Don't want to read longwinded reviews? Want to get right to the point? antiGUY does just that with these quick and dirty reviews.

Between The Buried And Me - The Silent Circus
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Between The Buried And Me suffer from not finding an identity and sticking with it and also relying on almost every heavy heavy metal cliché on the books, from the bear in heat vocals to the uninspired riff--e. There are some good moments here but overall they sound like they can't figure out where to go. Speed metal, rock opera, grindcore or the loop they throw you for in the middle of CD where they try to become an art-rock band. The heavy stuff is too generic and the mellow stuff in the middle of disc is too much of a departure.

Joe Cracker � Glad & Sorry
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Joe Cracker is an indie singer / songwriter who has some good but not outstanding tracks. The vocals ring of Tom Petty but the songs seem to blend together too much and none really standout from the bunch. That's a trap that many singer / songwriters fall into and what sets the aspiring apart from the remarkable. A good effort but Joe Cracker needs some more development if he wants to standout.

Gorerotted - Only Tools and Corpses
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Take away the silly vocals and inane lyrics and you have some rippin' metal here, but the music is affected by the comical singing which comes across as some teenagers f***ing around with a tape recorder and the lyrics are just asinine, in the "we're so hardcore" tradition of "let's sing about screwing a corpse". Since you can't make out the lyrics, it's not too bad but if the band ditched the lame vocals and got someone that could sing they could kick some serious ass. But for now this is relegated to the diehard death/gore fans.

Harmony Riley - Volume 1
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Some nicely laid down musical tracks that explore various styles but still keep it pretty much within standard modern rock context, especially in the vocal department. That being said the vocals do change up from track to track, the first track comes out as Modern Rock by numbers but on the second track the singing touches upon a bit of the early Smashing Pumpkins. At other times they touch upon an almost U2 vibe. They really shine when they step fully outside the box, like they do on the rootsy rocker "Love Yourself". Harmony Riley put together a solid effort but some of the songs suffer from "just another band" in the flooded market they are trying to reach. Some really nice lead guitar work here that helps set the band apart. What makes Harmony Riley cool is their ability to shake things up and still sound like the same band. A solid indie effort.

Lovehammers - Murder On My Mind
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For some strange reason when I put the first song on I thought "The Knack". I have no idea why, but that's what struck me and what makes it stranger is the fact that the Lovehammers land more into the heavier side of Tonic or Nickelback. The description offered up by our editor about this group was "dirty pop", and that's apt, but I would add alternative in the middle. Some really catchy tunes here that grab you the first listen through. This is a great indie effort from Lovehammers.

Mando Diao - bring em in
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Let's face it the market has been flooded by hundreds of "nu garage" bands but few standout from the pack. That's mostly because in their attempt to sound raw they forget to sound appealing, and I would venture a guess that most "nu garage" bandwagon jumpers never took the time to listen to bands that pioneered the style they are trying to resurrect. Fortunately for Mando Diao, they not only seemed to have referenced the Godfathers of the genre, they were actually able to capture a lot of same spirit. It's not just fuzzy guitars and sing/sing choruses, Mando Diao actually incorporate a lot of the elements that endeared fans to the genre way back when-- melodic leads and a great pop sensibility when it comes to songwriting. Something the Ramones knew how to do and more recently the White Stripes, but far too many bands jumping on the "nu garage" wave seemed to have missed entirely. Mando Diao stand ahead of the pack with "Bring Em In", a rock solid effort that gives some credibility to a much hyped genre.

Mojo Rib
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Rock n roll to drink, f*** and fight to! Mojo Rib throw down some kick ass beer fueled high octane rock in the tradition of Manowar or Krokus. The guitars ring a bit of AC/DC. Good old school hard rock that you can't take too seriously but is damn fun to crank up.

Alexi Murdoch - Four Songs
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Thank God it's only four songs; I don't think I could have kept my eyes open for a fifth song. This is about tedious as watching grass grow. It might sound great if you are on Quaaludes but for everyone else this stuff is about as exciting a sitcom staring Al Gore and Bob Dole.

Matt Nathanson - Beneath These Fireworks
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I was prepared to hate this CD. "Damn, another signer/songwriter," give me a gun right now. But a strange thing happened when I put this one on, the first song "Angel" caught my ear. It's not on par with Paul Simon but still in this day in age of boring singer/songwriters Matt Nathanson does seem to have that spark which sets him apart from the wannabes. Nathanson explores two sides of him musical personality on this disc, the standard singer/songwriter side and also a slick alt-pop side that rings of the more commercial work from the Goo Goo Dolls. Hook heavy songs that fall in the middle of road but to good effect. In the 70's Nathanson wouldn't have stood out but in 2004 his efforts are rewarded when judged against a wealth of mediocre competitors. He's better than most and manages to capture your ears and not put you instantly to sleep.

Qwiksand - The Fellowship of the Groove
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Qwiksand is a groovy funk rock outfit that's not quite Isaac Hayes but this is fun concept album, that mixes classic funk with touches of Reggae. It won't set the world on fire but is definitely worth a listen if funk is your thing.

SOiL/Pride EP
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SOiL know how to kick ass, there is no doubt about it. While they do go for some numetal clichés they are one of the few groups that can pull it off and sound genuine. This EP is really nothing more than a CD single but a great edition to the library of any nu metal fan.

Street Dogs - Savin Hill
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Street Dogs are a melodic punk band, not a pop-punk band. Yes, it's a thin line, but let's be honest, most pop-punk bands are basically pop bands with some distorted guitar. While Street Dogs follow a similar template to pop-punk in some cases, the rawness still rings of punk and that gives them some credibility. The true test comes when you ask if you could transport the band back to 1979 and would they get the s*** kicked out of them at CBGBs. While Blink-182 would be ripped piece by piece, Street Dogs would probably have no problem winning over the NYC punkers back in the day, so they'd be a shoe in today.

Tub Ring/Fermi Paradox
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Tub Ring is what would happen is Queen dropped acid with Smashing Pumpkins and decided to record a drug induced jam session. This experimental alternative may not fly with a wide audience, but anyone looking for something different will find a lot to love here. A bit too strange to describe, for the most part this is the kind of band you have to hear to believe.

Zerbey - Aint Complicated
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Zerbey gets an A for effort but sadly an A for boredom too. And now the new release from "Guy in Basement Records� Zerbey!". I hate to trash indie artists but this just wasn't ready for release and the vocals sound like a struggle, and the songwriting cumbersome. This might be great to friends and family but Zerbey is definitely not ready for prime time.