American Steel
Jagged Thoughts
Lookout Records

There’s been a void in the East Bay scene recently. After the Seattle-esque signing of seemingly every band from the area post-Green Day, the biggest thing to come from the area has been Third Eye Blind. Luckily no one should care about them in a year, leaving room for American Steel to pull an Alkaline Trio and blow up in a big way. If there is a band that is deserving of the Punk Rock and Roll label, it would be these boys. This record, which I believe is their third, is considerably more rock, owing a lot to the Clash and the Stones. If you liked the most recent Swingin’ Udders record, this should be your pint of stout. Frontman Ruari still has the rasp of a guy who has spent a lot of time behind (and perhaps face-down on) a bar, but there’s more singing this time around. Well worth picking up.

Cadillac Blindside
The Allegory of Death and Fame
Fueled By Ramen

Cadillac Blindside, or CBS as those in the know like to call them, hail from the wilds of Minneapolis, MN. They took a lot of flak for sounding like the Get Up Kids on their first record. Not a lot of shame in that game, as the Kids have really carved themselves a niche, and save for the preponderance of keyboards on their recent releases they do rock.. With this new EP, CBS distances themselves somewhat from that sound, but singer Zachary Trust still sounds a lot like GUK frontman Matt Pryor, especially on Always A Comedian and Premeditated Redrum is a pretty blatant Kids cop. The Allegory of Death and Fame is a pretty decent EP, and given the Kids played the only shows they’ll be doing this year in Chicago last month, CBS may be your only alternative. Here’s hoping that the next record asserts their own identity a little more.

Cursive
Burst and Bloom
Saddle Creek Records

Cursive are one of my favorite bands. I’ve been known to make impractical trips across country to see them and if you get me started, it’s hard for me to shut up about Tim Kasher and Co. Kasher is a compelling frontman and you’d be hard pressed to find a more compellingly literate lyricist in this day and age. Burst and Bloom pushes the envelope a little bit, perhaps too far with the lead off track Sink To The Beat. Were it not to be the most intensely cynical bit of self-deprecation I’ve heard in some time, I’d be tempted to call it pretentious. It helps that I’m bitter as fuck my own self. Burst also marks the first appearance of new Cursive member cellist Gretta Cohn. She’s obviously more of a presence on the slower songs, so don’t expect any John Cale/Tom Cora histrionics, but she’s an interesting addition, and one that continues the trend of keeping everyone guessing what they’ll do next. They’ll be touring in the Fall. Go see them.

Jimmy Eat World
Bleed American
Dreamworks Records

So much for once bitten, twice shy. After having their last record, Static Prevails, shit on/out by Capitol Records, they’ve jumped ship to Dreamworks in order to chase their dream of being big rock stars. While that may sound bitchy, the boys from Arizona are pretty candid about their desire to be huge, and truth be told, Bleed American is a great record that juts might do it for them. There are all the earmarks of a major label record, with production that screams "radio friendly" and songs that have more damn hooks than your Dad’s fishing hat. If you liked the sound of the new record by labelmates Creeper Lagoon (and let me be the first to tell you that you’re an idiot if you don’t) you’ll be irritating the neighbors with this little piece of digitally encoded goodness. Expect to see me grinning like an idiot and singing along like a teenager to If You Don’t, Don’t and Sweetness when they come round in the Fall with the mighty Hey Mercedes. Hope they can pull it off live.

Chris Knight
A Pretty Good Guy
Dualtone Records

Chris Knight is a Kentucky boy and is, as Scott Miller says, as country as a chicken coop. His debut record had a pretty great mix of Steve Earle’s country rock and John Mellencamp’s populist politics. He toured backed by a bunch of guys from the Backsliders, and then promptly dropped off the face of the earth. A Pretty Good guy is produced by Dan Baird, who you may remember from the Georgia Satellites and the Yayhoos, if not his solo stuff. It’s a pretty good match. Baird plays guitar and maintains a conspicuously unobtrusive presence. If it ain’t broke, there’s no real sense in fixing it.

The characters in Knight’s songs explore that nebulous area where good people do bad things to make things right It might be better if all the songs didn’t concern such situations, but he’s a talented songwriter, and if he tours with Baird this might be a show to see. Not the best record in the genre, but it’s a damn good one, although I don’t think this take him to the next level. A pretty good record from a pretty good guy.