After some time off from doing design reviews, I have finally brought them back.  What better release to pick back up with than this eye-catching new album from Take It Back! featuring artwork by one of my all-time favorite designers, Dave Quiggle.  But first, let me talk about their music… Take It Back! fall right in the middle of the post-Comeback Kid sound that incorporates extremely melodic, catchy song structures into tunes that are predominantly hardcore.  At times, they even sound a bit like Set Your Goals, especially with the dueling high/low vocals throughout the CD.  Ultimately, Take It Back! suffers from a lack of originality and a vocalist with bigger ambitions than his range allows.  That said, this being their first proper release shows a lot of promise that will hopefully come to fruition down the line.  As for the design/layout, Quiggle demonstrates his diverse abilities extremely well with this one.  The cover image and outer spread exude the fun spirit of the music without being too cheesy.  The way in which the cover elements are carried into the inner panels really works well.  This is also true of the outer and inner tray designs, with the latter showcasing his great use of gradients in the colors.  My only qualm with Quiggle’s work here would be the inside of the insert, on which he does use the comic-like halftone pattern as a nice backdrop, yet he fails to make the text-heavy content a little more interesting than just words.  Overall though, this reminds me of why I love his art/design so much.
Facedown Records / Dave Quiggle

That old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” must not apply to CDs because I knew exactly what to expect from the first sight of Vacation Bible School’s cover.  Anyone familiar with Aaron Cometbus’ zine (appropriately enough entitled Cometbus) and/or his design work would immediately have an inclination of what Vacation Bible School are trying to accomplish.  Pretty much their entire layout serves as a tribute to Mr. Cometbus’ art, yet doesn’t quite come through with the same quality.  As for their music, it fits the same M.O.  Each of the eight songs recall Lookout! Records era pop punk in their own way, most often in the vein of Pinhead Gunpowder (which… surprise, surprise… featured Aaron Cometbus on drums).  The only touch of their own is a bit of a rock n’ roll feel added throughout, but the entire CD maintains a sense of being dated (not necessarily in a bad way).  Honestly, what this album lacks in creativity it more than makes up for with the walk down memory lane… especially for those who remember a decade ago.
Cassette Deck

First off, I find it rather surprising that Collin Herring has yet again self-released an album.  His last release, The Other Side Of Kindness, was really good and I can’t believe a label didn’t snatch him up.  That said, Past Life Crashing continues the pattern previously set, melding twang-tinged alternative rock akin to The Replacements with more mellow, folk/alt-country writing.  The opening track, “Cellophane,” serves as a great segue from The Other Side Of Kindness with it’s upbeat, more rock feel.  Quickly though, it becomes apparent Herring has been leaning more towards the quieter side.  Eventually, the album concludes with “Dishes” a deep and lengthy foray into experimental territory not otherwise heard from Herring on these last two albums. While Past Life Crashing might not have the same immediate hook-laden quality as some might have come to expect, it’s still well worth checking out as a natural step forward.
Collin Herring

I’m always stoked to hear new punk bands and a split 7″ just feels like a throwback to a better era of music.  Unfortunately, I let my nostalgia get my hopes a bit too high for this one.  Both The Budgets and Bust! play “garage punk” and honestly, it sounds like both bands recorded in a garage with a boombox.  Can we thank Jay Reatard for this seeming okay?  Beyond almost unlistenable recording quality, the songwriting itself isn’t really that great.  Basically, this 7″ would be best used as the raw materials in making one of those nifty ashtrays you see in vintage stores.
Cassette Deck

As I typed the title of this review, it occurred to me how funny “A Tribute To Seaweed” might sound to the majority of people who read this site, assuming they might not know of the ’90s post-hardcore band of that name.  Yet, I think this unintentional (and ultimately damaging) exclusivity of Seaweed’s musical output lends a bit to understanding why a tribute might be warranted.  Those who were fortunate enough to come across this unique group know of their uncanny ability to straddled the line between post-hardcore and straight-up alternative with ease and often a perfection few others accomplished.  Funny enough, this tribute features a number of talent bands who also haven’t necessarily garnered the attention they might deserve, most notably Joshua, Favez, and The Fire Still Burns.  Some of the covers are pretty terrible too, yet those that are good are really good.  Fans of the band will appreciate this, but for those unfamiliar with Seaweed this tribute will likely be lost on them.
Engineer Records

