to be fair, i have to say that for the most part i don’t like comps. usually this is because i feel that with the inventions of the MP3 and the CD burner, i could make a comp that i’d like much better than some record label executive could. this is not, however, the reason i rate this CD so low.

i should have seen this one coming. first off, this CD is a sampler of some music found on a network TV show, hence the CD title. In Your Face TV is some show on Time Warner where studio execs are trying to cash in on a popular culture right now. that culture being the skateboarding, Hurley wearing, Dragonz sunglasses crowd. i’m not trying to sound all political, but it’s the same shit as when you see a Corn Pops ad about skateboarding, or when you buy an “X-Treme!” deodorant. the show’s name says it all; they’re “in your face”!

well, with that being said, let’s see what’s on the CD. mostly, it’s the same watered down, rated-g, chugga chugga pop punk that you would expect. there are, however a couple of gems that shouldn’t go unnoticed. The Cause bring a really good hardcore track called “Breaking Free” to the mix, and Thursday always kicks ass. the problem with the Thursday track though, is that it’s “Cross Out the Eyes”. don’t get me wrong, the song is classic, but that’s just it….. it’s a classic. nothing new there. Reach the Sky should get some props also, sounding a little bit like Rufio, they seem sincere and bring a good sound. still, 3 good songs out of 12 isn’t a good buy.

the order of the tracks bugs me also. they put all the faster tracks towards the end, and all of the pop punk up front. mix it up a bit. i got bored listening to the CD, because for a comp, it wasn’t very diverse.

overall, this is a “My First Punk CD.” i wouldn’t recommend you buying this unless you catch your little brother singing along with Matchbox 20.

when i went to L.A. for the first time to go out on the town, i was surprised to see “rock clubs”. people dance to rock n’ roll? well, ok, i know there’s moshing, and that ape-man, male machismo swinging of arms i see guys doing at shows, but i had never seen couples dancing to punk rock before. only in Los Angeles. well, now that i have seen everything, i dare you not to dance to Hot Hot Heat. even for the rhythmically challenged, you will be bobbing your head and slapping your own ass off beat while listening to this.

new wave meets punk in snarling fashion. coming straight out of Canada, Hot Hot Heat is causing quite a buzz with their catchy, drunken riffs, fancy keyboard playing, and horrible band name. not your typical SUB POP band, they seem to be breaking into new territory by infusing several different genres into one entity. there’s the jerky, almost out of sync guitar lines that are becoming very popular, thanks to The Strokes and The Hives, combined with Robert Smith'ish melodies that make you want to double clap along with each snare snap. the lead singer/keyboardist, Steve Bays, does a very good job of making lyrics mostly about the drudges of every day life seem not so bad. he probably sums up the album’s mood best on “No, Not now” with, “But... but, it seems to all work out in the end. Nobody likes a child who complains and i won't be that child anymore.” the moral being, calm down and just try to have a good time.

people with more eclectic tastes will really dig this, while the rest can own a really awesome party record without anyone discovering their Pink collection.

wow, the CD is clear. i don’t think i’ve ever seen this before. you can see right through the CD. you would think that a band that has gone through this much trouble to show me something different, would also have something new to hear. well, as it turns out, the music itself is also clear.

you own this CD. in fact, you probably own three or four of these CD’s. my first impression was, “hey, these guys are ripping the shit out of OpIvy.” it’s only until later on that i discovered that they’re ripping the shit out of Rancid also.

maybe i’m the wrong person to be reviewing this CD, because according to Worthless United’s website, these guys are starting quite a following. me personally, i find those up-picking guitar lines, a la shitty ska bands, as annoying as Nelly’s band-aid. top that off with a singer that’s trying to sound ‘punk’, but comes off sounding more like Marge Simpson’s sisters, and you have reached the same mediocre status that a billion of other bands have reached.

nothing new is said, there is no groundbreaking music being played, and overall this CD is just boring. this is the N*SYNC version of punk, and if these guys do ever make it big, they might just be the greatest opening band of all time.~b.

i’m going to storm right out of the gate on this one. this could quite be the best CD i’ve heard this year, and it’s only a fucking demo.

when i got this CD in the mail, i was so stoked, because my only thought was how many ‘Seinfeld’ jokes i could work into this review because of the band name. well, the joke was on me, because these guys put together an amazing line up of back-to-back homers. the intro to the first track, “Converge”, is reminiscent of a THX sound demo you hear before those big budget studio movies. following that is the steady, melodic guitars and bass lines that you will hear throughout the rest of the CD. finally, lead singer Sean Diaz chimes in.

stop the music.

