Keyboard-heavy prog rock, which isn't quite the "well, duh" that description might seem. Altura works hard to keep its progressions moving (almost Yes-like at times) while also crafting a very smooth sound.

Purists will bitch about the lack of jarring chords and arrhythmic percussion, but I don't think all that stuff is necessary to create a cool prog sound. Where much of the general public sees prog as overblown and excessive, by wrenching even more excesses out of the mix, Altura may have managed to create a sound more folks will dig.

That made sense, right? Well, whatever. Anyway, Altura whips a nice mix of sounds into their mix, bringing pop and (some) jazz sensibilities into the fold. This makes the whole sound more coherent, and to my ear, better.

I had a good time listening to this. It's been a while since I liked a prog rock album this much.

Or simply cool pop music from a bunch of Swedes who sound like they grew up in the Pacific Northwest.

These folks must have suckled on such ace acts as Young Fresh Fellows, Treepeople and the Posies. The band's pop sense is unerring; these guys know how to write a hook and not beat it to death. A really nice trick.

Sure, this is your basic garage pop thing. Nothing that particularly transcends the genre, but fuckin' 'ell it rocks! Far too exciting to dismiss, and as the disc keeps rolling, the cool tunes pop out one after the other. Oof.

Wish I could say more, but Chester Copperpot is a pop band, pure and simple. They do it well. The guys are Swedish. What else can I say?

Utterly messy punk-pop stuff. So much so, you might think there was a concept going on, or perhaps something "artsy".

I'll buy that to a certain point. This stuff is wildly discordant, with no real center that I discern. And still amusing.

When the Couch really cranks up the amps and the tempo, I'm reminded of old Replacements and old Soul Asylum (which is, of course, a compliment). But most the time the stuff is more mid-tempo, which has its own charms and all, but isn't as immediately appealing.

I've got a feeling I'll really like this after listening to it about fifty times. There's certainly enough going on to warrant such a search. Of course, I may also discover that this is just a complete mess. Just can't tell.

By the way, the CD includes the band's earlier This Life's EP. More of the same, perhaps a bit messier and certainly less produced.

Exceptionally crisp and refined, this "here we go again" reunion studio album brings together most of the original line-up (even if Brian James is merely a guest) to crank out stuff that does sound something like what we now know as the Damned.

Dave Vanian's vocals are in fine form (though a bit high in the mix, if you ask me), and there's plenty of fine guitar work from former Godfathers (he quit that band before Unreal World) Kris Dollimore. Now that I think of it, the hack and slash guitar sound the Damned promulgated twenty years ago is a ready precursor of what Dollimore played with his old mates.

Fun, easy, and kinda forgettable. It doesn't suck, and it doesn't excite me, either. While certainly a record worthy of the Damned above the title, it would have taken a really great album to extend the legend further. That didn't happen.

Another take on the tight-rhythm noise rock concept. Plenty of Jesus Lizard and Killdozer references to keep the silly happy, and enough other shit thrown in to amuse me.

But come on. Even with cool tunes like "Small Teeth", Deerheart just can't seem to make a coherent statement (even considering the genre). The samples and drum machine stuff that gets thrown in are nice ideas, but nothing seems to jell. Kinda like a stew that just doesn't take.

I like a lot of the bits, but on the whole this is disappointing. I can hear plenty of great ideas, but for some reason it doesn't speak to me. I'd like to find a better explanation, but at the moment that's what I've got.

I think Deerheart is a group of folks with plenty of inspiration and potential. All that cool stuff just has to be implemented in a more creative fashion. This puppy sounds cobbled together, and I think Deerheart can do better than that.

Bernie Taupin is easily best-known for writing the lyrics to Elton John's best songs (everything released up to 1978, with a few "reunion" collaborations since then). I'm sure it helps pay the rent.

