The songs on this album work together (sometimes roughly, sometimes smoothly) as sketches and vignettes to form an overall artistically thematic picture of the world in which we live. The brothers paint this picture so starkly with gritty hyper-realism that the songs will not and do not appeal to the greater audience of folk music that is still deriving its voice from the love songs of Simon and Garfunkel and Jackson Browne.

Although this record reeks of Matador Records looking to score capital off Fucked Up, it’s not a bad way to go. Couple Tracks would be great for someone who wants the Fucked Up experience.

Hard to describe but easy to recommend.

Both Lights goes a step further in cementing their reputation as one of the Pacific Northwest's best kept secrets.

All told, this is undoubtedly one of 2012′s most unexpected pleasures.

Conatus continues her roll with more astounding music that sounds better with each listen and during this day and age, what more could you ask for in an album?

These seven pieces invite the listener into an engrossing experience, one that requires attention but in the end, Centralia is a moving album.

While it doesn't have as many flat-out terrific songs as its predecessor, I'd venture to say that The Remote Part is the record that Idlewild has wanted to write all along.

Crafted with a strong presence in realizing the sequencing and tracking through it all, it unquestionably rewards with repeated listens.

There is cohesiveness here, there is a strong theme throughout, there is terrific musicianship and a gorgeous melting of voices all in between.

What strikes me is that past Clem Snide albums had their stronger moments, but also their weaker ones, while Hungry Bird, for all its time in development, is more solid throughout, delivering its 10 pop songs with a consistency that shows the band continuing to develop its sound.

Wavering Radiant is a testament to ISIS’ ability to stare into the face of adversity, unflinching, and deliver one of the finest albums of its career.

The Go! Team makes sure to reach for the stars and they're certainly poised to simply get more well-known from here.

While Is Dead may be the bands most accessible album, their latest release contains a much more developed and mature set of tracks that showcase a very talented group that with can easily aspire to new heights in the coming years in the hardcore genre.

If you don’t like noise records then you [should] steer clear of this, but if you happen to like listening to the sound of vacuum cleaners, video games, dishwashers, and other major appliances, I suggest that you buy this immediately.

What they do best is produce exceptional electronica for people that don't have the patience for extended instrumental passages and require things like vocals on regular intervals. With that precursor, The Understanding is probably one of the better electronica records to come out this year that thankfully doesn't involve MCs from Def Jux or was composed on a laptop.

You don’t need to be fanatical or any other synonym to realize that this is utterly spectacular music.

Worlds Apart is easily the most accessible album for the band.

As a whole this album evokes plenty of 80’s punk/hardcore styles, sex, drugs and rock and roll anthems and the always-welcomed unexpectedness that Moore seems to always supply us with.

The group's strength and distinguishing characteristics rest in its superior sense of melody.

After the vibe he seemed to be going for, it seemed awkward to end the album on an upswing. That being said, this is a startlingly mature and accomplished album.

Fans of The Rhumb Line are unlikely to go head over heels for The Orchard, but Ra Ra Riot's latest is still among the most clever and thoughtful indie pop heard this year.

Nothing much changes from here on out, but it’s this form, absorbance and consistency that always prevails in Willner’s music.

The best Swell album since 1997’s Too Many Days Without Thinking.

Via Audio are audacious in their attempt to create a wide array of organic sounds, and their efforts pay off; it’s not often that a band can instill so many approaches into an album and get away with it but Animalore delivers the goods.

Field Songs, in its utter simplicity, is perhaps Whitmore's finest effort to date.

It’s great music and it clearly showcases the fact that Grampall Jookabox should have a steady and successful career ahead of him.

It goes to show, scuzzy hooks will always be a way to make engaging music, even if the genre is well-worn. So, do yourselves a favor and check out We Are the Champions, an endlessly rewarding firecracker of an album.