Albums of the Week: The Good, The Bad, The Great

Justin Bieber, U2, and Slipknot aren’t the only bands releasing new albums this week. In fact, there was a slew of new music released for the first of the month. So put aside your copy of Ceremonials (by Florence and the Machine), Low Roar (self-titled), and Without You (by King Midas Sound)–all full-lengths we applaud–and give one of the albums we’ve picked out below a listen. We sorted through the new albums this week to determine what was good, what was bad, and what you couldn’t possibly miss out on. Check it out–maybe one of the albums in our roundup will be just the sound you’ve been searching for recently…

The Good

 Adaline — Modern Romantics

Modern Romantics is Canadian singer Adaline’s sophomore album, and it shows.  She seems to know what she’s doing, creating an album that’s both noisy and graceful.  Her voice is strong but light, slathered on the toe-tapping percussion like icing on a cake. Moreover, the alternative pop beats are aggressive and ambitious and clever lyrics like “you fell in love with my thoughtless plan.” The ideas and moody beats in this album, however, are far from thoughtless.

Recommended track: “Say Goodbye (I Won’t Even)”
Purchase: $9.99 on iTunes

 Pianos Become the Teeth – The Lack Long After

Pianos Become the Teeth’s The Lack Long After is, well, far from lacking. We weren’t so crazy about their debut album, Old Pride, despite it’s good reviews. We thought it was a shame that such a tight band in live performances didn’t get that great energy translated well into their debut album. But Lack is a whole ‘nother story–during long, pounding drum solos near the ends of songs and ridiculous guitar shreds, everything is clean and tight and this 8-track album won’t disappoint any of you punk-rock fans out there.

Recommended track: “Good Times”
Purchase: $7.92 on iTunes

The Bad

Cutman — Universal Laws

Cutman are known for being heavy rockers with a thick, raging sound. But that sound doesn’t work if it gets muddied and unclear–there is sometimes a fine line between industrial and just noise, and we’re afraid that Universal Laws comes across as just noise in the recording. It’s a shame since the band is actually really kicking in their live performances. They have a beautifully thick dynamic that is smashing, so we’re hoping for a better recording of their work sometime. For now, we recommend you skip the album and just go to their live show if you want a real taste of these Gainesville, FL rockers.

Purchase: $8.99 on Amazon

 Have Gun Will Travel – Mergers and Acquisitions

The country band Have Gun Will Travel has one of the coolest names around, but their latest album disappointed us because it sounded more like an old western than the fast-paced and original tunes that we fell in love with in Postcards from the Friendly City. The new album departs from that overall feel, seeming to branch out too fast and lose that older sound. When they return to that older, Americana sound again, we’ll be adding more of their music to our playlists again.

Purchase: $7.99 on Amazon

The Great

 Girl In A Coma – Exits & All the Rest

Girl In A Coma is far from your ordinary band. The trio from Arizona’s latest 13-track album is full of amazing, driving, hard rock tracks about everything from typical rock and roll themes of decades past to the immigration dilemma in Arizona. We applaud them for tackling the issues that are hardest to choke up by yelling them instead. Every track features the tight connection between the band–from Jennifer Alva’s mad bass to Phanie Diaz’s steady drumming and sister Nina Diaz’s spot-on vocals make this an album to remember.

Recommended track: “Hope”
Purchase: $7.99 on iTunes