What You Missed

So I haven't been reviewing music for a while since life got quite a bit busy (Bernaroo being a main factor, check it out at http://www.myspace.com/bernaroo or http://www.twitter.com/bernaroo10 OR at http://bernaroo.blogspot.com ) but alas, I am coming back to review music as the good people wish. Instead of just skipping over all of the great music that came out over the past two months, I'm going to do a short recap of the albums that came out recently that you all need to listen to......now.

1) The Monitor by Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus, drawing their name from the famous Shakespeare play, followed up their first album "The Airing of Grievances" with this very unique and high energy concept album about the ship of the same name in the U.S Civil War. The Monitor as most know was the first ironclad ship and was a part of the most famous naval battle in U.S history. But story aside, the album consistently brings the same energy that their first album did, which is fast paced almost punk-esque indie-rock that has lyrics that can shake you to the core. From the Springsteen homage with "Tramps like us, baby we were born to die" or with the recurring lyric which rings out the array of emotions from hopelessness to preparation for war, "The enemy is everywhere". Titus Andronicus follows up their debut with another amazing album, and they've only just begun their career. Hopefully we see a lot more of this New Jersey group in the upcoming years.

Rating: 8.2/10

2) In The Court of Wrestling Let's by Let's Wrestle

Although the debut album of British indie band 'Let's Wrestle' came out overseas in 2009, it just hit stateside this year thanks to being signed to Merge Records, and it has received much acclaim. The album features a lot of raw teenage emotions that you'd expect to hear from a band that's in their early 20's, but not to the point where it sounds old and played out. The influence from Yo La Tengo and Husker Du is very clear on the bands debut album, and although the album isn't exceptionally catchy or an album of the year contender, it's definitely worth listening to. Let's Wrestle is definitely a band that should be kept on watch for being on the verge of hitting it big on the scene.

Rating: 7.4/10

3) The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man On Earth

The Tallest Man On Earth may not literally fit the title he carries, but he probably feels like it with all of the Dylan comparisons that he gets. In all actuality The Tallest Man On Earth is the stage moniker of Kristian Matsson, a 27 year old from Sweden who sings with the same twang of any folk artist from the States, and write songs twice as well as the majority of them. Matsson's debut album "Shallow Graves" took everyone by surprise and he toured in 2008 with the likes of Bon Iver and John Vanderslice. The Wild Hunt solidifies that Matsson wasn't just a one trick pony, because he arguably topped his debut, which many thought wasn't possible with the amount of hype put behind this album. Matsson has a way of emoting that strikes you to the very core and you truly can feel every word that he sings. There isn't a weak track on "Wild Hunt", and Mattson may not be the actual tallest man on earth, but he's certainly one of it's best songwriters.

Rating: 9.2/10

4) Avi Buffalo by Avi Buffalo

Avi Buffalo is a band which consists primarily of members fresh out of high school, but that doesn't mean that they can't make music worthy of being on the near legendary Sub-Pop Records, because they certainly do. Avi Buffalo has a unique sound to them, but all the while can't seem to escape sounding like The Shins in the best way possible. The lead single from this debut album, "What's In It For", gives a good summation of what the rest of the album is like; it's very catchy but doesn't focus so much on catchiness that it loses it's sense of depth and emotion that is hard to find in music nowadays.

Rating: 7.7/10

And if that wasn't enough for you, a full review of The National's new album will be posted up later this week as well. Subscribe to the blog if you wish to be updated on all the posts, or simply keep checking up on the social networking sites and you'll most likely see a link posted.