(All By Ourselves Records, digital download)

On their MySpace page, local rock outfit Indecent Exposure brazenly claim their latest album, Sleazy, sounds like “nothing you’ve ever heard before.” As if that statement weren’t fraught with enough foolhardy bravado, they challenge skeptics a step further with this perilous line: “Deal with it.”

Them’s fightin’ words.... Read more

(Cumbancha, CD)... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

The dawn of MySpace Music, SonicBids and any number of other ubiquitous web-based promotional tools has made the consumption of music remarkably easy for even the most casual fan. While this unprecedented age of accessibility is by most accounts a boon, it has caused an unintended — and to some degree unwelcome — side effect: uncloaking the mystery.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

Online music monolith iTunes neatly files Bad Dog, the latest album from Montpelier’s The Heckhounds, under “blues.” And that’s not entirely inappropriate, I guess. But I much prefer the band’s self-applied designation, “hopped-up country-blues.” Simple, sure. But it piques the listener’s curiosity. What’s more, it accurately clues us in to what we can expect to find over the album’s brisk 10 tracks.... Read more

(Self-released, CD, digital download)... Read more

(Self-released, CD)... Read more

(Cow Island Records, CD)... Read more

(Vanguard Records, CD)

Sometimes, you really can judge a book — or in this case, an album — by its cover.... Read more

Is it me, or does something feel a little different this week? A touch cramped, perhaps? I mean, it sure seems like everything is still here. Brilliantly crafted CD reviews? Check. A nifty mini-feature about an industrious local lad doing cool stuff with one of my all-time favorite bands? Yup, that’s there, too. Painstakingly culled club listings? And how. A positively enthralling column brimming with wit and wisdom? Oh, yeah. But still, something’s not quite the same …... Read more