Modern Rock Reviews

The Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent - A+
The second-best Arctic Monkeys song so far, this song tells an interesting story in an extremely catchy manner.

The Arcade Fire - Intervention - A+
A church organ sets the tone for the third single off of Neon Bible. The lyrics and chorus are outstanding with a build from start to finish.

The Living End - Wake Up - A
Not to be mistaken for the 500 other great songs called "Wake Up", this is more of a somber Social Distortion type of song.

The Klaxons - Golden Skans - A
This is the first song I've heard from The Klaxons and based on this single they are going to be huge someday soon.

The Living End - Nothing Lasts Forever - A
I don't know why, but I get a distinct "Husker Du" vibe from this song. It's a good place to start...

The Polyphonic Spree - Running Away - A-
The Spree adopt a new sound on their latest album, typified by this song, it's first single. Basically it's more "Arcade Fire" and less "Church Choir". It's an improvement.

The Noisettes - Scratch Your Name - A-
A fine, riot grrrl tune in the spirit of Veruca Salt.

The Rapture - Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh - B+
A fun slice of 80's style post-punk that could have been the long-lost Gang of Four single.

The Raconteurs - Level - B+
Another catchy old-school rock song from Jack White's side band with clever lyrics and a good hook.

The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way - B+
An improvement over "Naive", but still not catchy enough for an "A".

Against Me! - White People For Peace - B+
Possibly the least subtle protest song of all time, this one isn't on the same level as many of the other songs on the album.

The K-O's - Sunday Morning - B
A pleasant indie pop song that never takes off the way it should.

The Kooks - Naive - B
This one sounds kind of like a RHCP song with a British accent. It's alright, but nothing too impressive.

The Exies - Different From You - B-
A sludgy metal song that at the very least doesn't have an irritating vocal like most of them do.

The Dollyrots - Because I'm Awesome - B-
A great riot-grrl sound is betrayed by miserably bad lyrics. This wouldn't happen to be a Donnas side project, would it?

The Classic Crime - The Fight - B-
An average pop punk song. Not necessarily bad, but doesn't stand out in a crowded field.

New Movies This Week

The Bourne Supremacy - The first two movies are excellent and there's no reason to think that this one wouldn't be as well. I have seen it and it is awesome. Better than the first, not as good as the second. The action scenes are still mindblowing, but the shaky cam thing is a bit much.

VERDICT - SEE IT ASAP.


Hot Rod - The general populace may disagree with me, but I can't wait to see this movie. Andy Samberg is hilarious and the trailer makes it look like a Hollywood Napoleon Dynamite.

VERDICT - SEE IT.


Underdog - Jason Lee supplies the voice for this movie. I hope he got a lot of money for this one, because my respect for him dropped a notch. Oh, did I mention he's the star of Alvin And The Chipmunks this winter?

VERDICT - SKIP IT.


Bratz - No.

VERDICT - FUCK YOU.

Battle Of The Bands 2007, Round 3, Brackets C & D

Bracket C:

#1 The Red Hot Chili Peppers 3 - #17 Rise Against 0 - The most successful band in Modern Rock history takes out the political punks.

#2 The Shins 2 - #15 Dinosaur Jr. 1 - The hottest band in indie rock takes down one of the founding fathers.

#3 Wolfmother 3 - #14 Fiona Apple 0 - This just isn't Fiona's year. Last year at this time, she was a definite contender, but not at the moment.

#4 Coldplay 2 - #13 The Decemberists 1 - Both bands are great, but Coldplay is more accessible to the masses.

#5 The Killers 2 - #21 Bright Eyes 1 - I can't say I agree with this. Bright Eyes doesn't have the mainstream appeal, but I never got the impression that what I was listening to was bullshit. I can't say the same about the Killers.

#6 Bob Dylan 2 - #11 The Flaming Lips 1 - The ultimate rock n roll comeback kid takes down one of the quirkiest bands to become successful.

