Album Reviews: Broken Social Scene"You Forgot it in People" () 

  I decided to gt this cd a while ago after hearing the song " Almost Crimes." I had expectations for the sound of the rest of the cd to be similar to that song. Boy, was I wrong. Never the less the cd is incredible but more than hald the tracks are instrumental. Some favorites on this cd include "cause=time" and  "anthems for a 17 year old girl." There are some cds on which the instrumental tracks are just as good if not better. The one thing I dislike strongest about this cd is the lack of vocals, in my opinion it would have been much stronger with vocals. The songs with vocals on this cd are timeless and the others just seem to lack. Still, a great cd and a worth while purchase/

My rating 89%

Album Reviews: Straylight Run   "Self Titled" (Victory Records) 

  I actually got to see Straylight play at their cd release show the other night. I think that John Nolans decision to leave Taking Back Sunday was the best move he could have made.  I had listened to them a bit before the show but when i saw them I was impressed enough to buy the cd which is a decision I'm glad I made. This is one of the dew cds I can listen to straight through without skipping a track. The only complain I have about this cd is I don't think michelle nolan should have her own songs. I really enjoy her voice but without john in the songs they just seem to bore me. None the less the cd is enjoyable, not one of the best but if you have a couple extra dollars it's worth picking up.

My rating: 70%

Album Reviews: Six Going on Seven   "Heartbreak's Got Backbeat" (Some Records)

  If you haven't yet, it would be in your best interest to purchase this album as soon as possible. I have recently hopped on the six going on seven train and can't get off. This is possibly the catchiest cd I own and I love it. I find it so amazing on this album how one song segues into the next so graciously.  Some favorite songs on the album are " Portsmouth" which is an incredible way to start of the album . With a chorus like

"I need some kind of backup plan to kill this time left on my hands/ And consume the sound of you not there,"

how could it not be?  Although I find the rest of the album quite incredible as well that song does something special every time i put it on.  All the lyrics in this album seem to have a similar theme "childhood memories". Which is another reason this album just makes me feel good listening to it.  

Melissa's rating- 90%

Album Reviews: The Thermals Service "Fuckin A" (subpop)

+ This sums up the entire album of the Thermals' sophomore release titled "Fuckin A."  Basically, if this were a Lord Of The Rings movie, it would be The Two Towers,

Picking up exactly where 2003's More Parts Per Million left off.  You know from the very first song, "Our Trip" that this album will be worth a listen or two, or two, or three, two three.

Every song is fast; every song is to the point.  This album tears through songs, sometimes unnoticeably.  Hutch Harris is a Mountain Goats John Darnielle on speed.

At your first listen, you may not notice the track changes... but after a few listens, you will notice yourself singing along -"It's only who we are!"

- If every song sounding the same is a bad thing... then the Thermals take bad, and turn it over on itself. 

If anything was closely negative with this album, it is less lo-fi than the previous release, which takes away from the original "Thermals Sound."

The full on cast has re-united (minus Kind Of Like Spitting's Ben Barnett) to prove to the world that their album is "Fuckin A-Mazing."

Evan's Score: 90%

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TRAVIS MORRISON IS NO TRAVESTY

I guess if there was a fifteen to seventeen year old version of Travis Morrison, I would fall madly in love. Travis (yes, we are on a first name basis) is the former front man of The Dismemberment Plan, which he describes as a cross between Fugazi and Prince. The Plan (as the cool kids call them) made a racket for ten years, playing a great collision of fantastic music and eclectic lyrics.

A natural storyteller, Travis writes with articulate wit and sings with precise emotion; never a sappy, sentimental ballad. In Tonight We Mean It, Travis puzzles us with his peculiar eliminate the existential quandaries of modern postmodern reality, ya dig? and teases us with the sarcastic Do The Standing Still in which he shouts: woah, its a sensation/ across the entire nation/ a hundred million kids/ all dancing in suspended animation. Later on, he runs out of a relationship in If I Dont Write as he claims theres not much more to discuss, theres you and me but theres no us.

            In            It must be stated: Travis is no professional singer. Yes, he has taken a several voice lessons, but hes not choirboy material. Arguably, however, his voice is exhilaratingly mesmerizing. Morrisons voice can reach an unsettling falsetto to a steady quiet to a crackling warble. The energy and effort that drives each word he utters captures you and makes you forget that hes the wrong pitch or whatever the choir experts are complaining about. Moreover, his inability to sing a manufactured, trained to perfection voice makes him more real. Travis sounds like the type of man who you see everyday, in the grocery store, purchasing yoghurt.  addition to striking lyrics, Travis Morrison is an amazing performer. His obvious comfort on stage and confidence display how much he enjoys himself. His infamous hip swaying and grins like a kid on Christmas are the fantastic side-effects of a natural high. The Dismemberment Plan shows have a reputation for being more along the lines of a party where the band members and the audience break down the barriers between them. Clearly not the stereotypical rock star, a kid from the audience once asked Travis, after the show, for cab fare so he could get home.   

In 2003, The Plan disbanded after an elongated farewell tour through the country. Disappointed fans raised the thought, now that The Dismemberment Plan has dismembered, the question is was it planned? The answer is no, not really. The team of four parted ways amicably, realizing they had done enough as a band. The Dismemberment Plan chapter of his life is over, yet Travis isnt done with music. Travis is currently working on his first solo album: Travistan.

Im sure hundreds of people exist that admire him, adore him, respect him as I do. Yet Im not sure wed like to do a fanatic fan sequence. Im even less confident that Travis would enjoy that. As far as I can tell, all of us like him being that guy, in the grocery store, clutching lemon yoghurt. #!