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The Jennifer EchoBe Dangerous on Rock Guitar

Portland’s generic pop-punk saviors are here! (And they want you to be dangerous on rock guitar, sort of.) The Jennifer Echo is a band that sounds like many others, fitting exactly within the modern “emo” sound trailblazed by bands like Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World. Melodic vocal delivery over light guitar distortion is the sound of this generation, which represents exactly zero “danger” (despite what the clever album title would have you believe). The lyrics are similarly meaningless, generally discussing a lost relationship, but never truly hitting on any real emotion. We get it-you miss her and you’re trying to feel again. But there has to be a better way to express that thought than four stupid songs that all sound exactly the same.

-Ed Johnson

Paper AirplanesBoyhood

Why does this band from Wichita sound British? Is it a transparent effort to mimic more popular artists or is it simply the result of a tragic accident involving tea in singer Marcus Stoesz’s childhood? The world may never know. Paper Airplanes have a sound reminiscent of the current crop of popular “indie rock” bands. The aforementioned faux-Britishness, multi-instrumentalism, bad out-of-key singing, and slight folkisms-in short, a collection of ideas executed within varying degrees of success. Boyhood isn’t a bad album. It just lacks something that sets it apart. Even down to the cover art, Paper Airplanes seem intent on being like their favorite bands, rather than forging their own path.

-E.J.

My Teenage StrideEars Like Golden Bats

I’m from Brooklyn. I’m an indie pop band. I like The Smiths. My name is My Teenage Stride. I write simple pop songs that are unmemorable and live by the motto, “What song isn’t better with a little bit of synth?” My guitars are chimey and annoying, with a rhythm section that is miraculously simple. I think my album title Ears Like Golden Bats is very clever, but everyone else just wants to punch me in the face. Uh-oh, I just said the word “apeshit” while using a British accent on a song called “The Genie of New Jersey.” I am an asshole, don’t listen to my music-it’s just bad fetishism of the 1980s.

-E.J.

GejiusBlack Eyes

With references to Botch, Isis and a host of other artists in the liner notes of this album, I thought I kind of knew what to expect (the Incubus and Chaka Khan references should have made me think different). Instead, Gejius (pronounced exactly like Jesus) offered up a series of songs of somewhat experimental electronic/IDM music. Drum machines, electronic clickity-clacks and other computer-generated instruments all combine to form a kind of brooding, mellow soundtrack. Black Eyes is a perfectly listenable album, but fails to engage the listener in a direct way.

-E.J.

EminemThe Re-Up

This album is a collaboration effort by some of the most familiar faces to the hip-hop crowd that also introduces some new names. Bobby Creekwater, Ca$his and Stat Quo all get a little help from Slim Shady in boosting their careers, and their cuts are the sort of gangsta rap you’d expect from Slim and 50 Cent. It’s a decent rap album for anyone into the scene, though if you’ve already been listening to the styles put out by Shady/Interscope Records, it’s nothing new.

The last few tracks are remixes done by Eminem himself, though they’re nothing groundbreaking or particularly impressive. This seems to be the theme for the entire album, though old fans will like the lyrical suave and the creative beats that The Alchemist (the compiling producer for the album) and Slim lay down throughout.

-Robert Seitzinger

Adrian OrangeBitches is Lord

Local Portland musician Adrian Orange is a bit of an obscure indie artist, and this album was altogether confusing. It’s sort of a combination of silly lyrics, dull guitars and even more soporific vocals. His voice isn’t particularly pleasant or gripping, though the light-hearted sound of the album will likely delight fans of alt-rock indie. It’s hard to distinguish one track from the next, save for the title track. That song, at least, does make the album worth a listen, though it hardly makes purchasing the album worth it. It was released late last year and is easily Orange’s least impressive effort yet. If you want to appreciate him, find the earlier work that was released under his moniker Thanksgiving.

-R.S.