Taupin recruited sides for a band, called it the Farm Dogs, and then the four of them wrote and recorded this album. The production is generally sparse, which helps accentuate the laid-back, folksy feel. Taupin's lyrics are up to his usual standard, and the playing is immaculate.

Reminds me a bunch of the Notting Hillbillies (Mark Knopfler's Brit-country outfit) that way. Americans have never made country music this way, but I can't complain too much about that. A bit antiseptic, perhaps, but affecting nonetheless.

The other nagging doubt is what sheen the production left. This is quite obviously a seriously commercial outing, despite the protestations to the contrary. Taupin's lyrics are rarely unpretentious. He reaches a bit far at times here, but I appreciate the effort. Once all the little things quit bugging me, I can sit back and enjoy a fun album.

The second Hatza album I've had the privilege of hearing in the past year, and once again I stand impressed.

First, as Hatza's instrument is the Hammond B-3 organ, there is a bit of that lounge quality lying around. But the three sidemen are quite competent and not willing to just sleepwalk through songs. Hatza wrote all but one of the songs (a good sign), and he allows his mates to shine in nearly every song.

And while admittedly mellow, this isn't slow or boring music. It's quite fair to say that the Organization really cooks, ripping through slower and up-tempo pieces with verve and confidence. Hatza knows how to write songs that complement not only his playing but the skills of his band, as well.

The Organization is a perfect example of how mellow jazz doesn't have to degenerate into sappy and insipid crap. Wonderful playing, and a very nice work.

Punk-pop that's nicely crunchy and chaotic. Only five new songs here (with three from a previous 7"), but all are perfectly amazing.

Some odd bits that are strikingly reminiscent of Nirvana, not for any direct rip-off, though. Nathan Westwood handles bass and vocal duties, and his voice is almost eternally flat (not unlike a certain dead guy). And the band has that just-offhand way of cranking out pop gems that very few acts achieve after years of work.

Of course, Nirvana was never cool enough to do a rip-and-shred cover of the Duranies "Save a Prayer". The original is boring and pretentious, but this version is fast, heavy and mean. A like it a lot (like the rest of the disc).

Hoo-boy! Get these guys in the studio again and give me a full-length. I simply cannot wait.

Jangle pop with a real penchant for peppy noise. Lizard Music has no intention of bridging the gap between sanity and chaos, and thus we must revel in the chasm.

Plenty of nice moments, but unfortunately Lizard Music doesn't know how to play pop music straight and so instead of bliss we get saccharine filler. The band is much better when everything is a complete mess.

Who knows exactly where the band wants to go? I think the strategy of writing hooky stuff and then filling up the empty spaces with whatever is lying around is a pretty good one. I liked that part of the disc, anyway. But taking the album as a whole, Lizard Music is positively inconsistent.

Let the guys work a little more and find a more coherent vision (even if that results in wilder music). See what maturity brings.

Plenty of reasons to dislike this puppy, starting with that whole annoying British habit of affecting pop music terribly. But then, "Godiva" is the first song I've heard with a reference to Eric Cantona (the "Au Revior" guy from the Nike football with the devil ad). Which is a plus, I guess.

And Long Fin Killie has crafted a definitely odd sound niche for itself. The rhythm section is tight, but very low key. Lots of quick bass and percussion runs, almost below the surface. Kinda an odd, bubbly feel. I'm still trying to get used to it.

Because the plain fact is, (like I said at the start) this is damned hard to like. The lyrics are astonishingly inscrutable most of the time, and when they do make sense, it's more like nonsense. The musical range of the band is fairly limited (but original, to give the folks their due), and if you don't like the sound of one song, you won't like the rest of this.

Long Fin Killie has worked quite hard to create an original sound. I like that. I think the sound is interesting, even if I don't have a huge affection for it. The production has lent itself to this odd sort of music nicely. If not for the silliness of the lyrics, I might like this more. Perhaps.

Four Japanese guys travel to Chicago, get Jim O'Rourke to mix their album and even feature K.K. Null on keys on one song. Oh, you've heard of Melt-Banana?

