" that give Garbage a run for their money. We double-dog-dare you to just try and ignore the buzz on Speak for Yourself.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of November 28, 2005

Stiffed - Burned Again

Just over two years ago, Stiffed was among the finalists for Y100's local band contest to win a side stage gig on the Philadelphia stop of Lollapalooza 2003. Though they didn't win, their fun, punky sound and memorable voice of frontwoman Santi White impressed me. I also really dug their EP release that year, Sex Sells, which got plenty of play on Y-Not. Since then, the band has relocated from Philly to Brooklyn (but we won't hold that against them), toured the globe with the likes of X and their heroes Bad Brains, and also recorded their first full-length album, Burned Again. In fact, Bad Brains bassist Daryl Jenifer produced the record. White's squeaky voice brings obvious comparisons to Gwen Stefani in No Doubt's early days, but with a rawer feel. The rest of the band's lineup has seen turnover in recent times, with Philly music scene stalwart Chuck Treece handling the drums on the album. Some of the highlights of Burned Again include lead single "A Day With Andrew" (which we recently began playing here on Y100rocks.com), "What It's Like" (no, not an Everlast cover!), "Your Voice," and "Radio." Find out more at stiffedmusic.com.

Review by Joey O.

Week of November 21, 2005

Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago

Two things should clear up any thoughts you might entertain about Kicking Television: Live in Chicago being a by-the-book concert. First, the crowd is already singing along 30 seconds into opening track "Misunderstood," preemptively answering that song's question, "You still love rock and roll?" Second, Wilco included a rendition of their hit "Heavy Metal Drummer" that stands so strong on its countrified indie-rock foundation, you don't realize there was supposed to be drum-machine filler until it gets triggered after the song's done. Kicking Television is live music, warts and all, and with Jeff Tweedy and the boys helming this two-disc set (focusing on music from their last three studio albums) there's a whole lotta "all" to be had here.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of November 14, 2005

Various Artists - Songs From The Sixth Borough

So the rest of the world can't make a good cheesesteak? The least Philly can do is offer a recipe that's just as dangerous and tasty - like a Rifle Nice merger of Ween and the Action News theme! This and 17 other tracks make up Songs From The Sixth Borough, released to coincide with Plain Parade's third anniversary of booking intimate indie performances throughout the city. Philly's latest and greatest performers interpret local pop and decidedly-not-pop music from the last five decades. "The Sound of Philadelphia" soul gets a straightforward reading from Walker Lundee and a lo-fi spin from the A-Sides. The Method and Result almost turn Hall and Oates' "Private Eyes" into trip-hop, while Lee, Jae-Won wraps "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (penned by local rocker Robert Hazard) in warm feedback. Other acts rep their peers: Hail Social do Mazarin, for example, while Cordalene do Bitter, Bitter Weeks. New York Times articles that don't kill us make us stronger, and Songs From The Sixth Borough is a celebratory circling of the wagons. You can download the album from Apollo Audio beginning Tuesday, November 22.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of November 7, 2005

Muse - Origin of Symmetry

Okay, so 2001 wasn't exactly yesterday. This is not a new CD, but it is new to me and possibly to many of you, because it was just released for the first time in the U.S. The big question is why did they keep this masterpiece from us for so long? Sure, I could have shelled out the dollar equivalent of 25 pounds to have the CD shipped over from jolly old England or I could have (perish the thought) downloaded the album from some unreputable source. After all, Muse was my favorite find of last year and I've been desperate to get my hands on this for quite a while now. Well, the wait is over and Origin of Symmetry has nicely filled in the gap between 1999's good albeit unpolished debut, Showbiz, and 2003's rivetingly marvelous Absolution. On Origin of Symmetry, Matt Bellamy and cohorts Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard show a tremendous growth as band that has mastered the "quiet-loud" dynamic. From the gentle opening keyboards of "New Born," through the sheer freneticism of "Bliss," to the spacey, operatic "Micro Cuts" and the haunting "Megalomania," practice did make perfect for Muse's second time out.

