All The Empires Of The World - Last Rites

All the Empires of the World are a tough band to describe. They released a twenty-one minute EP that consisted of one song full of atmospheric sounds, post rock melodies and crushing post metal riffs. They subsequently followed up with two EPs full of ambient/dissonant soundscapes – one of which was another forty-five minute, single-track monster. With that in mind, this latest release, Last Rites, is probably the easiest thing they’ve released in their careers. It contains three tracks (with only one breaking ten minutes) and returns the post rock melodies and crushing post metal riffs to their rightful prominence. Each song contains various movements that include everything from mellow clean guitars and washes of synth to thick, distorted riffs and crushing percussion. The most impressive of the three songs is “…Will Be Laid to Waste (AJ Cookson Remix)” which turns the bass guitar up to floor-rattling levels and pushes the percussion to the forefront of the song, with emphasis on the cymbals. This is accentuated by sci-fi synths and outbursts of huge walls of distorted riffs. This would be worth checking out at just about any reasonable price, but the album (all of their albums) is actually free on their Myspace page - just look in the blog section. / Trey Spencer

All The Empires @ Myspace // Full Album Download

Nothing irks a band more than being pigeon-holed, but it must hurt doubly to be holed in the wrong coop entirely. And with all due respect to post-rock, And So I Watch You From Afar’s music is so far removed from the post-crescendo genre that it warrants screaming from the roof-tops - in fact, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. The Belfast-based band’s raucous sound is a dynamic mix of the ferocity and intensity of DC hardcore and the carefree abandon of arena rock. To point out the obvious contradiction would be to miss the point entirely. Opener ‘Set Guitars To Kill’ is a perfect example, kicking the album off with a crunching power chord riff and pulsating reverb-soaked drums that give way to increasingly more chaotic and dissonant exchanges. There is the odd moment within a song of overt post-rockishness: for instance, single ‘A Little Bit Of Solidarity Goes A Long Way’ works the silence-crescendo model to a T. But the overall effect is more comparable to compatriots and frequent touring partners Adebisi Shank, as they’re more likely to lock into a dynamic groove and play off that energy than to tease listeners with the quiet-loud formula. / Dave de Sylvia

And So I Watch @ Myspace // "Set Guitars To Kill" @ Youtube

Try Future is a highly unique and somewhat paradoxical album. While vocalist Germen's nasally, tweaked out Cedric Bixler-lite delivery can be at times grating (and frequently polarizing, I predict), his vocals never fringe too close to plagiarism. This reigns true for much of the album, as Try Future succeeds because of its near seamless blend of influences without actually sounding a lot like any of them. This is post-At the Drive-In played by the Melvins using Krallice's sense of tonality with Gospel's drummer behind the kit. And what a drummer he is. Guile is like Damon Che on steroids; the man is relentless and quite possibly an octopus. The rest of the band are no slouches, either. Try Future is a remarkable success, but what holds it back from being truly special is that its sometimes relentless nature can be a little overbearing, though to it's credit it clocks in at a modest 41 minutes. If you're curious, be sure to check out the pummelling title track and the Krallice-like, tremolo-heavy "Embers". / Tyler Munro

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

With Cymbals Eat Guitars debut release Why There Are Mountains lies raw passion and unnoticed brilliance. Every word and riff appears delicately planned as their unrefined indie rock, with a post rock edge, entices listeners repeatedly. Upon the first listen unravels their spontaneous, yet cohesive foundation. Every listen after is simply a bonus, whether it be dancing to the charming hit “Some Trees” or feeling that rush of euphoria sliver down your spine during “Wind Phoenix.” These guys know how to shred, and hardly show any form of inexperience. Gritty and soulful, Why There Are Mountains shouts a million-and-one reasons why Cymbals Eat Guitars should be playing right now; give it a spin and you too will know the reasons. / Ryan Flatley

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Myspace // "Some Trees" @ Youtube

