COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE Kick Up the Fire and Let the Flames Break Loose ****
Somewhere between the dark, washy semi-sobriety of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the angular, floating, avant-garde basslines of Radiohead exists a land enshrouded in a fascinating purple twilight, frozen in a permanent enchantment at an exact, contrasting cusp between day and night. It’s a kingdom where there’s no queen or king, a place where musicians can place minimal piano solos alongside trip-hop trance craftwork without being dragged in for judgment. The Cooper Temple Clause could become huge, if they play their cards right. Will they? (RCA)
SCARLET Cult Classic ****
Scarlet, who’ll soon keep tour company with As I Lay Dying and the Black Dahlia Murder, can’t just be labeled “hardcore”—they’re much more unpalatable than that. As raw and wild as freshly killed tiger meat, Scarlet encompass the crunchy, jarring, abrasive off-kilter rhythms and vocal screaming of noise core artists The Locust, but with more discernable elements that one usually finds in a “song,” like breakdowns, repeating movements and even choruses, however unintelligible. (Ferret)
BUTTERFLY BOUCHER Flutterby **
It’s really great and swell and all that Butterfly wrote, co-produced, and played all the instruments on Flutterby. But when the music one creates from said prodigious talent is nothing more than continuing fodder for a dehumanizing pop machine which has molded you into only a slightly better version of Avril Lavigne dressed up in vintage clothes, then you can consider that talent tragically wasted. She’s up for a Grammy, for sure. (A& )
GET UP KIDS Guilt Show *
The Get Up Kids had a tremendous influence on the emo movement, inspiring thousands of imitators. And isn’t that the exact reason they deserve your unbridled hatred? Their fourth album is 13 tracks of monotonous emo-pop goo even peppier and more upbeat than their previous three efforts ... gag. Truly, the Get Up Kids can’t even measure up to the army of half-decent bands they’ve spawned. Be sure to miss their show on April 2. (Vagrant)
TANTRIC After We Go *
One morning, you awake beside a beautiful, crystal-clear stream. A huge angel stands over you with a strange snarl on its face. “Am I high or in heaven?” you ask. “Neither,” it says. “Welcome to hell.” “But the green fields, the blue sky ...” you say. Then you notice sappy Creed/nü-metal hybrid Tantric breasting the nearest hillock and a stage nearby. You put your head in your hands, weeping. “Anything but that,” you choke out. (Maverick)
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