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If Coldplay and Snow Patrol fell in love and had a baby (that grew up in the indie-rock scene) that baby’s name would be Frightened Rabbit and its third album would be pretty damn good.

I know I’m supposed to like this. I’m a member of the “indie” crowd and as such, I am obligated to like this. But I can’t lie – this is not my favorite. It may just be the old age or the fact that we’ve just seen way too much of this – and by “this” I mean Beach House’s sound. Sure “Norway” is a decent song and was played EVERYWHERE and sure the album sounds pretty and flows well but it’s just too late for me. Had this album come out a couple years ago, sure I might have really enjoyed it but not now and not in 2010 with 1,000 other bands putting out the same album every couple of weeks.

Who knows though, it may grow on me. I’m not counting Beach House out and I’m not saying the album isn’t worth a listen. I am saying that maybe before you check this out you only listen to Faction on XM and don’t talk to any Hipsters for a couple weeks.

When I listen to Vampire Weekend, a very specific image comes to mind. The image is of a party, probably in the Hamptons, where a bunch of 25-year-oldish, artsy/hipsterish people have gathered on a deck, talking about going to Europe in the coming months to just “see where life takes me,” while Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk” plays somewhere in the house. That’s what I think of every single time I hear Vampire Weekend. I can’t help it. I associate Vampire Weekend, fairly or not, with artsy/hipsterish people hanging out in the Hamptons.

This new album Contra, doesn’t really change that. I just associate Vampire Weekend, and their sound to a life that I’m not a part of and thus; it’s hard for me to really get into the music.

Contra picks up where the last album left off. All the songs are a little bouncy, a little quirky and generally pretty happy. The band has expanded the depth of their sound and they have taken some chances here on this new album – all of which work and help prove that the band is at least trying to grow and not just sticking to the sound that was worked for them up to this point. The first track, “Horchata,” is a good example of this as it adds a little south-of-the-border feel to the album. Consequently, “Horchata,” is the perfect sitting on the balcony of a house in the Hamptons talking about going to Europe.

The best tracks on Contra are “Horchata,” “Cousins,” “Giving Up the Gun” and “I Think UR a Contra.” It’s hard to explain why these are the best… I guess the hooks on these are better than the rest of the album.

If you didn’t enjoy the first album then the likelihood of you liking this album is pretty slim. But, if you have not heard Vampire Weekend, or at least aren’t familiar with them enough to formulate an opinion, than this album might be worth checking out.

I do wonder if the band should have sat on this album for a couple months – or at least long enough for the weather to warm up a bit so we can all go hang out on the balcony and talk about going to Europe.

This CD has been sitting in my desk for a couple weeks now. I’ve been in a weird cycle with this album that I’m just now able to break. The cycle has been; listen to the album, set it aside, start a review, get frustrated, delete the review, listen to a really good album, and start all over.

That pretty much says just about everything I can say about this album. Listening to it just makes me want to do something else entirely.

The bravery took an album off from their assault on the neo-new wave scene with 2007’s The Sun and the Moon but have now returned in full force to that neo-new wave sound. I just get the sense that the band is a little bored with this tired scene and as a result, the songs all sound a little forced and bored.

And that’s it. Nothing else to really say. I don’t have the CD in front of me and I can’t remember any of the songs so I can’t even tell you which are good and which are not. And while the CD is sitting in the other room, I don’t care enough about it to go get it.

Sainthood is my first real listen to Tegan and Sara. The Canadian twins have been around for a while now but for whatever reason I’ve just never really listened to them until now. And after the first couple listens of this album, I‘ve become completely hooked.

Sainthood is easily the best pop-rock album released this year. The songs are equal parts smart, catchy, sweet and playful – even when the subjects aren’t. The twin’s voices (and great harmonies) bounce and soar from course to chorus giving an extra bit of life to the already head-bop inducing tracks.

The bottom line is that these Canadians know how to write really good, really accessible, really engaging songs.

While the later half of the album leans more to the pop than the rock, the album never strays from its upbeat tempo. Sainthood contains no ballads and no songs that drag down the album’s pace. It’s a short album, coming in under 37 minutes, but don’t mistake that for the lack of content. The 13 songs collected here move and shake with mastery.

The strongest tracks on here are the opener, “Arrow,” the first single, “Hell,” and “The Ocean.” The rest of the songs are still very good and I would be hard pressed to list any that are not worth downloading. It’s a shame this album came out so late in the year as this album would be perfect for a Summer of parties and driving down the coast (Northwest of course – sorry everyone else but the Northwest is the best coast) with the top down of a rented convertible.