Mafia Dumptruck – Why You Wanna Kill My Dog?

Formed in 1997, Mafia Dumptruck is probably the best or at least the most consistently creative group to record for Sloppy Abortion Records. While label-mates Weatherbee in ‘73 and Golly Gee Willy and the Cerebral Palsys often cross the line of what is tasteful, Mafia Dumptruck walk that line with a concoction of humor, discomfort, and innocence.

“Why You Wanna Kill My Dog?” is their only song to rely on electronic drums, as it is a dance song (but in the same vein as the Young Marble Giants). Despite this, the atmosphere is similar to their other compositions: lo-fi, 4-track tunes, somewhat bass-heavy with stripped down instrumentation. The sound is minimal, but not exacting. In fact, the music takes a back seat to the songwriting. The humor and delivery is reminiscent of the Frogs, although undeniably original. There is even a tangent about always seeing Mexicans in Chinese restaurants, which through the eccentric song-logic gets connected back to the neighbor who killed the singer’s dog.

Catchy and odd, “Why You Wanna…” is a great lead in to the rest of their latest release, A Door, which features paradoxical songs like “I’m Depressed” and “I Like You with No Legs” that are at once both childish and sophisticated.

Andy Has AIDS – Dead On the Inside

This Berkeley-based band usually flies beneath the radar of even the most voracious underground-music hounds; the web presence of the band, their label, and the one previous publication that reviewed them being limited to a Spartan listing on mp3.com.

“Dead on the Inside” is the result of a collaboration between Andy Has Aids and Preston Manchild for his two-minute flash film “Visions.” The instrumental is infuriatingly simple, its lumbering yet insistent rhythms driven by a messy distorted synth and an old drum kit. Against this backdrop, a lone bird song twists out a haphazard yet consistent melody, issued by something that sounds like an electric piccolo. Soon a middle voice forms a lazy counterpoint, and after gleefully crushing you for a while longer, the music fades like a retreating sasquatch. Left with an uneasy feeling, you stick the memorable beast on repeat to ensure that you didn’t miss anything.

This makes a great appetizer for mix tapes, and it matches well with the inexplicable emergence of a beautiful yet devastating storm which devours the earth in Manchild’s animation.

The Penningtones – Circle of Fifths

Seattle’s own, The Penningtones is a band that is not trying to impress. From the three simple photographs that adorn the packaging of their CD, Circle of Fifths, I got the impression that this group of musicians could care less about any sort of pretension. One of the photos, a black and white cover shot, looks down on a second-hand wooden table that’s been left outside. On the table, arranged in a circle, seven bottles of spirits (of varying stages of emptiness) cast long shadows in a late afternoon sun. The remaining two photographs depict the band, a group of middle-aged guys and one woman. The first, an old-timey band photograph, catches the group posing and brandishing their instruments. The second is a snapshot of the band immediately before or after a liquored toast, all mugging good-natured smiles, sitting around the fifth-littered table (presumably, the same one shown on the cover). No kids in the picture, but I bet they’re somewhere around … maybe at practice or with friends. The music doesn’t match the lives of the people in the photograph. It’s too late for them to go for broke with this. Playing music with friends is just an activity of theirs to bond and to make life a little more fun. It can’t be known what type of music the band plays from the pictures, but it can be inferred that the music reflects the simple, homespun feeling the table, the bottles and the faces of the maturing band combine to create. And so it is. The songs in Circle of Fifths is country-tinged roots-rock sung and played with all the experience of older musicians taking a little time off from their other lives.

True to the pictures, The Penningtones, named for founding band members Brent and Rick Pennington, originated from “informal living room jam sessions” the brothers had with some friends. Even now that they’re a recording band, they haven’t tried to go beyond the casual, loose playing styles and song structures they must have worked out in their living room. And that feeling of friendship and home drenches the music on the CD. The songs and the playing are straightforward and warm. No fancy showboating. No abstract lyrics. Even though I don’t like the term they use for their music, “power folk,” it does describe the style in the fewest possible words. Their brand of music is rooted in American traditional folk, and it also draws from country, rock, rockabilly, and blues (hence, the “power” part). All these distinctly American styles are thrown into this CD like a savory, messy, greasy potluck meal that washes down with a few gallons of domestic brew.

