Leveler

     This album has an interesting story. So I am once again at the bargain bin, a couple months ago I might add, and I find this cute little album. An animated destroyed farmhouse with some chickens, seems innocent enough. My curiosity peaks me and I buy it. Well I get home, pop it in my boom box, and press play. Little did I know that I would then have to endure forty-eight minutes of metalcore. For those of you who don't know what metalcore is, the internet defines it as "a fusion genre combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk." Needless to say, it took my ears a little while to warm up to it.

     So from listening to the first track, "Empire," I could have guessed that it was meant to be the single; it was just kind of triumphant and structured in its way. Then it went onto track two; I couldn't tell where or when because it all sort of blended together, but it did. The fourth track "Cutting the Ties" was when it started to get better for some reason or another; probably because my ears were then somewhat used to the constant noise. It stayed pretty consistent through track seven. Track eight, "Salt & Light," was more mellow and had some good guitar licks. I really didn't notice anything else after that on the account that they all pretty much sounded the same. Now I'm not saying that it's a bad sound; I don't mind metalcore, it's just a little forceful. All in all, not what I was expecting from the front cover, but still a good album.

Runner

     This album, Runner, is by a band called The Sea and Cake. The "sea" part is evident from their cover, but I can't say the same about the cake which seems to be absent. If you know me and see the robot on the left you can probably infer why I picked this; I just couldn't resist. I know I bought this with another album but I can't remember which. The cover of Runner does depict the content well, as I could guess the genre almost entirely from just the calm color choices. Nevertheless, Itunes calls it indie rock so I won't argue.

     The first track, "On and On" was probably my favorite. It had a nice jump-start to it and really provided a good first impression. The fifth track, "Skyscraper", was a close second. Skyscraper had an edgier sound than the rest of the album, making it especially interesting. Most of the album stayed pretty safe, but I wouldn't call it great; long instrumental intros, the occasional ballad, strange underlying white noise. Track 8, "Neighbors and Township" had a more eerie vibe which accounted for some healthy variety. The album ended with its title track, "The Runner", a bit long but a fitting farewell.

     I afterwards learned that The Sea and Cake was a band started in the 90's although The Runner was released in 2012. Its members were all in previous bands, none of which I'd heard of. Overall I enjoyed it, though I definitely liked some songs more than others; it brought a good end to this beautiful Sunday. It sounds a lot like what you would hear on the radio nowadays. I'm sure it sounds like one band in particular but I can't quite put my finger on it. If you decide to listen to it and think you know it, please post your educated guess in the comments.

FLIBBIDDYDIBBIDYDOB

     For those of you reading-challenged, that phonetically spells flibbiddy-dibbiddy-dob. This album is from a band named Snuff who sounds like they're from the 80's because, as we later found out, they are from the 80's. There are actually too many fun facts about this band to include in just this paragraph so I'll come back to it in a paragraph at the end. I may have cheated a little bit with this one. I didn't get it at my usual record store, or a record store at all for that matter. I picked FLIBBIDDYDIBBIDYDOB (I'm just gonna refer to it from now on as "the album") up at a thrift store in Ventura where there was definitely a qualifiable variety that could be dubbed a bargain bin. I guess the attractive aspect about its album cover was the compilation of different signs and things almost like a scrapbook or magazine cutouts under the glass on tables at classy restaurants. I didn't have much expectations about this album other than it was probably upbeat based on the bright colors on its cover, which proved to be true.
     So about the sound: If I were to compare them to another band I would probably choose the Clash, also from the 80's, for their likeliness and also the fact that I heard them on the radio today. The album started out very brash and before I even knew what I was hearing the lead lick from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." The second track was more substantial and had that kind of obnoxious vibe sometimes found in Blink 182 or Green Day that continued throughout almost the entire album. The next few tracks blended together in their stunted-punk glory. Certainly got the impression that the vocalists were yelling at me, but then again it was the 80's. Track 6 was a tiny bit different from the rest, sounding more psychedelic and relaxed and loosing most of its prehistoric Green Day/Blink 182 vibe. Track 7, like the first track, was a cover. And the remaining four tracks, except for track 9, retained the demanding, obnoxious vibe of many of the previous songs. This whole album lasted a total of 17 minutes and 31 seconds. Eight tracks were named on the back of the album but the album actually had eleven albums which was a little bit baffling. Overall, the album was okay. Very played-out and overdone for 80's music; though they could have been the first, who knows?
     So now here's a bit of background information on the band Snuff. FLIBBIDDYDIBBIDYDOB was apparently a mini album of theirs which was composed of covers and some tricked out versions of commercial jingles. Track three was based off of a jingle from a carpet freshener, and track 10 was the jingle from Kellogg's Bran Flakes. The album actually only had one original song while the rest were covers. Very stereotypically 80's was the band with their long hair and "trusty tour bus." They broke up in 1991, but recently came out with a new album just this January titled WoodProp.

