The Subways, Young For Eternity (2005)

the Band: Billy Lunn, Charlotte Cooper and Josh Morgan

The History: Winners of the 2004 Glastonbury Festival Unsigned Performers Competition this London based band has conquered the UK and then began their USA invasion by making an appearance on The O.C. Maybe The Subways are not on the tip of everyone's tongue but they have made a decent splash.

The Review: Jeff is one of my buddies at work and he is a big fan of The O.C. so he likes to inform me when an "indie as fuck" band plays at the show's fictional rock club called the Bait Shop. Apparently, Death Cab for Cutie has played there and so has Modest Mouse. It was sometime last year when Jeff asked me if I had ever heard of The Subways and I told him that I was not familiar with the band. Fast-forward a few months and a package arrives filled with CDs for review and one of those CDs is from The Subways.

The Subways' Young For Eternity is a remarkable debut album that features 12 tracks influenced by the likes of Oasis and Nirvana. Guitarist Billy Lunn and bassist Charlotte Cooper are great at harmonizing. 'No Goodbyes' stands out as an exceptional acoustic track, while 'Rock & Roll Queen' is a sexy glam anthem that will have Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts jumping around their rooms in their underwear. Young For Eternity is a pretty solid debut that does not feature a single filler track, which is pretty impressive for a debut record.

The Bottom Line: A good blend of mellow acoustic tracks and grunge influenced rockers is what makes Young For Eternity a top-notch effort.

The History: Young Gravity is the sophomore album from Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Peter Walker. Jim Fairchild from Grandaddy and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart co-produced the album with Walker. Young Gravity will be released sometime during April 2006.

The Review: Record companies that send CDs to Erasing Clouds for review generally include media items such as a band bio or some sort of press sheet regarding the band/artist and their new album. The bio material is very helpful for writing a review and there are times when the press sheets are absolutely pompous. The press sheet sent for the new Peter Walker CD was filled with lines such as "Peter Walker's been ruminating on this fundamental conundrum of the human condition". Come on, did Foghat's record company ever send out a press sheet that read "Fool For The City explores the struggle of the urban proletariat in a burgeoning bourgeois society"? I think not.

Peter Walker's Young Gravity is a roots-rock effort that at times draws comparisons to artists such as The Pernice Brothers, Wilco and Whiskeytown. There are some melancholy moments on Young Gravity because Peter Walker's lyrics deal with the darker side of life. A few of the tracks on this album are impressive but they seem to be outnumbered by a bunch of average tracks that fail to grab my attention.

The Bottom Line: Young Gravity is a hit or miss effort that has some good hits ('39 Stars') but plenty of misses.

the Band: Michael Clarke, Mark Olszewski, Michael Owen and Gordon Clarke

The History: The Melbourne-based band Kinematic has been together since 2000 when Michael Owen and Gordon Clarke began a musical collaboration. Over the past six years, Kinematic has released three CDs: Starting Again,So Green and Time & Place.

The Review: In this day and age of radio it seems that the only Australian artist on the U.S. radio is country superstar Keith Urban. The days of AC/DC and INXS are gone and it seems that we do not have a cool Aussie rock band to fill the void. Perhaps Kinematic is ready to step up and take that spot.

Carefree and radio friendly, Time & Place is a pleasant album of acoustic pop-rock from the Australian band Kinematic featuring a mature and polished sound comparable to Crowded House. 'Louder' is perhaps the strongest track on Time & Place due to its infectious beat and catchy chorus that will leave you wanting more. Dull moments seem few and far between on this album and there are plenty of other standout tracks such as 'Tripitaka-san', 'Indigo' and 'The Things I Do'.

The Bottom Line: Time & Place is an extremely enjoyable effort because Kinematic gives the listener a variety of good pop-rock tracks sans any unnecessary filler.