Releasing a double album is always a bold move for a musical act; I canā€™t think of any band that has managed to pull it off without including some filler. When youā€™re a precocious 23 year old and decide that your bandā€™s second major label record is going to be a two-disc, loosely-autobiographical concept album tracing the ups and downs of your first long term relationship, the level of chutzpah involved is almost breathtaking. However, Max Bemis, frontman of alternative rock band Say Anything, doesnā€™t fare too badly with In Defense Of The Genre.

Given the ambitious nature of the album ā€“ did I mention it features over 20 guest vocalists from notable bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, My Chemical Romance and New Found Glory? ā€“ itā€™s tempting to read too much into the artwork, which depicts a battle between children and geriatrics, especially given that disc one seems designed to correspond with youth and disc two the elderly. However, thereā€™s no real generational musical theme separating the two CDs: both predominantly feature the blend of pop-rock, emo and melodic punk that has won the band a passionate underground following, and the exceptions (the synth-driven, dancefloor-oriented Baby Girl, Iā€™m A Blur, minimalist Goodbye Young Tutor, Youā€™ve Now Outgrown Me, cabaret show tune That Is Why) are spread equally over each side.

A tendency to switch tempos and change styles within the one song could be considered showing off, but the frills are balanced by the profusion of hooks and the strength of core songs like the rocking highlight People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist, awesome Vexed, angsty Have At Thee! and poppy This Is Fucking Ecstasy.

At nearly 90 minutes, In Defense Of The Genre is difficult to come to grips with at first, and it inevitably could have been stronger if it had been condensed, but there are surprisingly few dull spots over the recordā€™s 27 songs. A strong case for the defense.

Owen Heitmann

A Wilhelm Scream are frequently compared to Strung Out, as both play highly technical, metal-influenced hardcore punk, but itā€™s a superficial resemblance ā€“ A Wilhelm Scream are in a class of their own, and their third full-length on Nitro Records proves it, showcasing yet another step up in the US quintetā€™s already incredibly tight musicianship.

The band promised that this album would be extremely fast, and the minute-long breakneck opener I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz leaves no reason to doubt them. Thereā€™s barely any letting up for the remainder of the record ā€“ the bass and drums intro of Die While Weā€™re Young promises a respite but itā€™s only seconds before the frenzied guitars kick in. While the prog-influenced The Horse and closer We Built This City! (On Debts And Booze) hover around five minutes and Get Mad, You Son Of A Bitch! is nearly as long, accordingly allowing room for the pace to drop from light speed to just fast, the other ten songs come in one- and two-minute bursts of white hot ferocity.

The band dazzles as guitarists Chris Levesque (who left the band shortly after recording) and Trevor Reilly trade solos and razor sharp riffs, vocalist Nuno Pereira sings and screams catchy vocal lines (with harmonies from Reilly), new bassist Brian Robinson provides jaw-dropping licks (check out his solo on Jaws 3, People 0) and drummer Nicholas Angelini shows his stamina by driving the blistering tempos.

The complex interplay of 5 To 9 (the first song released from the album) is indicative of the record, but despite the intensity there is also enough variation to differentiate the songs, from the vocal harmonies of Cold Slither II to the melodic chorus and tempo changes of These Dead End Streets or the musical dexterity of standout The Horse.

Career Suicide? Career highlight, more likely.

Owen Heitmann

While Dashboard Confessional built its early reputation on Chris Carrabbaā€™s acoustic guitar and emotionally honest and revealing lyrics, successive releases have seen the outfitā€™s sound shift, accommodating the transition to a consistent full band lineup and losing much of Carrabbaā€™s angst for an almost adult contemporary rock feel. Although commercially popular, albums such as Dusk And Summer have distanced Dashboard from their original fanbase. The Shade Of Poison Trees is a largely successful attempt to reconnect.

You canā€™t go home again, of course, and the completely naked intimacy of the past proves elusive, but the acoustic urgency of Where Thereā€™s Gold… is a welcome return to begin the album with, and even with the full band on board, first single Thick As Thieves captures a lightness of touch thatā€™s been missing from their recent releases. Itā€™s delightfully easy to sing along with Carrabaā€™s familiar, slightly quavering vocals.

Although itā€™s not an all-acoustic solo album, the stripped-back acoustic numbers dominate, thanks to the strength of cuts like Keep Watch For The Mines and the clarity of Little Bombs. The full band, on the other hand, are particularly good on the loping Matters Of Blood And Connection, a sneering put-down of slumming rich kids which pointedly asks, “Why do you speak with that accent now? Everyone knows youā€™re not from the streets”. However, the robotic drums underpinning Fever Dreams go against the organic feel of the record, and the title track is really a pretty dreary yawnfest.

Yet while The Shade Of Poison Trees isnā€™t perfect, it wouldnā€™t be too far off the mark to call the 34-minute album a return to form.

Owen Heitmann

Last Of The Believers have an impressive punk pedigree, with their lineup including guitarist Chris Chasse (formerly of Rise Against) and Brett Rasmussen (bassist for Ignite). This debut EP more than lives up to expectations, offering not only solid writing and performances but also an unusual breadth of scope.

Fists Up is pummelling hardcore with plenty of gang vocals, akin to Comeback Kid or With Honor, and the incendiary Dissent and breakneck Workhorse (featuring guest vocals from Throwdownā€™s Dave Peters) are in a similarly relentless vein. Yet these tracks are interspersed with positive, melodic anthems: the mid-tempo You Get What You Give and yearning Throwing Matches, which almost sound like an entirely different band, although one common factor is the consistently compelling quality of the songs.

It will be interesting to see if Last Of The Believers maintain this diversity on their upcoming full length album or focus more on one or another of the extremes theyā€™re equally capable of ā€“ but whatever the outcome, based on this taste it will be well worth looking out for.

Owen Heitmann

The Tesla Legacy
Robert G. Barrett
HarperCollins
420 pages

A non-Les Norton novel from prolific Aussie crime novelist Bob Barrett, The Tesla Legacy reads like a print version of a Hollywood action blockbuster, but with the lead roles taken over by a knockabout blue-singlet type (laconic Newcastle electrician Mick Vincent) and his you-beaut sheila, bookstore owner Jesse Osbourne.

While looking for a part for his restored 1936 Buick, Mick finds a diary belonging to real-life inventive genius Nikola Tesla that suggests Tesla built a hidden doomsday device during a secret expedition to Australia in the 1920s, and he and Jesse set out to find it. While they unravel clues that lead them into regional New South Wales, they are unaware that the Pentagon has caught wind of their investigation and will go to any lengths to ensure that the Tesla Legacy remains undiscovered.

Written in a distinctively ocker voice (which unfortunately sometimes carries over to the American characters) and spiced up with occasional extreme violence, this armchair thriller is a page-turner, even if the ending is a bit of a cop-out.

Owen Heitmann