I learned how to beat mix in 1987. Back then, everyone was using Technics 1200s (the first CD players with pitch bend came the following year), and any effects you wanted to add – which basically came down to two things, phasing and back-beating – had to be done manually with the records themselves. No Pro Tools, no effects processing, no digital anything. Mix tapes were done in one take; I’d plot out each side in advance, press record, and hope for the best. I averaged roughly 3.5 train wrecks per mix tape.

In 2000, I finally upgraded from vinyl to CD. Denon made, and still makes, fantastic DJ equipment for use with CDs, so I bought that, a Numark mixing board, and a cabinet. But making mix tapes was still a pain, the old one-take scenario, and transferring them to digital form was worse. Roxio – which back then was called Adaptec – had a program that could transfer analog sources to digital format if you had the right equipment, but the signal loss was incredible. Once you amplified it to a reasonable level, the tape hiss was unbearable. Eventually, I stopped making mixes, though that had as much to do with a more demanding job and family life as it did with the archaic process of making the tape itself.

Needless to say, when the email promoting MixMeister Express landed in my inbox, they had my attention. The program’s layout is similar to the loop-based remix software Acid, another toy I played with a lot back when I had more time on my hands. And the way MixMeister analyzes songs and plots transitions from one song to the next is, well, ridiculously smart. In a matter of hours, I had assembled an 80-minute mix, and not a single train wreck in sight.

RIYL: Aimee Mann, Tracy Bonham, Carina Round

Juliana Hatfield has had a long and creatively varied musical career. She evolved from her ‘80s jangle rock roots with the Blake Babies, into the tough, confessional rock of her alternative ’90s, before becoming the mature singer songwriter of the current decade. Along the way she was involved in several side and supporting projects, making hers a quite prolific career. A career in which not only did her sound transform, but also her thematic and emotional content. The Blake Babies were intelligent college rock, while her early solo work was both emotionally raw and confident. As she failed to break it really big, her music became tinged with a sense of bitterness, especially on her 2000 Beautiful Creatures and 2004’s In Exile Deo. Excellent albums that explore broken relationships and addiction, anger and no small amount of self-loathing.

But times change and her music continues to change along with it. Progressing through two more solo works and a published biography, she has reached 2010 at a different place in her life, and Peace and Love is clear evidence of this. Stripped down to a quiet and mostly acoustic sound, Hatfield is still unafraid of the intensity of her emotions, but is more accepting and willing to be heartfelt in their expression. Peace and Love is a minimalist collection of 12 songs that performs a very difficult task. These songs sing of love and heartbreak and loss without any sense of resentment or cynicism, instead showing a mature positivity and acceptance without falling into schmaltzy platitudes. She asks, “Why Can’t We Love Each Other� as an honest question, lacking any resignation. Even when she sings, “I’m Disappearing� with a fragile vulnerability, she is refusing to give in to any inevitable dissolution.

Peace and Love is just Juliana and her guitar or piano with minimal effects, pouring herself into a surprisingly inspirational record that is never pat or preaching. What might seem at first to be a darkly solitary album turns out to be subtly strong and affirming. Excellent work from a master songstress that should open new doors in an already amazing career. (Ye Olde Records 2010)

Juliana Hatfield MySpace page

I used to have a thing about my musical tastes. I so desperately wanted them to be cool, or at the very least be something that only a handful of people were privy to. (I was tempted to say ‘hip’ instead of ‘privy,’ but you can’t spell ‘hipster’ without ‘hip,’ and God knows I’m not hip enough to be a hipster.) My friend Kathi, she has obscenely cool taste in music. I’m surprised she’s friends with me, since I surely bring her cool factor down by a good 20 points.

Then a couple of years ago, I realized – who the hell cares? A great song is a great song, and it doesn’t really matter how popular – or unpopular – it is. I can’t tell you how freeing that was, and I have a very well-known blogger to thank for it. When she admitted to me in private how much she enjoyed a band at Lollapalooza, only to dismiss them a few days later in her column, I realized that it was completely pointless to pander to hipster elitism. You’re being dishonest with yourself, and the hipsters are only going to turn on you in the end, anyway.

