The Makers | Strangest Parade | Sub Pop Records

One listen to Strangest Parade makes it quite clear that The Makers are indefensible.
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Girls Against Boys | You Can’t Fight What You Can’t See | Jade Tree

Here's a new old dance: the Major Shuffle. Girls Against Boys have mastered this, jumping in with the post-grunge wave of indie signings back in '96 before going on an extended hiatus.
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Hot Hot Heat | Knock Knock Knock | Sub Pop

Stealing liberally from the Cure, the Stooges, and piano-driven post-punk groups, such as the Get Hustle and Tarot Bolero Hot Hot Heat knocks out an album full of dry danceable indie rock.
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Getting Past Portraits

Funeral Diner avoids cheese. They play a form of hardcore that is devoid of pained melodies, ranting anger, blazing licks, or mosh breakdowns.
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Desaparecidos | Read Music Speak Spanish | Saddle Creek

Musically, Desaparecidos seem to take a cue from mid-'90s proto-emo bands such as Jawbreaker or J Church - the chunky chords alternating with bouncy picked melodies.
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Rye Coalition | On Top | Tiger Style

Returning after three years of silence with a third album, the band stands by its old habit of changing membership every album as well as its snide regard for '70s hard rock, and then goes full bore.
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Bats & Mice | Believe It Mammals | Lovitt

I feel cleansed, fresh, wonderful. But let me start at the beginning. Last year, a curiously simple little brown-fronted CD-EP landed in the review pile, from a band called Bats & Mice.
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Dead and Gone | The Beautician | GSL

Meet Dead and Gone. They're oh-so-creepy, oh-so-dark, in oh-so-much pain, and with The Beautician, prove once and for all that they're smarter than you.
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…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead | Source Tags & Codes | Interscope

Austin, Texas's ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's major-label debut features a cut entitled "Homage," and it's the most misnamed song on the album.
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The Catheters | Static Delusions and Stone-Still Days | Sub Pop

After following in the Devils' footsteps on Seattle's eMpTy and Sub Pop labels the Catheters have tried to pop out some pubic hair with Static Delusions and Stone-Still Days.
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The Get Up Kids | Eudora | Vagrant

The major difficulty in dating within the independent rock scene is the Get Up Kids.
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Crossroads: Trashy, Sassy and Britney Hit the Road

"Crossroads" joins blockbusters "Glitter" and "On the Line" as the latest pop-star vehicle to leave American adolescents insecure and socially sedated.
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Various Artists | The Thing That Ate Floyd | Lookout!

The Bay Area has a steady tradition of re-releasing compilations documenting scenes that have passed on. The Thing That Ate Floyd is the most recent re-entry into the fray.
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Neil Michael Hagerty | Plays That Good Old Rock and Roll | Drag City

The guitarist, known for his involvement with abrasive blues-punk combo Pussy Galore and subsequent unabashed vein-thumping as half of Royal Trux, returns with his second solo album.
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After the Glory

Artsweek Goes on a Santa Barbara Record Crawl in Search of the Quality Music Retailer.
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