Review: Blitzen Trapper - Furr:

Upon first listen I'm still not sure how to categorize these guys, but I don't remember them being so upbeat. Still, they don't make an entirely-cohesive album, but with enough good tracks worth listening to again.

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Review: Black Keys - Attack & Release:

Upon first listen I've been ignoring the hipster hype on these guys for years now, assuming it was just more of the same. Had I known there was an extremely solid blues-rock band hiding beneath the hype, I wouldn't have hesitated so much.

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Review: Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun:

Upon first listen it's not as epic (or storied as) SMiLE, but if you're still looking for that early-'60s California pop feel, you could do worse.

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Review: Tom Gabel - Heart Burns:

Upon first listen it's no the return to anarcho-acoustic punk many were hoping for from the Against Me! frontman's debut, but it serves his namesake well. There's a couple of questionable decisions (electric drums?) and some really good songs (Anna, which blows away the live versions). At the end of the day it's an interesting experiment - one that I hope is repeated.

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Review: The Walkmen - You & Me:

Upon first listen this is what I would expect Bob Dylan and The Band to sound like if he tried to make an Indie Rock album.

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Review: Verse - Aggression:

Upon first listen it's lacking something I can't quite put my finger on. Something that their previous albums had that made me fall in love with the band in the first place.

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Review: Various - Tarantulas Records' Summer Is Here:

Upon first listen this sampler brings no new artist onto my radar, as it this compilation was designed to do.

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Review: Various - Masked And Anonymous:

Upon first listen it's another collection of Dylan covers surrounded by songs from Dylan himself. Unsurprisingly it's rather hit-or-miss when it comes to the covers (Grateful Dead's Baby Blue a highlight and Articolo 31's Rolling Stonea a lowlight).

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Review: United Nations - United Nations:

Upon first listen this supergroup of heavy hitters in the emo/post-punk scene make one of the best pure screamo albums in recent memory. It's not likely to replace the classics, but that's not what they're going for anyway.

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Review: TV On The Radio - Dear Science:

Upon first listen it's a suspiciously subdued album, lacking any of the grandiose moments present on Cookie Mountain. Still, it's undeniably catchy and upbeat (most of the time) and a solid, if underwhelming, follow-up.

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Review: The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed:

Upon first listen Mike Skinner keeps getting wierder and further away from his Original Pirate Material roots. Some of the melodies are really well done (especially the first two tracks), if unconventional, but it's a very difficult listen.

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Review: Stars - Sad Robots EP:

Upon first listen it's a very subdued affair that is the perfect amount of tracks. Anymore and it'd be tiresome. Any less and you'd feel cheated.

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Review: Snapcase - End Transmission:

Upon first listen it's a very weird album for the band. Poor ordering of the tracks make for an uneven listen. In the end it certainly won't replace lookinglasself or Progression as de facto standards.

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Review: Secret Machines - Secret Machines:

Upon first listen it's another adequate album that fails to live up to the potential they displayed on their debut.

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Review: Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors:

Upon first listen it's way out in left field. The attention it has received by sites like AbsolutePunk and the label its on (Equal Vision) do not prepare you for the avant garde experience contained within. As such, it's disorienting to listen to the first time and I will be adding it to my rotating playlist for the forseeable future, if only to figure out if it's any good.

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Review: Amanda Palmer - Who Killer Amanda Palmer:

Upon first listen it's hard to sustain the appeal of overly-dramatic songs for an entire album - and the former Dresden Dolls is no exception. Still, there's a couple of really great songs on here (Astronaut, Runs In The Family and Oasis) worthy of a Palmer-related mixtape.

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Review: Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping:

Upon first listen it sometimes takes an adequate follow-up to reveal how great an album is. In this case, Skeletal Lamping is merely adequate, overshadowed by the much better Hissing Fauna.

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Review: Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul:

Upon first listen I've always admired Oasis' singles, but never cared too much for their albums, but I think they've got themselves a winner with this one.

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Review: No Age - Nouns:

Upon first listen it took me a long time to get into the first No Age record. I expect similar things from the second, as they're a difficult band to get upon first listen.

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