RADIO 4
Enemies Like This
Astralwerks
Enemies Like This is the poster-album for why the single has re-emerged as a vital form of musical content delivery. The title-track opener from this second record by Radio 4 blazes out of the speakers astride a colossal guitar riff and provides both a terrific single and a promising first song to what you hope will be a great record. Unfortunately, nothing else on Enemies Like This even approaches "Enemies Like This" and gets lost in a derivative mass of dub bass and angular guitars. If Radio 4 is the US answer to the UK post-punk movement, the Brits have won this one without much of a struggle. At least they got one song right. --Andy Smith

Joel Rafael Band
Woodyboye: The Songs of Woody Guthrie (and Tales Worth Telling), Vol. II (Appleseed)

While the great Mr. Guthrie has been the subject of quite a few tributes, this is one artist whose catalog holds up to a multitude of refractions through the modern lens. Folksinger Joel Rafael brings a particularly reverential treatment here, on songs both well known (“Ranger’s Command” “This Train”) and obscure. “Stepstone” is particularly noteworthy, as Rafael brings Jackson Browne, Arlo Guthrie, and Jimmy LaFave on board for a bit of campfire soul, while Van Dyke Parks brings it all home with sublime accordian trills. All in all, a worthy, heartfelt addition to the Guthrie legacy. --Charlie Sands

RECKLESS KELLY
UNDER THE TABLE & ABOVE THE SUN (SUGAR HILL)

Up until now, Reckless Kelly's most accomplished recorded performance was as backing band on Chris Wall's standout 1998 album, Tainted Angel. Stress on the "up until now." Under the Table & Above the Sun is a fiery and fine declaration by a band capable of kicking up nearly perfect roots music (with plenty of pop hooks) all on its own. Lead singer Willy Braun had a hand in writing all 12 songs and delivers quite a few gems. Instantly appealing cuts like "Nobody's Girl," co-written with his father, Muzzie, who also provides vocals on the equally engaging "I Saw It Coming," stand up to repeated listening. Braun's weary, fuzzy, yes-I-smoke-too-much vocals and lines about being "outta Ely and red hot," combined with the band's skilled playing in myriad musical styles, make this heartbreak hoedown quite a bit of fun. "Set Me Free," "Desolation Angels," and "Vancouver" are among the many highlights. Fellow Austinite Kim Richey joins the band for the album-closing "May Peace Find You Tonight." (Andy Turner)

Kimberley Rew
Essex Hideaway (Bongo Beat)

Erstwhile Soft Boy Kimberley Rew's first waxing following his band's comeback tour is a bit of strange left turn, coming as it does after his picture perfect pop of Great Central Revisited. Veering from music hall--"Short Smart Haircut"--to the near hard rock of "Phoenixstowe," which is quite a showcase for Rew's psych guitar textures in service to a beautiful Kinksian melody, it's surprisingly eclectic. Oh, he's still got it when it comes to quirky Rockpile/Nick Lowe-style guitar rock, as on this record's "Jerome K Jerome" and "Your Mother Was Born in That House," but in short, Rew's now released four brilliant, deeply eccentric and equally fabulous LPs. Best song here: the lilting title track, a bit of good-timing escapism built on the graceful gait of acoustic guitars. Note: The Kinks' Ian Gibbons and Fairport's Dave Mattacks pitch in. --Luke Torn

RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR / NO WAIT WAIT
Split EP (CHAIRKICKERS UNION)
Just a sampler of last summer’s collaborative tour featuring Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Mark Kozelek, plus a song from the band that opened for them. The two long time friends meet up over their mutual interest in noisy guitars and sweet harmonies. Opener “El Coro” is, at two minutes, an all too brief teaser of guitar squeals, while “Breaker” is classic Sparhawk in an edgy manner totally unlike his best known work. On a folkier note, “Hatchett” is Sparhawk's folkier side, with the undeniable offer of “let’s bury the hatchet like the Beatles and the Stones." It’s hard to hear any Kozelek here, though, which is rare for something he’s involved in. Hopefully a full album is forthcoming. No Wait Wait’s track is a lovely bit of Low-inspired atmospheric pop, ghostly serene, with explosive guitar that could easily be Kozelek and Sparhawk guesting (the willfully discreet credits give no clues). At a minute less than fifteen, it’s only a taste of their '05 tour; we can only hope that more will follow and, if it does, Kozelek will play a more prominent role. --d.n.l

