There could not have been a better title for this album; Neva Dinova just thread the needle in this muted, lo-fi extravaganza. That may sound contradictory and you may be wondering how a lo-fi record can be extravagant and the answer is this; it is simply more amazing then it is lo-fi…get it?

You May Already Be Dreaming feels muted, and dark. Something like a cross between Murder By Death and Cursive but with a tiny bit of pop found in the structure makes for a really mellow, introspective listening experience. It’s easy to lose the album and follow your own thoughts that the record seems to spark – it’s a trip into your own mind, with Neva Dinova at the helm.

The band hails from Omaha Nebraska – Now I don’t know much, but if it’s anything like the style of Neva Dinova, it’s expansive and pictures of the sweeping grains are in my mind while I use ND as a soundtrack to what life would be like in the plains.

Overall it’s a very solid and beautiful record – the songs just have enough tempo and flair to keep you interested all the while sparking your imagination and being a catalyst for imagination and you will have to pinch yourself to snap you back into reality, because you may already be dreaming.

There has to be a good reason why Canada keeps pumping out some of the best music out there; I’m not sure if it’s the wide open spaces, the simplicity of small-town Ontario or the more relaxed pace Canadians seem to follow that allows them to spend more energy writing pop songs then worrying if they are going to miss tonight’s line-up on TV.

One band that comes out of Canada that is capable of living up to high expectations and the desire to not disappoint is the band Tokyo Police Club – From a 30k selling E.P to their first full length a year and a half later, the band is a formidable freight train packed full of energy and laced with the passion it takes to push a record in our current climate.

Separating themselves from homegrown labels and finding a new home south of the border just lifts TPC into the stratosphere of popularity – now with their album soon to be available at every corner record shop from pole to pole there is no doubt the strength of the record is there; the support from Saddle Creek only reflects just how much they believe in these guys.

The single, Tessellate is a good party-mix of crashing cymbals and beating drums with prominent vocals and the peppering of piano keys make an interesting sound. This time around, it seems TPC have focused heavily on the bottom-end – the drums and bass are very much so out front in the production, while vocals matching the intensity while having the key and guitar work in the background push the beats out past everything else; making this a really fucking powerful record. I’m not speaking just about Tessellate either, the whole album in a fast or slow variant is favors the heavy sound.

With being already featured on MTV and having positive literature in almost every possible place, I can only say that it’s about time TPC got the recognition they have worked so hard for. On behalf of music fans and of those who take the time to play in garage bands, I’d like to thank TPC for providing such a great precedent.

 After breaking up their long five year tenure with Maverick Records, and thirteen years of being together as a band (formerly known as Big Blue Monkey, 1995-2001), Story of the Year (a.k.a. Story or SOTY) is back  with a brand new album on Epitaph Records called "The Black Swan".

This St. Louis quintet is well known for their earlier material that included upbraiding the innocence of punk-rock with an eccentricity of post-hardcore in order to achive farcical catchy songs. The Black Swan is by far their best work up to date. The production stands out as some of the best in hard-rock. The frankness in the lyrics will make you sometimes express tenderness or maybe even sob until you get the blues, and the get-up-and-go behind the music will stew inside your head to the point that you will be subliminally begging for more. What i love the most about the album is the changes it presents, or to be a bit more exact, its elasacity which shows the evolution of the band as musically inclined, as well as mentally. From a fierced radio-friendly song with harmonious melodies such as "Wake Up", to a slow indie-serenade like "Terrified". Top 10 album of the year by far.

Overall its a great album, and well worth a listen.

There is something to be said about the determination and drive that comes with releasing your own record – without the support, either to mentor the band in the decision process or to have financial injections from a label that, in the very least, allow the bands to focus on the music rather then how they are going to eat lunch.

One genre familiar with such a situation is punk – the bedrock to the genre’s growth is of taking on a DIY attitude – that way we can ensure no fat-cat has his hand in your blue-collar pockets and fantasies of socialism come to play where they play for the music only, man. Here on my desk is such an endeavor from California’s Fentruck, who like their punk-grandfathers released an album by themselves but have added a more pop-punk feel – there is very little grit on this record, it is polished with fantastic production and stick to the formula of pop-punk and include great vocal melodies and clean guitar work.

Fentruck are one of the few – finding a good pop-punk band these days is getting harder and harder, no doubt. It’s no surprise that Fentruck hail from modern punk’s epicenter, California. These guys have had their whole lives to steep in the influence in some of the greatest melodic-punk bands, well, ever – and it shows.

If you have the hankering for a quality pop-punk outfit that does not disappoint, and could really use your support, it will do no harm to check these fellas out.

They are also looking for votes to get onto the Warped Tour bill, so help them.

http://warpedtour.battleofthebands.com/Funtruck

http://www.myspace.com/fentruck