Artist:  Arcade Fire
Title:   The Suburbs

Arcade Fire is back after a three year gap with their third album.  Their full length debut, ‘Funeral’, won critical acclaim as a breakout indie album.  The 2007 follow-up, ‘Neon Bible’, furthered the band’s reputation and won them even more fans.  The new album has been eagerly awaited upon by many.  Did the band live up to the hype or was this album their first misstep?

More review after the break.

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Artist:  OK Go

OK Go's latest album

Album:  Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

If nothing else OK Go will be know as the band that did that treadmill video.  Admittedly I downloaded the single for that song, ‘Here We Go,’ and left it at that.  Then at the end of last year Amazon listed the whole album ‘Oh No’ for five dollars and after listening to previews I decided to go ahead and download it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how catchy the album was.

When this album was released I had some download credits to burn.  Apparently ‘Oh No’ made enough of an impression on me as I downloaded this one with no hesitation and no prior information.

Review following the break.

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Artist:  Vampire Weekend
Album:  Contra

Vampire Weekend’s self-titled first release was hailed by many as an original, ground breaking album and a fresh sound.  It was critically acclaimed by many reviewers.  It came in at number 5 on Time’s best albums of 2008 and peaked on Billboard at 17.  At decades end it came in at 56 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 albums of the decade.  Clearly the New York band was on to something.

I didn’t pickup on the album until early 2009 and the first time I heard it I found it to be underwhelming at best and outright unlistenable.  That must have been a bad day for me personally.  I revisited the album a couple of months later and immediately fell in love with it.  The sound was at once familiar and at the same time refreshing.  It stood out in the indie field where many albums seemed to be chasing the same ‘indie’ sound.

Fast forward to 2010 and Vampire Weekend’s second release ‘Contra.’  The band had released the song ‘Horchata’ for free late in 2009 and I immediately downloaded and loved it.  It had the same quirky feel and African pop beats and felt like it would blend in just fine on their first album.  Now the question was whether or not the rest of the album would live up to expectation.

Review after the break.

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Under the Covers Volume 2

Artist:  Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
Title:  Under the Covers Vol. 2 [Deluxe Edition]
Label:  Shout! Factory

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs are back with this sequel to their 2006 album Under the Covers Volume 1.  Matthew Sweet has a long career as a pop-alternative artist and is probably best known for a couple of Anime filled music videos from his breakthrough album Girlfriend.  Susanna Hoffs was a member of the 80′s group the Bangles.  Both of them worked together on the soundtrack for ‘Austin Powers‘ as part of the band Ming Tea.  Under the Covers Volume 1 was a light, fun album that covered a diverse mix of music from the 60′s.  On the new album the have moved forward a decade to cover their favorite hits from the 70′s, again covering a diverse mix of artists and styles.

Volume 1 was a favorite of mine when it was released and I’ve been hungry for more ever since.  Does Volume 2 live up to its predecessor or does it fall into the dreaded sophomore slump?

My review after the break.

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Secret Six #10

Secret Six #10 Cover

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood
Cover by Daniel LuVisi

After a couple of breather issues a new arc starts with issue 10 of a continually excellent series.  This issue brings a bit more darkness and serious tone to the series, yet still maintains tension breaking humor and continues to grow these characters individually and as a team.  Ms. Simone has written these characters in such a way that we start caring for them, we get invested in their lives.   Then she reminds us that they are amoral at best and they aren’t the “do-gooder” heroes that we normally read.

I’m excited to see where this arc takes us.  Character issues from the first arc are being addressed here. Character motivations, especially Deadshot’s, are being examined more closely.

Plus a new mystery around an old name surfaces.

In depth review spoilers abound

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Oracle: Search for the Cure #1-3

Written: Kevin VanHook
Art: Don Kramer and Jay Leisten(1,2); Julian Lopez and Bit(3)

Issue 1

Cover: Guillem March

I’m not sure this is so much of a review as it is a rant.  The last issue of Birds of Prey saw Barbara Gordon leaving the team to take care of some personal business.  This personal business leads her to Gotham City and, conveniently, her part in The Battle for the Cowl.  Needless to say it seems that DC is also intent on taking a once brilliantly written character down a few notches, both in quality and characterization.  Only time will tell if the character will spiral further into cliche or once again rise to the status she once held.

