Modern Rock Monday

The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running - A+
Easily my favorite song by The Arcade Fire, this song has excellent lyrics (much like the rest of the Neon Arcade album), but has a beat reminiscient of "On The Dark Side" by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, one of the best songs of the 80s. I wasn't a huge fan of the Arcade Fire until I heard this song.

The Bravery - Time Won't Let Me Go - A
The Bravery will never outpace the accusations of unoriginality but that doesn't mean that they can't crank out a decent song from time to time. This is their best to date.

The Afghan Whigs - I'm A Soldier - A-
The alt rock vets from the early 90s return with the first of two new singles from their greatest hits album and the first one is a winner.

The Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm - B+
A solid and up-tempo indie dance rock song by the Arctic Monkeys. Better than most of what you hear on the radio these days, but having both of their albums I can tell you that they can do MUCH better.

The Academy Is - We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands - B+
Catchy and well-written emo pop tune with a solid hook.

The Arcade Fire - Black Mirror - B
A decent indie rock song from a band that can do much better.

The Almost - Say This Sooner - B
A solid but not spectacular pop punk debut for The Almost.

The Beastie Boys - Off The Grid - B
I'm still not the biggest fan of instrumental music, but there's a lot more going on in this song than in "Electric Worm".

The Automatic - Monster - B
A decent indie song that suffers from lyrics that are a bit on the dumb side.

The Burden Brothers - Everybody Is Easy - B
A decent song, but nothing particularly special.

The All-American Rejects - It Ends Tonight - B
Although the Rejects' songs are starting to sound alike to me, this one is still redeemed by an excellent chorus, firming up the bands status as the Goo Goo Dolls of their time. Frequently good, but never great.

The Black Keys - Your Touch - B-
The Black Keys are a throwback to old blues rock circa the mid to late 1960s. I'm a big fan of this type of music, as bands such as Wolfmother and The White Stripes are among my current favorites. Unfortunately, the Black Keys usually end up sounding much more like Vanilla Fudge than Led Zeppelin. Still decent, but they could be so much better.

The Actual - This Is The Worst Day Of My Life - B-
A lousy overall sound in the song is redeemed by a decent chorus.

The Appearance - Not A Soul - B-
Sludgy and unimpressive, but not necessarily bad.

The Beastie Boys - Electric Worm - C+
It's not that the music isn't well done, but I've never been a big fan of instrumentals and this is far from my favorite in that genre.

The Burden Brothers - Shine - C+
The chorus isn't impressive and the verses have a lousy bounce to them.