Hello Lovers -- Vanity Fair (Inchworm): If it is possible to musically capture a lovesick, misunderstood poet wailing and moping about drunkenly in a scummy apartment overlooking a dark and lonely city, Austin’s Hello Lovers have done it. In fact, they have positioned their sound around the voice that embodies said misunderstood poet: that of J.C. King. If you can’t latch on to King’s Antony-esque vibrato, Colin Meloy-esque (of The Decemberists) nasality, or off-melody, sputtering sing-talk style, then move on: Hello Lovers just ain’t for you. (We understand that the unpredictable cadence and style can be a bit annoying and difficult to access). But if you are patient or if your ears are generous or if, to you, King’s voice sounds just plain fantastic, then you’ll be able to enjoy the lovely (sometimes manic) saxophone, string, and accordion accompaniment to spoken poems about being nakey.

Hello Lovers MySpace
Inchworm Records

Yip-Yip -- In The Reptile House (SAF): There’s a kind of music that says it’s music but is really just “experimental” noise. This is that kind. Florida’s Yip-Yip began as a kind of visual music experience, and it shows. The sound doesn’t translate well on an album because it wasn’t meant for ears alone. If you were to soundtrack In The Reptile House to a video game, then maybe you’d have something. But alas, even though it’s beat-driven electronica, you can’t dance to it: not predictable enough. And even though it’s got its bearable moments, you can’t just put it on casually because, if you don’t already have ADD, you will develop it. In fact, in one track, Yip-Yip will have mixed more than 10 different synthetic sounds to as many different beats. All at a really really fast tempo.

Yip Yip MySpace
Yip Yip Official

Follow the jump for William Mills' review of Silverstein's Arrivals & Departures.

Silverstein Arrivals & Departures (Victory Records)

Isn’t the fallout from the initial impact of melodic hardcore on the American underground music scene over yet? It’s in this slow fizzle from the hearts and minds of today’s angst-inspired youth that Silverstein’s Arrivals & Departures can be found. It’s the sound of wounded hearts and a flurry of hormones emoting through blood-curdling screams, deeply passionate harmonies and chugging guitars that sound way too familiar. A fair amount of credit is due to these ardent fans of Shel Silverstein for being steadfast in a scene that has been all but abandoned. Worthy of note on Arrivals & Departures, much like the other artists in this vein, is the amount of passion displayed in songs like “If You Could See Into My Soul.” The melody is sound, and the guitars are motivating. And, as long as 16-year-old boys are experiencing heartbreak and grappling with mid-puberty aggression, there will always be a need for music this over-saturated in emotion. --William Mills

Silverstein Official
Silverstein Myspace