If you’re after the perfect album for a teenage summer, then there’s not much better you could do than All I Have To Offer… Brimming with an energy untarnished by anything less than a rollicking set of feel-good pop punk anthems, Fireworks make it their sole mission to drag kids kicking and screaming out from whichever dark, angry hole they’ve dug themselves and into the sunlight of their wistful playground of emotionally aggressive fun. Infused with a hardcore ethos drawn from fellow bands like Set Your Goals and Four Year Strong, what is on offer here, title aside, is a slew of wispy, bouncing guitar lines that flail playfully around David Mackinder’s poignantly innocent lyrics. There’s a certain nostalgia here too, but only just enough to make All I Have To Offer… the album you’ll look back on and say “hey, now that… that was a good time” with a tinge of heartfelt warmth and memory. While it may not be on the cutting edge of the scene, with its constant tsunamis of catchy, Yeti-sized chorus and way-above-the-standard songwriting, its one of the most gloriously infectious albums to creep up from the sidelines of ’09 – and to do anything but revel in its light would be a crime against all that is awesome.  / Alex Silveri

Fireworks @ Myspace // "Detroit" @ Youtube

You know that genre of music myspace bands who think they're clever list themselves as? "Melodramatic Popular Song?" Well, Kiss Kiss actually could list themselves under that tag. Somehow remaining accessible and catchy as hell while experimenting with asymmetrical time signatures and hyper tempos, Kiss Kiss' second record, The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left, is a killer blend of the band's signature "eastern-european flavored" pop and their willfully goofy, over-the-top deconstruction of standard form. Tinkling on toy pianos in 7/8 never sounded so good as frontman Josh Benash's sigh/singing mantra works just as well whether its accompanying a furious romp or a powerful ballad. As on their last record, the final two tracks should be enough to convince you that Kiss Kiss are something special, just in case you didn't know that already from the preceding tracks. But that probably won't be the case. / Adam Downer

Kiss Kiss @ Myspace // "All They Draw" @ Youtube

Kurt Vile is Jandek lite. If you've been acquainted with Jandek's unique brand of... well, unique folk, you should know what I mean (I say lite because Vile is that little bit less odd). But for those who have no idea what I'm talking about, let me explain. Basically, you know dreams? The good ones? This is kind of like that. Kurt Vile (yes, that's actually his name) strums his acoustic guitar with a hypnotizing, comforting lucidity and slurs over his microphone with a sense of detachment from reality which diffuses in the air and permeates the listener. You'll feel yourself being sucked into Vile's floating world of nostalgia, a world where its one inhabitant is totally oblivious (or simply uninterested) to his surroundings, to his place in time. You ever been crossing a bridge at 3.30 in the morning, when gradually you begin to hear the blurry sounds of a homeless busker underneath you coming into focus? When they think no-one can hear, when it's no longer for change but for themselves? If you haven't, listen to this. The result is magical – a gentle escape from everything present. / Matt Wolfe

Kurt Vile @ Myspace // "Freeway" @ Youtube

After a winter and early spring of cerebral and progressive albums that tickled the music nerd in me but didn't really move me to bliss, Passion Pit's Manners filled that gaping hole. Passion Pit are really just a pop band, which comes out strongest on songs like "Sleepyhead" and "Little Secrets," both of which feature bouncy synth lines and upbeat drum patterns. Their dedication to keeping their music light and catchy makes Manners an excited but effervescent journey. Despite this simplicity, they also manage to layer in gorgeous production values that make the fast songs feel like dazzling kaleidoscopes of electronics and falsetto, and transport the slower songs like "Moth's Wings" and "Let Your Love Grow Tall" to dreamy, pensive anthems that bubble and froth. Manners is the kind of album that can make a person burst out singing and dancing, or just leave him simmering in its awesomeness. / Nick Greer

Passion Pit @ Myspace // "Sleepyhead" @ Youtube

The formula behind Flowers From Exile is simple - grave, solemn voice meets pretty, expansive folk - but it works, again and again. Jerome Reuter's voice draws obvious comparisons to Mark Lanegan, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave, and to some of the better slowcore singers too; it's deep, dark, and it makes every word he sings sound like a biblical epic. It's no wonder that the album is divided into four movements and the songs have titles like "Odessa", "The Legacy of Unrest" and "Swords to Rust/Hearts to Dust" - his voice just demands that kind of pretension, because it could never sing a simple sentiment without making it sound like it had a world of hidden meaning. There's just so much gravity there it's astonishing. Yet while the music could easily indulge it, it never does - pastoral strumming, gentle percussion, and elegant violin and viola playing abound, and while it's not anything you could ever describe as particularly happy, it's a vital, contrasting counterpoint to the depressive seriousness of Reuter. There's something undeniably windswept, even slightly narcotic, about the brand of folk music that Rome conjure here, and the unpretentious atmosphere it offers to proceedings is basically perfect for the songs it's carrying. It's almost too well judged - music this well crafted and transcendental seems somehow wrong in the fractured landscape of 2009. / Nick Butler

