This Beautiful Republic is a band that probably slipped under most people's radar when their debut album, Even Heroes Need A Parachute, hit stores in early April. Mention that they are an openly Christian band trying to make an impact on the music world and it suddenly becomes clear why. This is an unfortunate fact, because this band is one to make you stand up and take notice. Pulling from various influences in punk, pop and hardcore rock, TBR's sound may not be wholly original, but its definitely worth a listen. The band has a knack for building a song up and hitting you hard just at the right moment (take the final bridge/chorus combo in "Going Under," the rapid build of "The Surface" or the beautiful closer "Cloud Cover") while delivering memorable melodies and thought-provoking lyrics courtesy of frontman Ben Olin, who's voice deftly covers both highs and lows, along with the occasional scream. For those worried about this being a preachy record, fear not. While the band isn't shy about their beliefs, the album doesn't smash you over the head with the message, but merely means to explain what the band members find true in their lives and express it musically. So if you're able to get past it and are a fan of hard hitting rock songs, be sure to get out Even Heroes Need A Parachute and enjoy the ride. [www.thisbeautifulrepublic.com]

Underoath drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie's debut release from side project The Almost is not a repeat performance of his full time band by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the tracks find themselves somewhere between pop and a hard rock place, with Gillespie's vocals coming through as the focus for the album. While you can hear hints of Underoath in some of the harder tunes ("Drive There Now" and "I Mostly Copy Other People," featuring vocals from The Starting Line's Kenny Vasoli, who also contributed bass on some tracks, for instance), it is the quieter moments where Southern Weather really succeeds. The acoustic driven "Dirty And Left Out" is a moving track and is the first time on the album where Gillespie (who handled all songwriting duties here, along with playing pretty much every instrument on the album) really begins to shine. The inclusion of the hymn "There's Just Something About That Name" to close out the song is pitch perfect. Another hymn drops in as the chorus for the equally moving "Amazing Because It Is," and the inclusion of a small vocal choir to close it out fits the song wonderfully. Overall, The Almost's debut stands as a solid rock album and a showcase for the talents of Gillespie. It may not be anything that will change the world of music, but its definitely worth of a listen. [www.myspace.com]

When Chicago's own The Academy Is... hit the scene in 2005 with their Fueled By Ramen debut, Almost Here, it was pretty clear the band was on the verge of hitting it big. Their pop/punk musical stylings and soaring vocals of flamboyant frontman William Beckett led people to believe they'd be the next Fall Out Boy and Atlantic Records swooped in to try and cash in on the fun. And with that comes Santi, the sophomore album from the band, which finds them all but abandoning their former sound for a bigger, classic rock inspired sound. The change is sure to alienate a large portion of their previous fan base, but may manage to bring in some new fans who aren't scared off by the over-used "emo" term often thrown around to describe the band. The album definitely packs a punch from track one, as Walker's touch is noticeable throughout. There's clearly more muscle here than before and even Beckett's vocals are more controlled and even powerful at times. In the midst of all this, they still manage to throw in some softer stuff, with "Everything We Had" being a standout track on the album. So don't let your previous feelings on The Academy Is... scare you away, because Santi is a worthy addition to an already strong 2007. [www.theacademyis.com]

For some reason, Capitol Records has seen fit to re-issue the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack in a 10th anniversary edition. So what's different from the last time? Mostly the insertion of incidental music from the film, which, while nice, seems a bit out of place. Also inserted is director Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" spoken word piece. The rest of the album is the same, from Everclear's two inferior contributions to Garbage's awesome "#1 Crush" to The Cardigan's uber-catchy "Lovefool." Overall, I would say skip this one if you already own it. [www.myspace.com]

I’m not sure, exactly, how NC-based indie boys Cities managed to hook up with the likes of Ladytron, Mike Westbrook and Fog, but I’m reasonably satisfied with the results. The eight songs on Variations, which originally leaned toward melancholy rock, now have been given a nice, tight electronic edge. And it’s a hell of a lot more creative than just putting an “uns-uns-uns” under what was already there and creating crap. Sort of a nice surprise, this. Fans of bands like My Chemical Romance and Fallout Boy might want to look into this – though it goes a little out of the comfort zone for either. [www.citiesmusic.com]