The disc begins with the intensely likeable “So Damn Wrong,” a slightly inebriated “heartbreak” southern folk/rock song, driven by several acoustic guitars and a sputtering harmonica. Lead vocalist Brent Pennington delivers his words in a scratchy growl that reminds me of J. Mascis of Dinosaur, Jr. His voice isn’t pretty, but it’s one that you find yourself rooting for and cheering when it hits those higher notes. Stefanie Hodovance assumes lead vocals on the next track, “Broken Man,” a blues/folk ballad for the dumped. Her beautifully deep and soulful voice wears its broken heart on its sleeve. She is, without question, the best new singer in any genre of music – both indie and major label – that I’ve heard this year. I wish she had more songs on the disc, but she only sings lead vocal on one more song, the melancholy, slow blues of “Words.”

On “Baby Likes to Mess Around,” Brent Pennington leads the band swiftly through an acoustic-driven rockabilly “cheatin” song. Featured is a fun but brief interplay between acoustic and electric guitars. Of the other songs, only “Wildcat” left me wanting. The folk rock music sounds good, and the song has definite potential. What doesn’t work for me, however, is that the lead vocals are performed by the song’s writer, Hugh Jones. Not that he has a bad voice, but I just don’t think it’s ready for “Prime Time.”

So there they are, on the picture and in the music on the disc. Just making music for the fun of it, and that genuineness manifests itself throughout the CD. It’s good-natured, drunken folk and country rock written and performed by just a bunch of regular “joes” burning off steam from the workweek. Circle of Fifths is a fun-loving CD filled with the standard clichés of “break-ups,” “cheatin’,” “aggravated murder,” and “drinkin’.” There’s no cover, but management would kindly appreciate a two-drink minimum. Even though they play for fun, a little pocket change never did anyone any harm.

The Evoka Project – Stranger Than Fiction EP

Based out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, The Evoka Project was formed when drummer Bryan Ledbetter, founder of Hero Recording Co., and singer/guitarist Taylor joked about recording an EP as they made their way home from an MTV VJ contest. Since then, they were the grand prize winners in the Mars Music National Band Contest and have licensed this little four-song EP to MTV for use on the Real World/Road Rules and to ESPN for use in the 2001 X-Games. They also had their debut EP recorded and mixed in just four days by Mitch Easter (REM, Ben Folds, Pavement).
To put things into some sort of visual perspective, Stranger Than Fiction is like a pair of really nice, recently polished bookends, with two dingy, poorly written books lodged in between them. “Downer” kicks things off with an exceptional amount of promise. It is an aggressive, slightly emo-ish tale of a troubled relationship. Taylor’s vocal efforts sound exceptionally heartfelt, and the musicianship as a whole is tight and catchy, with just enough angst backing the whole thing to make it something more than just a radio-friendly pop song. This song alone, in all honesty, is worth holding onto the entire disc.
However, the momentum that is built up without any hesitation by “Downer” gets its teeth kicked in by the back-to-back combination of “Vacation” and “Standby.” Both tracks can be boiled down into a tiny pile of cheesy, lovey-dovey, poppy mush. Musically, the two tracks are reminiscent of pop-rock acts like the Foo Fighters, and Taylor’s vocals actually hint at Dave Grohl, but the lyrics are what make the difference between successful rock and cheesy nonsense. Boring, cliché phrases like “Maybe we should go away, maybe we’ll never be the same,” “I’d die right now if I was in your arms,” “Never before have I seen someone as beautiful as you,” and “You make me love like I’ve never loved before” run rampant, blending in with downright awful ones like “I’ll burn out to pass the time until I can be with you, my beautiful angel smile.” “Standby” is the most nauseating of the pair, with barely a lyric in it that won’t make you cringe, but neither one deserves much attention from anyone other than 16-year-old girls.
Then comes the grand finale, the acoustic-tinged and slightly spacey “Transparent.” It is the band’s obligatory attempt at a dark, brooding number, and while it certainly fairs better than the two songs that come before it, it still fails to live up to the potential that the opening track leads you to believe is here.
What you end up with is an EP consisting of four love songs, two that are worth multiple listens and two that are quite disposable. Still, you have to remember that this is just a four-song effort from a band that hasn’t been together for more than a year or two. With Stranger Than Fiction, it feels like they haven’t quite found their sound yet, so they are still experimenting with a few different ones; some of which work, and some of which fall flat on their face.

