Charles Manson
Air
Magic Bullet Records
4.5/10
Air is the first of a four part series (ATWA – Air, Trees, Water, Animals) that is currently being released by Charles Manson on Magic Bullet Recordings.  Talk about lo-fi recordings; this is the lowest of lo-fi. It sounds like he was given a $10 tape recorder, took it to his prison cell, and went at it with his guitar (and although I couldn’t find a definite answer, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was how it was recorded).
Musically, the sitting-on-a-porch blues of an acoustic guitar and …

The Heat Tape
Raccoon Valley Recordings
10/10
Raccoon Valley Recordings is the debut album from The Heat Tape, and man do they get the adrenaline going!  When I took a first run through of the album I thought, “What kind of cheap wannabe punk shit is this!?” In all reality, just the way it was recorded was unexpected.  With how easy home recording can be and the advances in it as well, I expect a half way decent sound out of anything I listen to. But after a second listen I fell in …

Let England Shake
PJ Harvey
Vagrant Records
8/10
PJ Harvey released Let England Shake, her latest in a long line of records.  Admittedly, this is my introduction to PJ. Yes I know, I’m a bad person.  I was impressed to say the least.  Her otherworldly croon recalled a tighter Blonde Redhead.  Blonde Redhead, but not PJ? What a n00b.  Yeah, I KNOW.  I KNOW okay?  Her earnest songwriting and interesting melodies won my heart.  And she’s forty? I said a gat damn.  Not as much of a drastic change in sound as her previous …

The Measure (SA)
Notes
            The Measure (SA)’s new album Notes has easily been one of my most anticipated releases of 2010 and quite honestly it was everything I expected it to be. A fun, energetic punk album fueled by sincere and powerful lyrics.
            Lauren has easily become one of my favorite lyricists over the past few years and on Notes she doesn’t disappoint. Present is her brand of powerfully descriptive lyrics that place the listener in her own shoes to the point you can almost feel the social awkwardness first hand. …

Crawl Babies
Crawl Babies EP
5/10
I’m pretty much 50/50 with my liking of Crawl Babies.  They’re good but their style of music is just over done and been around for a long time now (slow indie rock with overuse of concert hall reverb).  One small thing I did like were the guitar licks that had a surf rock influence sound to them, as heard in the EP’s opener “Ginger’s Gone.” Unfortunately, other than that, there isn’t much to this band.  Again, they’re good and I like it, but there isn’t anything that …

The post-CMJ recovery time is almost 3 weeks, at least for us late 20’s grandmas. When you get a press pass, you need to pack as much in as you can, and this year was no exception. It was my personal goal to see not only as many bands as physically possible (and that your pass allows you entry into), but also a good mix of music to round out the experience. While CMJ tends to trend much towards indie-rock then anything else, there was certainly a wide spectrum within …

When The Emperor asked me to do my first review ever for Racket Magazine (first ever review anywhere) I was scared!  The more I thought about it the more I thought why not?  How hard can it be to write a review of the singer of my favorite bands, The Alkaline Trio!? Let’s roll.
I have been a fan since I first saw them live at the Anaheim HOB in 2001.  As soon as Radio came on and the entire audience shouted from the top of their lungs the now infamous, …

Tim Kasher
The Game of Monogamy
Saddle Creek Records
9/10
Tim Kasher is known for his work with Cursive, the slightly chaotic indie band full of layered instrumentation and The Good Life, which releases mellower, though just as lush, tales of the horrors of romance. Well, apparently he’s ready to drop all pretense that Tim Kasher is the mastermind behind both and releases his latest, The Game of Monogamy under his own moniker.
Filled with the same sordid tales of love and lust as The Good Life’s previous releases, Monogamy will strike a chord with …

Cee Lo Green
The Lady Killer
Elektra Records
10/10
While the single “Fuck You” has been resonating with broke motherfuckers for months, Cee Lo Green’s The Lady Killer is here (well, on Nov 9th, 2010) and it’s fucking fantastic. While I am not discounting his work with Goodie Mob or with Gnarls Barkley, with The Lady Killer, Cee Lo seriously solidifies his already recognizable sound. With plenty of vocal harmonies backing up his soulful crooning, keyboards and (obviously) killer percussion work, TLK is equal parts 60’s Soul, 70’s R&B and current Pop. In other …

Pacer
No. 1
Chunksaah Records
4/10
The debut release from Pacer, the loud, melodic up and coming punk band from London, England, could very well be the soundtrack to some teenage boys’ Saturday night, cruising around in search of something good.
The seven songs on No. 1 sound a lot like the Bouncing Souls crossed with Municipal Waste – outspoken and aggressive, though melodic and with words to sing to. Though there isn’t a song on the album that exceeds three minutes, the aggression and grating quality of singer/guitarist Robert Wilson’s voice draws out …

Casey Curry and the Remainders
Tidal Tales From The Other Side
Self-Released
8/10
It’s difficult for me to review my friends’ work, especially of a dude I’ve known for over two decades. Even more so when I like their stuff. My friends and I are NOT nice to each other. But, when you have talented friends, it’s gonna happen. After his stint in the 60’s surf-sound band The Passports, Curry has broken away from Beach Boys and gone more Nick Cave, alternating between brooding low-keys and bombastic jams with a gratuitous instrumentation, including lap …

Gatorface
Wasted Monuments
No Idea Records
7/10
Orlando Florida’s Gatorface has created a very solid album with their recent release, Wasted Monuments. While not the strongest release of the year so far, it is one that definitely packs a punch in comparison to some of the competition out there.
I will say this right now, as far as musicianship goes Gatorface’s performance on this album is very tight and aggressive, second only to perhaps the Flatliners. They continuously deliver furious punk rock on each track that at times I kind of want to stage dive …

Trick or treat, kids. While Halloween isn’t here quite yet, I still have some audio candy for you: Killer Sharks 6! We are now offering a half dozen CD-length compilations featuring big names and no names, major label artists and no-label artists.  And, as we’ve done for the previous 5 Killer Sharks albums, we tack on some hand-done artwork to accompany it, this time around provided by Lisa Thompson, our very own British person. Seriously, she lives in England and everything.
Well, by now, you should know the drill, so make …

Dead to Me
Wait for It
Shield Recordings
10/10
Dead to Me’s latest 7-inch, “Wait for It”, was a rather pleasant surprise for 2010. There was no formal talk about the band releasing said 7-inch, as far as anyone knew Dead to Me wasn’t releasing any material this year, then out of nowhere a twitter update was posted about recording some new songs. Give or take a few weeks and there was an update about how it was going to be released in Europe in September and in America in October (just in time …

The CMJ Music Marathon is a yearly gathering of jaded music industry types and eager, not-yet-jaded college radio kids in New York City.  Young, pretty radio girls, beware: don’t be seduced by that seemingly sweet and handsome radio promoter! Just a word of advice from years of experience. The festival, which is put on by the publication CMJ (College Music Journal) takes place over 5 days and if you go hard and party till you drop, can be a 24 hour affair. From day panels to day parties to evening …

Racket gets a LOT of albums to review, but we got shit to do, mang. We all have day jobs, significant others, families and beer to drink. Or any combination thereof. Either way, sometimes we get behind and, to catch up, we bust out these haikus. If it passes for 10th grade poetry, it can pass for journalism, right?