It Seems Like Something My Dad Would Like

• Artist: The Palladinos
  
• Album: Travelling Dark
  
• Year: 1994
  
• Why I picked it up: The cover had a very pretty stained glass picture on it of a woman walking a path of brightly colored rocks, and I thought it looked interesting. There was an offhand chance that it might be metal.

The Palladinos have a sound which is very noteable, but I'm having trouble describing it. It's one of those banana/pomegranate issues, if you will. It's a folksy rock sound, I guess. I keep getting strong hippie vibes as I listen to it (but not in a trippy way). The vocalists have very strong and steady voices, and they're obviously very secure in their sound. The mandolin on the handful of tracks it is featured in is pretty nifty. Overall, pretty nice slow-ish calm rock that is appealing, if a little dated.

What's cool is that in the liner notes, next to each song's title is the key in which it was written.

• Standout track: Moon On The Motorway
  
• MySpace: N/A
  
• How much I would've paid: $2
  
• Rating: 3/5

Three Guitarists, a Bassist, a Singer, and a Drummer

• Artist: Circuit
  
• Album: Eau De Humanity
  
• Year: 2006
  
• Why I picked it up: The cover has a bottle floating in what I assume is the perfume "Eau De Humanity." I wondered what the smell of humanity sounded like... I think.

Circuit is a typical rock band that plays a very classic guitar focused sound, which is full of complex riffs that display the guitarists' talents. The vocalist has the common powerful, mid ranged voice that is found in classic rock. What I find to be the biggest fault in the band is that the bass, drums, and keyboards that are listed in the liner notes are very insubstantial. However, the collection of songs is, nonetheless, very strong. The album contains power anthems, as well as the rock ballads with the changed up slower tempo and dampened vocals. Circuit also has their fair share of harder post-grunge/alt rock songs (with slightly less technical guitar riffs) of the type that filled the late 90s so much.

I guess my final verdict on the "Eau De Humanity" is... that it smells nice?

• Standout track: Reasoning
  
• MySpace: Circuit
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

No es español

• Artist: Soft Complex
  
• Album: Barcelona+
  
• Year: 2006
  
• Why I picked it up: The artwork gave off a nice electronic vibe, something I was in the mood for.

I'm going to guess that at some time Soft Complex released an EP called Barcelona. It had three tracks: Barcelona, Sad Note, and Beat the Chill. I hypothesize this because Barcelona+ also has these three tracks, as well as five remixes of the tracks. Fortunately, the three original tracks are all quite excellent in their own ways. Sadly, not all of the remixes fare as well. Some, like the Person Autopilot remix of Sad Note, are quite excellent. Others, like both remixes of Barcelona, aren't nearly as good––surprising, since Barcelona is probably the best of the original three tracks.

In the end, it's a good collection of songs, although I wish that it had been entirely Soft Complex's work, as they seem to be the best of the bunch.

• Standout track: Barcelona
  
• MySpace: Soft Complex
  
• How much I would've paid: $6
  
• Rating: 3/5

Typical, Just Typical

• Artist: The Adored
  
• Album: A New Language
  
• Year: 2006
  
• Why I picked it up: From the cover and such it gave off a large new wave rock vibe that I figured I would dig. Here's hoping...

Yup, The Adored's sound is the very mainstream new wave/powerpop/indie rock that so many bands nowadays are working with. Amongst all these other bands with similar sounds, The Adored do not stand out in any way. Their vocalist sounds so overly generic, and musically it's completely typical. If you haven't listened to any of the new mainstream sound, The Adored would be a good introduction, but you could quickly move on to bigger and better bands. If you already have your favorite powerpop/rock band decided, The Adored will not break through into your music collection.

It's not all that bad, really, just unoriginal and the songs sound quite alike.

• Standout track: Chemistry
  
• MySpace: The Adored
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

Do King Cobras?

• Artist: Vending Machine
  
• Album: King Cobras Do
  
• Year: 2007
  
• Why I picked it up: The drawings on the covers looked like little kid drawings, which was fun and gave the impression that there might be nice indie rock inside.