So I turned a blind eye to what was a pop song versus what was a “pop” song, as it were, and realizing that there was no distinction between the two made everything soooooo much easier. So here we are in 2009, and as part of our recap of the best music the decade had to offer, I have to try to apply this whole revisionist history viewpoint to the entire decade, which is no mean feat, to say the least. It therefore makes sense that assembling one big-ass list of songs will look like the work of someone with multiple personalities, so instead they are cut up into bite-sized lists for easier consumption, with YouTube links for the uninitiated.

Top 10 Modern Rock Songs of the 2000s
10. “Do You Want To,” Franz Ferdinand
“Take Me Out” was the bigger hit, but this song swings like Austin Powers in the jungle. Nice riff on “My Sharona” in the break, too.

9. “Galvanize,” Chemical Brothers
Push the button; shake that booty.

8. “The Bleeding Heart Show,” The New Pornographers
What the world needs now, is more hey la, hey la’s.

7. “Sometime Around Midnight,” Airborne Toxic Event
Suck it, Pitchfork. These guys are good. You’re just too far up your own asses to admit it.

6. “American Idiot,” Green Day
The only sad thing about this song is that Joey Ramone didn’t live long enough to hear it.

5. “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” Arctic Monkeys
I love the way these guys riff on Duran Duran lyrics, and then act as if they made it all up themselves. As the old adage says, talent borrows, but genius steals. And for the record, we don’t care for sand, either.

4. “Chelsea Dagger,” The Fratellis
Best drunken barroom chorus since “Tubthumping.”

3. “Laura,” Scissor Sisters
For all the progress that was made this decade in terms of hip hop and black culture becoming more accepted on pop radio, it appears that the gays still have a long road ahead of them. Pity.

2. “Never Miss a Beat,” Kaiser Chiefs
They opened their set at Lollapalooza with this. The only other band to grab me by the throat like that with their opening song is, well, My #1…

1. “Knights of Cydonia,” Muse
September 11, 2006, Columbus, Ohio. Muse opens their set with this song, blows the roof off the place.

Top 10 Pop Songs of the 2000s
10. “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” Kylie Minogue
Proof that even the most alt of alt rockers love Kylie: The Flaming Lips covered this song.

9. “Drops of Jupiter,” Train
They did a great job recreating the Elton John sound. Too bad they didn’t have Bernie Taupin write the lyrics. Fried chicken? Ugh.

8. “Music,” Madonna
I watched this song take one of those sports bars that has basketball courts and bowling alleys, and turn every one of its patrons into dancing fools.

7. “Is It Any Wonder?,” Keane
Dogged by some for its similarity to U2, but when was the last time U2 wrote something this bouncy?

6. “Shut Up and Let Me Go,” The Ting Tings
I’ll shut up, Katie, but there’s no way I’m letting you go.

5. “Chasing Pavements,” Adele
It took two Grammy wins for this song to finally crack the Top 40. (*shakes head in disbelief*)

4. “Hey Ya,” Outkast
Andre 3000 finally picks up a guitar to write a song, and this, THIS, is the first thing that comes out. Mother, fucker.

3. “Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley
When my mom comes home from a trip to see my brother on the east coast and tells me about a song she heard by a band whose name is similar to some celebrity or other, I know that said celebrity knockoff band has struck a chord.

2. “99 Problems,” Jay-Z
“You crazy for this one, Rick!” Actually, Jay-Z, you have it the other way around. You crazy if you make this song with anyone other than Rick Rubin.

1. “Umbrella,” Rihanna
It was at least a year before I made the effort to find out what the hubub was about this damn “Umbrella” song. And then I heard it. Holy shit, this song pisses genius.

Big in the UK
7. “LDN,” Lily Allen
No guy wants to hear his ex tell the world what a lousy lover he is, but is there a man alive that doesn’t want a shot at Lily Allen?

6. “Nearer Than Heaven,” Delays
My favorite new musical expression of the decade: skyscraper, used to describe a song with soaring melodies. And this puppy’s the Empire State Building.

5. “Boyfriend,” Alphabeat
That this album didn’t even see the light of day in the States shows just how myopic our views of pop music have become.

4. “Digital Love,” Daft Punk
Keytar!

3. “Plug It In,” Basement Jaxx featuring J.C. Chasez
Come on, bang that head in the chorus. You know you want to.

2. “Never Be Lonely,” The Feeling
B-b-b-baby, this song is c-c-c-crazy catchy.