Sean can fucking sing. he means what he’s saying, and you can feel it through his voice. pure, unadulterated emotion can be heard throughout the CD, and the rest of the band does an excellent job of providing the stage. although there is obvious musical talent, the band seems to rely more on heart than strength. mostly slow and melodic, they know when to bring the train and get your hands banging against your steering wheel. i fell into my headphones, and became a part of this CD.

imagine Jets to Brazil meets Smashing Pumkins meets Bright Eyes. this stays in the changer.~b.

my first thought when i put this in was, “Who gave Mike Ness a hangover, some shitty speed, and told him to rock out?”

i was anticipating getting a hold of this CD, mostly because it was co-produced by legendary pool thrasher Duane Peters (also of U.S. Bombs). Discontent is the latest debut band to come off of the Disaster label, and they should feel right at home with the rest of the bruisers. this is the straightforward, working class punk that you’d expect to come out of Orange County. comes in hard, stays that way, and i can only imagine how many kids must be screaming along with lead singer Karl (no last name given… for any of them) while simultaneously getting their teeth knocked out.

lyrics mostly range from girls to drinking to back to girls. there are heartbreak songs, like on “Just Don’t Care”, we hear “You said you’d never let go, gonna be mine till the end… when I looked back you were gone, I don’t think you were ever there.”

but it isn’t all your run of the mill lyrics about the pains girls can give us, they’re also the spoken words from a guy who seems fed up and is about to gain the upper hand. example: “I ain’t found a god damn thing, that you fuckin stole…. you can keep my broken heart, just return my stereo.” and also “I don’t need you hanging out, little girl gonna get in my way…. I don’t need you bringing me down, I’ve said all there is to say.”

Discontent do show other sides, like taking a “fuck it” stance on religion on “Live it Up”, and praising their own lifestyle on “Rock N Roll Rebel”. the CD comes off as honest, as opposed to hokey, and is a must own for those who need to slug down a few beers and mix it up every now and then.

what a refreshing karate chop to the throat. ~b.

so this is Finite. my introduction to them was this four track demo that i threw into my deck while i was running late for work. ten seconds into the galloping, drum heavy intro to track 1, "Serrated Lines", i realized that i was now driving 10 mph faster than i had been, and that i was pushing the tolerance of my poor stock speakers.

this is when i usually pray the CD won't turn to shit once the initial build up is over. luckily, my prayers were answered, because the build up didn't stop.

this is the good pop punk. the stuff you would have just called "punk" before the recent explosion of similar sounding bands watered things down. Finite stands out because they hit you instantly with everything they've got, and don't let up until the last track is over. the band works very well cohesively, with each member bringing a lot to the table. mostly straight forward, they show their raw instrumental talent with amazingly well thought out hooks and bridges that glue each verse together. singer Casey Slevin puts the icing on the cake with strong, sincere vocals that punch through the heavy power chords, with lyrics mostly drawing from current social issues, and personal conflicts.

my only real criticism of this album is that Finite might be drawing off of their influences too much. if someone would have told me that this was a rare bootleg of Bad Religion recordings, say circa 1993, i would have believed them. or better yet, if Bad Religion had kidnapped Pennywise's drummer, this is what would have come out of the studio. still, while hardly groundbreaking, this CD will show you that Finite has their ducks in a row, and they are inviting you to come along. fans of Thrice, Midtown, or The Lawrence Arms will eat this shit up alive. ~b.

Badly Drawn Boy's new cd is damned catchy. wicked catchy, even. just don't let your friends catch you listening to it. they'll make fun of you.

its british and its pop, but its not britpop. i think. ok, hmm. take some Dave Matthews Band (if they were ever sober,) mix that with some Get Up Kids, make it way more british and tad more pop. that's about as close as i can get to describing this CD in terms those who haven't heard it would understand.