Reverb
Swirl (Elephant Stone)
Reverb was an English indie band active in the mid to late 90's and Swirl captures the band's releases between 1994 and 1998. Putting a more 60's-retor spin on the Britpop template that was predominant at the time, Reverb managed to have some chart success and ended working with Echo and the Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant on some recordings. The 23 tracks on Swirl give an interesting rear-view of this forgotten band but reveal them to be competent but not a band that is likely to be celebrated heavily in the future. The songs are on the power-pop side of the shoegazer sound and include some great single tracks ("Pedal," "Down Tonight," and "Fragile"). It also gets better as you move later in the band's career. Overall, Swirl is an interesting compilation but not essential. (Andy Smith)

RILO KILEY
THE EXECUTION OF ALL THINGS (SADDLE CREEK)

With a lo-fi indie ethic woven tightly into a broad sense of pop history, L.A.'s Rilo Kiley sports the exultant sound of Liz Phair fronting Pavement with a vengeance on their amazing sophomore album, The Execution of All Things. Keyboardist/vocalist Jenny Lewis can gearshift from Phair's disaffected anthemics to Aimee Mann's melancholic ache in a heartbeat while cooing lyrics like "I'm not going back to the assholes that made me, and the perfect display of random acts of hopelessness..." ("Paint's Peeling"), and "You say I choose sadness but it never once has chosen me..." ("The Good That Won't Come Out"). Guitarist/vocalist Blake Sennett does a pretty passable approximation of a kinder/gentler Elliott Smith when it's his turn to rock the mike, giving the songs on his watch a decidedly Shins-like veneer. Musically, Rilo Kiley is a study in deliberate dichotomy. Joyously moody and sparsely epic, Rilo Kiley handily finds both ends of any sonic spectrum they choose to explore. There are perfectly balanced moments of great subtlety and appropriate bombast on Execution, sometimes within a single track. The cathartic blurt of "Capturing Moods" begins with a poppy little melody that ultimately gives way to a maelstrom of guitar and synth, all of it held together by Lewis' brittle yet confident vocal, while "A Better Son/Daughter" is a Celtic pop/rock hymn that offers Lewis as a Gen X Sinead O'Connor, detailing the neurotic angst of young adulthood and the dilemma of finally understanding your parents. With lilting vocals, Beatles-to-Elephant-6 melodicism, gentle pedal steel, and baroque rock filigrees, Rilo Kiley has fashioned a totally satisfying album that will appeal to any fan of thoughtful pop. (Brian Baker)

RIPTONES
SLANT 6 (SPARKLETONE)

Solid all instro record with plenty of twang and some R&B undergirds. In fact "Buckshot" comes on like a junior Fabulous T-Birds (in their prime). Slight, yes, but as a stopgap for these alt-country stalwarts, perfectly serviceable.

JOSH RITTER
GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO (SIGNATURE SOUNDS)

Nearly all the press for this young folksinger brings up the same sainted name: Nick Drake. In a way, that's accurate; on his second album, Golden Age of Radio, Ritter often sounds like an American version of the doomed British singer/songwriter. He has the same soft-spoken vocal style (though he transfers to a more robust style when accompanied by a rhythm section), same acoustic guitar-based arrangements and intimate atmosphere. Fortunately, he's also got the same knack for memorable melodies. The sedate opener "Come and Find Me" compares favorably to Drake, while "You've Got the Moon" practically raises his ghost. There's more to Ritter than endless Drake comparisons, however. He also indicates a familiarity with Townes Van Zandt ("Leaving," "Roll On"), the mid-90s roots music scare ("Harrisburg," the title tune), and introspective indie rock bands like the Silver Jews and Smog ("Other Side," "Drive Away"). While Ritter may seem at first glance like a folksinging magpie, he's more than talented enough to adapt these approaches to his own writing, rather than simply ape different styles. He's perfectly confident fronting a polite rock backdrop, as on "Lawrence, KS" and "Me & Jiggs," but he's at his best when he conveys himself with just voice and guitar, at least for the moment. This is one talented kid, very nearly living up to his hype. Keep an eye out for Josh Ritter; he's got a big future ahead of him. (Michael Toland)