Rome @ Myspace // "Swords to Rust/Hearts to Dust" @ Youtube

Sol.Illaquists Of Sound - No More Heroes

Criminally overlooked in August, No More Heroes presents a dichotomy of conscious lyricism and infectious pop. From the onset of "Marvel" one does exactly that - marvel at undoubtedly the best track of the year and its eclectic cross-breeding of electronic soaked and uptempo beats, Outkast influenced and densely-literate verses, and the crooning of an indie-diva. MC SwamBurger gets his point across eloquently and poetically, dropping rapid-fire lines over 6/8 passages and enough titular interpretation to shake a stick at. Indeed, drawing up a dedication to the late Dilla on "Death of the Muse" embodies the very essence of No More Heroes; Chali 2na, J-Live, and Ma Dukes (Dilla's mom) herself lend their presence to a brilliantly executed discussion of creative muses.  DaViNCi's role here is paramount, providing multi-sourced productions - horns, soul, The Prodigy reminscient techno of "Gotham City Chase Scene", it's all here. / Sobhi Abdul-Rakhman

Sol.Illaquists @ Myspace // "Death of the Muse" @ Youtube

Teenage Cool Kids' 2007 release "Queer Salutations" was heavily indebted to the midwest trends of indie rock. Built To Spill and Modest Mouse both seemed to be highly influential on the group's guitar playing but something more aggressive was at the base of the group's sound. The band's sophomore release seems to embrace the more extended versions of those previous influences and instead of playing two minute pop songs the group is focusing on more lengthy compositions. Teenage Cool Kids embellish on the stagnancy of indie rock without falling into the kitschy technicality of certain 2009 contemporaries. Not to insult those bands in the slight, but 'Foreign Lands' is a record that actually suits a public situation. Sticking to traditional rock instruments Teenage Cool Kids have made a easily listenable and refreshing record with 'Foreign Lands'. / Jared Dillon

Teenage Cool Kids @ Myspace // "Foreign Lands" @ Youtube

Hospice is a emotional rollercoaster, a melancholic singer/songwriter effort that’s dressed up with grandiose instrumentation and ambitious songwriting. Yet there’s also the matter of the album’s shoddy production values, which contrast with ringleader Peter Silberman’s ambitions while providing a more intimate feel through crackly silences and other imperfect perfections. This paradox is just one of many reasons why Hospice is one of 2009’s brightest releases; amongst other positives such as Silberman‘s impressive vocal performance and songs such as “Two“ and “Kettering“, which are each bound to be among the year‘s best. While it took until an August re-release for Hospice to receive any full-blown attention via any indie tastemakers, you're doing yourself a disservice if you still haven't heard it. / Cam

The Antlers @ Myspace // "Kettering" @ Youtube

Therapy? - Crooked Timber

Northern Ireland's Therapy? celebrate their twentieth anniversary this year with 'Crooked Timber,' their tenth full-length in the band's storied career. Breaking away from formulaic structures that frontman Andy Cairns had grown tired of, 'Crooked Timber' - whose name is derived from philosopher Immanuel Kant's quotation that, "From the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made" - is a darker, twisted album that never loses sight of melody and harmony. Take for instance the spooky intro of the album's title track, complete with harmonics and eerie atmospherics, which gives way to a groovy main riff and Cairns' signature seasoned vocals, or the sludgy "Enjoy the Struggle" and its punishing rhythm section behind Michael McKeegan and Neil Cooper. 'Crooked Timber' is an incredibly diverse record and easily the band's best since either the '94-'95 'Troublegum'/'Infernal Love' years or 2004's 'Never Apologise, Never Explain,' and it makes for one of 2009's most captivating and engaging rock listens. / Jom

Therapy? @ Myspace // "Enjoy the Struggle" @ Youtube

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