University
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 6.80

Possibly their finest album, Throwing Muses' fifth album, University, blends the rock power of Red Heaven, their first effort as a trio, with the shiny, surreal pop of The Real Ramona. The result is a collection of songs, like the album opener, "Bright Yellow Gun," that are as ferociously kinetic as they are insinuatingly melodic. At first,... Read More

No Ennui
Artist: Mrs. Fun
Sacrificial Cake
Artist: Jarboe

Reunited with multi-instrumentalist Lary Seven, her collaborator on the Beautiful People project, Jarboe on her second solo album again clearly demonstrates her musical abilities as being no less adept than those of her Swans bandmate/partner Gira (whose own solo debut album, Drainland, was released in concert along with Sacrificial Cake). All... Read More

The Mountain EP
Artist: The Palace Brothers

Like the previous An Arrow Through the Bitch, The Mountain EP compiles a pair of Palace singles for U.K. audiences. The title cut was the first and only Palace single to also appear on a proper album, in this case the brilliant Viva Last Blues -- strangely, it's perhaps the weakest song on the LP, and consequently the least-effective single... Read More

Behind the Green Pachinko
Artist: Pachinko
Autour De Lucie
Artist: Autour de Lucie
Community Score: 7.00

From the opening bird calls and ringing-bell guitar chimes of captivating lead track "L'accord parfait," Paris' demure Autour de Lucie serves notice that winning Anglo-style pop need not be a slave to language or geographical barriers. Gorgeous and luxuriously atmospheric, the group evokes the traditional, electro-acoustic innocence of such... Read More

Hot Saki & Bedtime Stories
Artist: Catherine
Community Score: 8.00

The merry men from Chicago create an even more varied and generally successful package on Saki; the ghost of Corgan crunch yet lurks throughout, while his Pumpkins bandmate D'Arcy contributes vocals for "Four Leaf Clover," but Catherine is now fully its own concern, as the opening cut "Whisper" demonstrates. Sure, there's more than a little... Read More

Dust
Artist: Screaming Trees
Community Score: 8.27

In many ways, the Screaming Trees missed their opportunity. They released Sweet Oblivion just as grunge began to capture national attention and they didn't tour the album extensively, which meant nearly all of their fellow Seattle bands became superstars while they stood to the side. After four years, they returned with Dust, their third... Read More

Nancy Boy
Artist: Nancy Boy

Much like the Britpop craze in the U.K., American-British-Canadian hybrid Nancy Boy campaigns to bring fun, fashion and style to American pop music. Led by celebrity kids Jason Nesmith (son of the Monkee's Mike Nesmith) and Donovan Leitch (son of folk singer Donovan), Nancy Boy melds a glamorous, witty image to some fun, concise pop songs.... Read More

Regretfully Yours
Artist: Superdrag
Community Score: 7.00

In the glut of grungy power pop bands that flooded the mid-'90s, it was pretty easy to write off Superdrag as "just another rock band." The difference is that Superdrag is essentially a pop band, as Regretfully Yours proves. While the band's sound itself is nothing terribly exciting, most of the songwriting lives up to the promise of the album's... Read More

In Search of...
Artist: Fu Manchu
Community Score: 9.33
American Standard
Artist: Seven Mary Three
Community Score: 7.50

Seven Mary Three isn't much more than a standard bar band, but the group tears through American Standard with enough energy to convince listeners it's something more. Beneath that energy and their crushing, grungy riffs, the bandmembers display some promising songwriting skills, highlighted by the single "Cumbersome." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine,... Read More

Cascade
Artist: Peter Murphy
Community Score: 8.00

Following the Holy Smoke tour, the Hundred Men disbanded, with only Statham remaining as Murphy's main songwriting partner. Along with the help of producer Pascal Gabriel and some good session players, including extra "infinite guitar" from cult musician Michael Brook, Murphy created the marvelous Cascade. Another step further up in Murphy's... Read More

Living in Large Rooms and Lounges
Artist: Hunters & Collectors

Despite the fact that Hunters & Collectors had been unable to maintain the sort of record sales toward the end of their career that they had enjoyed in the 1980s, they still remained one of Australia's favorite live rock acts. Living in Large Rooms and Lounges shows why. Recorded on their "Live Demons" tour in early 1995, this collection shows... Read More