Tom Gabel ends his latest album in defiance of some inevitably disappointed Against Me! fans: “Don’t let them tell you who you are.” An appropriate statement as he closes the poppy punk rock album, White Crosses, that deems pre-New Wave Against Me! dead to the punk world. Indeed, Against Me! has sold out to the mainstream rock producers in flaccid hooks and sing-along choruses, but in doing so the Green Day/Smiths-inspired anti-jingoistic rockers have matured into a widely enjoyable talent.

Take “Ache With Me.” Oh yeah: blues progression, 50s feel, acoustic guitar, mosh-pit…

Loyal music blog readers, I apologize for being inactive for so long. As many of you know, I am currently studying abroad in Beijing. Though this has distracted me from my BurgerBlog duties, it has also offered me new opportunities: an “in” to contemporary Chinese popular music.

After many hand gestures and broken sentences in Chinese and English, the clerk working the music stand showed me her favorite band, Fairyland in Reality (hereon out, F.I.R.). Though the band is Taiwanese (arguably Chinese, but we won’t get into that), it gives a good insight into what a popular indie band…

There comes a time, as a critic, when you have to bow your head down to an album that has shattered the constraints of modern sound and introduced a new approach to music that works well. fun., in their debut album Aim and Ignite, has been able to do this through their fantastic sense of composition, variety, and sheer talent.

The band members are not new to show business; the musicians hail from former bands The Format, Steel Train, and Anathallo. As they are musical veterans, they are not afraid to dabble in the unknown.…

If Hot Topic could create their perfect band, it would probably be Paramore—maybe that’s why they’re so easy to hate. The cookie-cutter pop-punk quartet, headed by lead singer Hayley Williams, is a modern Avril Lavigne: strong female vocals, a teenage angst focus, and rockin’ attitude. Featured on modern teen idols like the Twilight movie, Paramore’s new album, brand new eyes, doesn’t reveal anything new about the genre.

That’s not to say the album isn’t fantastic if cookie-cutter pop-punk is your music of choice. The best song on the album and second track, “Ignorance,” is…

The Rob Thomas concert last night was the best concert I have been to, and I've been to a lot of concerts.

First, there was Carolina Liar. Chad Woolf, their lead singer, has a butt ton of stage presence. They fucking rocked the Fox. It was too bad that a bunch of the people there didn't know Carolina's songs, so the chorus of "Show Me What I'm Looking For" kind of flopped. They did their best though. I was worried that they would upstage One Republic.

Which so did not happen. I was skeptical at first;…

If Madonna and Peaches had a child (as-if they would ever procreate…), it would be the posh homosexual internet icon Jeffree Star, famous for his MySpace page and the single, “I Must be Emo.” Jeffree, after several EPs and releases on the web, has finally brought forth her first full-length album, Beauty Killer. Hype surrounding yesterday’s release have sky rocketed Jeffree’s MySpace hits, her references on Twitter, and the album’s placement on most-purchased alternative album on iTunes: it is number 12. Despite the LP’s instant commercial success, I am not impressed.

At least, that was…

It took me a while to force myself to buy Low Vs. Diamond’s self-titled album Low Vs. Diamond because of the band’s silly name, but after enjoying every single track that came up on my internet radio station, I finally caved. What originally attracted me to the indie band was the U2esque sound and Lucas Field’s reminiscence to Brandon Flower’s voice. I’m thrilled with the purchase, because through and through, Low Vs. Diamond is a quality buy.

The opening track, “Don’t Forget Sister” is by far the best song on the album. The hasty drums and…

Wailing guitars, silky piano riffs, Queen-like choruses: Muse is back in town. Swaggering in their imaginary world of romance and apocalypse, Muse’s 5th album, The Resistance, is a showcase of the threesome’s musical talents and adept lyric writing skills. Not unlike Black Holes and Revelations, Matthew Bellamy’s vocals regularly soar over an instrumental opera like Tapio Wilska in Nightwish; he is what gives Muse the punch that attracts musicphiles to the record store like locusts. Sadly, though Bellamy’s abilities as a lead singer are fantastic, he cannot hide what The Resistance lacks: track diversity.

Don’t…

With a fantastic first and a dismal sophomore album, there are bound to be mixed feelings about The Killers’ latest album, Day and Age. Where are the heavy drums, the fake British accents, the 80’s feel that made Hot Fuss such a success that was scrapped in Sam’s Town? Never fear, Day and Age put The Killers in their place, finally funding songs similar to “Mr. Brightside.” The rocking beats and catchy melodies will leave fans wanting to jump up and dance, and music reviewers Smiling Because They Mean It.

“Bones” in Sam’s…

Frou is the French term for the sound of rustling silk. The thought of the sound and texture is calming and warm, which is precisely the aim of the one-album band Frou Frou. Composed of Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth, Frou Frou has composed one of the best albums of the first decade of the 21st century: Details.

Like a cool breeze on a mountain, Heap’s guiding voice holds this masterpiece together. In the first song, “Let Go,” Heap explores “the beauty in the breakdown,” or surviving a breakup. It was a perfect selection for Zach…