All That Remains - This Darkened Heart (metalcore): When I first read the liners on a CD and the first line thanks “My god and his only son” I got a little nervous. Especially if that line was written by All that Remains singer and former Shadow’s Fall front man, Philip LaBonte. When people find Jesus, it usually fucks up the metal, but good. For the most part, this album is grunty, staccato, Massachusetts metalcore. There’s plenty of screaming and rhythmic palm muting to keep me enthralled most of the time, but they throw off the dynamic every few songs by tossing in some actual singing (which could be due to the album being produced by Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz). Whenever they start singing, it always catches me off guard, because it just doesn’t fit in with the punch of the rest of the music, but fortunately, the rest of the metal is so good that I generally just roll my eyes and wait for those brief encounters to pass. B

The Black Keys - The Big Come Up (garage): My sister brought me this album, and on first listen, I thought it was really cool, and was bopping right along to this garage blues duo. Unfortunately, after subsequent listens, the newness of the album started to wear thin and I started to hear the band as a couple of white guys trying to sound like a blues band. I find there’s nothing more irritating than white guys doing poor impersonations of the black guys. At those times, I feel like the vocals are just trying too hard for that blues sound, and I just can’t keep my fingers off of the skip button. At other times, I find that I can listen to it like it’s Jon Spencer and cruise right along with it. I think that if the Black Keys come up in a random mix, I’d really enjoy it, but when there are too many of their songs in a row, I start to feel like I’m listening to a bad impression. C+

Burning Brides - Leave No Ashes (rock): I have to admit that I bought this album not only the strength of their first album (Fall of the Plastic Empire), but because it had a track Featured on Guitar Hero. Yes, I did. I am so lame. The band is straight pop-rock trio that remind me of Gluecifer, and while I love their first album, this release isn’t nearly as strong. I won’t say that the album is bad, but other than the Guitar Hero track, I’m disappointed to say that nothing else on the album really stands out. You know those albums on your shelf that you want to like and you revisit every so often in a feeble attempt to change your opinion, but never really succeed? Yea. I have a feeling that this is one of those. It’s about as memorable as grass on the median strip. C

Sam Butera and the Witnesses - Ultra Lounge(lounge): I know what you’re asking: “Who the hell is Sam Butera?” For those familiar with Louis Prima, in songs like “Oh, Marie,” you can hear Prima calling out to and joking with his saxophone player, “Sammy boy.” That man was Prima’s band leader, Sam Butera, a major player in shaping the Prima/Smith sound. Butera’s work with the Witnesses is the same brand of fun, tongue-in-cheek, saxophone-based, Vegas lounge as the Prima material, but with smoother vocals and a little less slapstick. And you know that if this CD was put together by the Ultra-Lounge folks, it’s fun to listen to. B+

Converge - You Fail Me (mathcore): I got my first introduction to the grindcore genre a year ago with the band, Pig Destroyer, which at the time was so incredibly foreign to me that I didn’t have the ability to appreciate the genre as anything more than an art form. I think this album (from yet another Massachusetts band) has actually pushed me past being an appreciator of the genre and right into someone who fully enjoys it. Yet, as similar as the sound is to Pig Destroyer, Converge is labeled as “mathcore” rather than “grindcore”. To me, mathcore has the same aural insanity that is the hallmark of grindcore with slightly longer songs. Like jazz, I think that if you immediately take to this genre, there is something majorly wrong with you, but if you are already into the genre, you can’t go wrong with this album. B+

Converge - Jane Doe (mathcore): I picked this one up from lala based on how much I enjoyed “You Fail me.” While it’s just as insane as I expected, I think this album is a little more repetitive, making it a little less enjoyable. When I want crazy, I don’t want that crazy to have too much of a pattern. And when crazy aquires a pattern, we call that OCD. And watching someone tap their thumb on the desk 47 times is a lot less entertaining than the loon on the corner babbling about Jesus stealing all the donuts. Shit. What happened to this review? I will label this review style mathcore. Donkey chicken monkey fucker. B

Cut Chemist - The Audience is Listening (dj): This is Cut Chemist’s first full length solo release, which I have been waiting for since picking up the pre-release EP, Litmus Test. While I can appreciate the skill of the DJ and the wide range of styles that he tries to tackle with this album, I just couldn’t seem to get into it. I listened to it on headphones, in the car, and at different times of day over weeks, but it just never clicked. Some tracks are completely unique, like “2266 Cambridge”, which sounds like a cruise through a neighborhood on a lazy Saturday. Then there are throwaway tracks like “Phone Tapper”, which is a direct rip off of a very unique track by Kid Koala called “Fender Bender” (video) which uses the turntable to imitate a converstation. I know that DJ tricks are shared, but one thing that I expect from a top DJ is to be unique and leave the immitation to the second stringers. Maybe Cut Chemist just tried to tackle too much and ended up with an album that is a mile wide and an inch deep, rather than focusing on putting out an album that showcased his unique style. C