Incendiary new Alkaline Trio album smashes into stores
Alkaline Trio
On February 23rd, 2010, Alkaline Trio released their 7th studio album, This Addiction. The album opens with the explosive title track, “This Addiction.” Fast paced and full of catchy guitar riffs, if the opening track is any sign of what’s to come with this album, it’s sure to be an instant hit. The album continues with “Dine, Dine My Darling,” which is full of big guitars and anthemic vocals. From the first two tracks alone, it’s obvious that the band is trying to get back to their punk rock roots, and it seems to be working.
Alkaline Trio started in 1996, releasing their first full length EP in 1998, Goddamnit. In the last 14 years since Alkaline Trio’s inception, they have seen great success with their often dark and macabre lyrics mixed with catchy punk rock guitar. The band saw their first big success with the release of From Here to Infirmary in 2001. Nine years later, the band has left their major label and self-released the new album on guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba’s own Heart and Skull label, in conjunction with Epitaph. Skiba has attributed Alkaline Trio’s move from major label Epic to their own label to releases such as Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV (2007) and Radiohead’s In Rainbows (2007).
Tags: pop-punk, punk rock, rock
By Jared Montgomery 
Feb 23, 2010 
Album Reviews, Released this Week, Video 
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Review: Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armini
Emiliana Torrini
Me and Armini
Rough Trade, September 9, 2008
On its face, Me and Armini could be just like a number of female-fronted pop records; Emiliana Torrini has a simultaneously marketable and enjoyable vocal style that wouldn’t bring any surprises if it reached mainstream success. Me and Armini, though, is much more than a simple throw-away pop release, and Torrini’s silky vocals are only the tip of a musical iceberg.
Emiliana Torrini – “Me and Armini” | download
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Torrini might be best known for performing “Gollum’s Song” from 2002’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but Me and Armini could change her status from being a slight footnote in mainstream pop culture, whic she attained both for “Gollum’s Song” and for co-writing two tracks from Kylie Minogue’s Body Language. A footnote, though, doesn’t seem to be Torrini’s favorite option, so with Me and Armini she’s released a powerful, engaging picture of her musical talent of the Iceland native. (more…)
Tags: pop
By Matthew Montgomery Sep 04, 2008 Released this Week, Reviews Comment (1)
Released This Week: Salme Dahlstrom – The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade
Salme Dahlstrom
The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade
Kontainer Music, 2008
Salme Dahlstrom – “Superstar Crash” | download
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Electronically oriented pop music hits all the right spots for some people: Salme Dahlstrom, for those people, can’t be hitting too far off those. The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade is full of interesting synthetic textures and sounds, but at some points, it lacks a bit of that important impact.
Other times, though, Dahlstrom demonstrates a nice understanding with the pop music she’s writing, and it’s those points that really define the record. While this certainly won’t be named electronic album of the year, it does feature some engaging tracks. Where Dahlstrom really succeeds is not her writing, though: Her vocals are straight from the style’s top shelf, shifting with some abandon between a sassy, in-your-face attitude and nicely harmonized standard modern pop.
Sure, The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade isn’t the best album of the year, but Dahlstrom’s vocals will be enough for some to keep listening, and the writing, while fairly typical of pop-centric electronica, isn’t bad enough to drive away listeners.
Tags: electronica
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 17, 2008 Downloads, Released this Week, Reviews Comments (0)
Track Review: The Ritz – “It’s The…” from The Night of Day
The Ritz
The Night of Day
“It’s The…”
Content warning: Lyrics involve use of the ever-ominous “f” word. I don’t mind.
The Ritz – “It’s The” | download
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My first thought, after hearing this track from the debut album from The Ritz? I was impressed, honest. The combination of bass-heavy beats with string samples and a nice use of stereo rapping (Elliott Smith influence, maybe? Likely not.) is fairly evocative and engaging. My only real complaint? The bass is mixed a bit too heavily, as it ends up slightly excessive and punchy on my well-balanced headphones (Sennheiser HD 485s, nothing too expensive,) distracting from the rest of the track, a well-mixed hip-hop introduction track.There’s nothing too adventurous about this track, but its efficient execution bodes well for the full release, due out August 19th.
Tags: hip-hop
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 12, 2008 Downloads, Released this Week, Track Reviews Comments (2)
Released This Week: Inquiet – Inq Beyong
Inquiet
Inq Beyong
Brother Sister Records, August 15, 2008
Inquiet - “Fresh Flesh” | download
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Inquiet is an experimental pop group from Australia: That’s not a phrase you hear too often in many musical circles, especially those in the northern hemisphere. That’s got little to nothing to do with the musical quality here, to be honest. (more…)
Tags: australia, experimental
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 09, 2008 Downloads, Released this Week, Reviews Comments (0)
Released This Week: The Telepathic Butterflies – Breakfast in Suburbia
The Telepathic Butterflies
Breakfast in Suburbia
Rainbow Quartz, 2008
The Telepathic Butterflies – “Telescope” | download
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One thing is made clear from the opening track of Breakfast in Suburbia: The Telepathic Butterflies (what a name!) are rooted in a 1960s pop aesthetic, their apparent influences a combination of the usual suspects: The Beach Boys and The Beatles, most notably, with a nice dose of surf rock playing out in the guitar tones. There’s enough of a psychedelic inflection in the music produced by the duo that citing Barrett-era Pink Floyd wouldn’t be completely off the mark, either.
Tags: indie pop
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 08, 2008 Downloads, Released this Week, Reviews Comments (0)
Released This Week: The OaKs – Songs for Waiting
The OaKs
Songs for Waiting
Self-released
March 4, 2008
The OaKs, previously the subject of a MusicGeek.org spotlight, self-released Songs for Waiting Tuesday. Opening track, “The Two Calls (of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)” — posted below for download and streaming — isn’t rough, and it’s certainly not too soft. The historical narrative, written by one of two founding members, Ryan Costello, is, at the very least, interesting. The arrangements involved in this new release are well planned, providing a listening experience that’s bound to impress.
The OaKs – “The Two Calls (of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)” | download
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The OaKs – “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” | download
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Tags: alt-country, folk, indie
By Matthew Montgomery Mar 05, 2008 Artist Spotlight, Downloads, Released this Week Comments (0)