I would have posted a review of Breaking and Entering sooner, but I fell asleep. But seriously folks.... Underworld and Gabriel Yared have composed poignantly gorgeous Phillip Glass-esque music for the film starring Jude Law and Juliette Binoche, among others, but this is definitely not what you should listen to to be uplifted. This is beautiful mood music…and 90% of it is veeeeeeeery dark and veeeeeeeery melancholy. But also very passionate. Yes – “mood music” is a good way to describe it. Good music for lying in the dark. [www.gabrielyared.com]

The "experiment" that is MySpace Records begins with a bang by way of California's own Sherwood and their sophomore LP A Different Light. Sherwood's sound nicely delivers a little something for everyone with tinges of upbeat pop/punk, electronica, and smooth acoustic balladry. For the most part, this makes the album, while admittedly easy to like, a minor rehash of things you've already heard. This fact does tend to make the album that much more listenable as you fish out the Beach Boys-esque harmonies and songwriting cues of bands like The Get Up Kids, however. But while the entire album is well done, the band really hits its songwriting stride in its second half with standout tracks such as the electronic minded "Alley Cat," the 70s influenced "Give Up!," the acoustic track "The Simple Life," and the title track, a surprisingly good California rock tune. A Different Light may be a pop record, but it's a very good one that should make people stand up and take notice. [www.sherwoodmusic.net]

With Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional in retreat for the modern/alternative rock prairie, emo kids everywhere were in need of a new acoustic singer/songwriter/sad kid to take over. And in John Vesely of Secondhand Serenade they just may have found him. There is nothing inherently wrong with what Secondhand Serenade does here: the guitar playing is simple yet effective and the vocals are actually quite well done, including some of the harmonies that, through the power of multi-track recording, Vesely does along with himself. Sadly, it sounds like an even further stripped down version of The Swiss Army Romance or The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, which unfortunately leaves them stuck as just being the band who sounds like Dashboard Confessional. [www.myspace.com]

Limbeck is back with their new self-titled release from Doghouse Records. The album finds the band getting back on track after their last release, Let Me Come Home, saw them wandering off into even more country tinged places than ever before, resulting in what was not their best effort. This time around, however, the band definitely rocks a little harder ("Big Drag" and "Keeping Busy," for example) while still staying true to the alt-country feel they do so well (most obviously in "Bird Problems" and "Friends"). The lyrics are classic Limbeck, as frontman Robb MacLean tells stories of home and the road in a way only he can. The major issue is that it doesn't have the closeness nor the staying power of Hi, Everything's Great, the band's breakthrough album of 2003. Still, those who've loved the band before will still enjoy this, and it might just bring in a few new fans as well. [ww.limbeck.net]

Former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell hits the solo circuit for the first time with the release of You Can Hold Me Down, an album that struggles to fight being generic and be pop music at the same time. Tell is actually a pretty good songwriter, with a flair for melody and form, and with listed influences that include The Beach Boys and the Beatles (though who doesn't nowadays), he is clearly trying to reach back into the past while still staying true to the now. He manages to create a record that is listenable, but ultimately may find itself hidden amongst other like-minded artists. There are some solid tracks, including "Fairfax," "Maybe Tonight," the title track and the not-so-oddly SoCo sounding tune "Young At Heart," where Tell channels Andrew McMahon so much, you half expect him to break into a calmer rendition of "Punk Rock Princess." All in all, You Can Hold Me Down is not a bad album, but it may not be good enough to do anything but hold Tell down. [www.williamtell.com]

