The Strokes - Is This It (BMG/RCA)

I honestly just don't get it. What was all the hype about? Is This It is by no means a bad album, but the second coming of Christ it is not. Sure, the album has a tight, bounce-along beat to it, but so does every Schoolhouse Rock song I've ever heard. I have given this album every opportunity to find itself into my rotation and it refuses to make the cut everytime. Sorry, there's just nothing I can do about it anymore. It'll make a great coaster some day, maybe even better than Goldie's Saturnz Return. Although that's highly debatable.

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Ryan Adams - Gold (UNI/Lost Highway, 2001)

Although Adams is a veteran of the "alt country" scene, that label is starting to wear thin in reference to his ever-expanding work. His first solo effort, Heartbreaker, was a brilliant, if not depressing, homage to the girl he followed to NYC from North Carolina, only to have her drop him shortly thereafter. Even though the material was a bit narrow, it still hinted at better things to come. And man, did it ever. Gold is a two disc monster of a sophomore solo effort, replete with heartbreaking ballads, middle finger odes to ex-es, and good old rock'n'roll. Indeed, he seems to be getting over his past relationships just by releasing this album. It kicks off with "New York, New York", a Springsteen-esque rocker that pays tribute to his Alphabet City days, cold Christmas nights and that certain someone he has finally left behind. The fact that he played it on David Letterman shortly after September 11th didn't hurt his cause, either. "The Rescue Blues" offers some of his best lyrics and an infectious, chilled-out blues riff that you can't get out of your head. But my favorite track is "When The Stars Go Blue". It is simply the sweetest, saddest song I have ever heard, and his voice has never sounded better. Saying that Ryan Adams is a star in the making is not a bold prediction, but I'd advise you to catch on while you can. The guy is just too good to ignore.

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Radiohead - Amnesiac (EMD/Capitol, 2001)

Wait, hang on a sec, I just gotta get this out first... YAWN. You know, I dug the new sound and direction of OK Computer, but shouldn't there have been a giant stop sign after that? It is my belief that the purpose of Kid A was to lull people into a coma so Thom Yorke could sit by everyone's bedside and subliminally tell us that Amnesiac was going to be good. Just exactly what do you get when you mix equal parts Pink Floyd, minimalist electronic wanker music and Ny-Quil? AMNESIAC! Someone had the gall to play this at a party recently. Must have been one of Yorke's minions. Listen, this new Radiohead shit sucks and the wool has not been pulled over my eyes. They are reaching, people, not expanding. Experimentation in music is nice and most certainly expected, but when it requires a pillow and twenty Vicadins to get through it, there's a problem. Don't believe the hype about this self-indulgent, cheeseball crap-- Amnesiac is uninspiring at best, and vomit-inducing at worst. And if you're on the great Radiohead bandwagon, hop the fuck off, because next up can only be Thom Yorke's alter ego, "The Skeeter", a tribute to Bono's Fly. These guys are done.

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Lenola - Treat Me To Some Life (File 13, 2001)

The latest release from the best indie band this side of Built to Spill is a bit of an enigma to me; I like it. The problem is that I'm used to screaming the highest praises for anything they've ever touched. I've heard just about everything these guys have done, in addition to catching them live numerous times, and their choice of direction for some of their new material baffles me. I expected a heavier acoustic presence and a more chilled-out musical approach, but what I was not prepared for is the gross misuse of sound effects. While they hardly work on some tracks ("Slipping Under the Shadows"), they sound like a trainwreck on others ("Derelict Organ"). But do not mistake this as Lenola-bashing, because the album is loaded with the "new sound of Lenola"; gone are songs of distortion and sub-par production that harken the halycon days of shoegazing. "White-Lined Knuckle Landing", with its interplay of blissed-out guitars and smart lyrics (a fall from grace/a graceful fall...you're a silver-tounged devil/in a red parachute), might be the best track on Treat Me. "Cast Your Lines" is an acoustically-fueled rocker that could have been a leftover from their brilliant 1999 effort, My Invisible Name . "Medicine Glow" , exhibiting an advanced song structure rarely shown in their previous work, could almost pass for pop. I believe Lenola are experimenting, maturing and expanding upon the definition of "indie rock". As a huge fan, that makes me happy. I just wish someone would confiscate and burn their copy of Pet Sounds.

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Acetone - York Blvd. (Vapor Records, 2000)

I find it impossible to stop playing this album. While the term "chill" usually equates comatose tunes, York Blvd. is a very chill cd that conjures up an atmosphere of pure listening bliss. Washed-out blues and slide guitars accent free-flowing pop arrangements and mesmerizing backbeats. The first track, "Things Are Gonna Be Alright", will suck you into the vacuum of Acetone, and you won't be released until the album finally ceases to play. I caught these guys live and, while I couldn't see shit because they played in a shoebox of a bar known as the Lakeside Lounge in NYC, they reproduced the album's sound perfectly. This is a tight group with a simple message: shut up and chill out. York Blvd. will make you do just that.

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Everclear - "Brown Eyed Girl" (EMD/Capitol, 2000)

CRAP. Utter fucking CRAP. No, I haven't heard the ridiculously named album, Songs From An American Movie-Vol. One: Learning How To Smile. But somehow I heard these losers cover one of the most annoying songs ever recorded, Van Morrison's high school prom anthem, "Brown Eyed Girl". Art Alexakis has zero talent and even less taste. This band has sucked since the beginning of time, and now they have somehow managed to make an unlikeable song less likeable. I get shivers knowing that someone okayed the release of this song.

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Spoon - Girls Can Tell (Merge, 2000)

I'll be honest-- I'm only briefly versed in this Austin, TX quartet's previous work. But I know enough to state that this is a nice departure from their previous indie, angst-ridden past. Girls Can Tell offers precision production to compliment beautifully arranged songs. Lead singer Britt Daniels has the ability to sound both desolate and romantic all at once-- he posesses one of the most unique voices I have ever heard. Sparse musical arrangements highlight tightly wound lyrics, if that helps. Probably not, but you're a dumbass if you don't own it, anyways. I know you'd like the album to be classified, but it defies description. To placate your inquisitiveness, let's just say it sounds like an indie band coming of age on its own terms. This album transcends all musical tastes and differences. It'll hit you if you're a twenty-something undergrad, a suit, a starving artist or a restless thirty-something (the latter two being one in the same). It's that good.

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