BAD ASTRONAUT: HOUSTON WE HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM. The second full length from Bad Astronaut. A much heavier feeling haunts this record. One that takes a few listens to get in to after coming off the high of the last record and split with Armchair Martian. But once you're in you're hooked. Joey Cape branches out further and further away from Lag Wagon and it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Honest Don's (2002)

COMMON RIDER: THIS IS UNITY MUSIC. The brand new album from Common Rider. Absolutely amazing. A big transition from the last LP dropping a lot of the slower rock steady vibe for a more aggressive tone. But not so much so that it will alienate any older fans. For those of you who don't know this is Jesse from Operation Ivy's brand new band with two guys from Screeching Weasel. Don't expect this to sound like either one of those bands though. This is played daily almost with out fail. Hopeless Records (2002)

THE GET LOST: NEVER COME BACK. If there is any justice in this world this band will be as big as THE HIVES. It sounds like If Howlin Pelle took ill and they ressurected Stiv Bators to take his place in the hives. Truly stunning garage punk rock and roll with a touch of soul. Easily one of the best and highly under-appreciated bands/records of 2002. Fucking stunning. Voodoo Rhythm Records (2002).

GOOD CLEAN FUN: POSITIVELY POSITIVE 1997-2002. We were originaly under the impression that this was going to be a discography of sorts but it turns out to be more of a 'best of' compilation. Which is fine by us. This is a great collection of classic GCF songs. If you were curious about where to start with this band...this CD is your answer. 30 tracks of humourous and some times serious positive hardcore. Equal Vision Records (2002)

MAD SIN: SURVIVAL OF THE SICKEST. Excellent mix of modern psychobilly, punk and neo-billy. This record marks the first time Mad Sin has produced a truly solid record. Their discography is filled with about a 50/50 split of killer and filler. This time they've hit their mark and hopefully their stride and we can expect this sort of quality in the future. If you're in to bands like Tiger Army and The Nekromantix you should definitely look in to this. I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison (2002)

OKGO: SELF TITLED. So there's a lot of new pop rock bands coming out now that are making it big on M2 and what not. Some are great, some are so so and some only have that one song they made a video for going for them. OKGO falls under the great. Seriously awesome new pop stuff. Elements of weezer, fountains of wayne and the foot stomping drum trickery of queen haha. The cover art for this is crap. Straight up crap. I hope it was joke. What's inside however is pure gold. Capitol Records (2002)

PIPSQUEAK: UNHAPPY HOUR. Very very very good one man acoustic punk. Jerome Sosa is 'pipsqueak'. It's just him and a guitar and it's brilliant. 8 songs of mostly drunken personal lyrics...ugh...folk punk if you will. I hate to use the word folk...but anyway it's really good and I don't think Jerome has any distribution on this thing so if you'd like to hear it you'll have to order it from us I believe. If you like bands like Against Me! you won't be diappointed. I promise. Pipsqueak (2002).

RADON: WE BARE ALL. The long awaited...finally released 23+ track singles, comp tracks and live compilation of Gainesville FL's late great Radon. It's really nice to have all this stuff in one place finally. 7"s are awesome...don't get me wrong but you're not as likely to put on 4 or 5 of them in a row as you are to put in one CD. And the live recording really rubs in the fact that I never got to see them. For those of you who don't know what Radon sounds like...I'll try my best here...semi-political at times pop punk by way of the magic that is Gainesville Florida. There's something in the water there that causes great music to be made. Excellent sing alongs and heartfelt lyrics...etc etc etc blah blah blah. Get this and their full length simply called "28". Apparently there's a great "lost" Radon record that has all the music recorded but no vocals. They did one final farewell show last september so hopefully they'll wise up and get back together to finish it and tour again...especially the northwest.

MATT SKIBA AND KEVIN SECONDS. Awesome new acoustic split LP/CD from Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba and 7 seconds front man Kevin Seconds. Matt's side is what you'd expect if you're in Alkaline Trio fan. Nothing too far out from his traditional style. Kevin Seconds has a very unique style and voice for his acoustic stuff that can take some getting used to. If you're expecting what you know from 7 Seconds you're going to be bummed. But let it sink in after a few listens and you'll get in to it. Asian Man Records (2002)

THE TRANSPLANTS: SELF TITLED.Tim from Rancid, Travis from Blink 182 and mystery man Rob..from nowhere apparently. That'll be enough to hook most people in to buying this straight away. But this is a strange record. Good but strange. Rarely does something truly 'new' come out. This is something new. Many many many elements come together in this record...punk, hip hop, reggae, soul, new wave, hardcore, techno...fucking everything and a mad man breaking all the plates in your kitchen sink. It's very unlike and at the same time vaguely similar to where these guys have been before. Rob Aston takes on most of the vocal duties with occasional bursts from Tim Armstrong. Rob reminds me of the guy from Blood For Blood who's name might also be rob...can't recall right now...but anyway Rob is pissed and he means to hurt you. Seriously. He's got awesome tough guy vocals. Two tracks stand out the most to me and make this whole record worth owning.."Tall Cans In The Air" and "Sad But True" but the more I listen to this the more I like the record as a whole. And there's guest appearances galore on this thing...Davey from AFI, Brody from The Distillers, and Vic from the Slackers amongst others. Don't try to pin this one down because you aren't going to be able to. All I can say in the end is...If you like the less 'punk' moments of Rancid than chances are you'll be prepped for this. If you're looking for something more straight forward than you probably won't like it. Hellcat (2002)