AltWeeklies Wire
Forth Yeer Freshman Bring the Campnew
If the entire Bloodhound Gang downed a Zeke smoothie every day, with chunks of Shat and the Dwarves swirled in, they would still sound like stodgy old preachmen compared to these hoodlums.
Tags: Forth Yeer Freshman, Rock Your Box
'Finding Forever' is Thoroughly Adult Hip-hopnew
If that description sounds contradictory, it's only because so few of the genre's artists have been able to make this transition successfully.
Tags: Common, Finding Forever
Justice Keeps the Energy Pumpingnew
The duo's electro-fiddling tends toward the egalitarian, not the exclusionary, with amped-up beats and floor-filling giddiness balancing out the occasional nod to pomposity.
Across Tundras Bring the 'Blizzard'new
The EP has demos of three tracks slated for the next recording, plus a pair of curios that find Tanner Olson and friends exploring the crossroads of traditional folk and modern atmospherics.
Tags: Across Tundras, Full Moon Blizzard
'Holladay' is Time Well Spentnew
The marriage of punk and roots music was consummated long ago, but the relationship hasn't stopped working, and this band knows it.
Jason Isbell Ditches the Drive-By Truckersnew
And he delivers the goods on his solo debut.
Tags: Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch
'The Mix-Up' Falls Way Shortnew
If all they could come up with in the three years since their last album is mildly enjoyable filler, these guys are either out of fresh ideas or overloaded with pre-owned ones.
Tags: Beastie Boys, The Mix-Up
It's Tough to Recapture the 'Zeitgeist'new
Corgan tries to win back disenchanted fans by hewing close to the combo's classic sound -- an approach that results in a listenable yet overly familiar CD underpinned with neediness.
Tags: Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist
A Typically Off-kilter Release from Pete Wernicknew
The banjo expert, of Hot Rize fame, has never been content to imprison himself within genre conventions, even when the style is bluegrass, a format he loves.
Ryan Adams Returns to Formnew
Easy Tiger is tighter and less indulgent than anything he's issued since the dawn of his solo career.
Tags: Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams
Eat or Drink Manson's Latest at Your Own Risknew
Having founded his persona on calculated outrage, Marilyn Manson's choices for the future range from upping the ante G.G. Allin-style, which would likely result in his marginalizing and/or killing himself, to taking Alice Cooper's lead and becoming a golfer and game-show regular between gigs.
Tags: Eat Me, Drink Me, Marilyn Manson
'Addict' Not a Total Washoutnew
Yet the guitars aren't as raucous as they should be, and the choruses are slicker than strictly necessary.
Tags: Carina Round, Slow Motion Addict
Cephalic Carnage: Extreme-metal Madmen par Excellencenew
The eleven songs here constitute a jolt of aural anarchy, served straight up.
Tags: Cephalic Carnage, Xenosapien
Ozzy's An Icon Past His Primenew
There are few surprises and even fewer decent tunes on Black Rain, but Oz can still sing his ass off.
Tags: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Rain
Linkin Park Seems Awfully Insecurenew
Minutes to Midnight is stuffed with take-us-seriously gestures, including the presence of producer Rick Rubin and liner notes that couldn't be needier if they'd been written by Sally Field.
Tags: Linkin Park, minutes to midnight
