Native - Wrestling Moves [2010]

Wrestling Moves was something of a sleeper hit for me. I had listened to Native's EP We Delete; Erase a little bit, but not enough to really know their songs all that sell. So when Sargent House (who is far and away my favorite record label) released this album I didn't really jump on board. I downloaded it but didn't play it too much. Eventually I started digging the songs when they came on shuffle and found later Ponyboy to actually be one of my favorite songs of the year. This record really came out of nowhere and now I'm in love with it. The group's style is fast and aggressive at times and more atmospheric at others. Musically, the band is incredibly proficient. The duel guitarists are able to work together really well and make the lines interweave and cross over each other while the bass pulls a lot of it together without being notice. The drumming is excellent as well, the beats are never standard and are able to mesh perfectly with the music despite how crazy it can be. Even in Pitchfork's horrible review of the album (they gave it a 3.7 because Pitchfork likes shit music) they remarked on how Nick's drumming was the saving grace of the record. But one of the main things people notice about Native is singer/bassist Bobby's vocal work. It's harsh, sparse, and a lyrically intriguing. The sound is somewhere between singing and a Keith Buckley-esque yell, almost a Bear Vs. Shark sound but less melodic. The only downside to this album is it feels rather samey, a lot of the songs are difficult to distinguish from each other but I still consider it one of the best releases of 2010.

Genre: Indie Math-Rock
For Fans Of: These Arms Are Snakes, This Town Needs Guns, Circus Circus
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Backseat Crew
2. Legoland
3. Mason Jars
4. Ponyboy
5. Five Year Payoff
6. Shirts And Skins
7. Pocket Jingle
8. Members List
9. Marco Polo
10. Wrestling Moves


- A

2010 Sucked! And Here's Why... (A "Best-Of's" Mix) [2010]

2010 has come and gone quickly, but in that seemingly small amount of time a large amount of good music has been put out. So now is the time when we celebrate. Here's 23 of my favorite songs this year. It's 22 completely different artists with only 1 group having more than one song (I'm sorry, I just loved Settler's album so much). So hopefully you'll give it a listen, find some new music, and discover why 2010 was really that good. Some albums I've reviewed, some I haven't (shame on me) so some will have links to the full album set up. Hopefully 2011 will be half as good as 2010.

Tracklisting:
1. Gypsyblood - Take Your Picture (From the EP GYSPYBLOOD)
2. Circa Survive - Get Out (From the album Blue Sky Noise)
3. Portugal. The Man - 1000 Years (From the album American Ghetto)
4. Tides Of Man - Home (From the album Dreamhouse)
5. Zach Hill - Face Tat (From the album Face Tat)
6. Motion City Soundtrack - Disappear (From the album My Dinosaur Life)
7. What's Left Of The Trees - Wake Me! You're Not Waking Me! (From the EP Where There's Water, There Must Be Shore)
8. Foxy Shazam - Wanna-Be Angel (From the album Foxy Shazam)
9. The Black Keys - Sinister Kid (From the album Brothers)
10. Native - Ponyboy (From the album Wrestling Moves)
11. Maps And Atlases - Solid Ground (From the album Perch Patchwork)
12. The Xcerts - Slackerpop (From the album Scatterbrain)
13. Look Mexico - They Offered Me A Deal (I Said No, Naturally) (From the album To Bed To Battle)
14. Fang Island - Sideswiper (From the album Fang Island)
15. Lost Apparitions - Hey Zeus (From the album Old Friends On New Planets)
16. Tera Melos - Frozen Zoo (From the album Patagonian Rats)
17. Settler - * (From the album War Wolves)
18. Minus The Bear - The Thief (From the album OMNI)
19. Settler - War Wolves (From the album War Wolves)
20. Options - Static (From the album Some Light)
21. Snowing - Mark Z. Danielewski (From the album I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted)
22. The Dear Hunter -B. Linus (From the EP The Branches EP)
23. Tubelord - Night Of The Pencils (From the album One For The Grandparents)


- A

Fang Island - Fang Island [2010]

Fang Island have been on my radar for about a year and half now when I first heard their early EPs, but when I found out they were releasing their first full-length on Sargent House I got super excited. My favorite label meets with an awesome band? Good things are bound to happen. And they did. Their self titled record is a anthemic rock album that sounds like, as the band describes it "everyone high-fiving everyone." The semi-instrumental songs are epic in scope yet have a really fun feel to them, making you want to dance sing along. The album starts off with Dreams Of Dreams which is builds into the head-rocking Careful Crossers and sets the tone for the record. The rest of Fang Island is a roller coaster of excitement, never giving the listener time to cool down until the closer Dorian. Fang Island has created one of the most fun records I've heard in a while and is definitely one of the best of 2010.

