Lollipop Magazine

Mercury Switch – Review

March 1, 2004

Pushing the boundaries of hardcore/noisecore with message from the “Big Guy” above (read: God) New Hampshire’s Mercury Switch muscle up some creative ideas.

The Fire Theft – Review

March 1, 2004

3/4s of Sunny Day Real Estate. Emotional songs that are worth the wait, but definitely different enough to alienate lots of Sunny Day Real Estate fans.

The Bronx – Review

March 1, 2004

The combination of the rapidity of the beats, the hard-slicing guitar, and Caughthran’s melodic screaming amounts to the most pleasurably intense and hard-hitting songs.

The Agony Scene – Review

March 1, 2004

Moments of fearsome noise here, howls from hell, stuttering riffs to make you look foolish if you try to snap your fingers to it, and plenty of jaw-dropping moments.

Ted Leo/Pharmacists – Tell Bageary, Balgury Is Dead – Review

March 1, 2004

Is Ted Leo our generation’s Paul Weller? For sure, no one else pulls off the Jam/Kinks vibe as convincingly or well-crafted as Leo.

T. Raumschmiere – Radio Blackout – Review

March 1, 2004

Radio Blackout uses crunchy basslines and breakbeats to hammer out crude melodies and rhythms that seem to jump out of the stereo.

Surrounded – Safety in Numbers – Review

March 1, 2004

One aural peak into Safety in Numbers and you’ll chalk up another victory for the icy country, as drums crack like burning wood, and synths backfire like classic Mercury Rev.