Nine times out of ten when your favorite band signs to a major record label, all that transpires after is normally negative. The constant spree of “they were so much better” and “look at how they changed their sound” runs rampant amongst all the popular music blogs. Very little do we see a band return to form after they’ve signed such a deal, but as unorthodox as it is, such is the case with Motion City Soundtrack latest release My Dinosaur Life.  Read more...

Artist: Alesana
Album: The Emptiness
Label: Fearless Records
Purchase: iTunes
Release Date: January 26th, 2010

Overall: 7.0
Music: 7.0
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 7.5

Alesana have been at it for a while, crafting albums more ambitious than the last. Their latest entitled The Emptiness is a full force dive into a world they’ve created all unto themselves. One again we find ourselves with a raucous guitar assault and bouncing vocal harmonies back and forth between wails and ferocious screams.  Read more...

Artist: Tegan and Sara
Album: Sainthood
Label: Sire Records
Purchase: iTunes
Release Date: October 23rd, 2009

Overall: 8.0
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 7.5

Tegan and Sara are not a band with a signature sound. Ok, their somewhat monotone dueling female vocals shouting out lyrics dripping with emotion about past loves are pretty signature. But, musically, the two have developed a wide-range of songs, particularly if you look at musical styles album to album. Early releases at the turn of the century had a definite folk-pop flair. In the early 2000s, we saw a progression towards emo overtones on If It Was You and So Jealous. Then, bam!, The Con hit us with a more tender take on the 2000 style, while maintaining characteristic emotion-charged introspection and reflection.  Read more...

Artist: Dashboard Confessional
Album: Alter The Ending
Label: Vagrant Records
Purchase: iTunes
Release Date: November 10th, 2009

Overall: 8.0
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 8.5
Production: 7.0

Dashboard Confessional’s last album, The Shade Of Poison Trees found them turning the volume down and going back to their roots. The album was soft, acoustic and mellow all the way through. Apparently Chris Carrabba & co. have grown tired of that style as they go back to their full band ensemble, with their latest album Alter The Ending.  Read more...

Artist: Every Avenue
Album: Picture Perfect
Label: Fearless Records
Purchase: iTunes
Release Date: November 3rd, 2009

Overall: 8.5
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 8.5

A little more than a year ago, Ever Avenue began turning heads with their debut album Shh…Just Go With It. Their standard pop-punk fare was super sweet and sugary with hooks, but couldn’t seem to hold fans over for very long leaving people craving more after a brief sugar high. Now they are back with their second album Picture Perfect, looking to shake things up and turn the volume up higher than ever.  Read more...

Artist: Blessthefall
Album: Witness
Label: Fearless Records
Purchase: iTunes
Release Date: October 6th, 2009

Overall: 8.5
Music: 9
Lyrics: 7.5
Production: 8

A band losing a member can often spell disaster, or a new beginning. In the case of Blessthefall they lost their lead vocals in the form of Craig Mabbit (now of Escape The Fate), but rather then call it a day as a band they were able to replace him with Beau Bokan on their sophomore release Witness. And the final product is a band reinvigorated, with more energy then ever the ability to rock out has been amplified to a new degree.  Read more...

 

Artist: Breathe Carolina
Album: Hello Fascination
Label: Fearless Records
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: August 18th, 2009

Overall: 6
Music: 6
Lyrics: 5
Production: 7

The opening riffs off of Breathe Carolina’s sophomore album (debut for Fearless records) Hello Fascination mark a step in a different direction for the band. The implementation of real instruments in their music, moving away from the strict electronic beats of their debut It’s Classy Not Classic. Already there is a sense of hope for a band that has garnered nothing but hate from bloggers and critics around the internet, but it’s hard for a band to go from hated to loved in one day.  Read more...

Artist: Cobra Starship
Album: Hot Mess
Label: Decaydance Records
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: August 11th, 2009

Overall: 7
Music: 7
Lyrics: 5.5
Production: 8

Cobra Starship have been on their way to becoming what they are for a while now, so it should come to no one as a surprise that their third album titled Hot Mess is a melting pot of electronically layered pop-punk with lots of attitude and neon. While this album will garner so much hate it is unprecedented by any other band in the scene with such a career, it is still an album that has its moments and shines through at just the right times.  Read more...

Artist: Owl City
Album: Ocean Eyes
Label: Universal Republic Records
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: July 14th, 2009

Overall: 7.5
Music: 8
Lyrics: 7
Production: 8.5

Maybe it’s getting to hard to make music nowadays, it seems that any kid with a laptop can make beats in his basement and croon some sweet nothings (complimented with auto-tune of course) and can snag himself a couple of bucks and some groupies. This genre is littered with so many bad acts that it is even hard to acknowledge the ones that do it well. Enter: Owl City, the one-man band that uses all of these characteristics in a hated genre with good results (he’s your girlfriend’s favorite band you know?)  Read more...