Laura - Radio Swan Is Down

01 - Radio Swan Is Down (Part I)
02 - Is There No Help For The Widows Son?
03 - I Hope
04 - Number Stations
05 - Every Light
06 - Lake Vostok Beachfront
07 - It's Kind Of Like The Innocent Smiles You Get At The Start Of A Relationship Before You Fuck Everything Up
08 - Radio Swan Is Down (Part II)
09 - Patterns Not People
10 - Cambridge Bypass
11 - Another Near Miss

Every year there are albums that come out of nowhere. This year, at least half of my favorite records came out of nowhere, but no album came quite out of the blue like Laura's Radio Swan Is Down. I had not heard of Laura untill one day, while browsing through rateyourmusic.com I stumbled upon a list someone made of his favorite releases of the year. The list was similar to what my list of favorites would have looked like, but up near the top he had Radio Swan Is Down. I downloaded the album and didn't give it much attention so it stayed idle on my computer for a while... untill the day I finally got around to listening to it and was completely blown away.

Laura's Radio Swan Is Down is a mammoth of unrelenting post-rock perfection. From the haunting opener on "Radio Swan Is Down (Part I)", to the beautifully climaxing guitars on "Is There No Hope For The Widow's Son?", to the beautiful synths and vocals on "I Hope", to the Bark Psychosis-like tribute on "It's Kind Of Like The Innocent Smiles You Get At The Start Of A Relationship Before You Fuck Everything Up", to the slowly building to vocal perfection on "Cambridge Bypass", to the... as you can see this album does not cease to pummel you with unrelenting force.

This album is not to be messed with, and neither are these Aussies. Respect!

Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home

01 - I Knew You Before
02 - Pistol
03 - I Believe
04 - Please Come Home
05 - Blood And Wine
06 - Consider The Ravens
07 - Weary Saints
08 - Blanket Of Ghosts


Every now and then there comes along an album that is ridiculously anticipated by a certain circle of music fans, but ends up with the enormous potential to satisfy an entirely different fan base. The latest album to have such an effect is Dustin Kensrue’s Please Come Home.

For those of you who don’t know, Dustin Kensrue is the lead singer of the recently experimental post-hardcore band, Thrice. Though Kensrue is known by most for his gut-wrenching screams and aggressive guitar playing, every avid Thrice fan knows that he has the ability to become a very successful singer/songwriter, by compiling his acoustic b-sides over the course of the past few years. However, all these b-sides have led fans to gather up enormous hopes for Kensrue’s first solo affair, Please Come Home.

Upon listening to Please Come Home fans are immediately struck with "I Knew You Before", a folkified version of Kensrue’s most prominent b-side, "Folk". Inviting the listener into the second track, "Pistol", are harmonicas, which immediately make fans wonder where this album is headed. Never the less Kensrue’s lyrical abilities on "Pistol" are reminiscent of his past material and grab hold of any listener. Entering the third track, "I Believe", every fan will finally jump to the conclusion that THIS IS A COUNTRY ALBUM! Little do they know that the folkiness of the album has just started and that track five, "Blood and Wine", sounds like a second coming of Johnny Cash. After "Blood and Wine" come "Consider the Ravens" a stripped down acoustic song, and "Blanket of Ghosts" an incredibly heartfelt bluesy ballad, both of which may be the highlights of Please Come Home.

For all those people who were expecting Please Come Home to sound like Thrice’s acoustic version of "Stare at the Sun" or any of Kensrue’s b-sides, forget about it. Please Come Home can not be compared to anything Thrice has released in the past. They are worlds apart. Please Come Home should not even be considered an album for Thrice fans. No. Instead, it is an album that should be getting airplay on country stations across the U.S. Unfortunately, I don’t think any country radio station is paying attention to Dustin Kensrue, but I hope you will be.