"Eva Luna" by Moonshake.

The song "City Poison" had me at hello. This record, and I believe quite possibly this entire band is probably (to use the words of Tim Rogers: (in reference to The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)) largely misunderstood, and violently awesome. The creativity and sheer honesty coming out of this record are nearly brutal. Even the more atmospheric numbers simmer just at the edge of boiling. The male vocalist almost reminds me of a more intense John Flansburgh, and the songs accompanying him are raucous, heartfelt, and mostly serious. The female vocalist was also excellent, mainly due to her understated, but unmistakable character. The production is perfect. Roomy and immediate all at once. These are wildly artistic and poetic people, who also have an impeccable ear for how things should sound post-production. That's a nearly impossible combination, and I can't stress enough how much honesty plays a part in making this record such an over the top success for me. They aren't selling anything. It just seemed to get better and better as I progressed through it. It restored my faith in genuinely creative rock as art. Listen to this record just as soon as humanly possible.

"Thumper" by Thumper.

I'll start with the positive, and work my way toward the negative. I'm trying to curb my Haterade intake as of late. Here goes. Excellent drumming. This guy has finesse, and tact. Excellent bass playing. (See: Excellent drumming.) Middling guitar work. Mostly the thin tone was to blame for its unremarkable nature. At times the guitar literally sounded exclusively like static.

Static.

But there was also some pretty uninteresting songwriting going on, which inevitably worked against them. Still, a lot could have been fixed with better production.

MOVING ON!

Below average, bordering on somewhat annoying vocals. This person is not a singer in the sense that one should be said singer. Very plain, and slightly flat, with no noticeable training. Lots of heart though, so a small plus there. Had she some character (a la Phil Elvrum, or Tim Kinsella for that matter), then that would be a different story. Wouldn't it? Yes. Yes, it would.

Patently stupid cover art. I know this shouldn't affect my impression of the band's performances, but it did. I'm only human. (There is only so much poor production/seemingly aimless songwriting/idiotic cover art one can handle, after all.) I will say this: "There was immense talent squandered here in the forms of the bassist and drummer." There. I said it. Hence the quotation marks. The two of them are hopefully off in some awesome other three piece band, tearing it up, so to speak. This proposed band would be called "Slammer".

"Optimistic Fool" by The Pooh Sticks.

The Pooh Sticks are a band that are in love with melody. In the same vein as early '90s acts such as The Posies, or Gin Blossoms, they craft a style of Americana, fun, upbeat rock that just didn't linger on the musical scene for very long. There are a lot of harmonies flying around on this record, whether it be guitars or vocals, which only adds to their sincerity. The lyrics are clever, and mostly memorable. "Prayer for My Demo" stood out in this regard. While all these factors seemed to mesh well in execution, and production, The Pooh Sticks still seemed to fall flat for me somewhere. If I had to, I'd trace it back to the guitars simply strumming the chord progressions. There was too little articulation, so the songs seemed indistinct. A more deliberate approach to playing the songs (adding some melodic riffs, build-ups, stops, etc.) would have benefitted the record greatly, but even then, I get the feeling I wouldn't have enjoyed it enough to hear it again. Although strongly melodic and well done in general, it was still simply a type of music I find struggling to hold my attention.