Charlie Robison
Good Times (Dualtone)

Between his last studio album and this, Charlie Robison married a Dixie Chick and had a son. But if the songs on Good Times are any indication, that hasn’t stopped Robison from having lots of rowdy nights. He wastes no time hollering out the point on the album-opening title track: “Buy me a whiskey, get yourself stoned/And we gonna have a good time.” On “Something in the Water,” Robison takes “a big chug-a-lug, then I hit the rug…I was passed a cup, so I drank it up/And I was face down on the street.” And in Keith Gattis’ “Big City Blues,” the fun starts in the opening two lines: “Skinny dippin’ in the Perdenales River/Country girl sure could make me shiver.” The dude’s most definitely having agood time, and party songs are where he shines. Slower songs on Good Times like “El Cerrito Place” and “The Bottom” don’t resonate as much as when Robison’s raising hell and drinking the town dry. The one exception is “Photograph,” a solid story-song that shows off his songwriting chops. Occasionally, Good Times lags like a Saturday night party with no beer, but for the most part it lives up to its name. (Brian T. Atkinson)

Rockland Eagles
Rock! Fight! Win! (Mudflap Records)

Austin's Rockland Eagles are one of the city's more popular live acts. Armed with three guitars, arena rock-worthy guitar riffs, and snazzy jumpsuits, they both celebrate and satirize the glory days of the big dumb rock show. On their recorded debut, Rock! Fight! Win!, those familiar with the band's riotous live act can hear the music stripped of its accompanying stage show. The result highlights the better constructed songs and exposes some that don't translate as well on record. While Kiss is an obvious influence, the band's suburban trash-culture salute and meaty guitar riffs are more reminiscent of the Dictators, thankfully. And though most of the songs on the record are of the fist-pumping, foot-stomping variety, "Wanna Take a Ride" and the arena rock glory days ode "Nassau Coliseum" show both that songwriter Mark Hutchins has some good melodies up his sleeve, and that the band can do more than just RAWK!! (Andy Smith)

Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez
A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack, Volume 1 (Gold Standard)

There is no doubt that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is a prolific and creative musician. From his contributions to the explosive intensity of At the Drive-In and to the free-form psychedelic leanings of Mars Volta, he has already created an impressive body of unconventional and exciting work. A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack, Volume 1 is his first solo record and continues his journey into visceral, cerebral rock music. Created as the soundtrack for an unfinished film, the record sounds like music intended to be played in the background of everyday life. Compositions range from mellow ambience ("Around Knuckle White Tile" and "Here the Tame Go By") to what sounds like salsa music run through studio effects ("Deus Ex Machina") to more conventional rock structures ("Dyna Sark Arches"). The only thing approaching a regular song is "The Palpitations Form a Limit" which includes ATDI and Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler's vocals. Rodriguez-Lopez is an incredibly interesting and innovative musician, and though A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack, Volume 1 might work better in context with the film for which it was written, people searching for a more esoteric addition to their record collections should consider it. (Andy Smith)



THE ROMANTICS
61 / 49 (WEB ENTERTAINMENT)

