Jason Yudoff
Tragic Hero
JGY Enterprises
4/10
OK, well, right off: I don’t like this album. Now, with that out of the way, we can get to the constructive criticism. Dude can play an instrument, and while he sounds like Maroon 5’s eventual understudy for Adam Levine, he can actually sing. Now, you may be asking yourself: what the hell, isn’t that the basics? Yes and no. There was a time when people with great voices worked with people with sucky voices, but great songwriting skills. Do this. Do this immediately. I hate your …

Joshua James
The Sun Is Always Brighter
Intelligent Noise Records
7/10
I’m always surprised when Racket is sent mellow, acoustic-heavy singer-songwriter albums and expect a good, or even a great review. Joshua James must have known my love for alliteration, and that may have given him an edge. The Sun is always brighter is mellow, without being cry-baby music. I started listening to it and immediately thought about pitting James against the prime example of white boy with an acoustic guitar wanna be this generations Bob Dylan: Jason Mraz. After listening to gems like …

The Dresden Dolls
No, Virginia
Roadrunner Records.
8/10
The Dresden Dolls don’t fuck with their formula of spastic piano and punctuating drums but they definitely add to it. Whether it’s a bass line or a vocal harmony thrown in to make a track that much thicker, or to strip shit away until you focus on every last syllable that slips from Amanda Palmer’s forked tongue, The Dolls have shown that they may have a sound and style all their own, but they are no one trick pony.
-Jonathan Yost

RacketWes is one of the newer additions to Team Racket, and I gotta say, dude’s on his A-Game. Having done interview with Marty Murawski, Silas Baxter-Neal and Ed Templeton, I would have thought he’d been doing a grand ol’ job there. However, Wes had a little chat with the peeps over at Tom Yeto, and got a gaggle of gifts, so now he’s even higher in the graces of the Emperor. We’re breaking this up into three parts, because, well, they sent us three different chunks o’ stuff.
First up …

The Real Deals
Hungover, but Dead Sober
Union 2112 Records
8/10
Whoa. Flashback City, USA. Short, fun punk songs that are equal parts Goldfinger and The Queers. Fuck yea. 15 songs in 34 minutes, rad. I’m glad they don’t waste time adding shit that doesn’t need to be there, though I do always fill ripped off by an album under an hour long. I don’t even think I want to write anymore about them. They’re fucking rad, check them out.
-Jonathan Yost

The Saint Alvia Cartel
Self Titled
Stomp Records
7/10
The first time I listened to the record, I could care less. The second time I spun it, I couldn’t wait to hear it again. This same thing happened with The Lawrence Arms. I hated ‘em at first, and as time went by, each song began to speak to me in a new and unique way from the one before. Yes, yes, to all the people who told me I should have liked the Lawrence Arms right off, you were right, now leave me alone. …

Another Big Machine.
ABM
Rising Storm Records
1/10
Shut up. Just shut up. Forced radio-pop that comes off as more forced radio-pop from the nineties, where an electric guitar gave you an edginess. Piss off. The orchestrated garbage on There’s a Fire makes my ears vomit. It’s a half-assed attempt at Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, but with even worse lyrics. “You stare at the glow from the street lights, hoping you will chaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAnge! Let’s take all these lights and turn them into cities, and plaaaaaaaaaaaace them up high so that they can …

I’m assuming that me writing to you, here on Racket, that I don’t have to tell you exactly who Rise Against are. A lot of you may just simply know them for the acoustic hit, “Swing Life Away” while others most likely know them for their incendiary live shows, progressive and intensely cohesive albums.
And some may just know them as the opener for My Chemical Romance a few years ago, or a purchasable track on Guitar Hero 3 as well as soundtrack additions to many other games, and even WWE …

Marty is my kind of skater. He isn’t flashy, he’s got solid style, and he has ridiculous control on a skateboard. My kind of guy. As it would turn out, Marty is also an extremely pleasant fellow. You know that expression, “wouldn’t hurt a fly?” Well, that definitely applies to … “wouldn’t hurt a fly” … wait a minute … oh Marty, you got lucky! The McFly jokes that could have been! Oh the missed opportunities…
Wesley: You ready?
Marty: Let’s do it!
Wesley: So Marty, is this your first interview? Are …