On June 6, 2006, FensePost went live. Since its inception, I’ve written more than 1,000 album reviews and countless features, track reviews, live reviews, and video reviews. My collection has grown exponentially. I have a room in my house devoted entirely to records. CDs go in the living room and I’m out of shelving space. To say FensePost has become a big part of my life would be an understatement. It’s as much a second job as it is a hobby.

In 2005 it was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s unprecedented sale of 25,000 plus self-released albums sold out of an apartment in New York that had the world ranting and raving. In 2004 it was Arcade Fire’s Funeral that had people talking. In 2002, The Polyphonic Spree took the stage with their countless numbered choir in creepy white or pastel colored cult-like robes. Those years have come to pass, but the bands remain prominent in the minds of music fans. So who will be the act to stun music fans …

In approaching a new album for the first time, there is often a conflicting duality of emotion. On one hand, there is anticipation — being completely new to an album, one cannot help but be excited about what the jewel case might contain. On the other hand, there is fear — fear that the album will not live up to expectation, or at least live up to either the hype or the band’s prior material. After listening to opening tunes “Noni’s Field” and “Italo”, I was succumbing …