If you are like me you’ve likely picked up a series or two not because they were great, but because you felt the need to have a complete collection.  I slogged through these issues because of that obsessive compulsive need and I’m here to try and talk you out of doing the same.  If you are curious about the story and want to pick it up: don’t.  If I can’t convince you to do that, at least try the following:

1.  Wait until the trade paperback.
2.  Let someone else buy it, read it, and then immediately take it back to sell used, probably swearing all the way.
3.  Pick up the copied used, after it has been reduced to a ridiculously low price and consigned to the ultra-bargain bin.

All told that if there is any justice in the world you should only have to wait a week for all of that to happen.

Slightly spoilerific review below

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Review Secret Six #7

Secret Six 7 Cover

Writer:  Gail Simone
Pencilers: Nicola Scott
Inkers:  Doug Hazelwood

Issue #7 concludes the first arc in the Secret Six series.  Once again the writing is spot-on with liberal doses of humor and drama intermixed.  The issue draws you in from start to finish and leaves you wanting more.  In my opinion this is what comic books should strive to be.  Too often we are stuck between entertaining and thought provoking or deconstructing a long running character.  We are confronted with drawn out arcs with a quick single issue filler sandwiched in-between.  Ms. Simone has gone a long way in perfecting a balance in her story writing between giving us a complete story each month and adding to the overall narrative.  Furthermore Ms. Scott’s pencils are as beautiful as ever and her attention to detail is excellent.

Beyond here be spoilers.

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Review Secret Six #6

Secret Six Cover

Writer:  Gail Simone
Pencilers: Nicola Scott and Javi Pina
Inkers:  Doug Hazelwood and Javi Pina

The misadventures of our merry band of malcontents continues this month in an issue that also highlights Origins and Omens for the team.  Gail continues to strike gold and writes the story much in the same way a magician performs an illusion.  You think you know what’s in store when the real plot twist is hidden up her sleeve somewhere.  If you aren’t reading Secret Six then you are missing out big time.  This comic has it all:  drama, humor, character development, and a left-field twist to wrap it all up.

Spoiler free review after the break

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G.I. Joe #1 Cover B

G.I. Joe #1 (IDW )
Writer:  Chuck Dixon
Artist:  Robert Atkins

G.I.Joe is the comic that started me down the long road to being a comic book geek.  It along with a few other 80′s properties are near and dear to my childhood.  The comic book that Marvel put out ruled over all that was produced in the name of G.I. Joe toys in the 1980′s.  The cartoons were great to watch, but ultimately they were cheesy and nobody ever died.  Between the lack of mortality in the G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons I was woefully unprepared for Roy Fokker’s exit from Robotech.  On the other hand the comic books brought action, humor, character development, and even death.  To my 10 year old mind the stories they told drew me in deeper and had more of a lasting impact on my imagination than any 30 minute cartoon could.

I have the full run of the Marvel G.I. Joe, some more beat up than others, and I still find entertainment in their pages.  When Devils Due publishing announced they were bringing G.I. Joe back to comic books continuing the saga Marvel started, the 10 year old inside the 20-something year old me did a little jig.  I collected all of them as well, including the short run of FrontLine AND the even shorter run of G.I. Joe Reloaded.  The stories weren’t quite as satisfying at first, but they hit their stride and I was a huge fan by the end of their run.  Hasbro put the licensing back up for negotiations and IDW won the bid.  Last fall they put out a special Issue 0 that highlighted the three series they would be producing on a regular basis.  Issue 1 of the core series came out on 1/14/2009 and after reading #0, I picked it up with some trepidation.

Review and opinion forthcoming. (more…)

Review Secret Six #5
‘Faces of Evil: Deadshot’
Writer Gail Simone
Penciler Nicola Scott
Inkers Doug Hazlewood & Rodney Ramos

Where were you the day that evil won?

From that very statement DC has decided to run a month long quasi-event through their main titles called ‘Faces of Evil‘ with each of the associated titles focusing on a villain that is key to that title’s hero.  One would imagine this would be a difficult task for a title such as ‘Secret Six‘, a title based on the adventures of six villains.  Gail Simone makes it look easy.  This is one of the most consistently well written series at DC and has yet to disappoint.  The art is crisp and consistent and the dialogue maintains an even flow of menace, mayhem, and humor.

Background and possible spoilers to follow.

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