1. “Kids,” Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue
Another song I thought had a shot at cracking the US charts. Funky verses, slammin’ choruses, what’s not to love? Robbie Williams, apparently. He never gained the traction here that other UK singers did. Strange.

Best Pop Songs You Never Heard
Of course, you probably have heard most of these songs, but I didn’t have another category to place them in, so they’re going here instead.

“Nice,” Duran Duran
Easily the band’s best song since “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone.” Anyone who likes Rio but has since given up on the band, go listen to this at once.

“I Believe She’s Lying,” Jon Brion
Los Angeles’ resident mad genius of pop finally gets his 1997 album Meaningless released in early 2001. Power pop fans proceed to lose their minds. And can you blame them? Listen to that drum track. It’s like the piano solo to “In My Life,” gone drum ‘n bass.

“Mine and Yours,” David Mead
If the video I linked to is any indicator, this was a big hit with the Japanese karaoke crowd. Go figure.

“She’s Got My Number,” Semisonic
Where an otherwise straightforward pop band goes off the deep end into delicious, melancholy strangeness. One of my bigger interview thrills was getting to tell Dan Wilson how much I loved this song.

“My Name Is Love,” Rob Dickinson
Catherine Wheel singer turns down the distortion, ramps up the harmonies. Again, the word ’skyscraper’ comes to mind.

“Can We Still Be Friends?,” Mandy Moore
Dan Wilson reference #2: he sings backing vocals on this shockingly good Todd Rundgren cover. People have scoffed at the notion of Ryan Adams marrying someone like Mandy. Not me.

“io (This Time Around),” Helen Stellar
Let it not be said that nothing good came from “Elizabethtown,” as it introduced me to this beautifully spacey song.

“Buildings and Mountains,” Republic Tigers
Truly a band out of time, which is exactly why I love them. I wonder if the reason A-ha is breaking up is because they heard this song and thought, “Damn, they do us better than we do.”

“The End of the World,” Gin Blossoms
Most bands that take 11 years between albums come back as a pale imitation of their former selves, but the Gin Blossoms’ 2006 album Major Lodge Victory was a damn fine little record. This one appeals to my not-so-inner Beatlemaniac.

“Fragile,” Kerli
This Estonian princess is an odd little bird, but that’s what I like about her. This ballad closes her debut album with quite the quiet storm.

“Road to Recovery,” Midnight Juggernauts
Another band whose lack of success has me scratching my head. It’s the best dance album Peter Murphy never made, or the best rock album Daft Punk never made, one of the two. Or both.

My sincere apologies to the following bands, who also deserve mention:
Divine Comedy, Noisettes, Pet Shop Boys, Doves, Rialto, Beck, White Stripes, Rufus Wainwright, Kenna, Mylo, Pete Yorn, Apples in Stereo, Hard-Fi, The Thorns, Rock Kills Kid, The Hours, Derek Webb, Glen Hansard, Aimee Mann, Kirsty MacColl, Gorillaz, Air, Charlotte Sometimes, Mika, Def Leppard, Coldplay, Chicane, Elastica, XTC, and about 50 others.

Bar none the best Eagle Vision video we’ve seen to date, “More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music” is absolutely packed with interviewees, each with a unique perspective on the band’s musical vision, artistic direction and influence. The set is much more focused on the “Eno years” (that way they can include more interview footage of Eno himself), but this makes sense since many consider that period, with all due respect to Avalon, to be their creative peak. The list of rock star fans who sing the band’s praises here is as impressive as it is diverse; Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Bono, Steve Jones, Siouxsie Sioux, and Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers all talk about the impact Roxy had on them, and they even recruited producer Rhett Davies and mixer extraordinaire Bob Clearmountain to discuss how people would ask them to make their records sound like Avalon. Even the extended interview segment – usually a crashing bore – is lots of fun, poking fun at the band’s tendency to have a revolving door at the bass player position. They also included performances of three songs from a 2006 concert. A great tribute to a sorely underrated band. (Eagle Vision 2009)

