​The Getback
Halfway Home
(Livid Records)
myspace.com/thegetback

I must preface this by stating parts of my personal involvement with this band and its members.

Almost a decade ago -- or was it more? -- I was asked by these guys to book a show for them. They were friends and in certain regards ex-bandmates, so I agreed. I quickly scrambled to get a night at the now-defunct Gables Pub and I worked out a sweet deal involving a cut of bar sales for the band, no cover charge at the door, and my own security.
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​Hesychia
Involuted Departure
(Self-released)

There's something poetic and soft about Patrick Norris' Hesychia. But it's also laced with obfuscation and subterfuge.

On the surface, there is a desolate landscape of industry's wrath. Yet upon careful inspection, really diving into the minutia of the minimalist guitar instrumentals within these sixteen-odd minutes, what emerges is sweet like the best poetry written in moments of self-reflection, genuflection, and release.
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Garcia says: "Love sinks!"

​Now that Valentine's Day is long gone and couples can stop pretending they like each other, it's the perfect time to give a giant middle finger to youthful romantic bliss and get back to reality.

And like a sinking ship of Titanic proportions, the duo simply called the Dysfunct brings us an uncompromising debut EP, The Love Boat. Unlike the late '70s sitcom, this album is a brutal look at love lost, broken homes, family hardships, and, of course, heartbreak.

As for the Dysfunct, it's comprised of a well-respected hip-hop MC from Miami and a well-respected rock'n'roller from Los Angeles. Oh, and they're cousins.
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​Shroud Eater
Thunder Noise
(Self-Released)
shroudeaterrocks.com

Well, the people asked for it and here it is: our beloved Shroud Eater's first full-length effort, Thunder Noise. And I can tell you whole-heartedly that it continues the savagery and unrestrained stoner metal doom laid out in 2009's self-titled EP.

Nothing short of a category-five hurricane, Thunder Noise brings on everything that is good to the foreground with sadistic gusto. These are eleven tracks of soul-destroying, mind-melting chaos.
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​Sons of Tonatiuh
S/T
(Self-Released)
myspace.com/sonsoftonatiuh

Hailing from the sticky sweet region of Atlanta comes the lumbering, guitar-heavy metal of Sons of Tonatiuh. And while we'll dispense with the quick lesson on Aztec deities or the nuances and complexities of the Nahuatl language, just know that this is good, brutal metal the way the Sun gods intended it to be. Uh huh!

Since its formation in 2008, the band has released two stellar demos and this first full-length effort does not disappoint.
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​Hollow Leg
Instinct
(Self-Released)
myspace.com/hollowlegband

There is nothing imaginary about where these two dudes store their energy. Nah, the hollow leg here refers to the actual hadron collider of doom sludge and booze these guys bring forth.

Last year's The Hive Demos did a great job of whetting appetites and they do not disappoint on their first full-length effort.
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​Elastic Bond
Frequencia Natural EP
(Self-Released)
elasticbond.com

As time passes, Elastic Bond band leader Andres Ponce is beginning to look like the greatest export the rhino-shaped country of Venezuela could've mustered. (Sure, there's all that petroleum for your lame SUVs and the Miss Universo titles. But that's politics for a different blog.)

The Bond isn't just one man, though. Initially launched as a solo gig, Ponce's project has since evolved into group thing.  
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​Smoke and Miras
The Line in the Sand Mixtape
(Self-released)
smokeandmiras.com

The Smoke and Miras collective has been busy this year bringing some good, conscious South Florida hip-hop to the foreground. Comprised of Orion, Brown-I, Thousand, Sweet Jesus, Name Brand, Draz, John Wilson, Sci-22, Irene Shemoney, Vers-One, Mr. Chris, Rob Remedy, D-Tox, Magnum-O and Legacy just put out this sweet 17-track mixtape. 
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​Torche
Songs For Singles
(Hydra Head Records)
hydrahead.com

Admittedly, this eight-song EP came out in September. But I'm boiling down the tardiness of this review as follows: I just bought a copy, it hadn't been properly reviewed, and my colleague Erica K. Landau over at County Grind just named it number three on Broward-Palm Beach's top ten local albums of 2010.

For my part, I'd like to open with the fact that this is Torche's first charting record and it is the band's poppiest work to date.
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​Rifas
Is Here A Sense
(Self-released)
rifasband.com

The last time I encountered the music of Evan Rifas and Ron Huneycutt was well over a decade ago when, under the name Laptripper, the pair put forth some of the best and most heartfelt pop-punk tunes you've probably never heard.

In other words, it has taken a really freaking long time, but finally these cats have struck again with their latest eleven-track offering, Is Here a Sense.

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