The twelve-year evolution of Shudder to Think ended in 1998, leaving members to focus on side projects, solo albums, and many a song for television and movies. Whether you heard them as an ultra-unique punk band or an ultra-unique alternative

Crippled Cute is the sophomore release by Italian trio Damien*, and though it might have a few '80s post-punk touches, it reminds me more of '90s bands like Girls Against Boys. Grinding bass and fierce drumming and a completely in-your-face

Raditude () [] []The five stages to grieving the death of the Weezer you knew and loved.Stage One: Denial (The Green Album... "This is just as good...right?").Stage Two: Anger (Maladroit... "What the @#*! happened to Weezer?!?!?!!")Stage Three: Bargaining (Make Believe...

If Derek Jeter played guitar instead of shortstop, he'd be in Yo La Tengo. Popular Songs proves again the trio can consistently crush it outta the park without any over-the-top "enhancements." "Periodically Triple or Double" kills with a screaming organ

Aim and Ignite () [] [] Focus Group reviewMany will say that fun. is fun. Period. The truth is that fun. is more than just fun. Aim and Ignite is composed of 10 epic pop songs that take you on

The Mary Onettes' work recalls bands like The Ocean Blue or The House of Love or, when they get a tad punchier, Echo & The Bunnymen. Now that comparisons are out of the way, let me tell you about Islands

Brooklyn's Dead Stars have some immediately familiar sounds even on the first listen-Pixies' loud-soft-loud trademark, Built to Spill, Pavement and Hum when they decide to unleash the wall of guitars. Anyone claiming to be a fan of those bands should

Pissed Jeans have no time for your bullshit. The release of pent-up anger in "False Jesii Part 2," slams you in the face with a shovel and kicks off their new album King of Jeans . The rest of the

Home recorded as a solo project with heavy processed drums, electronically edited into an avalanche of dub, distorted over driven keyboards, minimal vocals, occasional guitar freak outs and even a thunderstorm mixed in. Lots of nods to My Bloody Valentine,

Mos Def returns with an album that benefits as much from its attention deficit disorder as it does its musical schizophrenia. Alternating between the live band feel of 2004's The New Danger and more conventional sample-based tracks, Mos jumps from

They're probably not acquainted, but Desmond & The Tutus and Vampire Weekend are would-be members of a very tiny mutual appreciation society. Odd that D&TT (from South Africa) sound a little more Brooklyn while Vampire Weekend (from Brooklyn) sound a

The sad, horrible truth is that Air peaked five years ago with Talkie Walkie . Everything since resembles the scattered and reverberating soundwaves from earlier albums that have gone out into space, bounced off Saturn's rings and come back to

Pinhead Gunpowder has been occasionally releasing the best pop punk around for almost twenty years, so in their case it is only slightly bizarre for an indie punk band to have a greatest hits disk. And although this band includes

I've had my eye on The Pains of Being Pure at Heart since late last year, and was occasionally impressed by a single or outtake that leaked out. Then the album arrived and revealed a band with self-assurance and complete

This impolite, sex-obsessed, anti-twee twee-band spent the late '80s making only two EPs and an LP, but what The Vaselines lack in quantity they more than make up for in quality. They combined elements of fuzz rockers like Sonic Youth,

Company Book () [] Focus Group reviewElectronic big beats, possibly trance, glitching, vibrating waves panning back and forth over pumping beats, even traces of the Happy Mondays, or a much more updated Crystal Method or Prodigy. "The Darkest Horse" has

After nearly 20 years together, Pearl Jam finally relaxed enough to bang out a quick and dirty album without the pressure that comes from being Pearl Jam. The opening three-song salvo conveys in just eight minutes what the album's really

New Boots is the sophomore album from Wallis Bird, and it moves her into the major league ranks of similar folkrockpop singer/songwriters like Melissa Etheridge and KT Tunstall. Bird's advantage is the youthful aura that surrounds her songs and her

The Postmarks are taking their brand of lullaby-rock to yet another new place on their third full length, following up their album of covers with what could be the soundtrack to the next Bond film. Blaring horns, menacing guitars, and

Glasgow-based Over the Wall does a lot in the span of four songs with just a few instruments and a drum machine at their disposal. On "Gimme Five," the duo creates an honest and bare folk sound over a rigid