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20070424

Pela | Anytown Graffiti
Pela's full-length debut abounds with blistering, reverent anthems. Influenced by the sounds of the Pixies, the Hold Steady and Hüsker Dü, as well as the writings of Raymond Carver, these four Brooklyn beatniks craft a kind of pastoral punk, fraught with vigilant instrumentation and zealous lyrics. "The Trouble with River Cities" masterfully weaves yearning guitar and bass melodies, while the anti-war ballad "Cavalry" embraces a rueful awakening amidst an unyielding horn section. - Sabrina Sutherland
A Top 10 Album for 2007. Listen now and later. - TK

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20070420

Page McConnell (self-titled)
This is the one I've been waiting for, the one former Phish member's solo album that I wanted to see what would happen next. I wondered where his mindset was at after hearing so little from him in almost three years since Coventry. Page McConnell is not the best album ever, but if you know who he is by name, then I think it'll make you smile. There's some of the shaggy happy-go-lucky Page that sort of makes me harken back to the olden days. At one point in the ten-and-a-half minute epic "Heavy Rotation" it's somewhere deep in the middle of a "Split Open and Melt" jam, there's a "Sneakin' Sally" funk when Page goes "Back to the Basement" for an eight minute instrumental. However, at some other points it's the snoozy (greenberg) that makes you feel like a watered-down "Water in the Sky" (can't bring myself to link to that song). Some classic layering of grand piano on top of organ and the old "top shelf" funky wurlitzer bring you back, but Page shows he's a modern man of the 00's, referencing '18" spinning rims and using some computer type beats and effects in "Complex Wind." Overall, he sounds more melancholy than fired up for his life, but I hear where he's coming from, wondering if he can "weather not the storm, but the calm." Life after Phish continues to go on, and it does the heart good to see Page making music. Verdict: I'm still a Page fan, fifteen years later. - TK

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20070417

Greyboy Allstars | What Happened to TV?
This may be the Greyboy Allstars' first studio set in a decade, but they still serve up snapping chicken-shack jazz-funk grooves simmered with saucy bits of New Orleans R&B. In spite of sporadic touring during the 00's, they still sound like an old, grizzled touring band that is still tearing up the countryside. Zak Najor and Chris Stillwell are still slammin' as a rhythm section, perfect for Karl D, Robert Walter and Elgin Park to solo over. Ditties like "Deck Shoes, "Left Coast Boogaloo" and "Pigeons Under Water" play like different scenes from the same great party. - Nick D.

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20070415

Land of Talk | Applause, Cheer, Boo, Hiss
The first creatures you meet when entering the Land of Talk are fuzzy, buzzed-out indie rock guitars -- the kind that leave music critics scrambling for adjectives with z's in them (hazy? gauzy? zitty? Wait -- that's not right) and then, once we've found them, using them like an uncontrollable tic. Ze guitarz' partners in crime are -- mais oui -- ze drums, keeping the tormented current crackling and rippling. But the talk of the Land, the most magnificent creature is singer/guitarist Elizabeth Powell, who whinnies and wails with Montreal's prettiest, girliest, angstiest je ne sais quoi. - Rachel Devitt
This is chick rock that I can get down with. - TK

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20070404

Kings Of Leon | Because Of The Times
The brothers from southern mothers return with a third album that carries nary a hint of their heartland sound. Leaning hard on heady, proggy arrangements pays off with lengthy opener "Knocked Up," a tune that exemplifies drummer Nathan Followill's Harp mag quote about brother Caleb's penchant for transforming inner demons into melodic poetry. "On Call" works the same subtle magic as 2005's "The Bucket." The melody takes its time to burrow into your memory, strengthening its staying power. With echoes of Springsteen, the panoramically soundscaped "Arizona" should have been titled "Nebraska." - Eric Shea

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