No Eyed Bird

Drawing on influences from Throbbing Gristle and Joy Division, this LA based old timer band has been around since the good old ’81 and the no wave scene. Savage Republic came from the mind of Bruce Lichter, owner of IPR and also leader of the AZ band Scenic. The band has a three of its original members: Thom Fuhrmann, Greg Grunke and Ethan Port along with 3 new dudes. The band is still alive and kicking and touring too (currently touring Europe). I like how their Myspace says they sound like Godspeed and Mogwai. While some songs like ‘Song for Rikki’ have their Mogwai moments, I don’t think they are as effective at staying inside one genre, not to mention that their recording style and vocals are still rooted in Joy Division’s pot. 1938 is one of those albums that isn’t very good until it is over. The final tracks are very long instrumental sound maps of places you want to go to and will make you spin the disc again. If you like older indie-rock sound, slightly out of key guitars, the New Zealand sound and reverb ridden surf beats, then you’ll like the album.

Second release by Los Angeles punk/surf rock trio, Lamps is Monty Buckles (guitar, vox), Josh Erkman (drums) and Tim Ford (bass) with everyone contributing vocals. For their sound, think The Cramps, Harry Pussy, or a surf band with distant punk reverb vocals. The beats are slower and steady with loud moments good for waking people up at any hour. They tracks are all short and sure many of them sound alike, but their originality comes from their blended sound. While you might not understand the lyrics, this band is definitely pissed off. I just can’t tell if they wanna hang out with Phil Dirt or piss on his face.

Comet Gain is a UK (London, Brighton) male & female duet band, with British vocals. Moments of folk, Brit-Pop, and indie in the vein of Yo La Tengo but with much more punk. Heavily influenced by Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Northern Soul style. The band is Rachel Evans (vox), David Feck (guitar, vox) MJ Taylor (drums). They also have Jon Slade (bass) of Huggy Bear. Organs, violas, acoustic guitars, and female harmonies all make their way into many of the tracks. The songs are all very different making for an interesting album with songs you’ll love and ones you will hate.

This album is a reissue of two old out of print cassette releases by Kid Icarus from 1999 and 1997: The Cucumber Album, and Laughing Skeletons EP. Now a four-piece, this recording is the earlier solo acoustic guitar/vocals only, project of the bands front-man Eric Schlittler. The songs sound more like cool demos and contain only a few layers of sound with the occasional female vocal or backing electric guitar thrown in. This album features a cover of The Beatles “Norwegian Wood” and Schlittler’s pal Cassie Rose singing a Jandek cover “Spanish in Me”.

This is Tennessee’s James Toth of the Wooden Wand and his first solo release. The song tempos are slow and the sound is slightly psych-acoustic-folk. The folk has some country twang in it, and knee slapping wah-wah pedals galore. There are some female backing vocals but they are slight and so quiet you have to listen for them. Everything sounds like its warped and coming out of a tin can of chew. Some tracks sound live and other sound unmastered. The overall effect is a folk album in a dreamland of eerie vocals that leave their mark on your ear.

This self-released 2006 album is hip hop fused with experimental, noise and ambiance. I’ve never heard anything like it. Sleeper (aka Mad awkward) and ID are from Lawrence, Kansas and their music is the perfect combination for drug addicts, antisocial and avant thinking persons. This is Sleeper’s third full length and you can find many remixes and rare tracks their myspace pages. The album features songs created between 2003-05. I bet he has some cool equipment because he thanks bentinstruments.com and I’ve seen some of the cool tricked out instruments they make.