The Lawrence Arms - Oh! Calcutta!

This is the most recent, though really not all that recent, release from Chicago's The Lawrence Arms, and it is easily my favorite record of theirs. On this album, The Larry Arms still blend the East Bay sound and Chicago sound like they have always been known to pull off, but it is a little less Jawbreaker and a little bit more of themselves. I think the band has always done a good job of taking what they know and mixing it well with their influences but I feel that this is an album they can call their own. The songs for the most part are a little bit shorter in length and I believe it to be lyrically leaps and bounds ahead their previous albums. I am by no means trying to knock their older work, I LOVE everything this band has released, but nothing they have put out has knocked me on my ass as much as this one and in the same way that Oh! Calcutta! did when it was first released. This is one of those albums that helps me every time I get into a little funk and I hope it has the same affect on some other people that it does for me.

Favorite Track: Cut It Up or Are You There Margaret? It's Me, God.

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Alkaline Trio - Help Me 7"

A while ago I had posted the Help Me EP that had three songs from the new full length which actually dropped today. This is not that. This is 7" with a single edition of the version of "Help Me" and also has a Tegan and Sara cover on it of the song "Wake Up Exhausted." The cover is pretty excellent. Get into it.

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Alkaline Trio - Help Me EP

Alkaline Trio are back with three new jammers. I believe two of these are going to be on their new full length Agony and Irony coming out in June. These songs are in the vein of Crimson, but in my opinion are A LOT better (I wasn't much of a fan of Crimson aside from a few songs like "Time to Waste" and "Mercy Me"). Matt lays vocals down vocals on "Help Me" and "Into the Night" and Dan lays down the vocals for "In Vein," which you might have actually heard if you happened to catch the latest episode of that crappy MTV show The Hills. I have always been partial to the songs that Matt has written and sang on a little bit more than Dan's, but the song that Dan lays the vocals down is probably the catchiest Alkaline Trio song to date and I haven't been able to stop singing along to this since I first started to listen to this. This is definitely a solid three song release from Alkaline Trio & I cannot wait until the full length drops.

Favorite Track: In Vein

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Screeching Weasel - Television City Dream

Truth be told, if I even have to give a review about this album, or any Screeching Weasel album for that matter, you deserve to drown. Me being an asshole aside, this is personally without a doubt my favorite release that these pop-punk rock veterans have released. I have a lot of emotional attachment to this album. I feel like I'm in ninth grade all over again every time I listen to it and this is definitely an album that has stood the test of time with me. While I never really openly considered it one of my favorite albums, it wasn't until recently I realized that it is. Poor review? Probably, go buy it anyway.

Favorite Track: Speed Of Mutation

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