Review by Josh T. Landow

Week of October 31, 2005

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative - "Do They Know It's Halloween?" /
Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park

It's Halloween time! Let's point you to music that emphasizes the holiday's twin foundations, fun and fear. We look forward for the holiday fun, with "Do They Know It's Halloween?" by the North American Halloween Prevention Initiative. The single, a parody that asks the rest of the world to help eliminate Halloween, turns Western-centric charity efforts like "We Are The World" on their ear. An alt-rock who's who including Beck, Peaches, Feist, and members of Rilo Kiley, Sonic Youth, and Sum 41 play on the track - which is cheesy like a charity song should be - and sales proceeds really benefit UNICEF's traditional Halloween orange-box fundraising. (Visit www.vice-recordings.com/halloween for more info.) The recent past supplies the holiday's fear, with the last great album from Canada's Skinny Puppy. Always less linear than Ministry and less danceable than Nine Inch Nails, Too Dark Park saw Skinny Puppy retreat far into the darkest recesses of funk and jazz. Fueled by radical politics, abrasive electronics, and more than occasional drug use, Skinny Puppy chose to forego industrial music's energy and anger and focus squarely on its ability to disturb the listener. If you somehow got trapped in an H.R. Giger painting, Too Dark Park tracks like "Spasmolytic" and "Shore Lined Poison" might be what you hear in the background.

Review by Joey O.

Week of October 24, 2005

Harvey Danger - Little By Little

Everyone's favorite '90s Seattle one-hit-wonders are back. Yes, I'm talking about Harvey Danger (remember, The Presidents Of The United States Of America had two hits)! The band was much more than just the radio staple "Flagpole Sitta," and after a few years off, frontman Sean Nelson has gotten the band back together for an unusual release. You see, Little By Little is available for free. They are giving away the entire album as a free download online, complete with artwork and liner notes, no strings attached. However, if you decide to purchase an old-fashioned CD copy of Little By Little, you receive a bonus, half-hour disc of music that the band is not giving away, which features alternate versions of some of the tracks on Little By Little. A statement on their website says the band chose to do so as an experiment and as part of their own promotional campaign. But is the music any good? Yes indeed. Harvey Danger has morphed into more of a keyboard-centric group, with tunes such as "Happiness Writes White" reminiscent of the great Ben Folds at times. One of the most rocking tracks, "Cream And Bastards Rise" (what a cool song title), has been getting some airplay here at Y100Rocks.com over the past few weeks. And yes, "Cool James" is a reference to the meaning of LL's pseudonym. Find out all about Harvey Danger's offbeat marketing plan and hear the album for yourself at harveydanger.com.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of October 17, 2005

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl

No longer content to bear a torch for neo-shoegazer stylings, California's Black Rebel Motorcycle Club delve into backwoods and backwater sounds on their third LP Howl. This club once focused on being "black," as in dark, full of reverberating urban moodiness that fit in nicely between Interpol and the Jesus & Mary Chain. They now sound more like their namesake "rebels" from The Wild One. From the languid "Gospel Song" and "Still Suspicion Holds You Tight" to hootenannies like "Shuffle Your Feet" and "Ain't No Easy Way," BRMC craft a mix meant for a long ride on the alt-country highway, with visits to Neil Young, Wilco, and the Jayhawks along the way.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of October 10, 2005

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

No bandwagon-jumping here, folks: Music from the DIY debut by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! has been in our playlist for a while. We've just been hard-pressed to find adequate words to describe, in our own way, one of the most talked-about albums and bands of 2005. Philly native Alex Ounsworth leads this Brooklyn-based quintet through music that is by turns emphatic ("In This Home on Ice") and languid ("Details of the War"). Oft-made comparisons to Bowie and Talking Heads definitely stick, but there are also nods to Lou Reed and the Velvets here, as well as hip instrumentalists like the Dirty Three or Tortoise. Self-released, self-promoted, beautifully self-conscious - sounding almost uncomfortable in their own talented skin - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! capture lightning in a bottle in a way not seen since "Radio Free Europe," Chronic Town, and Murmur put R.E.M. front and center in the early 1980s.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of October 3, 2005