Just Plain Todd – Caterpillar Daydreams

Just Plain Todd’s genesis seems to have come from some uncertain beginnings. According to the band’s bio, “Just Plain Todd is the brainchild of Patrick Collette, a college dropout who has been playing guitar and writing music since high school.” After listening to the band’s Caterpillar Daydreams album, one can see a reason why Collette decided to concentrate more on music. The album is a wonderful mix of intricate guitar, soft percussion, tortured vocals, and textured piano. Collette knows his music and this record brings a wonderful blend of a variety of different sounds and showcases his undeniable talent.
“2:00 a.m.,” the album’s opener, begins with some strange sounds and ambient noise as it builds towards a drudgy and awkward track. A dirty guitar sound and Cure-sque vocals are prominent, and, when compared to the rest of the album, one wonders if it is even the same band. The next song, “Eggshells,” changes tones completely. The guitar is quiet and melancholy, and the overall tone is beautiful. Aching vocals and great atmosphere bring us closer into the world of the tune. Think Red House Painters meets a quiet R.E.M. Great song. There’s an interesting transition as “Eggshells” flows right in to the next song “Eureka.” This number brings a similar feel in tone as the previous one.
“Waterfalls” features a cascading piano line over some soft percussion as the song delivers a trancey, head nodding effect. “A Good Friend” starts off with a tad bit heavier intro that leads into a bouncy bassline and catchy chorus. It reminds one of an 80’s pop song but minus the cheesy synthsizer. The vocals on this number go from the quiet and the typical sound from the rest of the album to sounding faintly like Bruce Springsteen, especially on the chorus. The finale to the record is a revisiting of the great “Eggshells.” This time though the track is heavier, with distorted guitar replacing the quiet tones of the original version. Although the previous version of the song is better, this is a nice revision as all the instruments come out in full force.
The album’s sound brings a DIY/home recorded feel. At the same time, the sound is crisp and clear. This is not just some 4-track basement demo. The band knows what it is doing, and, while the sound is a bit hollow at times, the overall effect is nice.
Caterpillar Daydreams gives the listener a glimpse of the diversity and talent of Just Plain Todd. Aside from the bizarre opener to the album, the record is a solid one, and indie rock fans should take notice.