Click to buy The Story of Roxy Music from Amazon

RIYL: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Daniel Johnston

Documenting a solo concert in San Francisco, Vic Chesnutt revisits his roots and goes back to basics with this stark example of shadowy introspection. Accompanying himself with mostly a subdued strum of his acoustic guitar and the incidental input of the enigmatic Jonathan Richman on guitar and harmonium and drummer/percussionist Tommy Larkin, he meanders through a troubling set of dark and dire melodies. Yet, despite this turgid set-up, Chesnutt populates his rumbling, meandering narratives with oddball hi-jinks, from the bizarre homage entitled “Dick Cheney� to the roll call of weirdos delineated in “Worst Friend� (“Your friend likes to get peed on in sexual situations… Your friend dresses up like Little Bo Peep… Your friend claims to have taken a dump in the White House…�). Likewise, the palpable anger that ripples through “My New Life� affirms the depth of these ominous overtones and moots any connection with the crowd. Quirky yet austere, Skitter on Take-Off provides what’s best described as an intimidating encounter. (Vapor Records 2009)

Vic Chesnutt web page

RIYL: Danielson Famile, Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene

While Sufjan Stevens’ latest opus, entitled The BQE (which stands for The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) is equal parts charming and epic, it’s misleading and inaccurate with regards to its subject matter. After listening to The BQE many times, it’s clear that Mr. Stevens has never had the pleasure of living in an apartment bordering the elevated parts of the aforementioned expressway. Come on, Sufjan! Study your subject matter! Where are the car horns, the gun shots, the cursing motorists and that asshole cabbie that just cut me off again, goddammit…sorry. Flashed back for a second there.

Clearly, Mr. Stevens’ view of the BQE is not drawn from frequent personal utilization. His artistic statement on this release is more reflective of the BQE’s creation in the 1950s than its current detour and pothole-ridden condition. Oddly enough, the press materials accompanying this record also reference the hula hoop as an influence. Maybe he’s saying that if you’re on the BQE or if you’re using a hula hoop, in each instance you’re standing still? If so, he’s got a great sense of humor. Influences aside, light and pulsing orchestrations complete with Sufjan’s now-signature flourishes comprise the musical makeup for the bulk of this release. While they do provide a different texture, the electronic elements of “Movement IV – Traffic Shock” feel a bit out of place, but are beautiful nonetheless. Whether or not it was his intention, Sufjan Stevens has clearly cemented his place as one of this country’s greatest modern composers. He has clearly found his voice in this medium, and deserves to become known as the Aaron Copland of his generation. With his “indie cred” possibly on the line, however, this could be either a blessing or a curse – although something tells me Mr. Stevens stopped giving a shit about mass acceptance many records ago. Here’s hoping that his contemporaries follow suit and make records they’re proud of, and discontinue making music just to please the ever-growing and utterly useless Pitchfork demographic.

To be sure, The BQE may provide some interim relief to Sufjan Stevens fans who’ve been waiting since 2005 for a record that isn’t comprised of outtakes or a collection of seasonally inspired recordings. However, they shouldn’t rush out and pick it up if they’re in search of brilliant lyrical content, as there’s not a single word uttered on the entire album. Additionally, if this is Sufjan’s nod to New York as part of his whole “a record for all 50 states” quest which left off on Illinoise, folks in the Empire State will presumably feel a bit cheated. Maybe he has just abandoned his “album per state” approach and will make an album for each major US roadway. If he continually falls victim to an apparent loss of words, there is — thanks to Bob Dylan, Sammy Hagar, Cyndi Lauper and Steve Earle — plenty of transit material from which to borrow if the highway continually calls to him. (Asthmatic Kitty 2009)

Sufjan Stevens MySpace page
Click to buy The BQE from Amazon

RIYL: Tool, Helmet, Incubus

The Chicago power trio’s fifth album sees the band doing what it does best, which is rocking a heavy sound, yet one with more melody than most of their contemporaries. “Sleep Apneaâ€� and “Mexican Sunâ€� come right the gate with a powerful sound – big power chords, fat bass and crashing drums. Vocalist/guitarist Pete Loeffler still strays into screaming mode here and there on the album, but mostly leaves the screams on the curb, a good thing since he can actually sing. Brother Sam Loeffler on drums and brother-in-law Dean Bernardini on bass form a mean rhythm section for Pete to lay down his crunchy power chords over.

“Shameful Metaphorsâ€� is a major highlight that demonstrates Chevelle’s more dynamic side, as it starts off featuring the bass line and light, melodic guitar before the crunch comes in, reminiscent of the production style on the band’s 2002 smash hit “Send the Pain Below.â€� Pete Loeffler shows what an emotionally compelling vocalist he can be on tracks like this and lead single “Jars.â€� “Fell Into Your Shoesâ€� and “Letter to a Thiefâ€� feature more big heavy hooks that will surely get fists pumping, and echoey guitar fills that expand the band’s sonic palette.