Danger Doom - The Mouse And The Mask

Have no fear, fans of Beck, Cake, the Bloodhound Gang, and the Beastie Boys. We guarantee that the Danger Doom brand of tongue-in-cheek, pop-culture-heavy hip-hop won't be found anywhere near the mainstream. Why? Because The Mouse And The Mask is essentially an infomercial for the Cartoon Network's uber-cool "Adult Swim" programming, replete with shout-outs to and guest spots from the likes of Harvey Birdman, Space Ghost, and New Jersey's favorite sons, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That's a quality product, and the musical testimonials here come from very credible compensated endorsers: "Danger" is Danger Mouse, the beatmaker behind Gorillaz' Demon Days and the legendary Beatles/Jay-Z mashup The Grey Album, while the "Doom" refers to MF Doom, the very busy comic and cartoon obsessed rapper whose syrupy flow shows off mad skills without mad hostility.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of September 27, 2005

Athlete - Tourist

A few years back, British quartet Athlete released their debut album Vehicles And Animals, which the band describes as "good quirky pop." It was apparently "good" enough to get them a nomination for the illustrious Mercury Prize in the U.K. But after its success, which resulted in over a year of touring, including appearances at the 2003 editions of T In The Park and Glastonbury festivals, they wanted to reach for something bigger. The resulting sophomore album, Tourist - including lead single "Half Light" - draws inspiration from some of their favorite records by Beck, Massive Attack, and the Flaming Lips. A melodic, atmospheric success.

Review by Joey O.

Week of September 19, 2005

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Remixed

Many have capitalized on the remix album project - Linkin Park's Reanimation, anyone? - but not since Nine Inch Nails popularized the concept with Fixed has material this good been reinterpreted this brilliantly. Bloc Party morphs from edgy rock to smart Brit-disco with help from an indie who's who on Silent Alarm Remixed. Dour rockers (Engineers, Death From Above 1979) work alongside neo-electronica acts (Four Tet, M83) to focus much of the album on dark ambience and electroclash stomp. The closing hidden track combines both in a package worthy of the next BP single, while the opening diptych has Nathan J Whitey moving "Helicopter" to a forest among the wolves and Ladytron pushing "Like Eating Glass" to the edge of that same forest. Meanwhile, the purest club rhythms here are inserted into "She's Hearing Voices" and "This Modern Love," the latter featuring Dave Pianka of Philadelphia's Making Time dance parties. Early stock of Silent Alarm Remixed also includes a second disc with five rare studio and acoustic recordings. Did we need more proof that Bloc Party are 2005's Band That Can Do No Wrong? No, but yes!

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of September 19, 2005

Nada Surf - The Weight Is A gift

Thanks to major-label hijinks, Nada Surf didn't immediately live up to the title of their biggest hit "Popular" after it was released in 1996. They then spent 10 years toiling away behind two indie albums that were, truth be told, big in Europe. It was all for the best, because their new release The Weight Is A gift sounds like three guys not out to sound like anybody, but instead out to just make shiny hooks ("Concrete Bed," "Armies Walk") and double-take lyrics ("Your Legs Grow," "What Is Your Secret?"). Now comfortably at home on Barsuk Records (alongside Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, and They Might Be Giants), Nada Surf seem ready to live up to one of their new album's lines: "Oh f-- it, I'm gonna have a party."

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of September 6, 2005

The Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done

Acts like Architecture in Helsinki may be sucking up all the press on twee bands, but few stand up to repeated listens as well as the Wilmington, Delaware, sextet The Spinto Band. Their debut Nice And Nicely Done harnesses the influential powers of Pavement ("Crack The Whip," the kazoo chorus of "Brown Boxes"), the Strokes (the playful "Did I Tell You"), even Liz Phair before she went averageeverydaysanepsycho ("Mountains," "Late"). The highlight here is the hidden track "Japan Is An Island," which ponders whether playing Atari is a way to bond with your girlfriend or a way to lose her. The Spinto Band forego the sprawl of fellow diaper dandies Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, making as tight and bubbly an album about unrequited, unfocused, and unworkable love as you're going to find.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of August 29, 2005