Damon Gough is highly talented. the lyrics seem to be heartfelt, but it's totally not depressing. not even the songs about break ups. my favorites are tracks 4 (40 Days, 40 Fights) and 10 (The Further I Slide) for their melodies and sheer pop value.

buy this CD and play it in your car the next time you have a long road trip by yourself. this is a CD you need to concentrate on. you have to listen to how the vocals tie into the music to truly appreciate it. this is not a social CD. it does not lend itself to conversation. if you play this while there are other people around, i hope you like awkward silences followed by "what the fuck is this?". i wouldn't put this CD in the guilty pleasures pile next to Shakira, but it definately has to grow on you. ~don.

Better Looking Records has a lot of bands i've been listening to lately. first Cursive, then Aberdeen, and now, the australians- Ides of Space.

this is a brilliant first LP, combining spacerock, indie, arty synths, and boyish lyrics whispered over an orchestra of music. keyboards and violins with crunching, simple guitar lines, and it still sounds like it was recorded in my bathroom instead of being over-produced and tweaked.

lyrics are almost unintelligeable but beautiful. my favorite track on the album, "switchboard", offers "the time has come,the walrus said, to talk of other things..... like how to find the superglue to patch those broken wings."
another track, "movie ending", hits close to home with "but with your eyes on the ground, and your blazing not found..... the search can restart in another place, another time another face."

think old Dinosaur Jr. mixed with My Bloody Valentine with a dash of Her Space Holiday. good, good stuff. this is the cd you forget to buy when your mind goes blank at the record store. i fucking hate that.~b.

ok, ok, ok. i've heard this all before. Face to Face sucks. nowadays. they sold out. they bought in. they changed. they got old. they got lame. yeah yeah yeah. so why then was their last show that i went to pretty damned cool? this e.p. that's why.

this band and some of the songs on this album (the first few tracks are re-releases from 1992) saved me from a world of long hair and flannel hippy bullshit. think of it...when i was a wee lad, seemingly every band out there was trying their best to sound like pearl jam. but Face to Face exposed me to punk rock with passion. and talking about things that we all go through--figuring out who you are, where you want your life to go, having relationships go sour, and having fun while doing it.

aside from that, its just a raw album with a garage-band sound that is totally organic.

its too bad that a song as melancholy and introspective as "Disconnected" has been eternally equated with video games and MTV. perhaps that's what went wrong with Face to Face. i don't know if this is true or not, but i heard that the band went as far as to pull this e.p. from the shelves in favor of their lack-luster follow up, Big Choice.

since this album, my interest in Face to Face has been hit and miss. i've been < sarcasm > disappointed < /sarcasm > by most of their more recent work, but i < sarcasm > won't turn away < /sarcasm > from "over it." ~don.

so say you're a guy and you like Dashboard Confessional. it's ok, bro... you don't need to explain it to me.. i got a cd also. i know, it's ok.

well here comes Taking Back Sunday, which is a very good impression of "Chris Carrabba, Plugged." with daunting lyrics about lost loves, the girl that got away, and girl, i just don't know what to do. don't get me wrong, there is definately a time and a place for this cd, and the band talent shouldn't go unnoticed, i just have a hard time with listening to an entire cd about a break-up. singer Ed Reyes explains... "you could slit my throat, and with my one last gasping breath, i'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt." and also..."i can't say i blame you, but i wish that i could, i'm sick of writing every song about you." this guy gets laid a lot, and you get the point.

but this cd is fucking catchy. i'm stuck. i miss my 9th grade girlfriend also, and fuck you for pointing that out. mostly emo, with a little bit of screamo, put this on and rock out when you get dumped on your ass. ~b.

The Shins, based out of Albuquerque, NM, are starting to get a fanbase nationwide these days. i actually picked up this album at the merch table after i stumbled on the band as an opening act at a Modest Mouse show over a year ago. they were better live than MM. the album, however, took a bit of time to grow on me. of course all bands sound different live, but in the case of the Shins it is exaggerated. the album has a mellow, almost folk-rock sound that i really can't compare to any band i know. that is what makes it a good album. it's original. or, at least, uncommon. the album is smart, talented, and laid back. it works for me. song picks: "Caring is Creepy" (1), "New Slang" (6) and "The Past and Pending" (11) ~don

i never know when to listen to this album. it's tricky. it's fast enough for me to not be able to go to sleep if it's on, and yet slow enough to make me want to go to bed. kind of like The Promise Ring.

