Giant Sand’s new album proVISIONS attempts to bring a new sound into the realms of musical ingenuity, but doesn’t quite make it.
While the band deserves kudos for creative song titles such as “”Muck Machine,”” this doesn’t make up for the guitar train wreck in “”World’s End State Park,”” or the lackluster vocals throughout the entire album.
And despite Howe Gelb, the band’s creative base, being a Tucson native, this is one sound that won’t take Tucson by storm anytime soon.

1/5 stars

– Theresa Keeney

Not Only…But Also wraps itself around The 88’s newest conglomeration of tunes as much as around what the band embodies.
Pulling vocal maneuvers similar to those of Coheed and Cambria and Mika with a background ambiance comparable to Voxtrot or Keane, The 88 fashion a pseudo-England-American based rock all their own.
In their third album, The 88 dabble in a more rompish spontaneity (“”We Felt Alive””) and breech drug use with wit (“”Waiting For The Next Drug””), where “”Like You Do”” dons a pub rock feel. Matching tempo and instrumentals throughout can be overlooked for vocal experimentation and go-with-the-flow rock out ideology.

3.5/5 stars

– Kim Kotel