Quentin Tarantino may be a one trick pony, but the guy obviously knows what he likes and likes what he does. You definitely know what you’re getting into when you watch one of his films, and this goes for his soundtracks too: no matter how eclectic the collection of songs (which are usually just on the brink of oblivion)--- spaghetti western, surf, soul, blues or rock---- they always conjure a gritty, not-quite defined era of big American cars, strippers and honky tonks. Since Death Proof is just more of the same of his previous work----both cinematically and aurally----Death Proof won’t have the same impact as the wildly successful soundtrack to Tarantino’s 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, which became nearly ubiquitous in record collections, but that doesn’t make the Death Proof any less engaging. Starting appropriately with the spaghetti/surf of “The Last Race”, by Jack Nitzche,
a Phil Spector disciple famous for his work on Ike and Tina’s “River Deep, Mountain High”; his contributions of early Rolling Stones’ hits; and, later, Hollywood film scores. Other highlights include T. Rex’s “Jeepster”; a much grittier version of the Shirelles’ “Baby It’s You”, as covered in 1969 by a band called Smith; a nearly obligatory Ennio Morricone track; and modern Francophile April March’s cover of France Gall’s rendition of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Chick Habit”. Of course, Mr. Tarantino always inserts snippets of dialogue in his soundtracks which are only cute the first three times you re-hear them, and there’s some dogs included, like “Down in Mexico”, by the always painfully hammy doo-wop group, The Coasters; or the instantly skip-able “Sally and Jack”, but overall Death Proof the soundtrack is more of the same from Mr. Tarantino, and that’s a good thing. [www.grindhousemovie.net]

"That big ol' moon is gonna shine like a spoon and we're gonna let it you won't regret it Yes, Bob Dylan wrote those words. He also wrote all the other songs on this CD including "On A Night Like This," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," "Make You Feel My Love" and the usual suspects. Plus lesser know suspects such as "Golden Loom" and "Magnolia." Muldaur says she told Dylan the latter was his masterpiece, rather than, say, "When I Paint My Masterpiece." "Old Friends, Bookends," to borrow a phrase from Paul Simon, Muldaur has knwn Dylan since both were pups like Homer. She's in Scorsese's excellent "No Direction Home" talking about Bob and singing his obscure ""Lord, Protect My Child." So how does "Heart Of Mine" fare compared to my favorite Dylan tribute recordings: Tim O'Brien's "Red On Blonde" and Jackie Greene's "Positively 12th & K" with Sal Valentino and Friends? Very well indeed. It's jazzy and has Muldaur's usual crack band. Check out musical director David Torkanowsky's Al Kooper redux keyboard work. Then there are guests like guitarist Amos Garrett (once of Paul Butterfield's Better Days and Ian & Sylvia's Great Speckled Bird) and the git fiddling of Richard Greene, spawn of the later Blues Project and Sea Train. And Muldaur, who studied the fiddle with the (Doc) Watson Family and sat at the feet of Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, and Victoria Spivey, to learn her craft, is no recent winner or even a runner-up on American Idol. She gives a feminine twist to Dylan's masculine songs. After all, "Love in an instant is still, when you think of it, Love Forever," is how she puts it. [www.telarc.com]

Some bands are like shapeshifters. The first time we hear them we think we've got them pegged. Down the pike when we (really) listen to them we discover they may be our salvation. Favourite Sons are like that. A mixed marriage band composed of singer/songwriter Ken Griffin, formerly of Skinny Puppy, wedded to the psych-rock of ex-Aspera members: guitarist Carmine Degerraro, drummer AJ Edmiston, bassist Matthew Worth and guitarist Justin Tripp. That their "Down By Your Beauty" was mixed by Victor Vogt (The Fall, The Pogues, PJ Harvey) only adds to its lasting afterglow. Put that next to Griffin's propensity for writing songs inspired by Lou Reed, David Bowie and Nina Simone and your life could be "saved by rock 'n' roll" again. I wasn't even listening to the radio but to "No One Ever Dies Young," "Tear The Room Apart," "When You're Away From Me" and the rest of these musical short stories. I've heard these songs before I just don't know where I heard them before or which before I heard them in. Check these Sons out at www.warnermusicgroup.com and you'll be directed to amazon.com where you can download their songs and watch parts of a January 2007 concert at NYC's Mercury Lounge. After that, "out with the screaming horses (you'll) run" too. [www.warnermusicgroup.com]

Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Adrienne Pierce has created a serviceable pop album, perfectly suited for teen-bop Canadians. That is to say, Faultline is nice, like Canadians of this strand, but bland, too, like Canadians of this strand tend to be. “Beautiful” is a Michelle Branch-esque knock off. “Better Year” has a bit of a country tinge to it, like, perhaps, what might be used for background vocals for a commercial for a woman’s boutique. “Laundry and Dishes” is Pierce striving to be Jewel. No dice, Pierce, but thanks for trying. You’re not bad, certainly, but you’re not yet good. [www.adriennepierce.com]

