Alkaline Trio/One Man Army - BYO Split Series Vol. 5

By Emerson Dameron at 12:00 AM on November 22, 2004

The chugga-chugga remains, but Chicago’s Alkaline Trio has developed too much emotional depth and melodic complexity to claim pure punk...  read more

Charlie Hunter Trio

By Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen at 12:00 AM on November 15, 2004

Far more than just a gimmick, Charlie Hunter’s 8-string guitar lets him play bass and electric guitar—both rhythm and lead...  read more

The Sunshine Fix - Green Imagination

By Jeff Elbel at 12:00 AM on November 15, 2004

It might be wildly flattering or utterly damning to say Green Imagination left me hankering for The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour and Lennon's Imagine...  read more

Two Cow Garage - The Wall Against Our Back

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on November 12, 2004

Intelligent, ass-kickin’ Southern rock is no oxymoron. Skynyrd proved it years ago, but most people were too busy waving confederate flags to catch on...  read more

Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Bloudy Tenent Truth & Peace

By Emerson Dameron at 12:00 AM on November 12, 2004

Slim Cessna’s a Baptist preacher’s son. He’s clearly too well-read to work up snake-handling fervor about anything without pausing to wink at the balcony, but he’s found a noble line of work, in the old man’s tradition...  read more

The Beautiful Mistake - This Is Who You Are

By Guillermo Castro at 12:00 AM on November 10, 2004

Despite the assurances of the title, this disappointing follow-up to 2002’s explosive Light A Match, For I Deserve To Burn reveals a band struggling through an identity crisis...  read more

Frank Black Francis

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on November 10, 2004

With the explosive dynamics that made The Pixies so essential, you’d think Frank Black solo-acoustic in a Boston apartment just wouldn’t cut it...  read more

Rocket From The Crypt - Circa: Now! +4

By Emerson Dameron at 12:00 AM on November 10, 2004

A saxophone can make sounds as ominous and cathartic as the most badass guitar feedback. Rocket From the Crypt taught us this in the early ’90s, during the alt-rock signing frenzy, when an RFTC tattoo got you free show admission for life and a small-but-rabid fanbase snagged the band an Interscope contract. If Morphine were The Beatles of deep sax, RFTC were the pissed-but-hedonistic Sticky Fingers Stones. A lot of us weren’t paying attention, and, as the decade dragged on, Rocket came back a little less hard with each successive release. So thank frontman John Reis’ Swami label, along with...  read more

Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Funeral for a Friend

By Matt Fink at 12:00 AM on November 10, 2004

A most unusual concept album, Funeral for a Friend visits the stations of a traditional New Orleans funeral proceeding, with gospel music serving as its thematic foil...  read more

Johnny Cash

By James Calemine at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2004

This definitive collection features Johnny Cash’s recordings for the Sun Records label from 1955-1958. These stark classics serve as a strong foundation for Cash’s undeniable legacy...  read more

Maserati / Cinemechanica / We Versus The Shark

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2004

This split EP from brand new Athens label, Hello Sir Records, features the dreamy, instrumental art rock of Maserati, and two tracks each from up-and-comers Cinemechanica and We Versus The Shark...  read more

Calexico - World Drifts In (DVD)

By Jeff Elbel at 12:00 AM on October 26, 2004

Calexico is among the most wonderfully confounding bands to emerge from the underground in ages; certainly since the rise of Ozomatli...  read more

The Red Krayola - Singles (1968-2002)

By Emerson Dameron at 12:00 AM on October 25, 2004

For all their mutual hostility, pop music and academics make some wacky fireworks when they crawl under the covers...  read more

Tres Chicas - Sweetwater

By Matt Fink at 12:00 AM on October 13, 2004

Having formed after a handful of backstage singing sessions and one particularly opportune bathroom meeting, Tres Chicas...  read more

Low Millions - Ex-Girlfriends

By Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen at 12:00 AM on October 12, 2004

“It’s a beautiful night,” sings Low Millions frontman Adam Cohen on the sweet-and-catchy “Hey Jane.” “But I’m alone,” he adds, summing up in two short lines Ex-Girlfriends’ aesthetic...  read more

Jonathan Inc. - Things Done and Left Undone

By Andy Whitman at 12:00 AM on October 12, 2004

Enough of the Red House Painters and Elliott Smith comparisons, kids. Vancouver’s Jonathan Inc.—Radiogram veteran singer/songwriter Jonathan Anderson and whoever he invites along for the ride—is a throwback to Jackson Browne...  read more

Björk: Björk - Medúlla

By Jason Killingsworth at 12:00 AM on October 1, 2004

The reality that pop music has evolved in any meaningful fashion is wondrously strange. Even musicians considered textbook iconoclasts...  read more

Paul Westerberg - Folker

By Dave Sims at 12:00 AM on October 1, 2004

From his earliest days as The Replacements’ frontman, Paul Westerberg appeared to be the product of some experiment in rock genetics gone horribly awry...  read more

Chuck Prophet - Age of Miracles

By John Schacht at 12:00 AM on October 1, 2004

For a number of former Americana artists, leaving the twang behind was the healthiest thing they could’ve done for their music career. Just ask Chuck Prophet...  read more

The Thrills - Let's Bottle Bohemia

By Billy Altman at 12:00 AM on October 1, 2004

Sophomore albums can prove career land mines for even the most promising young artists; as the saying goes, you've got a lifetime to compile...  read more