The Romantics had (have?) a really weird career. They started as a power pop band, and their first release contained three absolute masterpieces, especially "When I Look In Your Eyes" (a Who-like raver that remains their definitive song) and "Tell It To Carrie," along with the song that would both define them and hang like "My Sharona" around their necks, "What I Like About You," (incidentally, the only song the drummer sang (shades of "We're An American Band"), with its thrilling guitar/harp/drums workout. Subsequent to the EP, which hardly anyone but pop fanatics even noticed, the band started wearing trademark red sharkskin matching suits, recorded a series of increasingly hard rock albums (they were from the Detroit area), and a reissued "What I Like About You" became mega, appearing for years and years in TV, film soundtracks, and even heavy rotation commercials. Now they're back, the original quartet, although the drummer seems to have been let go prior to the LP's release and replaced by Blondie/Plimsouls drummer Clemente Burke. This is a good solid album, sure to win no new fans, but overall quite respectable. The originals like "61 / 49," "Out of My Head (Into My Heart)," and especially the poppy rocker "When the Angels (Hear Me Callin')" are all quite good. There's a really fine cover of the Kinks' obscure '66 rocker "I Need You" (the last of their great riff songs), but the other cover, the Pretty Things' "Midnite to Six Man" is pretty much torpedoed by original drummer Jimmy Marinos, who can't swing ("What I Like About You" is pretty much his entire drum lick repertoire). Wish the whole LP had featured Burke. (Kent H. Benjamin)

THE ROSEBUDS
Birds Make Good Neighbors (MERGE)
Thank you, Lee (producer and drums) for encouraging Kelly to sing more because the well-written, catchy pop melodies are not what distinguish the Rosebuds from every other indie-pop band. Rather the vocals, more precisely the backing vocal flourishes, make the songs on Birds Make Good Neighbors unique pieces of art. “Blue Bird” shines, with backing vocals reminiscent of the repetitive call of birds on nature’s radio, while “Outnumbered” shimmers with a certain 60s pop charm. The handclaps get me right here (as I beat on my heart). Songs these days don’t take enough advantage of the handclap; kudos to the Rosebuds for using them and utilizing them well at that. More than anything else on this album, I love the “single microphone in a gospel church”-esque production of “Shake Our Tree”; I guess we have Lee to thank for that one too. --Don Simpson

JOSH ROUSE
1972 (RYKODISC)

Rouse has a history of looking back. Last year’s Under Cold Blue Stars chronicled his family. This time it's 1972, his birth year and time of musical obsession - and the era of America’s biggest hangover. Influenced by Al Green, Steely Dan, Carole King, and the like, the record manages to avoid postmodern irony and conjure a new kind of 70s pop by aligning slick soul with jangly pop. (John Stoehr)

THE ROY OWENS JR.
THIS IS AN ILLUSION (QUINN)

Somewhere in the middle of this competent pop/rock album, "Yes, I Was Foolish" jumps out and grabs you by the ears to convict you of what could be The Roy Owens Jr's ultimate potential. It's punchy, heartfelt, and yes, infectious in that twangy power pop manner that real pop fans cannot get enough of. The rest of This Is an Illusion has its moments in the sun, notably the astute dynamics of "It Could Be Worse," the fragile sentiments of "Take Me As I Am," the fuzzy poignancy of "A Grand Mistake" and the folky underpinnings of "Stars." Drawing heavily from 70s rock inspirations like Big Star, Gram Parsons, ELO, and, especially, solo Beatles outings, but unfortunately filtered through the modern rock lens of Pearl Jam-Creed inflections (!), The Roy Owens Jr. certainly have it in them to produce a killer pop album. They're not there yet, though. (Kevin Mathews)

KILLOWATTHOURS / THE RUM DIARY
SPLIT (SPRINGMAN/SUBSTANDARD)

The split release trend is not a new thing, even before the Konkurrent Fishtank series that began several years ago. It's always been a way for like-minded bands to share audiences. On the best split releases, the two bands blend together into something special for a song or two. When this works, as it did for Low and the Dirty Three, it can be a wonderful thing, but when it doesn't it can be a train-wreck. The split release from Brooklyn's Killowatthours and the Bay area's Rum Diary falls somewhere in between. There is some common ground, for sure, but there is also a noticeable chasm as well. The Rum Diary is a bit more polished with well composed and often melodic songs, while Killowatthours are a bit more powerful and scruffy. "{Ex} Change" is the song both bands composed, and it ties them together in a way that makes sense and highlights commonalities. It stands out as the best track on the record. Elsewhere, both bands have four songs apiece, and by the end, their differences seem to make more sense. So does the concept work here? Mostly, yes, but when it doesn't it's never a major failing and seems to work as a learning experience for both bands. (d.n.l)

