| Andross Stay In The Suit | 3.5 |
| Tim Balch did an awesome job writing and performing all the songs and then the studio did an awesome job pooping all over them. Sounds harsh, but I always try to listen to this album "in spite" of the weird-sounding production |
| Andross These Are The Giants We Know | 5.0 |
| Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory | 2.5 |
| On every song of this album I can hear all of the untapped potential and greatness that this band is capable of and so close to reaching with Attack On Memory, but they fall just short and it in turn keeps me from liking the album as much as I feel like I could |
| Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream | 3.0 |
| It's impossible to give your opinion on this album without mentioning the steep drop off in quality after the first three songs. So now that's over and done with. When this album succeeds, it gives you instantly likeable synthpop songs bolstered by hypnotic guitars and devilishly catchy songwriting. When this album fails, it gives you a headache. Still, with that said, those first three songs still warrant more than a few listens. |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 4.5 |
| What this album sounds like: 40 minutes of Nate singing, cheerfully unrestrained by the confines of a four piece rock band, exploring and finishing ideas he experimented with on Dog Problems |
| Grouplove Never Trust A Happy Song | 3.5 |
| As a whole, this album is quite disappointing because after "Itchin' On A Photograph," nothing else is as good. Then again, "Itchin' On A Photograph" is probably one of the best songs I've heard in the past few years, so it's probably not fair to compare directly |
| Ida Maria Fortress Round My Heart | 3.5 |
| Upbeat, cheerful, unabashed. An outstanding album full of unavoidable hooks and lyrics you want to scream along with while in the shower, in the car, or anywhere |
| Justice † | 4.0 |
| This is the first time I listened to electronic music and thought, "Hey this doesn't sound corny." Cross is full of filthy aural textures, righteous bass lines and good songwriting. One of the best of the decade. |
| Passion Pit Gossamer | 2.0 |
| An album full of half-realized, unfocused ideas lacking the charm of the first one |
| Passion Pit Manners | 4.0 |
| There is a surprising amount of depth and texture to these otherwise easily accessible pop songs. Keeps me coming back for more. |
| Saves the Day In Reverie | 4.0 |
| Smartly catchy in many ways, containing more pop and polish than Through Being Cool or Stay What You Are. Don't let it frighten you away from some legitimately excellent songwriting. It's a great album, but perhaps it was the wrong one to follow Stay What You Are |
| Saves the Day Stay What You Are | 5.0 |
| Pop punk goodness overload. Lyrics dark and edgy in parts, gleeful and free in others. Instruments, vocals, songwriting - consistently excellent throughout. |
| Say Anything Baseball | 3.0 |
| Outstanding songwriting hampered by poor production values. Max Bemis flexing his musical muscles right before bursting onto the scene with Is A Real Boy. Worth more than a few listens. |
| Say Anything ...Is a Real Boy | 4.5 |
| The music, the lyrics, the timing of this album.... One of the best albums I've heard and it's not even one of my favorites. I just have to admit my admiration for this band and this album in particular for being such a masterpiece of a release. |
| Sparta Threes | 2.5 |
| After Porcelain and Wiretap Scars, this album sure had some high expectations to match. If you're a fan of the band, you can try as hard as you can to ignore the comparisons and to try and appreciate this album on its own. However, no matter how hard I tried to like Threes, it never left me with the same feeling of satisfaction that the first two did. |
| Sparta Porcelain | 3.5 |
| Every time I listen to this album, it makes my ears feel good |
| Sparta Wiretap Scars | 4.0 |
| Loud and aggressive in places, light and ethereal in others. Sonic goodness. |
| The Acorn Glory Hope Mountain | 4.5 |
| In just a few words: breathtaking, intimate, beautiful. Musical joy. |
| The Format Interventions and Lullabies | 3.0 |
| This album has lurked in my iTunes library for the better part of a decade at this point, mostly thanks to the strength of songs like "Tune Out," "On Your Porch," and "A Save Situation." For me at least, I&L will always possess that magical quality that certain albums have that make you want to play it in your car and go places |
| The Format Dog Problems | 5.0 |
| One of the best pop albums of the past decade. Dog Problems sure is a bit of a departure from Interventions and Lullabies, and in fact the difference was a bit of a turn off for me when I first tried to listen to this album. I would turn it on, get two or three songs in, and then listen to something else because it just didn't remind me of Interventions & Lullabies. It took me a while to appreciate Dog Problems on its own, but once I did, I realized that these are some of the best songs Sam and Nate have ever written together. Worth a listen. |
| The Spinto Band Moonwink | 4.5 |
| It's like the whole band swallowed a few thousand Adderall pills and then decided to get together and write music |
| The Wombats A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation | 3.0 |
| Energetic and gleefully so despite the actually kind of sad nature of the songs. At the same time, focused and purposeful, even if it is in an unashamedly immature fashion |
| Weezer Pinkerton | 4.5 |
| Very rare to find albums as consistently good as Pinkerton. Even rarer to find albums with the sheer caliber of songwriting as Pinkerton. Delicious in all the right places. |
| Youth Lagoon The Year of Hibernation | 4.0 |
| I hated this album the first time I heard it, but something kept me coming back to it. Not sure whether it's the warm, outer space-y sounding chords or the dreamy reverb drenched vocals on all the songs, but whatever it is, it's like food for my soul |
| ZOX Take Me Home | 3.5 |
| This album comprised of the following in varying quantities: reggae, punk, rock, pop, classical, fun |
| ZOX The Wait | 4.0 |
| It's like a grown-up version of Take Me Home with added polish in terms of production value, lyrical content and song construction. That sounded like a criticism but I actually loved Take Me Home and this one ranks up on my favorites list as well. |
