Album Review:Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

Bellingham, Washington's Death Cab for Cutie have been skulking stages as long as their sonic cousins John Vanderslice, Pedro the Lion and Built to Spill.    Death Cab's newest LP 'Codes and Keys' is masterwork.    Thoughtful, introspective lyrics built upon their musical abstractions slip their hooks into you like The Postal Service and Silver Scooter on a vision quest in the Queen Charlotte Islands.    Death Cab have an absolute understanding of the development and construction of an LP, as the crucial placement of tracks 2, 4 and 7 anchor the remaining songs in the timeless path of their rock n' roll time machine.

Track 2: Death Cab for Cutie - Codes & Keys



Track 4: Death Cab for Cutie - Doors Unlocked and Open



Track 5: Death Cab for Cutie - You are a Tourist



Track 7: Death Cab for Cutie - Monday Morning

Album Review Yuck (self-titled)

On Yuck's new self-titled album, we see the London band absorbing the concepts of three of the finest modern rock bands of the past 20 years: the storytelling of John Vanderslice, the guitar artistry behind Built to Spill and then toward the dissonance of early Sonic Youth.    And a naughty video for their track "Rubber" ain't gonna hurt either.

Yuck - Rubber


Yuck - Georgia


Yuck - Suck

Album Review:Rival Schools-Pedals

New York's Rival Schools new album Pedals is a fresh piece of rock n' roll that straddles a few decades of inspiration.    Rival Schools move from the effects laden guitar work of 1993's Swervedriver and 1999's Built to Spill and hold it all together with some introspective lyrics and occasional piano of 2004's John Vanderslice.    Exhibit A is 69 Guns.    A good back to front album.

Album Review:The Dodos-No Color

The Dodo's newest album No Color is another certifiably fresh piece of work that helps our modern music continue its evolution.    The album opener Black Night is a captivating way to start the LP it keeps your attention for its nine track duration with some unexpected turns.    The songs are built like Built to Spill moving mostly acoustic with a Beta Band/The Aliens vocalist, sprinkled with some asymmetrical percussion and then moulded into a shape resembling Love and Rocket's Yin and Yang and the Flowerpot Man from many years ago.    No Color is a double-rainbow of goodness.