#7 Nine Inch Nails 2 - #10 Tom Waits 1 - The victory goes the band that is still capable of singing their songs rather than randomly grunting to guitar music.

#8 The Mars Volta 2 - #9 Rob Zombie 1 - Zombie simply wasn't in his prime this time around.


Bracket D:

#1 Beck 3 - #17 Evanescence 0 - See, people still actually want to listen to Beck. That's why he won instead of... oh, you get the point.

#2 Pearl Jam 3 - #15 The Arctic Monkeys 0 - The Monkeys might be the hottest band in the country right now, but they're up against an all-time great.

#3 Sparta 3 - #19 Guster 0 - The surprising success of Sparta is one of the biggest surprises of the tournament thus far.

#4 Incubus 3 - #13 Oasis 0 - Incubus is still popular. Oasis is still around.

#6 The Strokes 3 - #11 K.T. Tunstall 0 - K.T. needs to prove she isn't just a passing fad.

#8 The Raconteurs 2 - #9 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 1 - It should be noted that if this vote happened after their latest EP was released, I would have voted YYY.

#39 Maroon 5 2 - #10 Iggy Pop 1 - This is what happens when one artist is vastly overrated and the other is vastly underrated.

#12 Velvet Revolver 3 - #28 The Gorillaz 0 - The Gorillaz are only good for one great song an album. VR can usually produce at least 2.

Battle Of The Bands 2007: Round 3, Bracket A & B

Bracket A:

#1 The White Stripes 3 - #17 The Deftones 0 - The red-hot Stripes knock out the Deftones.

#2 Tool 3 - #50 Todd Snider 0 - Todd overachieved in this tournament, but that ends now.

#3 The Foo Fighters 3 - #19 Belle And Sebastian 0 - B&S don't have the crossover appeal to compete with the Fighters.

#4 Franz Ferdinand 3 - #13 Snow Patrol 0 - This one was probably closer than the vote appears, but Franz is superior either way.

#5 Death Cab For Cutie 2 - #12 My Chemical Romance 1 - I nearly threw my vote to MCR, but one great album a career does not make.

#11 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 2 - #6 U2 1 - If you've never heard of BRMC, this is a huge upset. If you have? It's definitely not.

#7 Eagles Of Death Metal 2 - #10 Big Timber 1 - My vote wasn't nearly enough to persuade the two voters who haven't seen Big Timber live in concert twice like I have.

#8 Green Day 2 - #9 Neil Young 1 - Yeah, Ryan doesn't like Green Day. Can you tell?


Bracket B:

#1 Queens Of The Stone Age 3 - #16 The Old 97's 0 - Seeing as how most fans can't name a single 97's song, Queens wins this one pretty easily.

#2 Radiohead 2 - #15 Bruce Springsteen 1 - It's been awhile since the last Radiohead album, hence my vote for Springsteen, who's been on fire lately.

#3 Sonic Youth 2 - #14 Spoon 1 - I've personally never got what the big deal about Spoon is, but they're not in Sonic Youth's league anyway, so it doesn't matter to me.

#4 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 3 - #20 The Music 0 - Obscure but well done won't cut it at this level.

#12 Muse 2 - #5 Modest Mouse 1 - A big upset at this stage in the competition sees the band with more recent success earning the narrow win.

#6 System Of A Down 2 - #11 Social Distortion 1 - Social Distortion's best days are behind them, but I would have voted for System even if this competition took place when they were in their prime.

#8 A Perfect Circle 3 - #41 The Eels 0 - The underdog gets squished in the third round as the Eels lose out to reality.

#26 The Arcade Fire 2 - #10 The Thermals 1 - Again, how did the Arcade Fire end up a 26 seed?

Modern Rock Update

Albums:

The top new rock debut of the week was Sum 41's Underclass Hero, which debuted at #7.

Tegan And Sara debuted at #34 with The Con.

Also debuting this week were Evans Blue at #44, Garbage's greatest hits CD at #68, Silverchair at #70 and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs at #72.


