Two posts in one night! That's right, I'm leaving town tomorrow to go to my girlfriend's house for the 4th of July, so you'll have to look elsewhere for content until I return. To prepare for my trip I've packed up clothes, toiletries, and done the most important job of all: made a mix tape.

Making a mix tape is a lot like picking the All-Star team: you can only choose a few songs from each band even though some bands may have a lot of worthy tunes while others barely have one decent one. While painstakingly picking songs, I realized that I never did review any of the recent CDs I've purchased over the past 2 weeks. Rather than do full-blown reviews, here are some comments about each in a segment I call Chris Recommends...

Chris Whole-Heartedly Recommends

Something Corporate -- Leaving through the Window
This is probably the last CD I thought I would highly recommend, but I got a deal on it at, of all places, the WashU bookstore so I picked it up the other day. What I found was an infectious blend of pop, punk, piano, and stringed instruments arranged in a way so as to push across a mature, rich sound while still remaining upbeat. If you like your music fast-paced and punky but are getting tired of songs about the junior prom, give this one a listen. Especially check out tracks 1, 6, and 7.

Chris Half-Heartedly Recommends

Simple Plan -- No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls
This one falls squarely into the "junior prom lyrics" category, with songs about dating an alien life form, wrecking dad's car, and having to work at a fast-food joint instead of hanging out with your friends. If you can get past the content, though, there is some promise here. Sure the guys on the back of the CD look like your average pop/punk teeny-bopper band with tight t-shirts and bleached spiky hair, but the songs are catchy. Check out tracks 1, 3, and 6.

New Found Glory -- Sticks and Stones
Sometimes "maturing" and "progressing" can be bad things. New Found Glory strays from their old style of in-your-face lightning-quick catchy songs to more serious material. Sometimes, like in the song "Sonny" which is basically about death, it works. Other times, like the song "Head On Collision" which is mysteriously receiving lots of praise from the Amazon reviewing crowd, it just drags the song down. Check out tracks 1, 2, and 3, and make a judgment about the rest of the album yourself.

Chris Gives You That "Stay Away if you Know What's Good For You" Look

Reel Big Fish -- Cheer Up!
Rumor has it that this album was finished last year but the band has been in turmoil over whether or not to release it or redo the songs. Looks like they should've gone back to the drawing board. Where I was fully expecting a few tongue-in-cheek songs about how ska is dead followed by proof that it really isn't, I instead hear a band that is on its last legs. The lineup is different, the songs range from decent to weak to just plain atrocious, and the Fish seem to have forgotten why ska ever became popular in the first place. The one thing you could always count on from them was a great cover, but here they go through New York, New York in the exact same style as Sinatra. There's a reason why covers work, and that reason is that you breathe new life into a song by bringing your own unique style to it. This doesn't happen here. The first single "Where Have You Been?" is one of the few songs that I can honestly say is good, and even it has some of the same riffs as their megahit "Beer". Check out track 5 and, if you can look pass some crappy lyrics, track 3.