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.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Battle Of The Bands 2007 - Round 2 - Bracket B
#1 Queens Of The Stone Age 3 - #32 Sum 41 0 - A clean sweep for one of the tournament favorites, though Sum 41 has finally returned to the charts.
#2 Radiohead 3 - #34 My Morning Jacket 0 - My Morning Jacket is frequently referred to as "the American Radiohead". Clearly there's a reason why Radiohead isn't referred to as "the British My Morning Jacket".
#3 Sonic Youth 3 - #35 Wilco 0 - Wilco is tragically low-ranked, but they wouldn't have been able to beat a band on par with Sonic Youth later on in the tourney, so it doesn't really matter if it happens now or later.
#4 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 3 - #36 Kid Rock 0 - Tom Petty's been around for 25 years longer than Kid Rock, but of the two bands, Kid's the one that's yesterday's news.
#5 Modest Mouse 3 - #28 Slipknot 0 - Modest Mouse is one of the hottest bands in independent rock at the moment. Slipknot... isn't.
#6 System Of A Down 3 - #38 Thursday 0 - First tier political punk takes down second tier political punk.
#26 The Arcade Fire 2 - #7 Elvis Costello 1 - Elvis is the victim of the inexplicable low seeding of The Arcade Fire.
#8 A Perfect Circle 3 - #25 Stone Sour 0 - Stone Sour may be the bigger band at the moment, but this isn't just a measure of this month or this moment right now.
#41 The Eels 2 - #9 Paul McCartney 1 - One of the best indie rock bands that no one has ever heard of takes down the strangely high ranked Paul McCartney.
#10 The Thermals 2 - #23 Chevelle 1 - One of the best political punk bands of the moment takes down a popular, but mediocre metal band.
#11 Social Distortion 2 - #22 The Drive-By Truckers 1 - Social Distortion re-entered the charts just in time to get the winning vote in this match.
#12 Muse 3 - #21 Aimee Mann 0 - Muse is ranked far too low for this competition, but they can still hold their own against Mann, who is an acquired taste to be sure.
#20 The Music 2 - #13 Mark Lanegan 1 - Lanegan has been a legend when he's got a band behind him, but he's not nearly as popular on his own.
#14 Spoon 2 - #19 Kings Of Leon 1 - I strongly disagree, but I can't say that the decision was surprising on this one.
#15 Bruce Springsteen 2 - #18 Jet 1 - The Dylan of his generation is riding a surge of good music in recent years and his sincerity is the perfect weapon against a band like Jet, who seems like a copy of a copy.
#16 The Old 97's 2 - #17 The Pink Spiders 1 - It's Thunderdome: Two great but obscure bands go in, one comes out.
#2 Radiohead 3 - #34 My Morning Jacket 0 - My Morning Jacket is frequently referred to as "the American Radiohead". Clearly there's a reason why Radiohead isn't referred to as "the British My Morning Jacket".
#3 Sonic Youth 3 - #35 Wilco 0 - Wilco is tragically low-ranked, but they wouldn't have been able to beat a band on par with Sonic Youth later on in the tourney, so it doesn't really matter if it happens now or later.
#4 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 3 - #36 Kid Rock 0 - Tom Petty's been around for 25 years longer than Kid Rock, but of the two bands, Kid's the one that's yesterday's news.
#5 Modest Mouse 3 - #28 Slipknot 0 - Modest Mouse is one of the hottest bands in independent rock at the moment. Slipknot... isn't.
#6 System Of A Down 3 - #38 Thursday 0 - First tier political punk takes down second tier political punk.
#26 The Arcade Fire 2 - #7 Elvis Costello 1 - Elvis is the victim of the inexplicable low seeding of The Arcade Fire.
#8 A Perfect Circle 3 - #25 Stone Sour 0 - Stone Sour may be the bigger band at the moment, but this isn't just a measure of this month or this moment right now.
#41 The Eels 2 - #9 Paul McCartney 1 - One of the best indie rock bands that no one has ever heard of takes down the strangely high ranked Paul McCartney.
#10 The Thermals 2 - #23 Chevelle 1 - One of the best political punk bands of the moment takes down a popular, but mediocre metal band.
#11 Social Distortion 2 - #22 The Drive-By Truckers 1 - Social Distortion re-entered the charts just in time to get the winning vote in this match.
#12 Muse 3 - #21 Aimee Mann 0 - Muse is ranked far too low for this competition, but they can still hold their own against Mann, who is an acquired taste to be sure.
#20 The Music 2 - #13 Mark Lanegan 1 - Lanegan has been a legend when he's got a band behind him, but he's not nearly as popular on his own.
#14 Spoon 2 - #19 Kings Of Leon 1 - I strongly disagree, but I can't say that the decision was surprising on this one.
#15 Bruce Springsteen 2 - #18 Jet 1 - The Dylan of his generation is riding a surge of good music in recent years and his sincerity is the perfect weapon against a band like Jet, who seems like a copy of a copy.