Control is PTL's 3rd full lenghth, and the first to come out since 2000. he is a one man band by the name of David Bazan, with some instrumental help on his more upbeat songs. by upbeat i don't mean happy...this kid seems anything but. i mean a little faster, "more guitar here" kind of thing. this cd seems very personal, as if he is a close friend telling me stories about his beliefs, loves, and experiences. example lyrics: "i could never divorce you, without a good reason, and though i may never have to, it's good to have options." also, his one man attack helps that vision of close friendship become a reality, which is what i assume he's trying to do by breaking off solo.

mostly slow electric with simple drums, there's random chaos. you never know when it's going to get loud or faster. (that's the shit that wakes me up.) that same chaos is what makes me like this cd. ~b.

i'm not a big fan of pop-punk. there are pop punk bands i like, such as Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, and older Green Day...among others, but on the whole i find that genre of music is getting more and more watered down and similar sounding. i wouldn't call Bueno pop punk necessarily, mostly because of lyrical content, but it does have that "verse chorus verse" NOFX feel to it.

i like that this record sings about more than lost loves and lost moments. example on 'A Beautiful Race' you hear "led into religion- taught to carry grief besides a multiple of maniacs convinced they've found the way- and nothing changes, we just live from day to day nailed to a cross by our own hands." i like that kind of bite to my music. i think the guitarist also only has one pedal and he's decided it's going to stay on permanantly, giving it a more metallic/hesher sound.

on the whole i like this cd, it's well done and there's obvious passion and talent in it, with enough depth to keep it interesting. my problem is that i can see 16 year old girls listening to this while they're driving to the next Less Than Jake concert thinking they're breaking all the rules.~b.

i remember being a freshman in high school and having a girlfriend that listened to this cd on loop. she liked a lot of other brit pop stuff that i didn't really care for. i was into Slayer and old Metallica cd's at the time. anyways, whenever i had to listen to this cd i'd always put it on "the drowners". that was the only track i thought rocked 'cause it had a solid guitar line and beating drums, and i thought the rest of the cd was whiny, brittish crap. i bought the cd for myself sometime after we broke up, mostly to reminisce. plus i've had to re-buy it a couple of times because either i've lost it, or it's gotten stolen. as my taste in music has broadened, every time i've bought this cd i've liked it more and more. although "the drowners" is still my favorite track, it's hard to ignore the really simple, high melody slow songs, because singer Brett Anderson really seems to pour his heart out over awesome lyrics - mostly about drugs, sex, and violence. it's a musical clash that comes together beautifully. obviously influenced heavily by The Smiths, this is everything i wanted Morrisey to be. more pissed than depressed.

sidebar..when this cd came out in 1993, it was the fastest selling first album ever released in england, and it also caused a little controversey in my high school. because of some homoerotic lyrics it prompted some of the kids to call my girlfriend a lesbian. silly.~b.

i was a bit skeptical of this one, because the friend who told me about it is a freak. but, i bought it anyway, and it blew me away. the first track, "A Thousand Motors Pressed Upon the Heart" is an experimental instrumental, combining haunting organs and electronic sounds with powerful guitars and intense drums. it then leads seemlessly into the first lyrical song of the album, "Covered with Hair" in which lead singer Arlee John Carstens proves his ability to deliver an intelligent song with a punch. several of the songs are low-key and slow tempo, a couple lasting upto ten minutes long. but through the end of the album, it is never boring, seldom repetitive, and always surprising. no bullshit and no pretenses. this is what indie rock should be all about. ~don

i was a little apprehensive about paying 6 bucks for this cd. i only like this band's earlier stuff sometimes... mostly because it's sloppy and repetitive. but i gave this one a whirl hoping they had worked the kinks out. on this 5 song ep they lost most of the sloppiness and comes in strong with "sink to the beat" (my favorite track), and it keeps you interested with strong hooks, lyrics, and really tight midi's. seems like the bands in nebraska are getting their shit together. maybe they'll tour with bright eyes. ~b.

quite possibly the greatest album of all time. spawned in 1987, it reminded us of the dirty, sexual side of rock while the rest of the industry for the most part was dancin around in polka dots to keyboards. this is the real deal people, bringing you "welcome to the jungle", "my michele", and other not so big hits like "mr. brownstone" and "it's so easy". brought glam,drugs,alchohol, and women into my pubescent years. hallelujah. too bad they sucked ass on this years vma's. ~b.

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