Remember when you could turn on the radio and find music with deep feeling and intelligence? Yeah…me too…barely. With an impressive and diverse list of influences that range between Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr., Death Cab and Motley Crue (okay – well maybe the latter doesn’t really imply intelligence, but…), the Stun Darts, hailing from Birmingham, Alabama overlooked perhaps only one. Reminiscent of the early Posies (in addition to other such heavy hitters of the era) - with strong melodic and thoughtful pop/rock – this band’s 11-song debut adequately fills the void for a genre that has been sorely overlooked in today’s vast wasteland of the commercially accessible. Their songs, while not necessarily innovative, boast some fairly intricate instrumentation, which pushes their music beyond the mediocre. What can I say? I am thoroughly impressed, which is not an easy feat. Check them out…and then tell a friend. [www.thestundarts.com]

Suicide Squeeze: Slaying Since 1996 acts as both a time capsule of the label’s storied history and a core sample of each presented artist’s body of work. Suicide Squeeze pulled out all of the stops by adding previously unreleased and out-of-print tracks by the likes of Of Montreal, The Black Heart Procession, Black Mountain, and Hella to the compilation’s roster. While the album does stand as a great portrait of the label some of the material has either lost its bite over the years or was lackluster to begin with; i.e. the DJ Dinomite D remix of Modest Mouse and 764-Hero’s team-up, “Whenever You See Fit.” Nonetheless, the double-disc set has it’s fair share of stand-out songs including: Modest Mouse’s “A Life of Arctic Sounds”, The Melvins’ “With Teeth” (Live), and Les Savy Fav’s “We’ll Make a Lover Out of You.” [www.suicidesqueeze.net]

Saying that Midnight Movies sounds like Stereolab meets Broadcast meets BRMC is so easy…but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Not only that, but it really says good things about them, don’t you think? To be fair, Lion the Girl, the sophomore effort from the LA-based quartet, while harkening back to those deep, melodic influences, easily stands on its own as a nice piece of atmospheric work. Gina Olivier’s now fully-fronting vocals (she used to drum too) slip like a velvet glove around the precise noise created by her bandmates. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, Midnight Movies strikes a nice chord. [www.midnightmovies.net]

Oh, Dave Stewart, ever the cheeky one. There is some debate as to whether or not Platinum Weird is a band Eurhythmics’ svengali Stewart originally formed in 1974 or just a clever piece of lore he created to spark interest in his latest project, featuring vocalist Erin Grace. Either way, I don’t care. Let’s talk about the music. Heavy on melody and nicely-executed sultry vocals, Make Believe really could be from the past, but there is something very fresh about it. I hear traces of things Shakespeare’s Sister may have turned down as “too soft.” The music of Platinum Weird, whatever the incarnation, is folksy and heavily produced but not to the detriment of what’s there. On the other hand, you are likely to hear it on Grey’s Anatomy if they get ahold of it in time… [www.platinumweird.com]

The Rapture’s newest release Pieces of People We Love sees them veering more towards the sound of Head on the Door-era Cure than the Public Image Ltd.-influenced songs we heard on 2003’s Echoes. Singer Luke Jenner’s voice seems to have grown by leaps and bounds but the raw energy of the DFA-produced Echoes seems to have gone the way of… well, many of The Rapture’s NYC dance-punk contemporaries. All in all, the album is very listenable; most notably the Danger Mouse-produced tracks. While Pieces of People We Love is certain to crowd a dance floor it seems to be missing an element that made Echoes seem fresh. I’m not certain what that missing element is but this time around The Rapture seem to be trying to catch the wave instead of riding on its crest. [www.therapturemusic.com]

Musically, History Will Never Hold Me could ably command a positive fluidity in any club that encourages shagging in its bathroom stalls. It’s lead singer Aaron Closson’s pure emo vocals that deny The Hourly Radio their seductive fervor, as he continuously proves that his earnest pain is just about the unsexiest thing ever. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that this isn’t solely the result of a disjointing inability to focus the direction of his band’s sound, but even if he is genuinely hoping to introduce a marriage of catharsis and sleazy nonchalance into the spectrum of human consciousness, he mostly just squanders the sexualizing properties of his album. The band is thus relegated to a capricious purgatory, because if we can’t fuck to this pain, than why would we want it? [www.thehourlyradio.com]