1090 Club
Shipwrecked on Shores
4/5

With Shipwrecked On Shores, the pride of Billings, Montana (seriously, look it up, Billings doesn’t really have much going for it) has really put together a winner. The band, as a whole is fantastic musicians with superb talent.
Members Mike Galt, Sean Lynch, Megan Dibble and Steve Serfazo all contribute on vocals throughout the album and sing well in melody. Their unity provides a truly unique sound, thus making it hard to draw comparisons to genres and other bands. This combination of vocals mixed with the eclectic sound of their guitar-drum-violin-piano quartet makes for interesting listening.
The only possible quarrel about Shipwrecked On Shores is that finding a single may be hard. Plucking a song off of the album and playing it on its own would only take away from the value of the song as the album.
-Dan Bilicki

Black Label Society
Shot To Hell
3.5/5

Black Label Society is nothing if not consistent in their albums. Chances are if you liked Mafia, you’ll like Shot To Hell. With Zakk Wylde’s guitar solos everywhere on the disc, a lot more piano than usual and the solid as usual rhythm section, there isn’t a second of this album that isn’t well done. The only drawback is the aforementioned consistency. It seems like the motto in BLS is ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ With the addition of a few more ballads than usual, there’s absolutely nothing that makes Shot To Hell stand out more than anything else they’ve released. At least that means that BLS are still the hell raising, guitar driven, slightly odd sounding band that rock fans love.
- Alyssa Caplin

Corey Crowder
Starting All Over
3.6/5
Move over John Mayer cause seriously Corey Crowder is coming and he’s taken all of your tricks and tips and thrown them into his own original tracks. Over six songs, Crowder will almost make you think that he IS Mayer. Not that that is a bad thing, Crowder’s voice is sweet and airy while he does his singer/songwriter bit. This is the perfect album to put on when your mother comes over.
- Stephanie Joudrey 

Eagle Seagull
Eagle Seagull
3.7/5

Fuck “Mr. Brightside” and all that excitement about the stupid guitar riff at the start, Eagle Seagull’s “Photograph” has got the best pop hook I’ve heard since “Baker Street.”
Some of it is like The Shins listening to too many obscure Pink Floyd records, some of it is like the Moody Blues falling asleep in ‘68 and waking up in 2004. A lot of it sounds like there wasn’t a record executive nearby to instigate some quality control. It’s sprawling and self-indulgent, but thankfully Eagle Seagull know a good melody when they hear it. There’s plenty of sweetened epithets and cut-above pop in here to occupy the 20-somethings who’ll find Eagle Seagull to be their new speciality coffee.
- Kid Lupin

The Hourly Radio
History Will Never Hold Me
4.7/5

A 3 minute long instrumental to start an album off always bores me and leaves me reaching for eject. However, by the Aaron Clossen wails You know I’m not that bad in “He Said/She Said” I think, you know what, you just be right. By the time the oh-so infectious verse of “Crime Does Pay” hits me, I’m leaned back, I got my feet up and every bone in my body is bopping along. This is Indie-pop blending seamlessly with 80’s new wave. This is stealing just enough from emo and this decade’s British epic-soft rock to bring a definitively large smile to my face. Then finally as “First Love is Forever” takes me on a walk around the oh-too familiar edge of the expansive circle of love, leaving my heart breathless and exhausted, this is me putting my CD player on loop.
- Dan Hamilton

Korn
See You On The Other Side
5/5

With the departure of guitarist Brian “Head” Welch in February of 2005, people were quick to doubt Korn’s ability to make another quality album. See You On The Other Side might just change their minds. The album was re-released to add bonus features, including a SYOTOS music player, options to save or burn the entire album to your computer and links to the bands official website.
The album includes 14 songs, each unique and refreshing to dedicated fans. David Silveria’s outstanding drumming performance on this disc will leave many listeners wide-eyed and satisfied. Jonathan Davis brings back his trademark ‘scat,’ along with the bagpipes. His singing ranges from the violent screaming in the break of “Getting Off” to “Tearjerker’s” ballad-like softness - a very new side of Korn. James “Munky” Shaffer had big shoes to fill, being the only guitarist in the band after a decade of being part of a guitar two-some. He definitely pulled through and deserves recognition for it. The lyrics have improved dramatically from Korn’s last album, Take a Look In The Mirror, and each song has great repeated listening ability.
Korn have proved that as a 4 piece, they have yet again reinvented themselves and we’ll be seeing them around for awhile. 
- Amanda Pereira