The Rum Diary
Poisons That Save Lives (Substandard)

The Rum Diary is another of an ever-widening group of bands from Northern California who play an understated style of indie rock. Hailing from the Sonoma county town of Cotati, the band delivers a cerebral and intriguing sound. Poisons That Save Lives has some real high points including the excellent "Killed By the Cowboy President" where the Rum Diary finds interesting melodic grooves to pursue. There isn't much in the way of catchy hooks despite the fact that pretty sounds abound on the record. There is also a lack of dynamic punch which leads much of the record to become more suited to background music. Still their approach is interesting and might yield some truly compelling results in the future. (Andy Smith)

TOM RUSSELL
Love & Fear
Hightone
It's rare to find an artist producing perhaps his grandest work 30-some years down the road, but Love & Fear sounds like exactly that, the definitive work from a long-respected, unjustly obscure songwriter. Riding the rails between folk, country, and rock 'n' roll (think Dave Alvin, Bob Neuwirth, Peter Case), Russell's hard-boiled take on hunger of the existential variety in all its permutations--love, sex, money, glory--gains flight here, from the confused adrenaline rush of ill-fated love in "Stealing Electricity" to the grizzled romantic glow of "Old Heart." Best is "The Pugilist at 59," a soaring bit of roadhouse poetry beatific ("The fight for your soul goes on and on") in its descriptions--pulling in boxing metaphors and bits of classic movie dialog--of aging and the weight of time.    --Luke Torn  

Russian Futurists
Our Thickness (Upper Class)

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone with a solo bedroom band these days, and more often than not the sound of the cat hitting the artist makes a better noise. Matthew Hart's Russian Futurists are on the 'sound better than' side of the spectrum but he falls into the traps the worst lo-fi projects suffer from when his attention wanders. There's plenty of scratchy samples, orchestral riffs and hushed vocals for a good listen or two. The guitar lead-in to "Hurtin' For Certain" varies up the intro, but I wish he'd kept it instead of slipping back into the fuzzy keyboards that dominate the album. That's the biggest problem -- Hart picks some interesting sounds to kick off his songs but eventually abandons the unique ideas for tired ones later. Also, Hart doesn't have much vocal range and compensates by hiding underneath all his samples. The more glaring weakness is the repetitive nature of the songs. If you like Matthew Hart you'll cite consistency, but I find the looping samples annoying. Hearing the same horn hit over and over and over and over makes "Still Life" hard to listen to more than once. "2 Dots on a Map" has a chance to be something special, but the main sample bludgeons everything else in the song into submission. Real fans will probably take the time to listen to peel back every layer of these songs, but the rest of us will toss this disc without a third listen. Fans of Kittycraft, Aqueduct and 'bedroom bands' will enjoy this, the rest of us probably won't. --Boon Sheridan

RYE COALITION
ON TOP (TIGER STYLE)

The Rye Coalition's Tiger Style release, On Top, may be the sexiest album of the year so far. Not that you'll ogle a collage of taut navels and low-riding, thong-revealing hip-huggers. What rocks your world is the genius of the music, the irreverent and cheeky conflation of wanton Led Zeppelin-ish cock rock blended with plaintive, emotionally escalating tension of early emo-era Fugazi. On the one hand, there's the openness of the classic blues-based riff- -think of "Kashmir" or anything on Led II. On the other, you have a repetitive, anxiety-building sonic barrage. The combination of these two styles results in erupting orgasmic release, something that, once you experience the throbbing buildup, makes you reach for that all-important post- coital smoke. All 10 tracks of On Top are gems that keep you riveted from beginning to end. Ralph Cuseglio's barking vocals and wry lyrics alone are worth the cost of the disc, gently mocking Robert Plant's crotch-centricity and the sleaze of glam. More than the rest, the tag-team guitar action of Jon Gonnelli and Herb Wiley puts the band on top. Though mostly limited to tasty riffage, the duo frequently open up to fiery, melodic interweaving that approaches the sublime. After a seven-year period of wondering whether they could be a real band, the Rye Coalition, with this latest effort, prove they have the chops and creativity to attract a hungry crowd. (John Stoehr)

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