Vending Machine is the name for the very nice alternative rock artist Robby Grant, and he has quite a unique sound. I fail to describe it, but I certainly do enjoy listening to him. His sound consists of nice synths, guitars, drums, and other typical instruments, with the synth (when he employs the use of a synth) and vocals being especially excellent. The album starts off amazingly with quite a few excellent upbeat tracks, but it goes down hill halfway through, and the later tracks do not measure up to the quality of the first few.

Yeah, I can't really think of more to say about this CD. It's good, and that's that.

• Standout track: Babies
  
• MySpace: Vending Machine
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

Magnethead

• Artist: Magnet School
  
• Album: Tonight We Drink... Tomorrow We Battle The Evil At Hand
  
• Year: 2007
  
• Why I picked it up: I was feeling in the mood for some electronica, and the disco ball on the cover led me to believe at worse I'd be getting some club dance music.

Magnet School is very competent rock highly reminiscent of Radiohead and similar bands. To a lot of people––myself included––this is a very good thing (I rank OK Computer in my top five albums of all time). That said, they have their own sound a lot of the time as well, but it's hard to not draw comparisons when listening to the larger-than-life guitars and vocals that sound like they're simply fighting to be heard. Ultimately, the album boils down to what so many of these albums do: it's an enjoyable listen, but you won't remember it for long. If you're a big fan of the sound, though, I recommend you track down this album.

Fun fact: This album is put out by the label "Exploded Hooker Music".

• Standout track: Seventensplit
  
• MySpace: Magnet School
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

Genre Defying

• Artist: Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat
  
• Album: Take That!
  
• Year: 2009
  
• Why I picked it up: I had to. The front and back cover art were priceless. And, I noted that it said it was printed and released in 2009, which rose the question as to why it was already in the bargain bin. I just had to hear it.

So many times while listening to this I just wondered "What the hell is this?" Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat thoroughly destroy any genres I tried to place them into. Occasionally they're electronica, then they suddenly turn to hard rock, followed by some cabaret, and then a poppy-ish song comes up, and so on until they've played every sound possible. Along with these many genres comes... a surprisingly good CD, and not in just a laughable manner. The songs are pretty far out there lyrically and they are still able to hold themselves up instrumentally. Their synth sounds--on the songs which have them--are very well done, the keyboards are great, and their range of other instruments are strong enough to support the main draw of the band, the lyricists. The female vocalist (Mistress Stephanie) has a voice which fits the sound of the band very well, and the male vocalist (Her Melodic Cat) sings with a droning, slightly accented voice that continues to accentuate the sound of the band. They are certainly a shocking band, and their image is definitely what they are trying to use as the main draw to their band, but they do have something more behind the leather and whips, which makes this album a fun listen.

The case says that it's made out of 100% recycled plastic. That's a plus.

• Standout tracks: Get Off My Chest, Awfully Confusing
  
• MySpace: Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

I usually sunburn when I sun dry

• Artist: The Surf The Sundried
  
• Album: The Surf The Sundried
  
• Year: 2003
  
• Why I picked it up: My quest for indie rock continued yet again with yet another indie rock-ish cover.

This one's actually a pretty tricky one to write. The Surf The Sundried have a very nice sound, with quiet acoustic guitar, subdued drums, and very excellent vocals. About half of the album is standard-but-excellent quiet indie rock. The problem is the other half of the album, which is much more in the realm of noise. Sometimes noise can work, but other times it really doesn't. The mixture of truly excellent music with dissidence simply isn't one that works out very well, which really hurts the album. At over an hour long, this misstep turns into a major problem.

Also, can we pass a law forbidding untitled tracks? Thanks.

• Standout track: Stealth Bomber
  
• MySpace: The Surf The Sundried
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

Duct Tape and a Gun

• Artist: Ominous Seapods
  
• Album: The Super Man Curse
  
• Year: 2000
  
• Why I picked it up: The cover has a pretty good picture of the band members watching Clark Kent a Super Man take off. (I see what you did there.)