There’s this whole realm of contemporary hardcore with bands that never make it to the overbearing level of acts like Bane, Terror, etc. yet still maintain a strong fan base nonetheless.  Despite all their efforts, these groups can’t get past some barrier.  Killing The Dream are just such a band.  Each new album gets better (this is absolutely true with Fractures) and they tour plenty, yet people just don’t catch onto what they’re doing as much as other bands.  In part, I think Killing The Dream suffers from the common problem (and an issue I often bring up) of failing to make their melodic music catchy enough.  While they have made some leap and bound improvements with this new album, it’s still a little apparent when the album ends and you don’t really have anything stuck in your head.  Also, they ride the line a little too close for their own good between hardcore and the amorphis genre of bands like Shai Hulud and Life In Your Way… not really metalcore, but not really hardcore either.  For the most part though, these issues are unavoidable when trying to write songs outside the box and if nothing else, they deserve credit for their attempts (some hits and some misses) to that end.
Deathwish Inc.

I won’t pretend to know a lot about electronic/dance music.  That said, I know what I like and can distinguish that stuff from the rest of this genre.  Sasha has always been a DJ I’ve found myself enjoying, whether I knew it was his music or not.  This newest collection might not be a proper set, but still showcases his unrivaled finesse with trance beats over the course of both CDs.  Gathering various mixes, remixes, and even an entire film score (clocking in at just over 40 minutes), these songs develop wonderful soundscapes that I imagine even other novices like myself could appreciate.  If nothing else, this makes for great chill out music to throw on when you need some mellow alone time.
Ultra Records

With their second proper release, Polar Bear Club have clearly stepped up their approach to writing punk rock.  Much like their previous CD, Sometimes Things Just Disappear still demonstrates their love of the whole Hot Water Music, Leatherface, Small Brown Bike thing, yet something has finally emerged from these fellows a little more their own.  The anthemic vocals and powerful riffage still fly freely, but Polar Bear Club are doing it now with more of their own spin on the overall sound.  Although an improvement clearly has been made, it’s not easy to nail down what has changed (beyond better lyrics that is… the “throat” line on the last CD always sounded a little more vulgar to me than I think they intended).  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter as Polar Bear Club power on with solid punk rock and are impressively starting to forge their own path.
Red Leader Records

When The Postal Service burst onto the scene, everyone kept citing their creativity and unique take on indie pop as reason for all the acclaim.  Not to say they didn’t deserve the attention, but they might not of been quite as original as everyone thought.  For at least a few years prior, a number of artists (almost exclusively based in Europe) were creating catchy indie tunes leaning towards the more electronic end of the spectrum… and Styrofoam was among this early group.  Flash forward quite a few years and you have Styrofoam’s latest effort, the ultra-catchy yet completely smooth A Thousand Words.  Continuing with the impressive nature of the previous albums, this newest release provides further proof of Styrofoam’s place among the best of this emerging genre.
Nettwerk Records

Stunningly-produced garbage is still garbage, as evidenced by The Audition’s Champion. The redeeming quality one looks for in poppy, upbeat music is that it is catchy and palatable, and this album is the opposite of both. Dull, overly-simplistic chord progressions resemble something akin to the light beer version of chug. With lyrics like “Come closer to me baby/I’ve got everything you need/To fill your hunger pains tonight,” The Audition is sure to succeed in such fields as selling pizzas or being in a boy band, instead of aspiring to be legitimate career musicians. In addition, the singer pronounces the word “bed” like this: “bay-aaaah-heehhhd.”
Victory Records