Stellar Kart - Expect The Impossible

Track listing: 1. Innocent 2. Automatic 3. Jesus Loves You 4. The Right One 5. Sunshine 6. Pray 7. Shine Like the Stars 8. Eyes 9. I Give Up 10. Letters 11. Centerfield

'Stellear Kart' is well known for being a band full of energy and happiness, and 'Expect The Impossible' continues to live up to that expectation. The majority of the tracks are cheerful and light hearted, which can begin your day with a good frame of mind if you're listening to the album on the way to school or work. In the midst of all this happiness is the touching song 'Jesus Loves You', which is written as if Adam Agee (the lead singer) is singing to a friend whom he has been trying to bring to God for a long time, but has so far been unsuccessful. While it's easier to glance over this song, I found it held my attention longer than most other tracks on the album.

Other standout tracks for me were 'Shine Like The Stars' and 'I Give Up'. Both of these tracks have an edgier feel to them than the rest of the songs on the album, and I felt this helped balance out the album and reinforced the 'punk' half of their 'pop punk' genre categorisation. The last track on the album, 'Centerfield', was a bit of a let down for me, as it drew heavily on imagery from baseball. As the sport is far less popular in Australia than America, this only served to alienate me from the band, as while I think I 'get' the idea behind the song, the emotions it is supposed to draw from are much less powerful.

In conclusion, if you like your music to pick you up and lift your mood, or just like punk styled music in general, 'Expect The Impossible' isn't too bad a choice. However if you prefer your music to be more down to earth and serious, it may be a better choice to keep looking.

My Top Track: Shine Like the Stars
For Fans Of: Relient K, Run Kid Run

And Then There Were None - Who Speaks for Planet Earth?

Track listing: 1. Murmurs of... 2. John Orr the Arsonist 3. The Hospital 4. Reinventing Robert Cohn 5. Action Is The Anecdote 6. The Atmosphere 7. Cloak and Dagger 8. Right Here Waiting 9. Bed of Nails 10. Thank the Watchmaker 11. The Alamo 12. Insozzz...

'Who Speaks for Planet Earth' is an album full of energy and strong beats, as is to be expected from dance music. The electronic sound is complex and layered, and rarely backs off in intensity. I found the beats to be easy to grasp, and I'm sure you'll be tapping along in no time, however there is quite a lot of depth to the music if you're willing to sit down with a good stereo or even better, a great pair of headphones to listen.

The lyrics can be a little hard to grasp and somewhat abstract at first, and for a lot of people their experience with the words may not be much more than a catchy chorus. However when attention is paid, it's quite obvious that the members of 'And Then There Were None' are trying to express a whole range of emotions with their music, and the flexibility of the dance music genre gives them great scope to achieve that.

Overall, while this is certainly a very solid album, if you prefer to indulge in simpler, cleaner instrumentation, or don't already like dance music, don't expect this album to win you over. On the other hand, if you're looking for some new and modern electronic dance music, you would do well to not pass this album by.

My Top Track: The Hospital
For Fans Of: tobyMac, Andy Hunter