July 1

Gina Young - androgynous (2005) (much like the title implies, grrrl rock with punk ethics, liberal topics)
The Ditty Twisters - pinata baby (dirty, booze-fueled rock n roll with female vocals)
Sushirobo - action causes more trouble than thought EP (quirky indie rock, not unlike the Dismemberment Plan)
The Slats - pick it up* (decent spastic rock, much better than their last)
Le Concorde - universe and villa (2005)* (excellent twee-ish, orchestral pop)

July 2

The Lovethugs - babylon fading (2005)* (great Norweigan psyche/garage/power pop, with lots of organ)
The Pines Of Rome - on all fours (very quiet folky sadcore)
Skating Club - the unfound sound* (endearing mope-core, very touching vocals)
January Taxi - here it is (debut, not even close to being as good as their last album, horrible production, flat vocals, poor songwriting)
Chloroform - cracked wide open (2005) (so-so oddball Devo-ish, funky, post-hardcorish weirdness, sporadic signs of brilliance but too patchy to recommend)

July 3

Kinesis - you are being lied to (2005)* (pretty solid atmospheric UK hardcore 'n roll)
Good Evening - i saw the sun explode EP (2005)* (very mellow, soulful Brit-pop)
The Edisons - lost in the dream (2005) (so-so power-pop, became a bit dull halfway through, though still a few decent hooks to cling onto)
Great Lakes Myth Society - s/t (2005)* (folky Americana mixed with AM and orchestral pop, think the Old 97's crossed with Beach Boys add a touch of Queen - um, yeah)
Fruit Bats - spelled in bones (2005)* (moody Sub pop, probably the first FB album I've really liked)

July 4

Tiger Mountain - get along like a house on fire (2005)
Twinklehead - made for these times (2005) (Norweigan pop-rock with fairly annoying vocals, features member(s) of Popium)
Wedding Present - george best plus* (best damn album i've heard in a long time, excellent straight through - especially love the zippy guitars)
Lisa Mychols - in this city EP* (female fronted power-pop, solid and catchy)

July 5

Neon - s/t (2005)* (great garagey, power-pop with a healthy nod to classic Cheap Trick)
JR Ewing - maelstrom (2005)* (simply smashing semi-proggy post-hardcore - crunchy, in-your-face and wreckless)
Code Pie - this habit (2005)* (excellent quirky pop with lots of horns and ambient textures)
Fisher - the lovely years (2005) (pop-lite, at times sounding like Tori Amos or Sarah Maclachlan or however you spell her damn name)
Langhorne Slim - when the sun's gone down (2005)* (another ace roots-rockin, hee-hawin effort from every indie's fave ramblin' man)

July 6

Sufjan Stevens - come on feel the llinoise (2005)* (again and again and again)
Sufjan Stevens - greetings from michigan*
The Coral Sea - vocano and heart (2005)* (Coldplay-ish dream-pop, with affecting vocals)
Calexico - feast of wire* (always eclectic, never boring)
The Cants - melbourne vampires (2005) (decent retro garage, not unlike the Hives)

July 7

Nathan Michel - beast (2005) (decent smooth avante-pop, with jazzy leanings and some smokey female vocals - a bit too muzak-y at times)
My Place In Space - this bear will eat you (2005) (lo-fi indie-pop)
Paska - women are from venus men are from anus (2005) (a cross between Jud Jud, Strong Bad and Timmy from South Park - Norweigan dude singing a capella about such fun topics as Mariah Carey's Ass, Britney's Tits, Banana Butt Plugs and a 15 minute version of Tubular Bells. - um, yeah)

July 8

Richard Buckner & Jon Langford - sir dark invader vs. the fanglord (2005)* (pretty solid rootsy Americana, turned out to be a nice pairing)
The Spongetones - number 9 (2005)* (a solid pop album oddly without any particular tracks standing out - just had a nice vibe to it)
Team Sleep - s/t (2005) (just because one can create ambience does not mean one should, this sounds forced and incohesive)
Pink Floyd - piper at the gates of dawn* (old fave)
Weird War - illuminated by the light (2005) (faux-funk, sounds like a less mature Spoon)
Sufjan Stevens - live at sxsw 2004

July 9

Oslo - s/t (2005)* (excellent Coldplay/Interpol-ish bliss)
Elliott The Letter Ostrich - coweta android EP* (endearing keys-heavy indie-pop)
The Dammitheads - freeze motherstickers* (solid, suave indie rock, not unlike Spoon)
The I Love Ryans - practice demo (and that's just what it is, cutesey indie-pop)
Pacific UV - s/t* (very nice slowcore in the vein of Low, Dirty Three, Mojave 3, Japancakes etc.)
Sidonie - shell kids (decent pop/rock from Spain, is that a sitar I heard on a few songs?)
Summer At Shatter Creek - covers mogwai ep +2* (Craig's vocals recorded over top of this Mogwai EP, works out nicely)
Cloud Cult - they live on the sun* (another notable release, almost as great as their newest)
VA - 53rd and 3rd - Fun While It Lasted* (great C86/twee comp, lots of old faves)
VA - Tiny Idols - Transmissions From The Indie Underground (a few really rad tracks but not essential)