Yuck

     Yuck by yuck. Contrary to the name, and fortunately for me, its title does not suit it well. I found about seven eligible albums yesterday while sifting through the bargain bin; I guess this one won out for its obvious pretense of self-loathing on the cover, with a nice cheery picture of the band under a bright blue sky on the back.
     I mean I guess it's more alternative rock than anything else if I had to confine it to just one genre. The first track on the album, "Get Away," is definitely the best in my opinion. It has a certain spunk to it that's really intriguing in the way it draws attention. It's almost familiar like it has been around your whole life, but you just have to pinpoint that one moment in time that it brings it back to you. Well played Yuck, well played. Sad to say I can't praise the rest of this album as highly. The remainder of the songs seemed to pass quickly and unnoticeably. In the few moments when my attention was brought back to this album, I noticed the songs were prolonged longer than they needed to be and were just repeating words and phrases. The album also continually got calmer and more mellow as it progressed, with the enthusiasm slowly fading away. But still, props for the first song, and overall worth it just for that specimen of musical masterpiece.

Gimmick

     So this week I chose the album Gimmick by Barkmarket. Not that you can tell from this picture, but the rear artwork of this album is really what sold me. It is a compilation of ears, all different, with the track names underneath. So all that combined, the appearance of the album was definitely good enough to qualify. The music, however, I couldn't be so sure.
     Gimmick started off extremely rough to the point where I wasn't so sure what I was listening to anymore. The first song, Easy Chair, sounded like more than one track in the way that it stopped and started frequently each time picking up a different tune. It wasn't until track four, Dumbjaw, that I realized this band really does bear a resemblance to Nine Inch Nails, with the voice of their lead singer largely matching that of Trent Reznor. From Dumbjaw on Gimmick never let down that claim. I have to applaud Barkmarket on their competent use of variety. Their songs didn't quite slur together like so many other albums I've listened to. A little quirk I picked up on was the lead singer's tendency to take very loud deep breaths in the middle of phrases. It wasn't as distracting as it was amusing. In conclusion, it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad. I have to say even Trent Reznor goes off on some odd songs sometimes and those most resemble these.

Life is Not a Waiting Room

     So I actually have a pretty generous review for this one. I love the whole 'mistaken identity' theme of the cover and I'm glad I went with my instinct. This album is Life is Not a Waiting Room by Senses Fail. I've never heard of this particular band, but I've been in and around their circuit for quite some time now. I've never actually been able to coin just one genre for this type of music; I've heard it referred to as screamo, rock, punk, metal. Whatever it is, I dig it.

     I'm glad to say Life is Not a Waiting Room starts out strong, and though it has some low points, it's pretty steady in quality. Half the songs were good and half the songs were just okay. It was in an order where it varied so I'd enjoy one song then be indifferent about the next. My favorites off of this album were probably Chandelier and Wolves at the Door; they were a lot less poppy which is why I didn't like some of the other songs. The lead singer has a high-pitched and very mainstream type voice, almost a little annoying, but he could make it glimmer when he wants to. One thing I have to give them points for is how no two songs sounded exactly the same like many albums who differ very little from song to song. Might have just been the order and how it flip-flopped from extreme highs to extreme lows, but it works.

Youngster

     So I hate myself for being gone so long. But to make it up, I'm gonna review my best pick of all time. Now this album has a little bit of a back story on how I chose it. I was looking through the bargain bin and I see an album with the words 'Rickolus' on it. Being that my dad's name is Rick and Rick plays guitar, I turned to him and told him he was on this album cover. After that coincidence I obviously had to choose it. So I bought it and listened to in the car back home.
     At first we thought it might have been Matthew Shultz' [lead singer of Cage the Elephant] side band or something because the vocals sound remarkably like him. But no, Rickolus is completely independent, completely underground, and completely excellent. When listening to Youngster the first time, track 2, 'Photographs', particularly stuck out as a masterpiece. It has a very simple yet relevant bass line that really makes the song. The way they build up the song is also great. After further listening over the next couple weeks, I discovered that I liked the song 'My Old Face' too. It has a very Radiohead vibe, and when I played it for my friend that's who she thought it was. Like Radiohead, there are a couple experimental songs on the album that wouldn't really sound good on their own but seem to fit with the overall flow. In conclusion, this was a very enjoyable album to listen to and I encourage anyone to go out and buy Youngster, especially if you want hipster stats cause they're really talented and really unknown.