THE USED – In Love and Death – After two listens of this release this afternoon, I firmly disappointed with most of “”In Love and Death.”" This may be hard to quantify, but THE USED have gone entire Bert-centric, meaning that so much more of the band’s songwriting now seems to revolve around frontman, Bert McCracken, and thus, the rhythm sections just seems like it’s playing second fiddle to the wandering, sometimes screaming, sometimes (unfortunately) singing whims of McCracken. Largely, THE USED have cut back on the tenaciousness that was so prevalent on their “”S/T”", leaving a mess of half-hearted pop melodies and boring, go-nowhere instrumentation. Still, there are a handful of cool songs, including the subwoofer satisfying, “”Sound Effects and Overdramatics,”" the lead single, “”Take it Away.”"

INTERPOL – Antics – As we get the remnants of what was Hurricane Jeanne today in the DC area, it’s only fitting that INTERPOL’s dark, moody, lush sound compliments the gray skies and pouring rain. “”Antics”" however, is not nearly as glum as the band’s prior release, “”Turn on the Bright Lights,”" and actually takes on a healthy clip as it stalks through all ten tracks. INTERPOL’s sound is entirely consuming, and if you attempt to do anything else while listening to the songs on “”Antics,”" don’t be suprirsed if you repeatedly find your concentration heading back to the stereo.