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Although they're something of a "supergroup" including members of venerable Vancouver indie bands (Zumpano, Destroyer) and alt-country cutie Neko Case, the New Pornographers have built quite a following and reputation all their own. And with good reason: even in its more down-tempo, minor-key moments, their third release Twin Cinema might be about as happy an album as you'll hear all year, full of restrained quirkiness that channels both "Happy Jack"-era Who and "Beetlebum"-era Blur. If the White Stripes had six people instead of two - and the attendant increase in flexibility and decrease in pressure to perform - Get Behind Me Satan might have sounded like Twin Cinema. But who'd want to make that choice? With material like the choral pop of "The Bleeding Heart Show" and the spectacular songwriting of "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras," be glad the New Pornographers are one of a kind.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of August 16, 2005

Death Cab for Cutie - The John Byrd EP

Excited by the promise of the new Death Cab for Cutie single "Soul Meets Body"? Can't wait until their new album Plans comes out on August 30? We recommend The John Byrd EP as a quick, cheap way to feed your Ben Gibbard habit. This collection (named after DCfC's touring sound engineer) features seven live recordings from 2004: they span the Washington band's career from "405" to "We Looked Like Giants" and include a cover of Sebadoh's "Brand New Love." Combine the band's classy performances with Gibbard waxing poetic/comedic on topics like Barry Manilow and the Seattle Mariners, and The John Byrd EP becomes a uniquely heartfelt, honest piece of work other musicians would be proud to have in their CD players, let alone their own catalogs.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of August 9, 2005

Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum

Kraftwerk came out of Germany in the early 1970s to champion minimalism in the Kraut-rock school of music. Doing that entirely with electronics, and occasionally with tongue in cheek, influenced New Wave, Detroit techno, and the earliest hip-hop; Kraftwerk colors the work of today's artists from Nine Inch Nails to the Flaming Lips to the Postal Service. To the delight of hipsters worldwide, they started touring and recording again as the 21st century dawned. Minimum-Maximum is a two-disc review of Kraftwerk dates from 2004, with smart reconstructions of songs like "Dentaku" and "The Robots," and smooth production that seamlessly blends recordings from places like San Francisco and Moscow. Add to that a hypnotic playlist you'll find eerily recognizable - if you haven't heard "Numbers," "Tour de France," "Trans Europe Express," or "Music Non Stop" in full, you've heard them sampled somewhere - and this ranks with Underworld's Everything, Everything as a premier document of electronica in concert.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of August 2, 2005

B.C. Campllight - Hide, Run Away

Brian Christinzio is a walking contradiction. This resident of Philly's Fishtown section is an amateur boxer and former high school football captain, yet he is also the "B.C." in B.C. Camplight and the mastermind behind the pristine indie-pop on their debut album Hide, Run Away. Christinzio and friends successfully mine the catalogued melodies of the Beach Boys, Neil Young, even fellow Philadelphian Todd Rundgren. The results kick off with a killer opening lyric - "And if you offer me a second chance/I would quickly need another" from "Couldn't You Tell" - and include top-notch black humor (the one-two punch of "Emily's Dead to Me" and the title track) and absolute charmers like "If You Think I Don't Mean It," destined for inclusion on mixes meant for cute geek-girls around the globe.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of July 26, 2005

Undergirl - My Flash On You

We freely admit it: the proto-punk stylings of Undergirl are not the most original sounds under the sun. But hot damn, their recent long-player My Flash On You is angry and catchy, 29 minutes of infectious energy cloned from the DNA of the MC5 and Runaways-era Joan Jett. Amy DiCamillo leads a Philadelphia quartet that makes sweaty boy music for sweaty girls, with tracks from "Radio Action" to "Top Ten" all demanding just a bit more R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The Ramones carved a 30-year career out of a bit of unoriginality, namely the same three chords; if Undergirl can lift the occasional Byrds lyric and Sex Pistols guitar part, as long as it sounds this good surely they still deserve at least a little hardcore lovin'.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of July 19, 2005

