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Strung Out--Exile in Oblivion

First of all, Strung Out is the real deal. With their latest release, Exile in Oblivion, the So Cal veterans show the kids what punk music is all about. It's fast, hard, violent, political, angry.

Exile demonstrates that Strung Out are great at channeling their split personality, delivering melodic pop songs like "Swan Dive" one minute and then pulverizing listeners with hardcore rants like "Katatonia" the next.

While many early-90s punk units have disbanded (Face to Face) or have simply succumb to putting out sub-par records (Pennywise), Strung Out have taken a different approach. They don't tour endlessly and they taken a bit more time between releases. The result is songs that sound-if not exactly new-relevant, passionate and powerful.

Exile is strong from beginning to end, with less poppy tracks than the usual Strung Out record. However, "Anna Lee" and "The Misanthropic Effect" do fall into the sing-along category. "Analog" and "Blueprint of the Fall" give Strung Out fans everything they need.

Thank you, Strung Out, for again putting an album out that we can't listen to while our mother is in the car.

THE SKINNY: Hooray for Punk Rock Violence

Taking Back Sunday--Where You Want to Be

By Tyler McHenry

Taking Back Sunday swept the emo world by storm with its debut “Tell All Your Friends” in 2002. The band’s angry yet melodic style was a unique injection of creativity in an otherwise mundane genre. Two years later, and with half of the band members replaced, one could only wonder how their latest album “Where You Want to Be” would turn out. After one listen to the new album, it was apparent that TBS had written 11 more great tracks.

The band’s strength lies in lead and backup vocalists Adam Lazzara and Fred Mascherino respectively. Mascherino has stepped right into the shoes of Shaun Cooper, whose presence isn’t even missed on the new production. The new album also features a soft acoustic track entitled “New American Classic,” which goes to show that the band is more dynamic than first thought of. While keeping their “sound” the same in essence, TBS has become tighter and more refined, which can be heard in “This Photograph is Proof” and “Little Devotional.” Congratulations to TBS for creating another album whose songs will be sung in showers across America for the next two years.

THE SKINNY: Music for showers