#16 The Old 97's 2 - #17 The Pink Spiders 1 - It's Thunderdome: Two great but obscure bands go in, one comes out.
July Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees
Here are the July Inductees:
Rage Against The Machine
Cream
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Guns N Roses
Green Day
For more information, click here.
Rage Against The Machine
Cream
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Guns N Roses
Green Day
For more information, click here.
New Movies This Week
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix - An adaptation of the longest (and one of the best) Harry Potter book so far is strangely the shortest movie, so that means there will be more screenings, which in turn will probably make the gross higher. I've seen the film and much like Goblet of Fire, this one is exciting from start to finish and flies by.
VERDICT - SEE IT ASAP
Captivity - Sorry, guys, but you're about a year too late for this movie to find a market. The whole "torture porn" genre peaked last October. How can you tell? Hostel 2 made almost no money. Oh, and the buzz is that this isn't a very good movie, either.
VERDICT - Miss it.
VERDICT - SEE IT ASAP
Captivity - Sorry, guys, but you're about a year too late for this movie to find a market. The whole "torture porn" genre peaked last October. How can you tell? Hostel 2 made almost no money. Oh, and the buzz is that this isn't a very good movie, either.
VERDICT - Miss it.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Battle Of The Bands 2007 - Round 2 - Bracket A
#1 The White Stripes 3 - #33 30 Seconds To Mars 0 - Jared Leto may be a better actor than Jack White, but he doesn't even play in the same league as the Stripes.
#2 Tool 3 - #31 Metallica 0 - The best of metal today knocks out the best of metal from 25 years ago.
#3 The Foo Fighters 3 - #35 The Ataris 0 - What's the difference between the Foo Fighters and the Ataris? The Foo Fighters have at least one song that's worth listening to.
#4 Franz Ferdinand 3 - #29 The Fray 0 - Being unoffensive will only get you so far.
#5 Death Cab For Cutie 3 - #37 The Dropkick Murphys 0 - The panel chooses the band that still sounds good after they start singing.
#6 U2 3 - #27 Buckcherry 0 - The novelty wears off after awhile with Buckcherry, but U2 remains consistent.
#7 Eagles Of Death Metal 2 - #26 Bloc Party 1 - A close call, but the Eagles get the nod in this indie battle.
#8 Green Day 3 - #25 Pete Yorn 0 - Seeing as how most people have never heard of Pete Yorn and that's mostly for good reason...
#9 Neil Young 3 - #24 Hot Hot Heat 0 - Neil's seen better days, but Hot Hot Heat only has a few hits to their name, so they didn't have a chance.
#10 Big Timber 2 - #23 Cake 1 - The best band no one's ever heard of knocks off the still there but barely Cake.
#11 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 3 - #22 Bad Religion 0 - BRMC released another fantastic CD this year that everyone ignored for some reason.
#12 My Chemical Romance 2 - #44 The Sounds 1 - The Sounds reach the end of the road, though were it not for Welcome To The Black Parade, the result would have been reversed.
#13 Snow Patrol 2 - #20 A.F.I. 1 - Two love-em-or-hate-em bands square off with Snow Patrol getting the nod.
#19 Belle And Sebastian 2 - #14 Weezer 1 - The first upset of the second round sees underground legends Belle And Sebastian knocking off the most indie rock band in all of corporate rock.
#17 The Deftones 2 - #16 Ministry 1 - The smallest possible upset of the round sees the Deftones win the second-tier metal match.
#50 Todd Snider 2 - #18 Rancid 1 - Far and away the biggest upset of Round 2 - Bracket A sees the folk singer-songwriter move on over the past-their-prime pop punk band.
#2 Tool 3 - #31 Metallica 0 - The best of metal today knocks out the best of metal from 25 years ago.
#3 The Foo Fighters 3 - #35 The Ataris 0 - What's the difference between the Foo Fighters and the Ataris? The Foo Fighters have at least one song that's worth listening to.
#4 Franz Ferdinand 3 - #29 The Fray 0 - Being unoffensive will only get you so far.
#5 Death Cab For Cutie 3 - #37 The Dropkick Murphys 0 - The panel chooses the band that still sounds good after they start singing.
#6 U2 3 - #27 Buckcherry 0 - The novelty wears off after awhile with Buckcherry, but U2 remains consistent.
#7 Eagles Of Death Metal 2 - #26 Bloc Party 1 - A close call, but the Eagles get the nod in this indie battle.
#8 Green Day 3 - #25 Pete Yorn 0 - Seeing as how most people have never heard of Pete Yorn and that's mostly for good reason...
#9 Neil Young 3 - #24 Hot Hot Heat 0 - Neil's seen better days, but Hot Hot Heat only has a few hits to their name, so they didn't have a chance.
#10 Big Timber 2 - #23 Cake 1 - The best band no one's ever heard of knocks off the still there but barely Cake.