Beauty's Confusion - Breathe In

While Philadelphia boasts a reputation as a supportive community for various electronic music genres, trip-hop in particular seems to have a hard time finding a foothold here. Jenna Ferone and Skip Frederiksen - collectively known as Beauty's Confusion - want to change that. They relocated to the Illadelph from Florida to capitalize on momentum generated by 2004's Breathe In, which fuses the polished sound of Zero 7 to the darker themes of Portishead. The results range from the loping sultriness of "Silhouette" and "Blue Deluge" to "Falling," which is downtempo edged with gothic eyeliner. When you get right down to it, Breathe In is a sublime selection of sex-havin' music for the wireless generation.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of July 13, 2005

Bear Vs. Shark - Terrorhawk

So you say you're not quite feelin' System of a Down's Mezmerize? Have no fear. Just replace Serj and the boys with the Michigan quintet Bear Vs. Shark (4 guitarists, 3 bassists, and 2 keyboard players among them). Marc Paffi keeps his full-bore screamo vocals tuneful while his companions deliver a swirling mix of melodic punk and math rock. Tracks like "Baraga Embankment," "Entrance of the Elected," and "5, 6 Kids" offer your easiest access to their sophomore effort Terrorhawk, but be warned that the album attacks unpredictably - kinda like a bear, or a shark. If you want to sample this brand of good pain in person, Bear Vs. Shark are scheduled to play at Drexel University in Philadelphia on August 18.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of June 27, 2005

Soulwax - Any Minute Now

Obscured by the likes of Miss Kittin and LCD Soundsystem is Any Minute Now, an electroclash diamond in the rough mined by Soulwax. You might know Soulwax as a significant producer of mashups, but this pair of Belgian brothers actually picked up instruments years before they started dropping needles. How serious are they about this rock thing? They had production gods Flood and Alan Moulder twiddle their band's knobs here. The result - part Garbage, part Queens of the Stone Age - is at least as entertaining as a wildly diverse Soulwax DJ set. From lead single "E-Talking" through the glossy/fuzzy "Krack" to the shoegazer bliss of "Accidents and Compliments," Soulwax prove they don't need the wheels of steel to make booty-shaking music with a sly, knowing wink.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of June 21, 2005

DJ Shadow - Entroducing (Deluxe Edition) /
One Night In Bangkok

Do you embrace the party sounds of Beck or the Beastie Boys? Appreciate the crossover appeal of classic Cypress Hill and House of Pain tracks? Even accept the electronically enhanced posturing of Linkin Park and Incubus? Then in theory, if not in practice, you like at least a little bit of hip-hop. So let's rewind to 1996, when DJ Shadow crossed cultural boundaries to somehow find his finger on the pulse of this historically black music. That pulse was the beat, and on Endtroducing... he documented its past, present, and future. The result: one of the greatest turntablist exhibitions ever and, color-blind, one of the decade's best albums. Its tenth anniversary edition includes demos and liner notes tracing the album's development, along with prized remixes, alternate versions of songs, and live spinning. A good companion piece to this classic would be One Night in Bangkok, a 60-minute continuous mix you can track down on file-sharing services. Here, DJ Shadow deftly practices what he preaches, connecting the future of the beat (represented by drum'n'bass) to its present (from 1980s R&B to Jurassic 5) and ultimately its past (a concise jazz history culminating in a freakout by legendary Philadelphia bandleader Sun Ra).

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of June 13, 2005

Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger

The angular-pop school of Modest Hot Hot Franz Bloc and the Killer Bravery Chiefs adds to its roster Maximo Park from Newcastle (Sunshine Jones' favorite English town). Their debut A Certain Trigger takes cues from the early work of the Cure and R.E.M. among others, but the band ups the ante with snappy, crisp production that makes even remotely melancholy work sound upbeat. Lead singer Paul Smith compounds the interest by lending enthusiastic vocal stylings to some great lyrics; tracks like "Acrobat" and lead single "Graffiti" suggest we are in the middle of a modern-rock songwriting renaissance. Just how much potential are we talking about here? Consider that the label supporting A Certain Trigger is Warp Records, more commonly known for their stable of electronic artists like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. If that lunatic fringe can take a chance on Maximo Park, you have no excuse not to.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of June 7, 2005

