Published April 28, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Wolf in the Fold” on MySpace.

From Denver’s best prematurely defunct band, comes “Wolf in the Fold”. The song loses something without the lead singer splitting his pants in front of you, or pouring a pitcher of ice water over his head, but even when it’s not live, The Risk’s “Wolf in the Fold” is a fabulous extra solid piece of rock music. It’s worth including in the primer that you’re putting together to teach future generations how to rock.
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Published April 25, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Sea Ghost” on MySpace.

The Unicorns are full of catch guitar lines, and on “Sea Ghost” (from Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?) they punch them out like a coffee addict at an indie coffee house with a coffee card in hand. That coffee-affected person would be perfectly suited to jerking along to the punchy opening (after a brief recorder and drum intro)–sweet! In fact, I’m drinking coffee right now just so I can jerk more effectively to this freaking awesome catchy guitar. Don’t make me dance to it! I just want to bop!
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Published April 18, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Anecdote” on MySpace.

“Anecdote” (from Ambulance LTD) has movement, which is tough to do with a simple formula. Ambulance LTD gives you movement in the form of piano, vocal, guitar, etcetera. You will be healthier if you lift one hand above your head and tap it in the air to the guitar hook that comes in just after the first few strums on the rhythm guitar. Try it. Seriously, it will improve your health. The light-headed heartache loveburst joy you will feel is an ordinary side effect (do not be alarmed).
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Published April 2, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Is You a Lady?” on MySpace.

Gutz is putting out stuff that would make the Rolling Stones drool (except that some of them already drool on a regular basis without hearing music that is exactly what the Stones would be doing now if they were all alive and in any sort of prime). “Is You a Lady” is a good example of the beautiful beautiful beautiful subject matter that I can picture the Stones doing, should they have continued to rock and rock and rock right up to 2008. Fortunately for us all, Gutz is rocking now. Seize the day. Or the stone. Or the rock. Whatever.
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Listen to “Blok 1″ at MySpace.

Fun Machine scores points with me on “Blok 1″ for several reasons:
1. Sheer oddity.
2. The transitions between differing forms of the oddity.
3. The quality of the oddity.
4. The diversity of the oddity.
Should more oddity be incorporated into every nation’s education program? You bet. Should oddity be prevalent in our daily working life? Of course! Does the future of mankind depend on embracing oddity? YES!
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Published March 31, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “And the Lights…” on MySpace.

A skilled writer of screenplays and novels inserts the audience directly into the middle of the action. This rarely works in songs, but somehow, Delegate drops you into this song already bathed in emotional backlog without much of an intro at all. “And the Lights” is brilliant for many reasons, but the reason given above is my favorite of them.
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Published March 28, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Same Old Drag” on MySpace.

Apples in Stereo make the “Same Old Drag” seem like the peppiest, coolest thing in the world. If the same old drag is this fun, give it to me nonstop! Make sure you pay attention to that punchy organ–freaking sweet! It’s the same old drag, baby, yeah! Hooray!
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Published March 26, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “So Cold” on MySpace.

dd/mm/yyyy give you the best outro of the decade with “So Cold”. It’s exactly like someone’s body going cold, as they slip into the infinite abyss, watching their whole life flash miserable by, and wondering how on earth they ever thought it was a good idea to ride a bicycle into a volcano. Ouch. Goodbye!
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Published March 19, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “October Knows” on MySpace.

Excellent pace, dynamic, and harmony punctuate this glimpse of a rain drop melting into oblivion. On “October Knows”, 27 shows confidence in its schedule. At 0:32 you are intrigued. At 1:43 you are a raincoat. At 2:18 it doesn’t matter what you are anymore. Confidence is only beautiful when you are right. On “October Knows”, 27 is right right right right right. And thus, beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful.
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Published March 17, 2008
in Rock.
Listen to “Bridgett Fountainhead” on MySpace.

“Bridgett Fountainhead” (from …and We Shall Call Him Joseph) is just one of the many examples of Hypatia Lake’s commitment to glistening experimental rock. By “glistening”, I mean a new sense of the word. If you just pay attention to how it sounds, then add two thirds of its original meaning, then melt eggs inside a diamond, you’ll get a vague idea of what I mean. That’s really the best I can do.
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