CD REVIEW: State Radio "Let It Go"

Since the breakup of the prolific independent rock band Dispatch, Chad Urmston and his new band State Radio have been able to keep a piece of the band alive in their own music. This new album is the first album to depart fully from Dispatch and rise up as a true State Radio album, not an extension of the past. It contains heavier rockers than some of the band's previous albums, such as "Doctor Ron The Actor" and "Knights Of Bostonia." The album also feature two of the best reggae tunes that State Radio has ever recorded, "Evolution" and "Calling All Crows." It is truly refreshing to see a band develop a true sound that doesn't mimic the sound of its members' previous musical endeavors. This is a stretch, but it seems as if Chad Urmston and State Radio are going down the same path once ventured on by Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters, when they were trying to break away from the label of being just "the drummer from Nirvana's new band." It's safe to say that this album helps State Radio achieve similar success, and from this point on will no longer be "that guy from Dispatch's new band."

CD REVIEW: Owl City "Ocean Eyes"

While we are all eagerly awaiting Ben Gibbard to his popular success, his new marriage, and his other side project, enter Owl City. This new album is the answer to the long awaited follow up to The Postal Service's excellent debut album. But Ben and The Postal Service had nothing to do with it. Owl City is Adam Young, and Adam Young is one hell of a talented musician. His gentle mix of production and electronic music with his outstanding vocals, instrumentation, and lyricism, make this album one of the most creative to come out this year. On the heels of successful indie rock acts like Passion Pit, Phoenix, and Paper Route, who all mesh together electronic elements into their groundbreaking sounds, Owl City manages to do the same. With songs like "Fireflies" and "Tip Of The Iceberg" it's hard to believe that this album isn't a relic of the 80's. "Cave In" and "On The Wing" are a few of the other standouts, showing off Adam Young's musical genius in the best possible way. Although, this album is not Owl City's first, it's the first that the masses are going to get their hands on. Ben Gibbard better get on with it and get to work on The Postal Service's new tunes, because with this album, Owl City is poised to take over as the go-to-band for indie electronic rock.