#11 - The Frames - The Cost

The Frames - The Cost (Anti-)
You always know what you're getting with The Frames, they have a very easy-to-figure out songwriting formula that usually involves a song starting off quietly before reaching a loud and heavy chorus that is punctuated by Colm Mac Con Iomaire's touching violin playing. The only thing left to wonder as you listen to a record by this Irish band for the first time is how many fast-paced songs will there be?

On 'The Cost', The Frames have, for the most part, settled on taking the slow road as they meander through the emotionally charged lyrics. It's a bit of a departure from 2004's 'Burn the Maps', which featured a number of stadium-worthy anthems, and more akin to 2001's slow burner 'For the Birds' and lead singer Glen Hansard's 2006 side project, The Swell Season. In fact, Hansard brought along two songs from The Swell Season, re-recorded them with the entire band, and put them on 'The Cost'. Those songs, 'Falling Slowly' and 'When Your Mind is Made Up', were also performed live during the band's 2005 tour.

Hansard knows how to tug at the heartstrings through his vocals and tracks like the tropical sounding 'Sad Songs' and the sparse 'True' are more emo than anything you might hear by Cute is What Fallout Boy Aims For. The powerful delivery of these words coupled with the dynamic musical delivery by the supporting musicians is enough to bring any man to his knees, eyes closed, with goose bumps covering his arms and legs.

In addition to the already named tracks, songs like 'People Get Ready', 'Rise', and 'The Cost', which is a sister to 'A Caution to the Birds' from 'Burn the Maps', are the type that could be radio hits as easily as movie soundtrack filler.

If The Frames aren't one of the best bands in the world (and I would argue that they are), they certainly are among the elite groups that call Ireland home.

#10 - Kittie - Funeral for Yesterday

Kittie- Funeral for Yesterday (X of Infamy Records)
After exploring a darker edge with 2001's Oracle and 2004's Until the End, both featuring lead singer Morgan Lander doing her best Cookie Monster impersonation, Kittie has come to the realization that kids are actually digging female-fronted hard rock bands like Evanescence and Flyleaf that incorporate melody. After dealing with label nightmares, Kittie chose to release Funeral for Yesterday on their own imprint, X of Infamy Records, and pack the first half of the record with some pretty standard metal numbers that feature chunky guitar riffs and Lander singing in a clean voice.

There are a few tracks, "Sweet Destruction Interlude" and "Everything That Could Have Been" among them, that are worthy of spins on hard rock radio stations but just around the halfway point, Lander flips the switch and falls back into integrating Cookie Monster barking into the songs (the old school Metallica sounding "Never Again", "Flowers of Flesh and Blood"). It makes for a confusing listen. What audience does Kittie really want to appeal to? They'll have to answer that question and deliver an album full of that style of music before they have a chance to get the same kind of attention that they garnered with their 2000 debut, Spit, when they were considered a novelty act because they were Canadian teenage girls playing thrash metal. Not bad, but just not consistent enough.

#9 - Jill Cunniff - City Beach

Jill Cunniff - City Beach (The Militia Group)
Perhaps it was the fact that they were introduced to the world as the female version of The Beastie Boys, but Luscious Jackson never seemed to live up to the hype despite scoring a number of moderately successful hits during their short run. By the time the ladies went their separate ways in 2000, their kinky disco music had worn out it's welcome. Lead singer Jill Cunniff started a family and worked with the New York disco duo The Cooler Kids all the while writing songs that she'd eventually use for her debut, City Beach.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Cunniff's own work is cut from the same cloth as the material she contributed to Luscious Jackson, but it's more subdued and there is even a hint of Brazilian pop spread throughout the songs. While Cunniff's lyrical prowess may leave a bit to be desired, the general lazy summer afternoon tone of songs like "Lazy Boys" and "NYC Boy" make for a welcome return by this one-time New York City street punk

#8 - Army of Anyone

Army of Anyone - Army of Anyone (Firm Music)
Supergroups usually fail to deliver on the "super" part in their names and put out albums that leave you thinking "maybe these guys should go back to their old groups and give it another try." Fortunately, Army of Anyone makes up for the disappointing releases by other supergroups (Velvet Revolver, Audioslave) of the last decade.

