Porcelain

Sparta returns with their stunning sophomore album. "... Porcelain finds the band settling comfortably into its own skin and sounding all the more powerful for it. Distilling such formative influences as Vs.-era Pearl Jam, Jawbox and early U2, the album opens with 'Guns Of Memorial Park,' a strutting, streamlined rocker with just the right tinge of menace. Such intensity suits the band even better on 'Death In The Family' and 'Le Cerca,' a propulsively melodic number with an enigmatic chorus: 'I was raised in a certain way / and I think I've let you down.'

"Key to the improved fortunes of Sparta is Ward, who still sounds like he's straining to hit the notes but sidesteps emo clichés with a convincing, clenched-fist delivery. And rather than simply ratcheting the temperature knob up all the way, Ward lets songs like 'While Oceana Sleeps' gradually boil over into white-hot confessionals ... In the end, Porcelain pulls off a rare feat: able to appeal to hardcore/emo lovers as well as fans of good, old-fashioned guitar rock." --Jonathan Cohen, Nude as the News