Australian rock trio, Sick Puppies, have settled in to their sound with their two week old release of their second album, Tri-Polar. It’s a perfect album for the alt-rock fan that is sick of Nickelback-like ballads and craves harder hitting drums and guitar combos. Formed in 1997, Sick Puppies consists of Shimon “Shim” Moore on vocals and guitar, Emma Anzai on bass and drummer Mark Goodwin. Down under, Shim and Emma met in high school and shared a common love...

It's surprising how simultaneously hilarious and accurate the title of the new album by Extra Happy Ghosts!!! is. On the surface, as songs like “J and 3k” and “Mash-Up: Neither Being Nor Nothingness”  – with their indie rock-infused love of textural waves, glitchy electronics and early Sebadoh-esque tape designs – build undercurrents beneath singer Matthew Swann, any sort of comparison to the penultimate sunshine band is totally asinine. The squalls of noise, screechy sonics and plinky performances...

In listening to Care Bears On Fire's sophomore long player, it's hard not to feel a sense of (certainly misplaced) paternal pride. Particularly now, in the landslide of ghost-written, saccharine-encrusted pop unloaded on kids by Family Channel-endorsed, neatly-pressed and media savvy kid rock (see Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Demi Levado among others), it's easy to forget that young people have a voice of their own but that it's still often ignored. It can be downright terrifying to think that...