With star talent pooled from two of the biggest alternative rock bands of the '90s (Filter, Stone Temple Pilots), Army of Anyone's well-crafted debut sounds like the work of a band on it's fourth or fifth album, not it's first. The DeLeo brothers – guitarist Dean and bassist Robert – of Stone Temple Pilots fame get to play the roles of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on the Zeppelin-inspired tracks "It Doesn't Seem to Matter" and "Leave It" which sounds like a distant cousin to Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Former Filter front man Richard Patrick doesn't have the range of Robert Plant – or even the DeLeo's former bandmate Scott Weiland for that matter – but his clean vocal style, with moments of sandpaper grit, compliment the DeLeo's playing.

While Patrick's stripped away any hint of his past as the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails, he does cling to the success he had with Filter's biggest single, "Take a Picture," and carries over that style of songwriting to a few tracks on Army of Anyone's album, particularly "Stop, Look and Listen" and "This Wasn't Supposed to Happen". Army of Anyone's debut is a perfect example of what can happen when the members of these so-called supergroups work together to bring in the best that each has to offer rather than allowing each musician to just play their part.

#7 - Kevin Fderline - Playing with Fire

Kevin Federline - Playing with Fire (Reincarnate Music)
When examining the history of pop culture’s infusion into the music industry, there are plenty of bombs littering the roadside. No matter how hard somebody like Paris Hilton falls when thinking they are a singer, there will always be another C-list celebrity ready to toss his or her hat into the ring. It’s no surprise that Kevin Federline wants to flex his creative (that’s using the term loosely) muscles and prove that he is just as capable of earning a living as his (soon-to-be-ex) wife Britney Spears. K-Fed is so proud of his skills that he spends a good portion of the CD boasting about his rapping talent in addition to dropping mad rhymes about smoking weed, being persecuted by the media, and having big pimp status.

While K-Fed has taken a number of mostly deserving shots in the media for being nothing more than a hanger-on, his rapping isn’t as terrible as one might expect. The simple rhymes may seem a bit juvenile and the beats may sound dated and pedestrian, but the rap world has never been lacking colorful characters with big egos so K-Fed fits in even though he’s a wannabe impostor who married into big money.

If Paris Hilton’s porn movie can be a best seller despite it’s lack of passion or originality, there is no reason K-Fed can’t extend his 15 minutes of fame for just a few minutes more.

#6 - Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum - Self-Titled

Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum - Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum (Hydra Head)
While Cave-In is Stephen Brodsky's bread and butter, the singer always manages to find time to engage in side projects either as a solo artist or joining forces with others (New Idea Society). Joined by bassist/keyboardist Johnny Northup (Thee Electric Bastards) and drummer Kevin Strongbow (Scissorfight), Brodsky's latest release is a gorgeous album of space-pop that recalls some of Cave-In's more commercial sounding moments (see: Cave-In's 2003 major label debut, Antennae). Brodsky has always worn his influences on his sleeve (Failure, Metallica, Iron Maiden) and continues to do so as a solo artist. The CD's opening track, "Voice Electric", could easily have been on Jeremy Enigk's latest release. Likewise, Brodsky references a rich mix of influences ranging from the bouncy pop of the New Pornographers ("Sentimental Case"), to the rich melodies of the Beatles ("Kid Defender") to the thoughtful wordplay of Elvis Costello ("Red Headed Butterflies"). Cave-In fans may be sorely disappointed but fans of good pop music will find a lot to like in Brodsky's latest (and hopefully long-lasting) creation.

#5 - Ambullete - The Lottery

Ambullete - The Lottery (Nettwerk America)
Maura Davis (ex-Denali) has an incredibly sexy and sultry voice but it feels like she has yet to find the right vehicle for that voice. Now, that's not to say that Denali, or Davis's newest band Ambullete, is not good. Quite the opposite. Ambullete's got a big rock sound, particularly the track "Fall" in which the music sounds like "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin and the vocals are vaguely reminiscent of Jeff Buckley's - not necessarily in sound but in range and emotion. And "Seconds to Minute" sounds like Garbage performing a James Bond theme track. But I can't help but think Davis should find a project where she can unleash her Billie Holliday/Shirley Jackson vibe in a jazz-like setting. I think she'd get much more attention - and accolades - it she moved away from the sound. But, since that doesn't seem to be in the game plan, I look forward to seeing what Ambullete delivers on a full length that will hopefully see the light of day in 2007.

