Short Cuts (2009): Part 1

Jemina Pearl - Break It Up

Probably some of the best and purest pop-punk you can find. Though, as a former front woman (Be Your Own Pet) at such a young age, that adolescent stench that coats her output works both for and against her. A spunky little nothing that oddly winds up full of some sort of forced existential substance. Beware, however, the law of diminished returns. B

Girls - Album

"Sometimes you just gotta fake it for yourself." A

No Age - Losing Feeling EP

No Age draw their greatest strength in understanding their aims. The juxtaposed buzz saw riffing and pulsing fuzz explosions have been fine as far as playing "Spot the Influence." However, for a young duo such as this, it’s best to keep your heads and realize early on that you’ve invented nothing, but can build upon everything. Nouns accomplished this, warts and all. Losing Feeling looks to drive the point home. A-

Lee Fields & The Expressions, My World

Part of the problem here is that this is a bit too "on the nose," but that is also clearly the best reason to love it. Completely indulgent and masterfully dramatic. It's the soul classic that never was and never will be, but, God damn, if it's not a tuneful little gem. B+

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

We all get that it's a departure, but that doesn't really seem possible. In a sonic sense, there's less fat to chew, and most of the output comes off across as a misguided freak folk vs. new wave project--and, in an oversimplified way, it is. But it is also a bizarre, deft, and ultimately completely memorable experiment. A

More to come...