Reviews by Mark E. Waterbury

Rick Caruso - Keep the Dream Alive
RU Red E Music
Rick Caruso breaks the typified Nashville sound mold with an album of pure enjoyment and inspirational music. Combining elements of Americana, country and rock, Rick has a knack for infusing a friendly pop style into his well-crafted songs. The snappy "Lonely Fool" is like Cat Stevens on an Eagles trip, while "Your Lullaby" is a luscious but intense love ballad. "Let Him In" is a Gospel blues romp with thought-provoking faith-based lyrics. Rick obviously has values and does not mind writing lyrics that speak his mind, enhancing them with his obvious musical talents and varied influences. URL: http://www.rickcaruso.net E-mail: rick_caruso@hotmail.com

Big Green Limousine - Title Track Conspiracy
DRP Records - DRP 008
This Philly area pop-punk foursome weaves the strong power hooks of Good Charlotte or the Offspring with spreading roots leaning towards the Replacements, Television and the Dead Milkmen. Songs like "Turn Back the Clock" with its more metallic feel and rappy vocals stray from the more straight on slam dance enticers including "Realization" and "I Found a Home." The lyrics tend to be wickedly humorous, adding extra kick to an already killer disc. URL: http://www.biggreenlimo.com E-mail: casey@indiego.com

Living Space - Fade Into Existence...
Dark Matters Productions
The San Francisco area's eclectic rockers Living Space kick off their debut with "19 Lives," featuring a mellow groove morphing into a fuzz guitar gritty rock machine. "U.S." has a toe-tapping reggae spiced lilt soon followed by the ethereal psychedelic throb of "Don't Be Long." This band is not afraid to take chances mixing both bizarre and more conventional styles of alt rock, psychedelia, funk and world embellishments with thoughtful lyrics and emotive vocals. URL: http://www.darkmasters.net E-mail: proz@darkmatters.net

Jarrod Birmingham - Stages
Bad Side Music
It's refreshing to hear someone who is true to his country roots and has talent as well. From the Texas Gulf Coast, Jarrod Birmingham harkens to early Hank Jr., Waylon, Moe Bandy and George Jones. His wonderful and powerful voice emanates from smoky honky tonks, and is equally adept at handling the snappy boogie of "Best I Can," the chicken-fried blues of "Guilty" and the pain laden ballad "Whiskey & Lies." This is the type of true country that deserves to be popular now. URL: http://www.jarrodbirmingham.com

Corbin Keep - Call of the Wild Cello
If you never thought a cello could be an instrument of intense music beyond the bounds of a string ensemble, you need to hear British Columbia's Corbin Keep. He attacks the cello like a rocker on folk-based romps such as "The Feast" and "Flavour of the Minute." He produces hauntingly beautiful sounds in "Common Thread" and a frenetic intensity in "Aliens." Add to his talents the passionate vocals, intelligent and often humorous lyrics and solid writing and you have a unique treat. URL: http://www.wildcellist.com E-mail: corbinkeep@telus.net

Sprawl - Sarah Veladora
IMOJ - CD-SPRL-02Lbr> Toronto's Sprawl takes Brit pop vocals, hard rock rhythms and alt punk riffs and runs them through a blender, producing gritty, edgy music with just the right touch of power hooks. Think of Billy Bragg working with Flaming Lips on a Pixies trip. Solid, passionate rockers like "Bad Girl" and "Obvious" would be comfortable on college or commercial modern rock radio, while the retro tinged "Fluffer" and funky "Purposeful and Clean" push the envelope a bit more. URL: http://www.thesprawl.com E-mail: info@thesprawl.com

Annie Humphrey - Edge of America
Makocha Recording Company - MM0182D
An American Indian born and raised on a reservation in Minnesota, Annie Humphrey brings turns life experiences and emotions into passionate music. With an engaging voice a bit like P.J. Harvey, Annie also shows prowess on piano and guitar. Witness the swampy blues of "Lakin's Flame," the Tori Amosinspired beauty of "Doin' Time" and the country pop fueled "Rock Me on the Water." The music is a great vehicle for her stories, enticing you to relish every heartfelt word. URL: http://www.makoche.com

QWIKSAND - The Fellowship of the Groove
Planet Squared Music - P2M QWIKSAND 2.0
SoCal's QWIKSAND melds funk, R&B, reggae and rock styles into a wicked little effort. The retro "Beer Goggles" is laden with funky wah-wah guitar and soulful vocals, like 24-7 Spyz in an Isaac Hayes mood. The haunting island vibe of "$20" and the happy go lucky groove in "Concrete Cowboy" show some of the songwriting diversities as well as the solid chops of the players. The music aims down the jam rock road, veering in some interesting directions during the trip. URL: http://www.planetsquared.com E-mail: casey@indiego.com

Pthalo - self titled
Made up of veterans of the New Haven, Connecticut club scene, Pthalo's brand of alt rock has a guitar heavy powernodding towards Fuel or Puddle of Mudd. With potent vocals and driving rhythms, the band spices up the recipe with interesting quirks, such as the punky feel to portions of "Drugstar," the power pop drive on "It Ain't Right" and the seething Kings X inspired groove of "Chasm." They're not really breaking new ground but are giving fresh life to familiar territory. URL:http://www.pthalomusic.com E-mail: nolan@pathalomusic.com

Matador - self titled
You have to be bilingual to understand the lyrics to Matador, but if you like good, guitar heavy rock with interesting south of the border embellishments, then you will still dig it. With lyrics completely in Spanish this L.A. trio conveys a healthy amount of emotion even if you don't comprende. Music is universal afterall, and stylistically Matador speaks fluent UFO, Texas Tornadoes and Foo Fighters along with their own language, both lyrically and instrumentally. URL: http://www.matadorworld.net E-mail: matadornews@yahoo.com