Lives of Many
Until We Lay This to Rest
3.9/5


Range is the name of the game with Lives Of Many’s full-length debut. The band finds ways to mix up their sound every track while managing a feeling of cohesiveness throughout the album. That feat in itself is wildly under-rated.
Kurt and Nick on guitars play wonderful, intricate tunes over the solid backing of rhythm section Jay (Drums) and Graeme (Bass). Lead singer Mike has a great voice and stands out in melody settings like 1.25 as well as the harder rock settings like lead single, “It’s Okay You’re Leaving, I Cheated.” His lyrics are also well thought out and meaningful. I gave you world and you wanted the stars / I gave you the stars, you wished they were brighter, from “1.25” is a prime example.
The weirdest thing about the album is the fact that track one, “The Past Will Be Buried,” is bracketed Part II while track two, “It’s Okay Your Leaving, I Cheated,” is bracketed Part I. Is this an attempt to seem clever and edgy? Who knows, but this album is worth a listen through at least.
- Dan Bilicki

The Mountain Goats
Get Lonely
4/5

This is the best ‘Sunday morning in bed with an intellectual you don’t know’ record of the year. You can lie back and listen to John Darnielle’s sublime masterpieces, not just boy-girl romance, but a love of being alive, of the bright colours that someone has painted our existence.
If you’ve never been exposed to Darnielle’s gorgeous understated songs, then Get Lonely is as good a place to start as last year’s The Sunset Tree. Like his closest peer Will Oldham, Darnielle creates music that makes itself loud by getting very very quiet. Get Lonely is a 43 minute vision of comfortable silences.
- Kid Lupin

New Found Glory
Coming Home
2.6/5

Critics say this is the best NFG album to date. That might very well be true for those who feel that the band is “maturing,” but if maturing means dropping the catchy hooks and sticking to the same old song over and over again then they should have stayed kids. This album isn’t any worse then anything they have previously released, but it’s lacking those sing alongs that get stuck in your head for days, whether you like it or not. What we are left with are some half decent pop songs that every other band in the genre could do. The lyrics are cheesy (take the line You smell how angels ought to smell from “Hold My Hand”) and there are a few interesting moments (like the choir in “Boulders” and the clap-a-long acoustic track “Too Good To Be”) creating an album that could have been better in so many ways.
- Stephanie Joudrey

Sloan
Never Hear the End of It
4/5

If there’s one thing you can expect from a new Sloan album, it’s that you’re going to get a Sloan album. That said, every year and a half or so, all of their fans have something truly exciting to look forward to, and this time around, Sloan has given their fans a musical treat by releasing an album of thirty new tracks. Never Hear the End of It is a solid Sloan disc but unfortunately it wears thin, and you realize that maybe the title wasn’t all that far off from the truth. For the diehard fans, there is plenty of fodder to keep them at bay, with songs like “Someone I Can Be True With” and “Before The End of the Race” reminding this reviewer of why One Chord to Another was in his CD player for a good six months after buying it.
Ultimately, this album is Sloan doing their best to remind us why they’re at the forefront of the Canadian music scene, and it’s great to see a band release a surprisingly solid thirty track disc. But unfortunately, with not much of a space for a breather, it can really drag on, especially for the non-diehard Sloanite out there. I guess there really can be too much of a good thing.
- Ryan O’Shaughnessy

The Black Crowes
The Lost Crowes
3.5/5

I don’t know what spawned the nearly half dozen Black Crowes releases in the past month or so, but it’s hard to complain since it’s rare that they disappoint. The Lost Crowes is actually two albums that were recorded, but never released. Both Band Album and Tall Album are the typical soul, blues and rock creation that the band has been recognized for over the years. With the slight jam band sound that never really shined on hits like “She Talks To Angels” or “Hard To Handle,” these discs are full of moments that scream spontaneity. It’s enough to make you wonder what other bands have locked away in the vaults just waiting to make an appearance.
- Alyssa Caplin

Blackpool Lights
This Town’s Disaster
4.6/5

This album needs a new name; it should be called “This is how to write a refreshingly catchy pop-rock song.” It’s a non-stop ode to everything from the past 20 years that you could not for the life of you shake from your head. Whether its the opening riff of “Blue Skies” that seems to have jumped straight from Weezer’s Blue Album, or the mega-chorus of “The Truth about Love” where Jim Suptic quips She’s so punk rock but her heart ain’t in it, with a hook so incredibly warming somewhere Evan Dando is pumping a fist in delight. These songs may never change anyone’s life, but they will be sung repeatedly on more than a few morning drives to work.
- Dan Hamilton

Deadsy
Phantasmagore
3.5/5

This album should cater well to those with more industrial craving taste buds. Deadsy have come back with a strong album proving that their four year absence from the music scene was useful for brainstorming. The distinct singing style of vocalist Elijah Blue, although monotone at times, certainly suits the songs on this disc.
Stand-out tracks, such as “The Last Story Ever” and “Carrying Over,” have that sing-along likeability to them and all of the songs compiled leave you with a disc that you’d play in the car on a long ride home or when you just want to kick back and nod along with the beat.
- Amanda Pereira

