Stereolab Margerine Eclipse Elektra By: Eric Greenwood Stereolab never fails to remove me from whatever my surroundings are. I am instantly carried off to moog Utopia (Potatoes, Comrade?), thanks to Laetitia Sadier's otherworldly monotone and Tim Gane's lush and locked melodic grooves. I never really try to distinguish one song from another on Stereolab albums. […]

[Read more →]

Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand Domino By: Eric Greenwood Franz Ferdinand has panache. That word is applicable to very few bands these days, especially when most hide behind bandwagon-esque trends and slacker cool. It takes a rare class of insight, personality, and cleverness to attain such a descriptor, but Franz Ferdinand exploits it freely. Disjointed dance […]

[Read more →]

Trans Am Liberation Thrill Jockey By: Eric Greenwood Remember back when people gave a shit about Trans Am? What happened? That double album, Red Line, certainly didn't help matters, but it wasn't all bad. I mean, I distinctly remember at least two good songs on it ("I Want It All", "Play in the Summer"). Oh, […]

[Read more →]

Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News Epic By: Eric Greenwood Producing the follow up to your career-defining album is no small feat, evidenced by the fact that it took Modest Mouse four years just to rear its head again. Good News for People Who Love Bad News better represents Modest Mouse's […]

[Read more →]

The Von Bondies Pawn Shoppe Heart Sire By: Eric Greenwood Initially, I thought Jason Stollsteimer was a giant wuss, hungry for whatever sad publicity he could eke out of a fistfight with The White Stripes' Jack White, but after listening to Pawn Shoppe Heart countless times, I have since retracted such sentiments. Stollsteimer's throaty, blues-drenched […]

[Read more →]

Beastie Boys To The 5 Boroughs Capitol By: Eric Greenwood I've never been much of a fan of rap. Look how white I am…I still call it rap. And I always felt kind of ashamed that one of the few rap groups I ever liked was the Beastie Boys because it made me look even […]

[Read more →]

Morrissey You Are The Quarry Attack! By: Eric Greenwood The seven year stretch between Morrissey's last album, 1997's nice enough but forgettable Maladjusted, and his triumphant return, 2004's You Are The Quarry, has turned the former Smiths frontman into a bit of an underdog. Based on the unprecedented hoopla surrounding his latest release, the public […]

[Read more →]