Loud Lockdown

Sleigh Bells: Still reignin'.

Remember when I updated semi-regularly?  Of course you do.  This is to remind you of what that was like.  Sort of.  Oh, and it’s also to catch up on all the rad LPs that have been blowing up my headphones through the law school grind.

Every Time I Die- Ex Lives (*****): Let’s be real for a moment: Ex Lives is a punishing piece of music, a twisted storm of angular hardcore, bristling metallic grind, and ambient psychedelia, straight from the perverse mind of Keith Buckley & Co.  This is the kind of record that comes once in a blue moon, a kaleidoscopic hodgepodge of aggression and groove that’s as beautiful as it is chaotic. In a world where everyone can play like a lazer-guided robot, it’s refreshing to see a group explore the heavy end of the spectrum with soul and feeling.  Oh, and there’s banjo. In short, Every Time I Die is the best heavy band you're not listening to, and Ex Lives is the most face melting fun you’ll have all year.

Key Cuts: Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space, I Suck (Blood), Indian Giver

fun.- Some Nights (****): How does a group cross over from indie-pop royalty to full blown iTunes heavyweights?  If you’re fun., you call up Kanye West’s producer Jeff Bhasker, listen to Queen’s Jazz obsessively, and apply all of that to some solid song writing.  Some Nights captures the grandeur of hope in a way that few pop albums in recent memory have been able to do, wrapping it up with massive beats (“We Are Young”), plunking piano (“All Alone”), and enough electronic fuzz and vocal warbling to turn Top 40 on its ear.  This bigger sound suits the band well, creating a theatrical carnival that’s warmer, more wistful, and intensely gratifying.  If you want a fun night, check out fun.’s Some Nights.

Key Cuts: We Are Young (Feat. Janelle Monáe), All Alone, All Alright

Lana Del Rey- Born To Die (***): Whether or not you buy into the idea of Lana Del Rey as the “gangster Nancy Sinatra,” it’s hard to listen to Born To Die without feeling uncomfortable.  This is partially because the album’s arrangements are actually pretty interesting, fusing movie score sighs with spacious, minimalist trip-hop clunk and clatter.  Too bad Del Rey makes the listening experience…disconcerting.  The more-numb-than-cool, Lolita pandering, pop-star exploitation story does more to unsettle than engage, especially since she just doesn’t have a set of pipes to pull it all together.  File under: Hot Mess.

Key Cuts: “Mumble mumble mumble, videeooooo gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames…”

Lamb Of God- Resolution (***½): Ever since 2005’s Sacrament, Lamb Of God have been trying to find their groove metal mojo.  Wrath, although thrashy, just felt too clean for these metal mastodons.  Resolution benefits from some much needed muscular crunch this time around, whether it’s on the atom bomb shudder of “Straight For The Sun” or the rattlesnake stomp of “Ghost Walking.”  Unfortunately, the album unravels during the second half, mining past sonic hellfire-riff workouts, feeling aimless in the process.  Though Resolution is a step in the right direction, Lamb Of God’s next record is really going to have to bring something new to the table to keep us listening.

Key Cuts: Straight For The Sun, Ghost Walking, The Number Six

The Mars Volta- Noctourniquet (*): Ugh.  This record sounds like a fax machine, spazzing out to a Tito Puente remix done by Skrillex (Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire).  Too many ideas, no focus, and no real drive.  Hell, even Cedric wasn’t enthused about this album.  Pass.

Key Cuts: The At The Drive-In reunion at Coachella.

Memoryhouse- The Slideshow Effect (***½): Striking a subtle balance between Beach House’s warm spaciousness, the syrupy slide of The Field Mice, and some twinkling keyboards for good measure, Memoryhouse is the real deal.  Occupying the space between a faded photo and wasted afternoon, The Slideshow Effect is a soothing, lush exploration of romanticism.  Though Denise Nouvion’s register falls on the flatter end of the spectrum, the soft layers of reverb that punctuate these tracks makes them shimmer like summer.  The album’s shining standout out is “The Kids Were Wrong,” its drum machine patter and luscious licks painting a picture of youth too personal for our skin to forget.

Key Cuts: Little Expressionless Animals, The Kids Were Wrong, Walk With Me

Say Anything- Anarchy, My Dear (***): Anarchy, My Dear isn’t dragged down by the fact that Max Bemis isn’t having frantic, bi-polar freak-outs anymore.  It languishes because Bemis constructed a really safe record, and, for the first time in his career, isn’t really saying much of anything.  There are some barnburners, the searing buzz of “Burn A Miracle” and the synthed-out come-on of “So Good,” but Anarchy… plays out like a neutered version of Say Anything’s previous album, without the pop bombast.  The whole affair seems tired, especially considering there’s a sequel to the group's anti-hispter anthem “Admit It!!!” titled “Admit It Again.” Admit it Max, this one was a tad phoned-in.

Key Cuts: Burn A Miracle, Say Anything, So Good

Sleigh Bells- Reign Of Terror (*****): Coming from lo-fi, in-the-red dance party beginnings, Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss have constructed a flashy and emotive church of noise on Reign Of Terror.  Indebted to Miller’s love of heroic axe shredding and Krauss’ R&B-meets-riot grrl schtick, Reign... balances breathy ballads with 808 drum machine gun fire.  This album is cooler than cool, from the evil cheerleader stomp of “Crush,” to the harmonized siren moan and Def Leppard arpeggios of “You Lost Me.”  And of course, there’s “Demons,” the sexiest, most violent stab at biker metal you’ll hear this year.  Bigger, brasher, and at times more adventurous, Sleigh Bells have taken the recklessness of their debut and blown it up in all its gory 80s glory.  Terrorific.

Key Cuts: Crush, Demons, You Lost Me