July 10

Careen - crash couture (2005) (so-so pop/rock, vocals remind me of Matthew Sweet)
17 Years - s/t* (super catchy pop-punk with dude/dudette vocals)
Estate Of Samuel - fast love EP* (8 quick, snappy nuggets of lo-fi indie-pop, classic Sam)
Ume - urgent sea (2005)* (marriage of Sonic Youth and Blonde Redhead, dirty, noisy and melodic)
Harris Newman - accidents with nature and each other (2005) (mildly interesting open-tuning guitar exercises)

July 12

Circle - alotus (finnish post-psyche-rock, vocals are a little scary when he growls but otherwise ok, if not a bit too reliant on repetition)
Deniz Tek and the New Breed - glass eye world (not too far removed from Radio Birdman, though not as consistent and moving)
Nada Surf - the weight is a gift (2005) (an extension of Let Go, sounds a bit like Teenage Fanclub at times)

July 13

Charmparticles - sit down for staying* (a much better effort than the last I heard of the band, soothing dreampop with great vocals, a la the Sundays)
Fairfield Parlour - from home to home* (pretty awesome lite psyche-pop from the 70's, formerly known as Kaleidoscope UK)
Honeychurch - makes me feel better* (very nice mellow acoustic based stuff, think Red House Painters with a ton of pedal steel or Mojave 3)
Neil Young - zuma* (old fave)
Kary - the sound of beauty breathing* (previous band from singer of Wintersleep, just as good as said band, if not better - superb - vocals remind me a lot of Hayden)
The Konks - 3 mile baby 7" (not as moving as the LP, a bit sludgy and trite)
Patel, Rajiv - of black water* (another great release)

July 14

The Black Spoons - my dear radium (ok darker indie rock)
Damon & Naomi - the earth is blue (2005)* (very smooth, pleasant dream pop)
Destroyer - notorious lightning and other works EP (2005)* (ah man, so good, so glad I gave Bejar a second chance)
Divorcee - music for cleanup men, breakdown and inbetweeners (2005)* (very nice, dreamy power-pop/rock)
Kite Operations - dandelion day (2005)* (ethereal noisy/quiet rock with slowcore-ish tendencies, very very nice)
Paul McCartney - s/t* (old fave)

July 15

Departure - be my enemy EP (catchy but otherwise unfulfilling, reminds me of Interpol)
Egon - the disillusioned leftist (ok scratchy indie rock, with emocore tendencies, couldn't really decipher one song from the next)
Branches - s/t
Captain Wilberforce - mindfilming (2005)* (a quick half-hour of exceptional pop/rock sounds)
Consafos - tilting at windmills (2005) (not-so-exciting indie-pop with female vocals)

July 16

First Coat - great lakes disorder (not as moving or diverse as the new album, a bit more Americana with female vocals, still decent)
Furtips - we are communications (2005) (decent fuzzy indie-pop with Violent Femme-ish tendencies)
Giant Drag - lemona EP* (fuzzy rock, sometimes MBV swirlish - female vocals)
Bright Channel - s/t (2005) (dreary post-punk with touches of shoegaze and big drums, little samey-sounding and the vocals are fairly weak, otherwise ok)
Mobius Band - the loving sounds of static (2005)* (oh yeah, even better than the EP, sweeeeeet)
The Chills - submarine bells* (classic kiwi-pop, super)
The Loose Salute - suck it up buttercup* (very impressive 4-song EP, sometimes Calexico, great nod to Beach Boys on one song, great female vocals - nice!)

July 17

Lost Sounds - s/t* (awesome skronky, Devo-esque wave)

July 18

Kallikak Family - may 23rd 2007 (2005) (odd sound collages, much different from their far superior 2004 release)
Cinerama - torino (not nearly as good as the Weddoes, a bit softer, though not horrible or anything)

July 19

Elevado - dedicated to the memory (2005) (slightly arty/noisy indie rock, obviously influenced by the 90's/SY/etc.)
The Evens - s/t (2005) (slightly-skewed folk, side-project of Ian Mackaye (Fugazi))
The Holograms - night of 1000 ex-boyfriends (2005)* (super pop-punk with female vocals and lots of hooks in standard Teenacide fashion)
The Unlovables - the punk rock club EP* (see above, add infectious harmonies)
Mojave 3 - spoon and rafter* (very mellow, slowcore with countryish tendencies, not as good as old haunts but still nice)
The Moping Swans - lightning head to coffeepot (2005) (dirty, garagey psyche effort from Bob this time around, mostly boring)

