SOUND BITES

After a particularly prolific run that saw the release of five albums in five years, Mark Oliver Everett considered retiring from music, citing burnout. Nonetheless, after experiencing a rapid succession of life events (marriage, divorce, the birth of his son), songs inevitably started to surface and, over the course of four years, the songs that ended up becoming The Deconstruction took shape. Considering the subdued, personal tone of previous album The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett , it actually feels like it's been an extra year since we got the last true Eels record (2013's Wonderful, Glorious ) and, taken as the follow-up to that album, The Deconstruction reveals that not much has changed in the last five years. Everett's knacks for slacker indie folk and darkly orchestral rock remain intact on lead singles The Deconstruction and Bone Dry , respectively. Elsewhere, we're treated to a host of familiar Eels sounds and styles; there aren't reall...

When last I talked about The Vaccines, I was comparing their third record ( English Graffiti ) to a steak served with shit thanks to the production style of Dave Fridmann, my favourite Loudness Wars punching bag. What made that record so frustrating was that it was so difficult to listen to purely from a technical standpoint, because the songwriting exhibited growth even as it strayed from the guitar-centric impulses of their first pair of albums. As it turns out, what seemed like a surefire recipe for success on paper became the band's most divisive record, resulting in mixed reviews, middling sales and the departure of a drummer. Combat Sports isn't a full retreat, but there is more focus on guitars (and zero involvement from Fridmann) even though they also hired their touring keyboardist on as a full-time member. Perhaps the resulting album could best be described as the album English Graffiti should have been, one that displays their sharpened songwriting and more mel...

In terms of longevity and the level of quality contributions, Sloan have quietly become one of Canada's most dependable bands; with a career that has now stretched past the quarter-century mark and no true duds among their albums, the Maritime-born foursome have accumulated more than enough successes and accolades to all but ensure their place in Canadian rock all-time great discussions (aka "we all know The Hip reign at the top now and forever more, but who's second?"). With the appropriately-titled 12 , Sloan's twelfth album doesn't seek to break new ground or introduce their undeniable knack for melody and group chemistry to a young, hip audience. Rather, we simply get yet another solid record from a band that's built a career on solid records. Like the majority of their previous output, we're also reminded that all four members are accomplished songwriters, and everybody gets their fair share here. Chris Murphy's compositions are the most r...

Finding themselves among the most revered modern metal bands following their arrival just over a decade ago, The Sword had started taking tentative steps away from their thick and furious sound by the time their spacey third album Warp Riders was released in 2010. Then, after a fourth album sought to marry their early bombast with a more assured and modern slickness, the Austin group decided to dive headfirst into classic rock nostalgia with fifth album High Country in 2015. Many fans recoiled at the shift into lighter territory and, although the attempt was noble, the album as a whole proved to come up short on memorable tunes. Fast forward three more years, and Used Future more or less picks up where High Country left off, albeit with more of a flair for the dramatic. To wit, the instrumental passages are more expansive and more plentiful; whereas High Country featured 11 songs and 4 instrumentals, Used Future has just 7 songs and 6 instrumentals (including three of the alb...