The Ominous Seapods are a pretty competent rock band with heavy guitar tracks and liberal use of a wah-wah pedal, and the occasional bit of brass thrown in. Overall, it adds up to a pretty good, if slightly generic rock. The biggest issue is that after the disc is done, not many of the songs stick around in the mind. The only highly-memorable song is the comedy track "Bong Hits & Porn," although it is by no means their best. The album also comes with a fantastic three-track live disc, including a great rendition of "Ziggy Stardust." Sure, it's not Bowie himself, but it's still a great listen.

Well, it's Saturday afternoon, I'm gonna go do some bong hits and porn.

• Standout track: Money to Burn
  
• MySpace: Ominous Seapods
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5

Mediocrity Incarnate

• Artist: Dave Baker
  
• Album: Dance of the Iguana
  
• Year: 1995
  
• Why I picked it up: C'mon, it's called "Dance of the Iguana." Let me give that a moment to sink in. Dance of the Iguana.

Dance of the Iguana is a collection of instrumental smooth jazz, ranging from hypnotically soothing to relatively upbeat. Perhaps the most stand-out thing about the album is how mundane it is. Nothing about the album stands out, either for good or bad. The music is great for what it is, but quite frankly smooth jazz has never been known for being terribly gripping or memorable. It's also not exactly brilliant, as most of the songs sound similar and Dave Baker's sound fades from memory by the time the album comes to a close. This is perhaps the epitome of music that will sound good to people who love the genre, and terrible to people who don't.

I personally find the music soothing, but not usually what I'm looking for. Your mileage will vary.

• Standout track: If You Only Knew
  
• MySpace: Dave Baker
  
• How much I would've paid: $3
  
• Rating: 3/5

Do emotional fish cry saltwater tears?

• Artist: An Emotional Fish
  
• Album: An Emotional Fish
  
• Year: 1990
  
• Why I picked it up: The band's name is An Emotional Fish. An Emotional Fish. How could I resist?

With a calm, soothing rock sound, occasionally mixed with a southern rock or funk tinge, An Emotional Fish provides a wonderful ambient sound to listen to as you work. What's upsetting about them is that they don't leave too much of an impression. While listening to them you get a feeling that An Emotional Fish is a really good band, but once a song ends it's forgotten. The instrumentation is typically simplistic--with uninspired guitar riffs when the come--but mixed together it sounds very well done. The vocals are very clear and powerful, but the lyrics tend towards being a tad boring and tiring. They have a good sound, that's for sure, but they need to make themselves stand out more.

They just fall in line with other U2 sound-alikes.

• Standout track: Grey Matter
  
• MySpace: An Emotional Fish
  
• How much I would've paid: $3
  
• Rating: 3/5

"It's like a bubble"

• Artist: Dinosau
  
• Album: A Little Crime
  
• Year: 2007
  
• Why I picked it up: The album art was really sparse--with merely a picture of the band--but the real draw for me was the band's name. I truly wondered how the band who could't afford the last letter of their name would sound like.

This European (Sweden is my guess from their names) electronica pop band really knows what they're doing, even if they can't finish spelling dinosaur. With a great variety of instruments--the three piece band boasts a wide range of winds and woodwinds, various percussion instruments, guitars and synths, and even rare instruments like the xaphoon (look it up, it's quite cool)--their specific brand of electronic sound is very unique, which is a great positive to all that they offer. The first song has a completely addictive upbeat tune to it, and the other tracks which keep a happy, cheerful feel are just as amazing. The simple, pure lyrics are very well done and the vocalist, Lena Nymark, can certainly sing them as they need to be sung. The only draw back I felt in the album were the slower songs, since they either lacked the full power possible from their repertoire of instruments, or the softer vocals and instruments were overpowered by the strong beats of the songs. This would be a very slight negative, but there are quite a few songs which miss because of this fact. What this equates to is an album of a some very catchy upbeat songs, mixed with a few which will be skipped or forgotten until another upbeat one is reached.

I like a cute girl with an accent.

• Standout track: Pärris
  
• MySpace: Dinosau
  
• How much I would've paid: $5
  
• Rating: 3/5