Alkaline Trio – The Addiction: One of the original emo acts, Alkaline Trio has always sort of fallen along the wayside by acts like Fall Out Boy, and the epitome of emo rock, Dashboard Confessional. To start things off, “This Addiction” benefits from some pretty old school punk parts, and serves well as the intro to a record that, if nothing else, is well-produced.

“Dine, Dine, My Darling” pays tribute to The Misfits in title, but outside of that it’s pretty Trio-ish. Oddly enough The Misfits influence seems to pop up again when I listen to the rest of the songs, especially when hearing lead singer ‘s voice — I think it’s just because he opts for a lower register than all the nasally high-pitched stuff of other emo bands nowadays. It’s a welcome departure. Obviously AT fans will love this. As an old punk rock purist bastard, I am inclined to hate it, but alongside other dime-a-dozen acts like this, Trio’s a lot more interesting to listen to.

Butch Walker – I Liked You Better When You Had No Heart: If you haven’t heard him before, Butch Walker’s big moment thus far has been leading the alt-rock band Marvelous 3 back in the late 90s. In the meantime he’s made his fair share of dough writing hits for Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, and others. If anything his latest record proves he’s got a style all his own, itself a conglomeration of a whole bunch of genres of yore: rockabilly, glam, The Beatles, and straight up acoustic ballads, among others. There’s a lot of Lou Reed, a lot of David Bowie, and other 70s-era glam in his songwriting style, still quite noticeable even in his softer side. I tend to want to run a drill bit through my forehead when I’m overexposed to acoustic stuff, but Butch Walker has always been fun just because of the sheer diversity of his music. This is modern rock made for ADD-ers who get tired after a few seconds and push ‘skip’ on the CD player.

High on Fire - Snakes for the Devine: From what I hear, there’s been a lot of high hopes heaped upon this band. Can they develop a new sound without coming across re-hashed and tired? It’s hard to be metal and not sound like you’re stealing from the past, but that’s why there’s Opeth and Ihsahn and a lot of the Scandinavian bands that have brought the genre to a whole new level. High on Fire owes a lot to Black Sabbath, stoner rock in general, Slayer, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, etc.). If you’re a die-hard metal head, this should probably satisfy. But despite some great solos and riffs and all that stuff metal bands do, it’s just pretty meh. Seek thee the aforementioned acts instead.

Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me: The first instrument Joanna learned was the Celtic Harp. Whereas most of us were forced into piano and/or violin as a kid, it might be Joanna’s unique musical youth that’s given her a really unique and varied sound. There’s a little Tori Amos in there, but this is mostly a softer (emphasis on soft), more unique album that carries an almost Renaissance-ish folkiness to it (yeah probably because of that harp). It’s a wee bit subtle in its emotions, almost like you really really have to pay attention to what’s going on to really appreciate it. Most of Newsom’s songs are also so damn quiet you have to crank that stereo all the way up to 11 to hear a lot of it. It’s a double CD release, so after a while a lot of the stuff seems to blend together. It’s such a welcome departure from the usual modern-day folk sound, however, that it makes up for a lot of the monotony. If you’re a Joanna Newsom regular, chances are you’ll be getting it. As a newcomer you might dig it, but this will probably be the first and last Joanna Newsom CD you buy.

Words by Jeff Nau