Modern Rock:

The White Stripes stayed at #1 for a second week.

Puddle of Mudd's "Famous" debuted at #20, shaming the charts forever.


Mainstream Rock:

Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" is the new #1, knocking Ozzy off the top.

Linkin Park's "Bleed It Out" debuted at #16.

Hinder's "Homecoming Queen" debuted at #20.

New Shit This Week

DVDs:

300 - This is the big DVD release of the next few months. Actually, it should be referred to as a Blu Ray release because if you aren't getting this movie in High Def, you're wasting your time.

VERDICT - BUY IT ASAP


Hot Fuzz - Any other week, this would be the best release of the week. The follow-up to Shaun Of The Dead is a hilarious parody of buddy-cop action films and should be purchased as soon as possible.

VERDICT - BUY IT ASAP


Pathfinder - And this is what happens when you make a movie like 300... wrong. The movie was delayed for nearly a year and a huge flop at the box office. It still should be worth a look.

VERDICT - RENT IT


Firehouse Dog - No interest whatsoever. The trailer was the absolute worst I've ever seen and the concept is completely ludicrous.

VERDICT - AVOID IT


CDs:

Korn - Untitled - The only major release of the week is the new CD from Korn, which snuck into stores on Tuesday with the appropriate amount of secrecy afforded to a new album from a washed-up band.

VERDICT - SKIP IT

Modern Rock Reviews

Modern Rock Archive

The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger - A+
The best indie dance rock song to come out since "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor". This song has a lot to offer: clever lyrics, a beat that builds nicely to an outstanding chorus and solid instrumental breaks between verses.

The Fratellis - Flathead - A+
Another brilliant single from the latest buzz band to come out of Britain, sharing many of the great qualities with the (slightly) superior "Chelsea Dagger".

The Killers - When You Were Young - A+
An interesting and original new song from The Killers second album. I'm glad to see they aren't sticking to formula like many bands do at this point in their careers.

Against Me! - Thrash Unreal - A
The hottest new band in political punk's first major release single is a thought provoking song with an interesting story and a great chorus.

The Hold Steady Stuck - Between Stations - A
Imagine Bruce Springsteen as an indie rocker and you'd be able to grasp the concept of the Hold Steady's sound. This is one of their best songs. It's not as good as the comparable "When You Were Young", but it's far more mature as a song.

The Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby - A
Clever lyrics and a great chorus don't quite add up to a perfect song in this case, but it was close.

The Killers - Read My Mind - A-
Another solid Springsteen-goes-indie tune from one of the hottest bands in Modern Rock.

Mando Diao - The Wildfire (If It Was True) - B+
Great verses lead into an almost non-existant chorus. This song is good, but could have been much better.

The Killers - For Reasons Unknown - B+
Not the best single from the Killers so far, but definitely in the top half.

The Fray - Look After You - B+
Another sweeping ballad from The Fray, who are making a play to be the American Snow Patrol at this point.

The Kaiser Chiefs - The Angry Mob - B+
There are undeniable shades of Oasis in this song, which isn't in the same league as "Ruby", but it still pretty good for a sweeping Brit-pop tune.

30 Second To Mars - A Beautiful Lie - B
Better than the usual 30 Seconds output, but still nothing more than derivative.

Sixx A.M. - Life Is Beautiful - B
Not bad for a first song. A well-paced song with a good tempo and a decent chorus.

The Academy Is - Everything We Had - B-
A sappy power ballad with good lyrics. If you like this sort of thing, it might be pretty good. I don't.

Ozzy Osbourne - Not Going Away - C+
Ozzy just hasn't been the same since he became a TV star, but then again neither has heavy metal as a whole.

Marilyn Manson - You And Me And The Devil Makes 3 - C
One thing I've never been able to say about Manson is that his music was boring. This is no longer true.

Sevendust - Beg To Differ - C-
Sludgy, loud and unpleasant. The lyrics aren't bad, but other than that, this song is a mess.