#4 - Bourbon Crow - Highway to Hangovers

Bourbon Crow - Highway to Hangovers (Horror High)
Johnny Cash may be gone but his rabble-rousing spirit lives on in singers like Buck Bourbon (aka Wednesday13, formerly of the goth-glam metal band The Murderdolls). Bourbon teamed up with another longtime outlaw country fan, Jesse Crow (aka Raven "Kid Kid" Belchere), to record 13 tracks of straight up alcohol-fueled country songs that'll make both their grandpappies proud. In typical Wednesday13 fashion, the singer likes to play on words and the lyrics to his songs with Bourbon Crow typically involve drinking ("Alcohol Express", "Drink 'Till You Ain't Ugly", "Alcohol is Awesome") and doing bad things to bad people - usually women that have wronged him ("A Dead Body", "Lord Put My Girl", "I Wish I Cared"). It's great that Bourbon is able to go from his day gig as a solo artist (Wednesday13) that sounds like a mix of Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson to an outlaw country rebel that fits in right alongside Johnny Cash, David Alan Coe, Hank Williams Sr., and Merle Haggard. This is a damn fine drinking album and a great tribute to some honest and weathered country singers that don't get their due.

#3 - Thunder - Robert Johnson's Tombstone

Thunder - Robert Johnson's Tombstone (Frontiers Italy)
As a big fan of early '90s hard rock, I somehow managed to miss Thunder's debut Backstreet Symphony. Sixteen years after the British blues-based hard rock band made their debut, I've finally heard the band for the first time with the release of their eighth studio album, Robert Johnson's Tombstone. Now, I was expecting something a little bluesier based on the reference to Robert Johnson in the album title, but instead was met with a blast of classic rock in the vein of Bad Company and Led Zeppelin. Guitarist Luke Morley is really the star of the band (rumor has it that David Coverdale once tried to steal him away from Thunder to join Whitesnake) and his huge, stadium-filling riffs shine on tracks like "Dirty Dream" and "Don't Want to Talk About Love". He also plays some down-and-dirty riffs on the AC/DC-ish "The Devil Made Me Do It". Singer Danny Bowes brings in a lot of the blues-based sound with his vocals that remind me, at times, of Paul Rodgers. While I still dig this style of music, I suspect I would have liked this album much better had I heard it 16 years ago. It just sounds too classic rock for my tastes these days.

#2 - Ronnie Day - The Album

RONNIE DAY - The Album (The Militia Group)
Listen, I've got no problem with songwriters who write from the heart. You write about what you know and when you're 18 and in love, well, that's your life experience. And when your girlfriend hooks up with another guy while you're off recording some music with the lead singer of American Hi-Fi, then you write a new batch of songs, these ones all angry and sad breakup tunes. I get it. Really, I do. I was 18 once. I was the victim of a breakup. Hell, if I could play guitar or sing in tune, maybe I would have written this album. But, I'm not 18. And when I was 18 there was no such thing as LiveJournal or Blogs. These days kids have many different ways to share their feelings and emotions with the entire world. And sometimes, yes, sometimes kids tend to over exaggerate if it makes for a better blog entry. I'm not accusing Ronnie Day of making up his sad luck story but you've got to admit that it makes for pretty good lyrical fodder.

Ronnie's second album sounds a little too contrived and I bet in an old blog entry, Ronnie probably wrote something like "I totally get where Chris Carraba is coming from. Like, dude, Dashboard Confessional touches my heart like no other band ever has." The music on this CD is mainly acoustic-driven lite emo-pop that fans of Dashboard Confessional and The Early November will go crazy for. I think maybe I'm a little too old and have a few more years of relationship experience under my belt to really be able to relate to Ronnie and his sad sap tales of love and heartache.

#1 - Blanche - What This Town Needs

BLANCHE - What This Town Needs (V2 Records)

With a sophomore album set to drop this spring, Detroit’s premiere gothic country band Blanche gives fans a treat with this five-song enhanced EP featuring a live video of the band performing “So Long Cruel World” on New Year’s Eve, 2003. Featuring Dan John Miller (ex-Goober and the Peas, the band that Jack White got his start with), Blanche sticks primarily to real country music on this short player, the exception being the title track which sounds a bit like the Georgia Satellites with Jenny Lewis on backing vocals. The female vocals, which really stand out on all of Blanche’s recordings, are supplied by Miller’s wife, Trace Mae Miller, an accomplished artist in her own right. A cover of The Rolling Stones’ "Child of the Moon" is nearly unrecognizable thanks to the slower tempo and the inclusion of the pedal steel guitar. Both "Scar Beneath the Skin" and "Never Again" sound like tunes you'd expect to hear coming out of side street bars in Nashville, the ones that the tourists are afraid to enter. If the songs featured on this EP are any indication of the sound of the forthcoming full length, Blanche stands a good chance of changing a lot of people's opinions on country music.