Mastodon :: Leviathan
Could you see this one coming? Anyway, I just can't stop listening to this. It's remarkable how well the very diverse elements involved here come together. It's the foreboding anticipation of Moby Dick translated into an extremely dynamic thrash metal album with occasional melody and some full-on Molly Hatchet style southern rock flourishes. Classic. •

The Bronx :: s/t
This is some of the best 'vicious, kick-ass rock with a hardcore edge' going. These guys are the Dead Boys for the oughts. Only harder, angrier, even louder and snottier. Excellent for high volume summer listening. •

Braid :: Frame & Canvas
Speaking of summer listening... This feel-good, complex/melodic, mathy-emo rock goes down smooth on these warm, extended days and balmy, fleeting evenings. •

Fugazi :: Repeater
This is a staple, a constant, a cornerstone, a paradigm. If it isn't the greatest recording in the history of music, then it's damn close to the top of the list. •

Van Halen :: Fair Warning
One good thing about being in your 30's is that you don't have to feel accountable in any way for listening to stuff like this. As a younger hipster, one might have tried to maintain 'cred' by playing the irony card when busting out some 'Halen. I'm way past that stuff now. There's nothing ironic here, and I'm not makin' any apologies. DLR forever baby. Don't even try to tell me you don't love "Unchained". •