July 20

Octave Museum - demo (2005)* (very promising 3-song demo from Stephen Brodsky side-project)
Starky - saturday night, sunday morning EP (2004)* (great 3-song EP, nice buzzy guitars and harmonies)
A Northern Chorus - bitter hands resign (2005) (some really great moments but overall not as strong as I had hoped, dream-pop in case you're wondering)
The Boys (AUS) - s/t (mod punk, kept waiting for this to take off but the mid tempo brought this one down)
The Cops - why kids go wrong (2005) (very Social Distortion-esque stutter-punk)

July 21

Fancey - s/t* (see BTID feature)

July 22

Kimone - the mill (2005)
Loons - paraphernalia (2005) (not very strong vintage garage sounds)
Mae Shi, The - heartbeeps EP (2005)* (short, spazzy, bleepy indie rock tunes - nice)
Eric Matthews - six kinds of passion looking for an exit (2005) (definitely not the place to start if you plan to investigate this usually solid pop specialist)
Scrabbel - 1909 (2005) (fairly eclectic pop, songs aren't very strong)

July 23

The Dirty Birds - rust and resurrection (2005) (very capable dirty rock n roll with sax and such, a bit too long)
Devendra Banhart - a cripple crow (2005) (pleasant folkiness with Devvie's standard rustic croon, good but way too long)
Brendon Anderegg - falling air (2005)* (classy avant-folk with some electronic influence)
Kuroda - demo (2005)* (impressive demo of noise-pop, bits of art-core and even a slice of surf twang)
Quickspace - homesleep single (2 quick blasts of noise-pop)
Turn-Ons - east* (see front page feature)
Biirdie - live at schubas 4-6-05* (couple of songs were changed up nicely live)

July 24

Charles Atlas - worsted weight (minimal avante post-rock)
The Passerines - i say EP (2005)* (great sunny-day indie-pop)
VA - Twenty-Two To Tango - Hyde Four* (another great eclectic comp from the Hyde Park scene)
Elanors, The - a year to demonstrate* (quiet, sighing love songs in the key of folk)

July 25

Daphne Loves Derby - on the strength of all convinced (2005)* (solid pop/rock sounds, couple of really awesome songs)
Dirty On Purpose - sleep late for a better tomorrow EP* (very nice edgy dream-pop with female vocals)
Gogol Bordello - gypsy punks (2005)* (ahhh, back on track. simply rocking and totally ass-shakin' gypsy punk)
Troubled Hubble - making beds in a burning house (2005)* (couple really great tunes but a lot of filler, as always with these guys)

July 26

Ruins - vrresto (re-issue) (amelodic noise skronk, much like Mr. Bungle)

July 27

Brown Feather Sparrow - let's be fine (2005)* (nice pleasant mellow indie rock with male/female harminies galore, finally they've dropped a bomb!)
The Cribs - s/t (2005) (ok post-punk, kind of like the Strokes but a slight bit sugary)
Holopaw - out and-or fight (2005)* (just as good as their last)
Magic Numbers - s/t (2005) (blech)

July 28

Nick Jaina - the bluff of all time (2005)* (see review)
Sleepover Disaster - loud is the new quiet* (solid shoegaze-pop with a few Pink Floyd-isms)
Southeast Engine - coming to terms with gravity (2005)* (moving quirky Americana - vocals quite reminiscent of Grant Lee Phillips)
Bob Mould - body of sound (2005) (terribly weak, just can't handle him in this lite rock setting)
The Mutts - s/t EP* (rawkin punk/garage rock, reminds me a little of RFTC)

July 29

Seekonk - for barbara lee* (dark, brooding slowcore - Ida)
Sunset Valley - goldbank 78 stack (alt-rock, influenced by the Rolling Stones but sounds a lot like Superdrag)
Frank Bango - the unstudied sea* (excellent pop, some piano, great harmonies - Elvis Costello-ish vocals)
The Monorail - a whole new city EP (quirky emo, sometimes dancey - incohesive, for the most part)
Port-Royal - flares (2005)* (exceptional ambient post-rock with subtle electronics)
The Pretty Weapons - s/t (2005)* (brooding rock with post-punk tendencies, somestimes very Joy Division/The Sound, other times straight-up dreamy Britpop)
Sweetheart - art is dead EP (2005)* (gravelly, raucous melodic hardcore)
Syme - swing swing (2005)* (arty, dreampop with some progginess abounds, from Norway - a bit Radiohead-ish)
That Rabbit's Dyn-O-Mite! - s/t (2005) (not bad radio-ready alt-pop/rock)

July 30

Rosie Thomas - if songs could be held (2005) (rather bland - could be the alternate soundtrack to Coyote Ugly or something)
Ben's Diapers - little diapers (2005)* (very nice pop with a bit of twang and lots of jangle)
Bullette - the secrets (2005) (a little too diverse for its own good)
Jesus Lizard - liar* (hells yeah)
Iron & Wine & Calexico - in the reins EP (2005) (Calexico holds back due to Beam's limiting vox, otherwise not bad)

July 31

Pere Ubu - pennsylvania* (dirty, no-wave, psyche, rock splurge)
Denison Witmer - are you a dreamer? (2005)* (the always solid Witmer does it again, very nice mellow indie-folk)

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