Blissful, yelping noise pop that's far too infectious to put down. Even folks who aren't into managed insanity should get off on the energy of this album. It's a huge adrenaline rush.

Kinda like surf noise. You can just ride along, bob your head and yelp when you feel like it. Highly entertaining and immensely pleasing. Certainly on the pop side of noise music, Melt-Banana has cranked out a fine set of tunes (22 in 30 minutes). Waycool.

The first time this album has seen the light of day in quite some time (it was originally on Rough Trade-- 'nuff sed). This is their second album, and, well, the amazing thing is how little everything has changed.

Same angst-ridden youthful POV lyrics, same bouncy rhythm section. And plenty of great tunes (the 17 of the album, plus five bonus tracks). A pretty damned cool package.

I don't review re-issues very often (and it's not like this is much of one, anyway), but this puppy deserved some special attention. A fine band whose earlier years can now be heard by a whole new generation of punx.

Cindy Wheeler and Jenny Juristo have been cruising the Tampa scene for as long as I've been born (a bit of an overstatement, but not by much). After decades of trying, they land a big score and get a recording contract.

I got an advance for this about four months ago, and the tape was dreadful. The mix was terrible, and everything sounded completely out of tune. The disc rectifies some of those problems, but we're still stuck with Juristo and Wheeler's rambling, atonal, sing-song melodies (and out-of-tune accordion and clarinet licks). After about three minutes, this stuff gets terribly annoying.

While it may be cool these days to be a completely untalented musician who can whip catchy pop tunes out of your ass, Pee Shy gets all that mixed up. Wheeler and Juristo are fairly competent musicians who are playing like amateurs because that's the style. And these songs aren't anything like pop gems. Stuff like "Jason, I Thought I Saw a UFO" have certain novelty appeal, but not much more.

The word that keeps popping up is "dreary". Each song sounds a lot like the one that preceded it, except worse. I've never been impressed by folks who work this hard to be "alternative".

Jonesin' for the Bowie, fer sure, man. If this isn't some kind of Bizarro-world incarnation of the Spiders, well, fuck.

"Starfucker Love" is fairly amusing, if only for the "Fox on the Run" meets "Fame" groove (with the exception of the pointless reggae patois at the end). Hey, I'm as big a 70s glam fan as anyone, but hell, camp it up like Star Star or something. The only person who could really warp this stuff into artistic overdrive was Bowie, and he takes himself much less seriously than Psychotica. And that's saying something.

Even while vamping through Devo's "Freedom of Choice", vocalist Pat Briggs refuses to recognize the humor in all this. I'd like to laugh with him, but I guess I'll have to settle for laughing at him.

One of them conceptual, intellectual chicks from across the pond who write songs in whatever current pop idiom makes sense at the time. Kate Bush, Sinead O'Connor, that sort of thing.

Well, Sharam is across the other pond (and thus is from Australia), but like the aforementioned singers would probably do physical damage to your person if you referred to her as a "chick" in her presence. Sharam isn't afraid of taking on a whole set of musical ideas and trying to accommodate pop sensibilities. The results are mixed, as they have to be with a young songwriter, but I'm always impressed by the effort.

Yeah, stuff like "Purple Flower" shows a knack for pabulum that would be more distressing if most of the other songs weren't much better. Sharam isn't going to impress anyone looking for something revolutionary, but she plays her field pretty well. An intriguing debut.

Strident pop tunes, some mellow and some more raucous. This would be one of them "Pavement" type of things, I guess.

Though I find Slambook more interesting. Thirteen tracks and thirty-five minutes of music means only an EP? I like these guys' attitude already...

And they try so hard, you can hear it. Slambook is straining to make a really important statement, and things just didn't quite work out. Plenty of nice tunes; plenty of nasty sentiments. But something rings funny.

