Glasvegas
Glasvegas
Columbia Records
After a vicious major label bidding war, Glasvegas finally signed with Columbia Records, and released an album after adding four new songs to their impressive compilation of demos. The epic grandeur of the instrumentals along with James Allan’s charming Scottish vocals (reminiscent of the soothing effect The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan’s voice had) make their songs about absent fathers, cheating hearts and seasonal affected disorder that much more powerful. Every song on the album is highly listenable and displays a lot of potential. Their first full release proves that the Scottish outfit is a band to keep your eye on. Standout track: “It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry,” a reflective ballad of the singer’s inability to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend after he mentally breaks down from cheating on her. -CS

Air France
No Way Down EP
Sincerely Yours Records
The first outing by Swedish electronic duo Air France combines a subdued feel with a lurking energy that puts the listener at ease but with a smile on his or her face. Air France use lazy electronic beats in conjunction with chirpy horns and obscure samples to create the kind of album that’s perfect background music for driving or cleaning your room. Comparable acts would include indie stalwarts Zero 7 or Thievery Corporation. Disregarding a personal bias against electronica, I found Air France comforting with a friendly, engaging sound throughout each of the album’s tracks. -CS

Senses Fail
Life is Not a Waiting Room
Vagrant/Drive-Thru Records
Senses Fail is the epitome of mediocrity. They built a career out of writing songs that aren’t exactly terrible, but couldn’t be considered good by any stretch. They’re merely competent, and for the majority of people who still listen to this kind of emo/screamo stuff, that’s par for the course. The band’s new album, Life is Not a Waiting Room, is nothing special and it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. One song isn’t distinguishable from the next, and despite all their efforts, each one is perfectly formulaic from the metal-style intro to the sing-songy verse to the half-time chorus to the breakdown that ends the song. Life is Not a Waiting Room is screamo 101 and Senses Fail seems perfectly fine with that. Everyone else probably will be, too. -TH