#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.