The Evens - The Evens

The Evens are a guitar-and-drums duo like the White Stripes, making classy acoustic rock like Iron and Wine. Sound good so far? Now add a pedigree far exceeding that of all these young'uns combined: Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye. Along with drummer/vocalist Amy Farina, he makes the Evens' self-titled debut a gorgeous study in understatement, like a Keanu Reeves "whoa" set to music. MacKaye's warm guitar tiptoes at the edge of jazz, and his typical punk yelping is replaced here with a steady, measured delivery. Farina shows considerable skill in keeping her drumming muted and soft, and her naive vocals recall the best female-led indie rock of the 1990s. Be assured that MacKaye himself hasn't gone soft: he can still lament: broken communities and police malfeasance ("Mt. Pleasant") or help kick out the jams ("Crude Bomb"). It's a familiar tale, just told in a different language. The Evens make the case that you can be straight-edge without needing to cut into everything you see.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of May 31, 2005

Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic

Mike Doughty fronted the imaginative Soul Coughing (as M. Doughty) until their breakup in 2000. After touring and releasing CDs by himself at a furious pace, Haughty Melodic finds Doughty with a real band again, making pleading acoustic and electric rock. He still writes wonderfully off-kilter lyrics, giving shout-outs to James Van Der Beek and North Jersey ("Busting Up a Starbucks") and discussing commas and ampersands ("I Hear the Bells"). Yet this album is quite straightforward overall, proving he's broader and better than even Soul Coughing suggested. With its release on Dave Matthews' ATO Records label, and with Doughty joined by Matthews for "Tremendous Brunettes," you have to wonder if Haughty Melodic is the album Dave wished his band had made instead of Stand Up. Move aside, let the real man go through!

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of May 24, 2005

M.I.A. - Arular

You know that hype about M.I.A.'s debut album Arular? The praise from other press outlets? The anticipation created by Piracy Funds Terrorism, that bootleg from Philly DJ Diplo? Justified, justified, justified. M.I.A.'s come-hither accent and catchy beats play up the sexuality of the club music of developing countries like India, Brazil, and Jamaica. Yet the real substance of Arular is M.I.A.'s social distortion from spending her formative years split between Sri Lanka and Britain. Inserting personal and political observations not afraid to court controversy, M.I.A. morphs from a brown-skinned Beastie Girl into a one-woman Clash: danceable and dangerous, and therefore important. Arular is a valuable lesson for rock fans whose idea of "world music" begins and ends with Bob Marley.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of May 16, 2005

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods

If you like your alt-rock divas with the glam factor turned way down - more Kim Gordon than Shirley Manson - turn your eyes and ears to the Olympia, Washington trio Sleater-Kinney. Long-standing members of the riot grrrl movement, they blend art-punk, earnest pop, and even hints of rockabilly into deceptively intricate compositions. From the folksy, fuzzed-out "Modern Girl" to the breakout track "Entertain," their new release The Woods strengthens the argument that they're one of those bands simply incapable of putting out a bad album. It also proves, through the 11-minute opus "Let's Call It Love," that chicks can play sludge rock just as good as Monster Magnet, if not better.

Review by Adam Blyweiss

Week of May 9, 2005

Nic Armstrong & the Thieves - The Greatest White Liar

Sweat, soul, rock and roll. Nic Armstrong and the Thieves debut The Greatest White Liar is a flashback to the past and a nod to the future - with raveups a la the Yardbirds/Kinks/(early) Stones, played with the fire and passion that few of their "garage rock" contemporaries can match. They blew away the handful of early birds on in the house a few weeks back when they opened for Louis XiV, playing like they were at Wembley Stadium, not a nearly empty TLA. It was enough to make me go back to the album and discover that not only does this band play the crap out of their songs, but the songs are pretty great too. Get the record, and be in the know when they show up to open for and possibly blow away Oasis and Jet at Festival Pier on June 25th.

Review by Adam Blyweiss