G. Love
Lemonade
4.8/5

In a time where artists love to please the marketing department by taking their genre and settling down in suburbia with 2.5 kids, and a golden retriever, G.Love is out living life as a genre slut. Whether he’s rapping breathlessly over the slow funk of “Holla!”, crooning about a lost friendship with Jack Johnson on “Rainbow,” or declaring I swear to god I’m breakin' up this time in a sultry mumble over the heart-wrangling acoustic guitar of “Breakin up,” G. Love is at his best genre-hopping like the musical swinger we know he is. It might not be easy to market, but goddamnit, it’s easy to love.
- Dan Hamilton

Jakalope
Born 4
2/5

In 2004, Jakalope emerged. With an enigmatic website and strong first single “Pretty Life” vocalist Katie B. looked poised to be leading female fronted acts in an exciting new direction. Two years have passed since then and many people have long forgotten about the pop starlet. With a new album, Born 4, Jakalope looks ready to once again fade into pop obscurity. Sounding like a collection of rejected tracks from co-producer Trent Reznor’s band Nine Inch Nails, Born 4 is not really worth the time (unless you love Trent that much) With the exception of the opener “Anthem 2” and the closer “Something New” I was really uninterested with this effort.
As a side note, if you’re a person that judges music by listening to the first and last track in your local music store, don’t be fooled. It’ll just remind you why you had forgotten about Jakalope in the first place.
- Ryan O’Shaughnessy

Lillix
Inside the Hollow
4.8/5

All it takes is the first snare hit of the unforgiving chorus of “Blackout” my ears are perked. By the time the last epic guitar chord on “Stay” fades I am completely and utterly theirs. This album goes everywhere and in between. From the Kelly Clarkson-gone-Indie chorus of “Doughnut” to the Magneta Lane finally learning how to write a pop hit on “Little Things” to the Rooney-goes-punk of “Poor Little Girl” Lillix continues to take the book we’ve been reading and tear into a million little pieces.
- Dan Hamilton

Motorhead
Kiss Of Death
3.5/5

Kiss Of Death is exactly what you think it is. Its tough sounding roots-metal (did I just make up a genre?) with vocals that sound like rusty lawnmower. The songs range from mid-tempo rockers to speeds that were once the only ground that Motorhead would tread save for one haunting acoustic based sing along. The lyrics are all about how tough Motorhead are…and babes. The cover art features the logo we’ve all known and feared for decades.
No surprises here, except for the re-recording of their classic tribute to the Ramones. The difference? It’s faster.
- Josh Fucking Last

Much The Same
Survive
2.7/5

Not since the Backstreet Boys has a band been as appropriately named as Much The Same. Their third release (first on Nitro Records) sounds very much the same as your average, up-beat punk band. Survive has a sound which is obviously inspired by 90’s skate-punk style music, a genre that has run it’s course but will never be abandoned by die-hards like Much The Same.
On drums, Jevin Kaye seems to be playing the same “giddy-up” drum beat almost every song with the difference of changing up the fills. Guitarist Dan O’Gorman and bassist Frankie Tsoukalas play their instruments very well, but within the band’s overall style, it can hard to showcase what they can really do. O’Gorman does show off with the occasional solo, but is mainly overpowered by the heavier instruments.
“Gut Shot” is the definite stand out track on Survive, but this mainly because it sounds completely different from the rest of tracks.
- Dan Bilicki

Papa Roach
The Paramore Sessions
3.75/5
Did you really, really think that Papa Roach was going to do anything different this time? Guess what they haven’t. For some reason they seem to retain the same amount of fame they had when this genre of music was popular. While most other nu-metal bands have either found a niche market or split up, Papa Roach keeps on recording. They never release an album that is so painfully bad that they make every editor’s joke page, but they don’t do anything interesting enough to make us care. The lyrics are kind of cheesy throughout the disc, but it works because so is the band. Paramore is exactly what you expect from Papa Roach as Jacoby Shaddix plays out his tortured soul act and the guitars and drums are heavy behind him. Cue the one or two power ballads and there you go, on to the next disc.
- Stephanie Joudrey

Tomi Swick
Stalled Out in the Doorway
2/5

With the enormous success of the hit single “A Night Like This,” one would assume Tomi Swick’s debut album, Stalled Out in the Doorway, would have as much punch and energy as his successful single, but we all know what happens when we assume. From track to track Tomi takes his listeners on a journey through songs that sound eerily similar to one another and none of which carry enough energy to dance to. Although Tomi’s voice and guitar playing prowess promise great amounts of talent, Tomi doesn’t come through and ends up batting a single on an album that could easily have been a home run.
-Julie Hunter