Mad Tea Party
Found a Reason
www.themadteaparty.com
Hipsters rejoice. Whenever a guy/gal duo makes good music, comparisons to the White Stripes are commonplace. No one here is Jack White, but neither is anyone Meg White, which is a good thing. Mad Tea Party, made up of Jason Krekel and Ami Worthen, offer up good ol’ raw rock ‘n’ roll. This Ashville, North Carolina duo really hit the mark on their new album “Found a Reason,” their fourth overall. Krekel has the chops on electric guitar, fiddle, bass and foot drums. Worthen’s sweet voice goes with her steady acoustic guitar and ukulele. Think classic rock/blues riffs. Highlights include “I Went Out” and “I Never Was a Cool One.” — Robert Fulton

Luke Brindley
Five Songs
www.lukebrindley.com
Area shows: Multiple - visit the web site for details.
Always good to hear that Luke Brindley has new music out, as he does with this five-track EP appropriately titled “Five Songs.”  Overall, upbeat, and with the quality of song-writing that we tend to expect from Luke Brindley. A nice addition. — Robert Fulton

Flo Anito
No Dustbunnies
www.floanito.com
Area Shows: College Perk on July 11, Red and the Black on July 25.
Flo Anito has made D.C. her home, and we are the better for it. Her release “No Dustbunnies” is filled with heartache, lost love, ambition and hope, The effort put into creating this record is evident. Strong female songwriter with a piano makes for comparisons to Tori or Fiona, but that isn’t fair. Her bluesy, soulful takes stand out.  Check out “Man of the Year,” “Work!” and  “Drunken Letter.” — Robert Fulton

Vegas With Randolph
Vegas With Randolph
www.myspace.com/vegaswithrandolph
Easy, catchy pop rock from local band Vegas With Randolph. A number of D.C. musicians pop up on this disc, a project from Eric Kern of Cherrysmash. At times lyrically simple (“Be the One,” ‘Happy”), all the songs possess the quality that, no matter how hard you try, you just have to tap your foot and bob your head, ala “That Thing You Do.” The six-part suite “Longplay” is a nice, ambitious touch to close out the album. — Robert Fulton

Red Racer
Red Racer
myspace.com/redracer
Area Show: Rock and Roll Hotel July 24.
With bands like Red Racer retracing the steps of ‘90s pop, and having noticed a strange resurgence in grunge-like records in the past few months, one has to wonder what is happening… I’m not complaining too thoroughly; ‘90s music is as part of my childhood as was getting a pager, and Red Racer do a damn fine job of recapturing the essence of the era. — Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Bury Your Dead
Bury Your Dead
www.myspace/com/buryyourdead
Area date: July 21 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore
Boston hardcore/metalcore band Bury Your Dead brings a well-produced but slightly underwhelming performance with their recently-released eponymous album.  New vocalist Myke Terry has the interesting approach of keeping his vocals fairly guttural during the soaring choruses where most vocalists would go completely melodic. However, it starts to sound a little like hearing cookie monster in the shower in some parts. Overall, the release has some catchy moments, but given the over saturation of material in the metalcore scene, Bury Your Dead will need to step it up to make a name for itself beyond the herd. — Adam Smith

Jay Brannan
Goddamned
www.jaybrannan.com
Area Show: 9:30 Club on July 13.
While his life story is rather interesting and does add a few extra layers of depth to his songwriting, in all honesty, Jay Brannan’s debut “Goddamned” is pretty par-for-the-course for a melancholy folk record. Brannan has a decent voice, his simplistic compositions a bit of charm, but nothing grabbed me or forced me to take notice of this disc out of all the others I’ve come into possession of over the past few weeks. Not bad, just not particularly memorable. Maybe next time. — Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Red I Flight
The Years
www.myspace.com/rediflight
Area Show: July 5 at Ziggy Fest in Richmond
Red I Flight’s “The Years” is one of those metal CDs that you put in your player and know you’re going to be disappointed within minutes of listening to it.  They have the typical metalcore formula down (i.e. lots of breakdowns and guitar harmonies), but give the listener little in the way of distinguishing them from the literally hundreds of other bands in the genre.  The riffing is catchy in parts but is overshadowed by the formulaic song structures and pitiful, nasal vocals of front man Josh Robinson.  Note to upcoming Killswitch Engage clones: energy alone does not make good music! — Adam Smith

23RainyDays
From Today Until Forever
www.myspace.com/23rainydays
Capable of creating appealing hooks through their reinterpretations of the ‘80s and ‘90s goth movements, with more than a subtle influence from the radio-friendly antics of groups like Linkin Park and mascara-laden emo bands still rotated on MTV2, 23RainyDays are obviously talented songsmiths and musicians. A good record.  Frequent area shows.

bob
BBBob
www.bobband.com
Local hard rock outift — and On Tap artist of the month — has a new disc out guaranteed to get your energy going. Plenty of area shows, check the web site for details.

Hotspur
Beta Undressed
hotspurmusic.com
It’s been a while since we’ve heard an almost purely piano-driven pop album, but Rockville’s Hotspur have been more than willing to oblige.