The album’s title apparently comes from “Highland’s Apparition,â€� which mixes things up with a solo acoustic ghost story ballad, and “Roswell’s Spell,â€� perhaps the heaviest song on the album. This unfortunately makes it challenging to discern the lyrics that allude to the infamous 1947 Roswell Incident, since Loeffler reverts back to screaming mode during the song. The intriguing lyrics, says Loeffler, were influenced by a friend of the band that’s way into UFOs and the paranormal. The topic has clearly influenced the band, as demonstrated by the album title and artwork featuring a flying saucer.

“A New Momentumâ€� follows with a monster bass line, huge dirty chords and some really catchy riffs for another stand-out tune. “This Circusâ€� closes the album with another heavy but more syncopated rocker. There’s a lot of heavy sludge rock out there that lacks any memorable hooks, while there’s just as much poser rock that lacks any real balls. Sci-Fi Crimes shows that Chevelle remain among the best at mixing melodic hooks with head-banging heaviness. (Sony 2009)

Chevelle MySpace page

From the UK comes the brooding rock outfit The Veils, with their third LP Sun Gangs. This foursome, complete with female bassist Sophia Burn, makes up one of the most unique and emotionally intoned musical groups since U2 or Radiohead. Their depth on Sun Gangs suggests a certain growth since the last record, and their talent for embellishments and arrangements makes this band one to listen to in 2009.

There’s a certain welcoming property about The Veils. They suck you into their emotionally complex world within seconds of the opener, “Sit Down By The Fire,� which BBC called, “a very modern mixture of prayers, love letters and personal record keeping.�

Another standout on the record is “Larkspur� which Dusted Magazine said, “follows a driving picked riff through swells of noise, returning to calm several times before building to a final eruption.� The orchestration on Sun Gangs is one of the main reasons the record is so intriguing. The twists and turns of melody and harmony, tiny instrumental splashes of color, and emotions that ebb and flow through song after song take this record from mundane and repetitive to interesting and easy to listen to.
As Supreme Management wrote,

“By turns warm and ethereal, thundering and cacophonous, The Veils set Sun Gangs apart from efforts by like-minded peers such as the Arcade Fire by imbuing their lush, at times grandiose arrangements with a sense of youthful honesty and personal reflection that seems to so often get lost under the sea of ideas within similarly ambitious efforts.�

The only down side to Sun Gangs is that it’s incredibly mellow. Don’t expect a head-banger here, but then again, that’s not what The Veils are known for. This band is pure emotion and it shows through each and every one of the tracks on Sun Gangs.

If you like U2, AutoVaughn, Kings Of Leon, or Arcade Fire, make sure to check out the latest release from UK rockers, The Veils.

When it comes to alternative emo bands, there’s certainly no shortage of aspiring talent. It seems like another whiney, longhaired group of adolescents pop up on radio and MTV every other day, replacing the boy bands of the 90’s with actual instrument-playing musicians. However, the recent surplus of young bands has meant only one thing: it’s harder to find the real talent behind the masses of wanna-be’s.

Fortunately, there is real talent out there waiting to be discovered. Case in point: My Favorite Highway. This young band from Fairfax, Virginia is comprised of cousins Will (bass) and David Cook (vocals/guitar/piano), Bobby Morganthaler (drums), and Pat Jenkins (guitar). The quartet came together after David dropped out of college because he was, “feeling uninspired� and after several line-up changes, have created the perfect combination of pop/rock with an alternative/punk flare. Their knack for incredible songwriting, catchy melodies, and infectious energy set them apart from the rest of the pop/punk masses.

My Favorite Highway’s latest release Anywhere But Here is a five-song compilation of their best and brightest. AbsolutePunk.net called the opening track, “Closerâ€�, “an upbeat power-pop trackâ€� and said “surprisingly [the song] doesn’t live and die by the synthesizer. Instead, the synth accents an already strong piece of music, sucking the listener in for a closer (pardon the pun) examination.â€� (http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=211006) Track one is reminiscent of early The Rocket Summer, and Cartel; it’s the perfect medium for David to show off his uniquely flawed, yet surprisingly beautiful voice.

