Music Purchase Log: August 2008

Here are the albums I bought in August 2008, along with my first impressions of each (new this month, and only if I feel I've listened to them enough to get a first impression):

Alkaline Trio - Agony & Irony - A little poppier than previous efforts, but assuredly solid.
Black Keys, The - Rubber Factory - Kind of like Ben Harper, but better. There's a little Tom Waits in there, too, but overall the album inconsistently matches up with my taste (e.g., 10 A.M. Automatic = great, The Desperate Man = iffy).
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene - Really great Canadian indie. (Thanks for the referral, Kris.)
Centro-Matic / South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks - This is great stuff (as usual) from Will Johnson, but I always have a hard time with double albums. The surprising thing is I might like South San Gabriel better...
Coconut Records - Nighttiming - (need more time)
Copeland - In Motion - Not quite as good as Eat, Sleep, Repeat, but still quality indie.
Dodos, The - Beware of the Maniacs - Solid album, but not as outstanding as Visiter.
Hawthorne Heights - Fragile Future - Decent set of songs, but they've lost their edge, which is rather disappointing.
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose - Very good hardcore/metal.
Les Savy Fav - Inches - Good demonstration of how the band has progressed over time
Nada Surf - Lucky & Let Go - Both excellent, but the earliest of the three I now have (Lucky) might be the best.
One Day as a Lion - One Day as a Lion - Zach de la Rocha and the ex-drummer from Mars Volta together in the same studio sounds too good to be true, but it's not.
Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead - (need more time)
Raconteurs, The - Consolers Of The Lonely - About 50% good and 50% victims of the same "eh-ness" of many of the White Stripes' songs.
Rooney - Calling the World - Much better than their previous effort ... and it sounds a lot like Weezer in quite a few places.
We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery - (need more time)
Weakerthans, The - Reconstruction Site - Very good addition to Reunion Tour in my music library.