Genre: Funrock
For Fans Of: Settler, Tera Melos, Andrew W.K.
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Dreams Of Dreams
2. Careful Crossers
3. Daisy
4. Life Coach
5. Sideswiper
6. The Illinois
7. Treeton
8. Davy Crockett
9. Welcome Wagon
10. Dorian



- A

Circa Survive - The Appendage EP

The boys of Circa Survive work fast. Their last album, Blue Sky Noise, was released in April and only 7 months later they put out the Appendage EP. The EP is a short 5 songs long which include 4 new tunes and full band remake of Everyway (the song was originally released on the deluxe edition of Blue Sky Noise as an acoustic bonus track). Overall, this release feels a little lighter for the band. The songs feel a bit less organized than on other albums, they seem to float by and don't have much direction. One of the highlights is the explosive ending of Lazarus. Though I don't like it as much as the band's previous record, it still is a great EP and adds to Circa's already impressive discography.

Genre: Melodic Post-Hardcore
For Fans Of: Tides Of Man, Coheed And Cambria, In:Aviate
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Sleep Underground (Demo)
2. Stare Like You'll Stay
3. Everyway
4. Backmask
5. Lazarus


- A

Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam [2010] (Uncut, Final, and ULTIMATE Versions)

Foxy Shazam is the most fun you'll ever have listening to music. They're full of dancy excitement and you won't be able to stop listening once you start. This 2010 self titled effort is just another great album to add to the self as it's a perfect progression of their sound. With Flamingo Trigger, they were screamy what-the-hell, the sound turned into Introducing...'s goddamn party rock which evolved into the self-titled big booming, and totally fun, sound which feels like Queen of the 21st century. Overall, a great way for the band to move from point A to point C and so on. The intro song on the record (aptly titled "Intro/Bombs Away") begins with the sound of alleyway dogs barking before Eric Nally (singer) comes in and says "There sure are a lot of dogs out tonight, perhaps they can assist me in a song." which leads the barking into a melody that the rest of the introduction follows. The song flows in the next tune (which makes sense since it is the same track), "Bombs Away." The album keeps up the energy throughout it and only slows at a few points. Since the album leaked very early, it had a rough cut that had multiple extra songs and not full production on most of it. The official version was released later with many songs cut and remastered (15 tracks cut down to 11). So anyways, I made 3 versions of this album available. The uncut version, the final version, and the ULTIMATE mix that I made which contains some of both versions and includes all the extra songs. Feel free to try all of them out.

Genre: Soulful Party Rock
For Fans Of: Queen, and I really don't know who else. Just listen and love.
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting (Of the Ultimate version, others may vary):
1. Intro/Bombs Away
2. Wanna Be Angel
3. Count Me Out
4. Bye Bye Symphony
5. Unstoppable
6. Second Floor
7. Oh Lord
8. Connect Me
9. The Only Way To My Heart
10. Killin' It
11. Evil Thoughts
12. Teenage Demon Baby
13. Some Kind Of Love
14. You and Me



P.S. This review came out a lot longer than I meant it to be. Also, this P.S. is not helping.

-A

Albums We're Stoked For In 2010

The 2000's was a great decade in music, but you have to keep moving on. So with 2010 just kicking off, we thought we'd share some of our most anticipated releases for this year.

- Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
- Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise
- Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam
- Minus the Bear - TBA
- Portugal. the Man - American Ghetto
- Tera Melos - TBA
- Seve vs Evan - Re-release of the first 2 albums
- Isles and Glaciers - The Hearts of Lonely People
- Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life
- Rufio - The Full Reality
- Angels and Airwaves - Love
- Sum 41 - TBA
- Fang Island - Fang Island
- Be Like Pablo - TBA
- Jet Lag Gemini - TBA
- MGMT - Congratulations
- Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground - Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
- Sick Transit - TBA
- Streetlight Manifesto - 99 Songs of Revolutions: Volume No. 1
- Enter Shikari - Tribalism

These haven't been 2010 confirmed, but we'd like to hope they'll be hitting shelves this year.

- This Town Needs Guns - TBA
- The Dear Hunter - Act IV
- Seve vs Evan - TBA
- Bayside - TBA
- Chiodos - TBA
- Weerd Science - Sick Kids
- Blink 182 - TBA
- The Mars Volta - TBA
- bygones - TBA
- Giraffes? Giraffes! - TBA
- Mours - TBA

In making this list, we discovered some awesome releases we didn't know were happening. Here's hoping all of our wildest dreams come true this year.