SOUND BITES

There are a lot of bands for whom the word "epic" is thrown around, and few of them have earned the adjective quite as much as Fucked Up. 2011's David Comes to Life wasn't just a supersized concept album with a sprawling narrative over four acts and orgies of sound, it was a grand statement, burning the proverbial rule book of hardcore and putting the music world to rights. It was brash and bold, to be sure, but it was also immensely melodic; under its gruff and gnarled exterior were heartfelt, well crafted songs, soothing the soul even as they spat and screamed. It wasn't the clear choice for Album of the Year at the time, but three years removed I don't regret my choice a bit because I've continued to go back to it and continued to find new reasons to love it. I haven't even mentioned the several bonus tracks cut from the album due to time constraints, nor the accompanying David's Town album that featured guest vocalists. All told, the compl...

Chemistry is a fickle thing when it comes to bands. It's not always easy, and it's not always immediate; just think of all those bands we love who plodded along for two or three albums before hitting a group-wide stride and becoming more than the sum of their parts. Whether the result of a band finding their way gradually (see: U2) or replacing a member with just the right guy who seems to set everything in motion (see: Dave Grohl in Nirvana or Mike Patton in Faith No More), it can take a while to find that proper personnel in their proper roles to create the chemistry required of all great bands. This is the problem that haunts the majority of so-called "supergroups", and the bigger the bands members are plucked from the harder it is to establish the cohesiveness of a group truly working as a unit. That Killer Be Killed poaches its members from some big time metal and prog acts only serves to heighten expectations; fans of Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Mars...

If we're judging a book by its cover, The Black Keys' eighth album appears to be an attempt at a hypnotic, psychedelic record. Indeed, its opening track (the near seven minute, or absolutely epic by Black Keys standards Weight of Love ) sprawls itself out slowly and majestically, punctuated throughout by soulful Dan Auerbach solos and a little more than a passing melodic likeness to Pink Floyd's Breathe . And, believe me, if this were the path Turn Blue chose to follow, I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about writing this review. Sadly, this isn't the case; in fact, for the remainder of the album, there aren't even all that many chances for Auerbach to really play that thing save for a few outros along the way. In truth, he spends much more time playing bass on this record; for the purposes of their current sonic game plan, four strings are apparently more important than six. This is due in no small part to the involvement of co-producer/co-writer and now prett...

Long before they'd flamed themselves out creatively to the point of embarrassment, Weezer were a scrappy group of book smart rockers who channelled what it was like to be young and awkward in '90s America and went on to strike a chord with disaffected teens the world over. That this album was successful as it was owes an tremendous debt to Spike Jonze, who directed the Happy Days-augmenting Buddy Holly video that was revolutionary and mind blowing in late '94; its charming use of tech fit perfectly with the sweet n' chunky rock of the hit song. It portrayed Weezer as funny, charming guys, a far cry from the barrage of angry, dangerous men in heavy rotation on MTV. The "blue album" is soaked with the awkward charm that Rivers Cuomo would later sprinkle anguish into on the almost disaster then/universally hailed now Pinkerton . That album is the true creative pinnacle for Weezer, but it's often suffocatingly dark and isolated, whereas Weezer is brigh...

There's something truly brave about an album that goes against the grain. Whether through fearless experimentation and exploration or through stubborn refusal to adapt to trends and focus groups, I've always respected bands that don't play by the rules (or, better, make up their own). I appreciate an album that pushes me into a dark hole, forcing me to face things I'd never experienced or even thought possible. Swans' thirteenth album doesn't simply go against the grain, it goes against the very nature of our modern society itself. In an age of instant gratification and short attention spans, the ten songs on To Be Kind shrug off the constraints of conventional album limits and stretches itself to the length of your average Hollywood blockbuster. And, just like them, To Be Kind contains plenty of twists and explosions. However, that's where the similarities end; rather than pander to its audience and appeal to lowest common denominators, Swans clutch the...

A little before the release of the previous Down EP, I talked a bit about rationed albums , and discussed the potential reasoning behind it. What it almost always boils down to is money, and what it amounted to for fans of the bands I talked about in that article was paying up to triple value for a band's artistic vision because they chose to release it in staggered intervals rather than combining into one package. I mentioned Down in that article because they were employing an ambitious release strategy for their fourth album. Planned as a four part project, I couldn't help but wonder about the motivation; with so many bands (and their respective labels) looking to squeeze every last drop of milk from the udder before the industry goes tits up, shady practices were becoming increasingly common by the time part one of Down IV was released. Given time to absorb it all, the prospect doesn't frighten me as much anymore; it hasn't become commonplace (although Pixies ga...

This has been a long time coming for fans of Brody Dalle; after a successful run with ferocious punk ragers The Distillers ended about a decade ago, she hasn't been exactly promoting herself with consistency. There was that one album with Spinnerette in 2009 which was met with a muted (though favourable) response, but she's spent the majority of her post-Distillers time being married to Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme and caring for their two children. Being a wife and mother has surely made Dalle a happier, more mature person, and it's great to hear these experiences make their way into her recording; Diploid Love isn't simply a batch of half-baked songs done on a whim, it's a chronicle of a new, exciting chapter in her life. There isn't much of the Distillers-era Dalle to be heard on this album, but it makes for a more resonant listen; much of the anger gives way to hope, despair is traded in for resolve. When she sings on Carry On , "say...

The first Pixies album in 23 years was never going to live up to expectations; everybody knows that, the band most likely included, and the most immediately refreshing thing about Indie Cindy is that it doesn't even really try. It's almost as if they knew full well that anything they put to tape would be scrutinized, analysed and measured up against the impossible standards of their original run of records, particularly Surfer Rosa and Doolittle . Faced with such a daunting task as matching alternative rock's most hallowed discography a quarter century after its inception, who could possibly stand a chance? Certainly not Pixies; they'd already had two failed attempts at recapturing that magic in Bossanova and Trompe le Monde , two records that were good but not great, more tools to spice up the inevitable greatest hit compilations than transcendent staples of rock. Let's not forget that Pixies didn't break up because they got too popular or that critical ac...