Can't put my finger on it (that's been a problem this week). Maybe it's just the obvious stretch marks on what is supposed to be minimalist pop. Too much undisguised work went into this project, I think. A bit looser sound would have helped out bunches. And still, a pretty good set.

Five Swedes who try and cross Rollins Band, Fudge Tunnel and Black Sabbath with mixed results.

The production is quite fine, though, giving Soulquake one hell of a sound (it took Fudge Tunnel three albums to get to this level of sonic violence). When the songs really kick in and get nasty, well, that's pretty fucking fun.

But Soulquake has moments where it wants to wank around a bit and get artsy. All fine and good, I suppose, but the band doesn't do that very well. Songs like "Mawha" come across as pale imitations of the sorta stuff Season to Risk did so well. Soulquake has the ability to work well with speed and volume. Why not take advantage of that?

Well, the guys do, for the most part. I just wish they would forget the other stuff (pretentious punk rants are pretty hard to justify, in my book) and get on with the vicious stuff.

Two shots of pure adrenaline from Japan's foremost authority on the subject. Space Streakings, if you don't know, crank out keyboard-driven mayhem like no one else I've heard.

Some call this video game music. Apparently kids (like 10-year-olds) love it, mostly because it moves at about the same speed they do, I guess. I like to tap into that source, and I love the mess left in the wake of the attack.

Honestly, it's pretty futile to try and explain the differences between the sides, except to say that the flip ("Life Up 65000") is a bit more experimental and also a bit more aggro. You can make out more of the vocals, though as they're in Japanese, it doesn't help me much.

Um, yeah, I loved it. Can't you tell?

I really don't understand. Blues Bureau put out a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn a few years back, containing many of the same songs reprised here. The guitarists represented include Steve Stevens, John Sykes, Steve Morse, Trevor Rabin (?!?) and Stanley Jordan.

The tracks are mostly insipid run-throughs, with truly dull vocals. The production has left everything fuzzed out, which isn't the best way to appreciate the music. The blues is almost always better sharp, with all the imperfections out in the open. These performances are rote and boring.

This was licensed from another company (Triage), which might explain the repeated tracks and such. It doesn't explain, however, why the folks at Blues Bureau (which also means Shrapnel) thought this collection was worth releasing.

Four cool bands rip through AC/DC material. With more similar 7"s to come. This is either a brilliant idea, or perhaps the dumbest one of all time.

Well, let's see. Shellac does "'95 Jailbreak", Big'N does "T.N.T.", Brise-Glace cobbles together a few songs as "Angus Dei Aus Light" and U.S. Maple tosses off "Sin City." Oh, and a cool comic book (the story continues throughout the series).

Alright, so it's brilliant. Shellac does a decent noise-deconstruct of its song, alternately annoying and groovy. Big'N simply degrades "T.N.T." into a gooey mess. The Brise-Glace thing is perfectly wild, and U.S. Maple wraps up the set with a perfectly chilling performance.

It goes without saying the coolest thing about this set is that the bands did only Bon Scott-era tunes. Getting into the '80s is still passe. One of the strangest and coolest tribute sets around. Catch on to the series.

A tribute to Rush. With folks like Sebastian Bach, Eric Martin and Mark Slaughter singing. Jake E. Lee, James Murphy and George Lynch are among those who sit in on guitar. Fates Warning contributes a track ("Closer to the Heart"), but the rest of this is another of those studio things all cobbled together.

The pluses: "Tom Sawyer", "New World Man" and "Big Money" (the chart hits) aren't here. Of course, the aforementioned Fates Warning track and run-throughs of "Red Barchetta" and "Freewill" (the last two close the album) are. And everyone is trying really hard to sound like Rush. WHY?

The only reason a person would buy a tribute album would be to hear how different artists interpret the songs. Here, the songs are note for note, riff for riff, keyboard shuffle for... you get the idea. Hey, the stuff sounds great, just like Rush. So why buy it?