Anywhere continues with “Bad Habitsâ€�, a sly little track with a fistful of personality. Again, David’s voice is perfection on this track and the dancy beat of the chorus makes for an insanely catchy tune. PupPunkJunkie, an online music blog said, “Dave Cook’s clear voice will make My Favorite Highway your new favorite band.â€� Thanks to tracks like “Bad Habitsâ€� it’s only a matter of time until the MFH is at the top of everyone’s list.

It seems as though everyone loves MFH’s new brand of pop/rock. AwMusic.info said, “This album is definitely the total package when it comes to sound� and My Favorite Highway proves such resourcefulness with track three, “You’re Making It Come Alive.� AbsolutePunk.net called it a “radio-ready ballad that you cannot easily forget� and they’re right. This track is a nod to Something Corporate, circa 2004, and should have been all over MTV by now.

The final two tracks on Anywhere are more mellow and simplistic than the first three, but help to take MFH down a more Boys-Like-Girls-style path which has, no doubt expanded their fan base to teenyboppers everywhere. AbsolutePunk.net suggests that the more simplistic nature of the last two tracks “shows [MFH] have a little more work to do before they can take the music industry by storm,� but the change is more breath-of-fresh-air than lackluster-attempt.

Anywhere But Here is the perfect prequel to My Favorite Highway’s forthcoming release How To Call A Bluff, which is due in stores May 2009, courtesy of Virgin Records. And if it is a clear glimpse of what’s to come, MFH should have a pretty smooth ride ahead of them.

Fore more information of My Favorite Highway check out the band’s MySpace here.

If you haven’t heard already, punk princes The Bouncing Souls have been releasing a new song each month as part of their 20th anniversary album. We’re three tracks deep, and already The Souls, true to form, are making quite a buzz on the scene.

Gasoline—

The first track, released January 1, 2009 is entitled “Gasolineâ€� and packs a five-fingered, old-school Souls punch. BlogCritics.org called the release, “punk rock satisfaction from start to finish,â€� and said, “The Bouncing Souls prove with this single that even if 20 years have passed they still are capable of pushing out great tunes.â€� The track is classically up-beat, pure punk rock with singer Greg Attonito’s signature pipes driving the melody, as he sings of being sheltered from reality and searching for a distraction from the monotony of every-day life. Aversion.com called the track, “ everything you’d expect from the Souls…a dose of old-school grit gleaned from stacks of British singles…from The Clash to early oi!, with doses of big-sugar pop-punk melody.â€� It seems the Bouncing Souls can do no wrong, even after 20 years!

We All Sing Along—

February brought us, “We All Sing Along,� a gritty heartfelt anthem of a song with a positive twist. Track two is the perfect combination of old-school Souls attitude with a smoother more polished feel that mimics more recent releases like 2006’s, “The Pizza Song.� BrokenHeadPhones.com called the track a, “punk anthem� celebrating its positivity and inspirational tendencies. If the Souls can keep cranking out tunes like this one after more than twenty years, there’s hope for the future of punk music after all.

Airport Security—
As far as punk love songs go The Bouncing Souls have hit the jackpot with the third of this year’s twelve releases, “Airport Security.� In an interview found on ReadJunk.com the band said about the song,

“A good love song is hard to come by.. Most times they are corny and annoying…but the good ones are sooooo Good!! Airport Security is that attempt for me. Its a love song from me to my wife with a slice of a political statement/comic relief…but hopefully when the songs starts you forget about me, my wife, politics, comedy and yourself. If you do…it’s a good love song.�

It’s safe to say the Souls have achieved that exact affect sweeping the listener off his feet with the lyric, “I could write a thousand songs and never get it right/In my mind its getting harder to leave you/You know I have to believe you’re alright/What else can I do while I’m flying so high.â€� There’s a sort of longing in Attonito’s voice that becomes almost playful when combined with the pulsating guitars of the verse. This is the perfect follow-up to “We All Sing Along.â€�

It seems as though The Bouncing Souls have a nice little album coming together here. All three of the tracks released so far have been packed full of Bouncing Souls’ signature attitude with a new school twist that’s polished and mature. After pumping out more than 20 years of hardcore punk rock, The Bouncing Souls have managed to find a happy medium between their old school, garage-punk roots, and the shiny pop punk of today’s mainstream. If the next nine tracks are anything like these three, we’re all in for a treat, courtesy of The Bouncing Souls.