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New Albums [9/27]

Switchfoot - Vice Verses: I like the album title.  Too bad the music couldn't be as interesting.  It's all just extremely straightforward and easy-to-digest rock.  Pleasant enough, but entirely forgettable.  Dark Horse is rather enjoyable though.  Certainly below the level of Dare You to Move and Meant to Live, but better than anything else they've done.  Points: 1

Blink-182 - Neighborhoods: Just reread the Switchfoot review, replacing Dark Horse with After Midnight, and Dare You to Move and Meant to Live with All the Small Things, Adam's Song, and I Miss You.  Hell, I'll even do it for you:

I like the album title.  Too bad the music couldn't be as interesting.  It's all just extremely straightforward and easy-to-digest rock.  Pleasant enough, but entirely forgettable.  After Midnight is rather enjoyable though.  Certainly below the level of All the Small Things, Adam's Song, and I Miss You, but better than anything else they've done.  Points: 1

J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story: A terrible title that perfectly matches the terrible music contained within.  I had a ton of hope for the guy, with all the hype about him being the next Nas and the Jay-Z cosign.  Turns out, he can rhyme nearly as well as Nas, but he's still also like Nas in all the bad ways.  Namely, he's unable to write anything catchy, has a solid but boring flow, and has terrible taste in beats.  He's Nas-lite without an Illmatic to his name.  Points: 0

Neon Indian - Era Extrana: I know, this came out a few weeks ago, but I haven't gotten around to listening to it until today.  Overall, I'm rather unimpressed.  The whole things sounds really good, but nothing really stands out and it just floats by.  The one exception is Fallout.  I'm just in love with that track.  It's all about how the bass line and the mid-range synth lines are just slightly off beat, with the notes always sliding in a split second after the drum hits.  This, the slow tempo, and the buzzy synth tones give the song a spacey, laconic feel.  This should be the song that plays as the first man steps onto Mars.  Points: 2

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