Hot Mess has everything you hate to admit you love about Cobra Starship. [Sep 2009, p.104]

Where a lot of new bands drop the ball is not quite capturing the state of bliss that made so many of those hippue classics what they were. But that's not a problem on The Ruminant Band. [Sep 2009, p.104]

They might be moonlighting, but they've officially stepped out of Black Mountain's shadow. [Sep 2009, p.105]

With primarily organic instrumentation and warm, low-fi production, nothing is forced--although in some instances, the tracks feel a little too barren, and overall there's not much to distinguish between the songs. [Sep 2009, p.108]

Young has a good chance at becoming a worthy replacement for the Postal Service; he just needs to monitor the ratio of sugar to substance on subsequent efforts. [Oct 2009, p.111]

The band are able to overcome the production errors through Gourley's elastic vocal counterpoint, bassist Zachary Scott Carothers' pocket-groping lines and licks so gooey they recall a time when Keith Richards could speak in complete sentences. [Aug 2009, p.110]

The duo of Mc Eyedea And DJ Abilities have always possessed more potential than they've realized and By The Throat doesn't change that balance. [Aug 2009, p.110]

There's no denying the quartet know how to work a mighty groove as well as set up atmospheres similar to bands remanded to the faded pages of old record-collecting magazines. [July 2009, p.126]

The Most Serene Republic play it incredibly safe while maintaining thier baroque-rock rep. [Aug 2009, p.111]

It's one of their strongest albums, which is saying a lot for a band who've been workhorses for the past two decades. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Listening to American Central Dust ultimately feels a bit too much like working on an assembly line. [Aug 2009, p.114]

He abetteed by vibrant backdrops full of guitar-driven samples, which push the disc closer to rock than hip-hop and keep the energy high. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Walls tends to fade into the background during its instrumental moments, dulled by textures and emotional ebbs that aren't very distinctive. Better are sharper rock songs. [Aug 2009, p.115]

Shawn Christensen's vocals are buried in the mix, while songs fly by with no memorable structure or hooks. [Aug 2009, p.115]

Wilco continues to reign in their experiemntal fuzz, focusing more on pretty melodies, upbeat toe-tappers and sweet acoustic numbers for their seventh full-length. [Aug 2009, p.115]

This album isn't going to change the way you think about metal, but Killswitch Engange aren't Mastodon; they just want to get the pit going, and this album will surely acomplish that. [Aug 2009, p.108]

Farm isn't the kind of Dino record that has a keeper single like 'Start Choppin'' or 'Feel The Pain.' Instead, it boasts some of Mascis' biggest departures under the Dino name. [Aug 2009, p.110]

Octahedron will appeal to elderly prog fans immune to attention deficit disorder, who have the patience to let its charm gradually unfold. [Aug 2009, p.111]

This is crushing, calculated and catchy, light years beyond the three-chord snarling if Dalle's past. [Jul 2009, p.130]

A few throwaways aside, Beacons is a welcome kick in the tush. [Jul 2009, p.131]

It sounds like all those summers hanging at the cottage with Lemmy Kilmister and Lars Frederiksen finally made him realize there's more than one way to blow out your vocal cords. That makes Old Crows/Young Cardinals a welcome reinvention. [Aug 2009, p.106]

They're still delivering more aural discovery and attitude than both their weary, uninspired colleagues and the legion of fumbling neophyte upstarts combined. [Jul 2009, p.130]

Battle For The Sun takes the best elements of thier sound and focuses it into a cohesive listening experience--there's no filler to be found. [Jul 2009, p.130]

The signature '97's twang takes a backseat to finely tuned pop songs. The downside? It falls short of going anywhere new musically. [Jul 2009, p.130]

Pariah isn't without its merits, and diehard fans will likely find few flaws anywhere. But for the casual listener, the album might seems a little less "Of The Room" and a little more "Rent." [Jul 2009, p.126]

Indictments abound on The People Or The Gun, Anti-Flag's seventh full-length that proves Pittsburgh's politically aware punks haven't lost their bite nor bark. [Jul 2009, p.122]

He and his mercenaries swing cleverly from noodly instruments to introspective acoustic ditties, but never settle down long enough to let their concoction congeal. [Jul 2009, p.127]

His sharp lyrics take awhile to sink in, But when he throws all standard rules out the window, it sounds like hip-hop from the future. [Jul 2009, p.122]