Artist: Alexisonfire
Album: Crisis
Label: Distort/Vagrant/Universal
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: August 22, 2006

Overall: 9.0
Music: 8.5
Lyrics: 9.0
Production: 9.5

What do you get when you mix a little melody, a golden falsetto, scratchy punk vocals, driving guitars, screaming, and a strong rhythm? You get Crisis.

As the third release from Ontario’s Alexisonfire, Crisis is poignantly remarkable. In the two weeks since it’s release, the album has surpassed sales of the band’s first record. And with good reason.

Artist: Saves The Day
Album: Sound The Alarm
Label: Vagrant
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: April 11, 2006

Overall: 9.2
Music: 9.0
Lyrics: 9.4
Production: 9.3

After the horrible response from fans about 2003’s “In Reverie,” being labeless, and touring off of their old material, Saves the Day have returned with a more focused album on “Sound the Alarm.” Finding refuge in old friends Vagrant Records, the band that influenced so many of today’s artists have had to draw on influence from none other than themselves, returning to the frantic “emocore” that made them popular. They’ve also got a few new tricks up their sleeve this time around.