Lollipop Magazine

The Sullied – Meltdown – Review

November 26, 2003

Many of the songs are heavy, but they’re heavy in a King’s X way, not heavy in a “we base our songs off the parts of Pantera songs we can actually play” way.

The Rumblers – Hold On Tight – Review

November 26, 2003

Part greaser rock, part melodic punk. There’s thoughtful, hard-livin’ lyrics, but there’s also countrified punk, and ’50-style whoa-whoa melody and harmony.

The Planet Smashers – Mighty – Review

November 26, 2003

The Planet Smashers are a five piece ska band. They’ve been together for nine years, and have garnered a lot of cred in their five albums for Stomp Records…

The Marlboro Chorus – Good Luck – Review

November 26, 2003

Mix bouncy acoustic guitar with sporadic piano bursts and folksy, yet poppy, falsetto vocals and you get a catchy album you can’t help but tap your feet to.

Ultimate Fakebook – Electric Kissing Parties – Review

November 26, 2003

Released in ’97, Law of Inertia decided to remaster and re-release it ’cause they didn’t think it got the recognition it deserved. Maybe there was a reason…

Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue – Interview

November 26, 2003

An interview with guitarist Ryan Key

Belle & Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Review

November 26, 2003

There are still hints of sarcasm (the title track), but the happy-go-lucky nature of Dear Catastrophe Waitress is so thick that you hardly notice anything else.

Pink Grease – All Over You – Review

November 26, 2003

While most “indie” bands are paying homage to the lo-fi rock of the ’70s and early ’80s, Pink Grease is doing them all one better and delving back to the 1950s.

Rock City Crimewave – Sealed with a Curse – Review

November 26, 2003

RCC is the graveyard party of some good Boston bands: 8-Ball Shifter singer EEE Adams, Cherry 2000 bassist Poundy, and Gardner Key from The Syphlloids.

Denison Witmer – Recovered – Review

November 26, 2003

Forget Bright Eyes, this generation’s best singer/songwriter is Denison Witmer, no doubt about it.

Mojave 3 – Spoon and Rafter – Review

November 26, 2003

Vulnerable folk-pop that owes as much to misty English mornings as sun-baked leather and spurs.

Give – The Dog Days of Summer – Review

November 26, 2003

Not much info on this band, but not really much needed. Boston hard rock, with members from such local heavyweights as Honkeyball, Lazlo Bane, and Claymore.

Girlband – Rock for Beginners – Review

November 26, 2003

Girlband is made up of three guys who love melodic punk. Peppy and playful, like lots of good pop-punk bands in the mid-ands,-late-’90s.

Les – The View From Here – Review

November 26, 2003

Les is passionate, a multi-instrumentalist. But he’s not a wimpy singer/songwriter you want to kick the shit out of, for fear he’d write a song about it.

The Format – Interventions and Lullabies – Review

November 26, 2003

The Format specialize in ’80s acoustic-y light pop-rock, and songs often include sleigh bells, a banjo, a mellotron, and a wurly (what the hell is a wurly?).

Judith – Pills – Review

November 26, 2003

The production is smooth, the rough-fuzzed guitars are sexy. The lyrics are a work in progress. Perhaps tweaking the prescription could set things right.

The Black Lips – Review

November 26, 2003

Post-Nuggets garage punk, likeyou mighta seen on Estrus pre-Hellacopters, chock fulla two-minute screechers, the resulting desperately-needing-a-scrub racket.

Eyes Like Knives – Review

November 26, 2003

A well rocked-out poke into emo’s soft gut pulls out the worthwhile bits and pieces that’ll help keep the jagged burn from warm and yelpy.

Elvis Costello And The Attractions – Get Happy – Review

November 26, 2003

Indeed, the performances here feel like a fish in water, bopping to on-beats and Sunday gospel hollers as if directly transported from the Deep South.

Converge – Unloved and Weeded Out – Review

November 22, 2003

Ten years strong, the Converge machine carries on, and here we have an album full of songs – some sounding better than the originals -for us to digest.

The Wake-Ups – Wanna Meet…? – Review

November 19, 2003

Polished Aussie American style guitar rock – in this genre, these guys are doing everything right.

The Telegenic – Review

November 19, 2003

Bar-band pop-rock with an anthemic streak that wants to cross the pop horse-sense of “Jessie’s Girl” with the grandiosity of Bruce Springsteen.

The Primetime Heroes – Review

November 19, 2003

Young and fast, Kansas boys The Primetime Heroes wear their worship of Goldfinger, New Found Glory, Green Day, and Less Than Jake on their sleeves.

Ultralash – Review

November 19, 2003

Bare bones personal, basic and raw, this sound comes from the inside: The insides of neuroses, the insides of instruments, the insides of heads.

Tzefa – Feed Me – Review

November 19, 2003

A four-song EP from this novel New York metal band. Melodic metal with violin and male/female singers has been done before, but it perks the ears every time.