After several years of lineup changes and gigs all over California Paperplanes have become the hardest working band in Los Angeles. The Blues-Rock trio have finally released the long-awaited Volcanoes EP which easily demonstrates their years of blending gentle guitar passages, emotive vocals, and straight-up, overdriven rock 'n roll. There's the melodic influence of Pixies guitar riffage on 'Bouncing off the Walls' and 'Summer'. Even a hint of country-rock with some wicked pedal steel guitar on tracks like 'Lotus' and 'There Must Be Another Way'. Volcanoes is varied throughout it's eight tracks showing signs of maturity and even more blues-influenced rock 'n roll with a little distortion and delay for good measure. If this is a demonstration of what Paperplanes are capable of their next release is sure to be even more memorable.
Rating: Strong
Over the past six months the stage has been set for this band to rise as rock n' roll heroes across the indie/alternative landscape, become immensely popular, and make a shit-load of money. Good, I hope this happens. This record is earth-shattering and we desperately need someone like Wolfmother to replace the crappy, headache-worthy ACDC in jukeboxes everywhere. Even though it's obvious that some of their songs come across as borrowed ammunition from the catalogs of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Black Sabbath, I could give a shit. Wolfmother's brand of heavy, buzz-soaked guitar riffs and song structures are so tight, vibrant, and enthusiastic that it's nearly impossible to dislike. And of course the star of the show is Andrew Stockdale with his awesome display of guitar work and amazing vocal delivery.
Here we go again. It's 2006 and we are still are being introduced to Joy Division and Heaven 17 via some indie band that loves electro-keyboard sounds and deep beguiling, baritone vocals. I was originally attracted to The Presets because they're touring with Ladytron and figured "Hey, Ladytron are good and have great musical taste, therefore, The Presets are going to sound grrrrreat". Maybe they bring the house down live, who knows? But on this record it sounds laughable. Musically the sounds are familiar. The keyboards and beats get cut-up, minimized, and are sometimes harsh. But we've heard this before with bands like The Prodigy and Marilyn Manson. This needs to stop.
If you walked by this album at your local record store you'd think it was a collection of spooky sounds and noises from the old Scooby Doo show. The cover is just so strange, cartoonish, and says nothing about the band's music or their warm, rich sound that permeates throughout this album. Vocally, Sam Roberts sounds very similar to Neil Finn of Split Enz which really stands out nicely. Chemical City is a good album that takes you across a familiar landscape of overdriven guitars and soft acoustic ballads. The only difference here is that Sam is a bit more honest sounding than everyone else.
The Tyde's Three's Co. boasts eleven tracks under thirty-seven minutes, awesome! Bands across the world need to recognize that you don't need an album worth of five-to-seven minute power-ballads to get your point across, it rarely works. Three's Co. is a perfect example of this and is consistently full of hooks without sounding rushed, too long, or out of place. The Tyde sounds like they're enjoying themselves when they play which clearly rubs off on the positive vibe throughout the record. 
What do you get when you take the quirky rock of The Fiery Furnaces and the psychedelic international flair of Dengue Fever? The first five tracks of the new LP by San Francisco's Persephone's Bees. The album begins with a playful piano melody ('Way To Your Heart') that's edgy and sweet. 'City of Love' could be a lost Cardigans track with the keyboards taking the helm for every melody and lead. And then there's Angelina Moysoz's tender and soothing voice that carries each song with such an obvious knowledge of music and outstanding vocal range. Beautiful.
Expanding upon the musical palette of The Mean Way In EP, Divsion Day release a full-length album of material that is even more exciting, balanced, and varied in composition with Beartrap Island. The record starts off with a sustain-heavy guitar line and bursts into the next song 'Catch Your Death'. It's the first of many tracks showcasing the band's strongest and most enjoyable points; frenetic drumming, tight/jangly guitars, and passionate vocals. These elements are all intertwined with dreamy keyboards and bass that float in and out between the patterns of each song.
