CHANGE OF IDEAS – Crossover (In My Heart): I should be all over this release, but it’s more “good” than “great.” The band plays fast melodic hardcore with a youth-crew slant, think GOOD RIDDANCE showing their 7 SECONDS and YOUTH OF TODAY influences. The problem is that vocals are not very powerful and the quick songs (most if not all are well under two minutes), especially towards the end of the release, trail off in memorability. I love the lyrics, artwork, and the aesthetic the band is going for, but the music needs more development.

ANGEL CITY OUTCASTS – S/T (Sailor’s Grave): I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of a punk rock band taking a Wild Wild West influence very seriously. It’s like SOCIAL DISTORTION’s country/blues direction amplified in an extreme form. Are punk bands even allowed in saloons? No one would care about this off-the-path concept if the music wasn’t compelling, and indeed, these guys are entertaining, with a lead singer who is more like a masterful circus barker than anything else. I guess that’s handy when you’re out dodging flying bottles of whiskey.

HARVEY MILK – A Small Turn Of Human Kindess (Hydra Head): “And still nothing moves you…” That’s the essence of my thoughts on HARVEY MILK. Slow, dirgy, awkward guitars and intestine scraping shouts, for about 38 slow minutes.  Slow. I can appreciate the band’s talent to create such a troubled atmosphere. I just don’t want to listen to it anymore…

AS I LAY DYING –  The Powerless Rise (Metal Blade): I mostly tuned out AS I LAY DYING’s last effort An Ocean Between Us, finding it to be too conservative and rigid. You could predict with great ease when the band would shift into good cop/bad cop vocal mode, and the Euro-metal riffing was high in execution, but low in fiber. It just didn’t have the excitement and rage of their breakthrough Shadows Are Security. Maybe the band felt that way too because The Powerless Rise goes for the throat and is emboldened like LAMB OF GOD’s crankin’ (and similarly situated), Wrath. Or maybe these guys just listened to a lot of ARCH ENEMY before heading into the studio and had that running through their brains. Whatever – this album slays.