#11 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 3 - #22 Bad Religion 0 - BRMC released another fantastic CD this year that everyone ignored for some reason.
#12 My Chemical Romance 2 - #44 The Sounds 1 - The Sounds reach the end of the road, though were it not for Welcome To The Black Parade, the result would have been reversed.
#13 Snow Patrol 2 - #20 A.F.I. 1 - Two love-em-or-hate-em bands square off with Snow Patrol getting the nod.
#19 Belle And Sebastian 2 - #14 Weezer 1 - The first upset of the second round sees underground legends Belle And Sebastian knocking off the most indie rock band in all of corporate rock.
#17 The Deftones 2 - #16 Ministry 1 - The smallest possible upset of the round sees the Deftones win the second-tier metal match.
#50 Todd Snider 2 - #18 Rancid 1 - Far and away the biggest upset of Round 2 - Bracket A sees the folk singer-songwriter move on over the past-their-prime pop punk band.
Modern Rock Update
Albums:
The top rock debut of the week was Velvet Revolver's Libertad at #5.
The Soundtrack to Transformers, which features several modern rock songs, debuted at #21.
Silverstein debuted at #21 with Arrivals And Departures.
Modern Rock:
Linkin Park stayed at #1 for the 14th straight week. They also had the only new song in the top 20 with "Bleed It Out" at #17. We may never be rid of them.
Mainstream Rock:
Ozzy stays at #1 with "I Don't Wanna Stop".
Debuting this week was Evans Blue with "The Pursuit" at #20.
The top rock debut of the week was Velvet Revolver's Libertad at #5.
The Soundtrack to Transformers, which features several modern rock songs, debuted at #21.
Silverstein debuted at #21 with Arrivals And Departures.
Modern Rock:
Linkin Park stayed at #1 for the 14th straight week. They also had the only new song in the top 20 with "Bleed It Out" at #17. We may never be rid of them.
Mainstream Rock:
Ozzy stays at #1 with "I Don't Wanna Stop".
Debuting this week was Evans Blue with "The Pursuit" at #20.
New Shit This Week
DVDs:
The Astronaut Farmer - Supposedly this is a good movie, but it was overlooked big-time in theaters.
VERDICT - Rent it.
The Last Mimzy - Would you believe that this is the highest grossing movie of the year that I have an interest in seeing (if you're curious, the highest grossing period is TMNT...)? Well, it is and I'll probably check it out this weekend.
VERDICT - Rent it.
CDs:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - The biggest release of a busy weekend for CDs is the "reunion" CD for legendary 90s rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The first single "Tarantula" is already a big hit on Modern and Mainstream rock stations and this one looks to be a big hit. Seeing as how the Pumpkins are one of my favorite bands of all-time, I'm going to buy this one right away.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Interpol - Our Love To Admire - One of the hottest acts in indie rock, Interpol releases their third CD and it's pretty good from what I've heard so far.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - I've never been the biggest Spoon fan, but they are a big name and fairly consistent. It's available on EMusic, so I'll pick it up there.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Against Me! - New Wave - One of the finest underground political punk band around releases their first major label album. Not the most punk thing to do, but it's occasionally worked in the past.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell - Against Me! is the latest big political punk band to hit the scene, but Bad Religion was one of the first. It's been a few years since their last album and this one is a step down from that peak, but it's still pretty good.
VERDICT - Borrow it.
They Might Be Giants - The Else - TMBG is a legendary alternative band, but it's been awhile since they've been on the top. They're still worth a look, though.
VERDICT - Borrow it.
The Astronaut Farmer - Supposedly this is a good movie, but it was overlooked big-time in theaters.
VERDICT - Rent it.
The Last Mimzy - Would you believe that this is the highest grossing movie of the year that I have an interest in seeing (if you're curious, the highest grossing period is TMNT...)? Well, it is and I'll probably check it out this weekend.
VERDICT - Rent it.
CDs:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - The biggest release of a busy weekend for CDs is the "reunion" CD for legendary 90s rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The first single "Tarantula" is already a big hit on Modern and Mainstream rock stations and this one looks to be a big hit. Seeing as how the Pumpkins are one of my favorite bands of all-time, I'm going to buy this one right away.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Interpol - Our Love To Admire - One of the hottest acts in indie rock, Interpol releases their third CD and it's pretty good from what I've heard so far.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - I've never been the biggest Spoon fan, but they are a big name and fairly consistent. It's available on EMusic, so I'll pick it up there.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Against Me! - New Wave - One of the finest underground political punk band around releases their first major label album. Not the most punk thing to do, but it's occasionally worked in the past.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell - Against Me! is the latest big political punk band to hit the scene, but Bad Religion was one of the first. It's been a few years since their last album and this one is a step down from that peak, but it's still pretty good.
VERDICT - Borrow it.
They Might Be Giants - The Else - TMBG is a legendary alternative band, but it's been awhile since they've been on the top. They're still worth a look, though.
VERDICT - Borrow it.
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