Deluxe
Artist: Better Than Ezra
Community Score: 7.70
Running on Ice
Artist: Vertical Horizon
Community Score: 9.50

Fans of Vertical Horizon's breakthrough album Everything You Want may want to add Running on Ice to their collection. First released in 1995, their debut was distributed by Rhythmic Records (home of Jacopierce) for a reason. The album is a folk-based collection of songs with none that resemble the hard rock, electric guitar sounds that made them... Read More

Strange Country
Artist: Billy Strange

Recorded in the 1960s (the liner notes do not specify the exact date), this was a sessionman supersession of sorts, also featuring Joe Maphis on banjo, Tommy Tedesco on second guitar, Jimmy Bond on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums. Strange offers fluid, crisp instrumental interpretations of a mixed bag of folk and pop tunes, including not only... Read More

Limbo
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 7.60

On the one hand, KRISTIN HERSH and mates are guilty of running in place: It's difficult to distinguish between the production and style of this LP with 1995's University. Indeed, one of Limbo's strongest efforts, "Ruthie's Knocking," sounds like a re-write of "Shimmer." Moreover, nothing grabs as much as the spine-tingling "Bright Yellow Gun"... Read More

Shoe Box EP
Artist: Barenaked Ladies

Do they have the worst band name since Haircut One Hundred? Yes. Are they one of the finest pop groups in the world? Almost certainly. Their debut album was a tuneful, slapstick adolescent romp and their second was a remarkably mature folk-rock outing filled with as many irresistible hooks as a good Beach Boys album. This four-song EP previews a... Read More

Wax Ecstatic
Artist: Sponge
Community Score: 6.33

With their second album, Sponge returned to the '70s hard rock roots they had only hinted at on their alterna-metal debut, Rotting Pinata. Before Rotting Pinata, the group had slogged it out on the Detroit hard rock circuit under a variety of names, honing their chops and developing their skills. They managed to have a moderate hit with Rotting... Read More

Magic Box
Artist: Bel Canto
Community Score: 6.00

It's a sign of the times and relative fame that the opening track, "The Magic Box I," immediately calls to mind Tori Amos, where some years previous it would have just sounded like Bel Canto through and through. While Drecker and Johansen have never achieved the thorough fame of Amos or many other well-known names, the duo still stick to their... Read More

Happy Nowhere
Artist: Dog's Eye View
Community Score: 8.00
Stomp Revival
Artist: Bonepony

Scott Johnson, Bryan Ward, and Kenny Mims employ mandolins, fiddles, dobros, and dulcimers on their debut album, which would seem to suggest a traditional country or bluegrass sound. But they wield their instruments as aggressively as if they were electric guitars and howl their lyrics as though they were singing punk rock, so the result is a... Read More

Unclogged
Artist: X

Perhaps referring to the staid forum known as contemporary "unplugged music," or their own aging arteries, Unclogged successfully reprises X's finest work in an electro-acoustic live set. No worse for the wear, John Doe and Exene Cervenka are in perfect voice, while Tony Gilkyson and D.J. Bonebrake play the songs they played a million times with... Read More

Singles
Artist: The Smiths
Community Score: 7.86

The Best of the Smiths collections didn't work because they didn't have a sense of history and distorted the underlying sense of urgency that helped make the Smiths important. Singles simply collects all of the singles from one of the greatest singles bands since the Beatles. It's essential and influential guitar pop, presented in a way that... Read More

Seen a Ghost
Artist: Honeydogs

Like their pair of indie records, the Honeydogs' major-label debut, Seen a Ghost, is a charming collection of Beatlesque pop, demonstrating the group's knack for bright, catchy melodies and ringing guitars. Seen a Ghost is a solid, craftsmanlike collection of pop that doesn't offer any new thrills, but there are nevertheless thrills in the hooks... Read More