Keleton DMD – Body Double

From the label that brought you the Small Brown Bike/Cursive split 7″, the first of 12 releases in a subscription-based limited series featuring what can be put frankly as some of indie-rock’s premiere bands, Makoto Recordings is hoping that Keleton DMD will soon be similarly recognized. The three piece of Dave Lukasik (guitar), Mike Gard (drums), and Dave Arter (bass) have followed up their Possibly the World 7″ with an eight-song debut full-length titled Body Double. Not currently quite as polished as their contemporaries, Keleton DMD do combine complicated math-rock stop and start equations with a post-hardcore Fugazi-like drive. Around Boston, there are many like-minded bands that appear on bakedbean.net, including The Common Cold, Kolya, The Migration Trap, and others building towards a post-something or other genre.
Opening Body Double with a Turing Machine-like rhythm, guitar riff, and bass rumble, “Black and Single” soon switches lane to deliver free-form lyrics, “a losing mind and a tank top / reconvene or release / indecisive siphon sirens / consolidate date the day,” with straight-forward sound. But like a commuter hell-bent on getting to work on time, Keleton DMD switch lanes again without signal before the song’s end and are passing the listener in the right-hand lane with speedy guitar, screaming vocals, and what distinctly sounds like record scratching. The band’s formula of piecemeal song structure is displayed again in the LP’s semi-title track “Ken Lon, Body Double.” The guitar strumming introduction sounds like something lifted from Hum, but this is quickly absorbed by the DC-styled main body of the song, a style that Keleton DMD and Small Brown Bike have both put to personal use in their respective Michigan areas.
Again, I swear there is a record being scratched somewhere off in the distance for added texture, but there is no mention of turntables, so perhaps it’s the bass player’s picking style? Lyrics for “Ken Lon, Body Double” almost peeve me in the way that a band should include their name in the content, “…met these guys beside me in jail more than twelve years ago parole goal Keleton state prison cell block DMD developed assimilated syndrome spent nights sipping on freedom…” but damned if I can figure out what the hell they’re talking about when taken in context with the rest of the lyrics.
In what is probably my favorite song from this release, “Chuck Dezelha” is more constant than most songs on the album, and again, there is definitely some noise, something being scratched, some buried tempo-defining measure being taken to establish a rock groove. What the hell is that? I don’t know, but I ask the same of the lyric, “Dan’s Shanty to tartar spill / chemist lab coat a Red Wing’s shirt.” A few questions are left unanswered for Keleton DMD and their Body Double debut.

Skiptrace – S/T

Sometimes shuffling through the hundreds of CD’s piled up in tubs in my bedroom, or even thousands at the record store, I can’t decide what to hear. Skiptrace came into the masses, and being the designer/photographer snob that I am, the front cover art pissed me off so that I set it aside for days. It wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, offensive or frightful by any means. Just didn’t seem to have any significance. When you flip it over you see that it’s got John Agnello’s and Bill Janovitz’s names all over the mixing and production. Buffalo Tom had inspired a lot of rockers today and have always made great records, and these two were a huge part of them. I haven’t turned this disc off for four days now and can only recommend making it longer. The familiar feel reaches out in many directions, branching into a huge hand that picks you up at every break down. Vocals come out as unique and very much resemble Scott Born of Kill Creek after you get passed the picture of a Weezer geek look-alike mental image they create for you. As the album goes on the similarities follow through.

If you heard The Refreshments’ Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy, released in 1996, it was an amazing album, and this release by Skiptrace sounds great enough to be a modernized follow up together with Kill Creek’s and a style of it’s own. This self-titled EP also serves merely as a demo. What’s better is that the song “Don’t Support the Band,” I’m told, is all over the college charts and stations, striving and earning recognition it deserves.

Skiptrace seems to consist of a main two members, Scott Pribble and Scott Sellwood, who are from previous bands Burke and Flawheads. They have mastered harmony in duel-vocal layers and strength in driving guitars. Energy flows from trickled guitars to distorted break downs, and all of the uplifting vocal lines are emotional and serious. The drummer and bassist of pop/punk backgrounds joined in this band to create a new style of arrangements for their fourth members, which adds nicely to the mix. However, this band is clearly guitar-driven and full of inspirational lyrics and a warm feeling that seems to get to the point in a comfortable way.

The uniqueness often shows itself in endings and breakdowns glossing with shrivels, echoes, or overlapping catching vocals. Everything is tight as everything is beautiful and pushes you into wanting more. I don’t suspect any alternative indie rock labels would be opposed to putting this out. I would highly recommend it. Even with the cover art intact.

Tocotronic – K.O.O.K. / Freiburg v3.0

Funny story here. I was sent three Tocotronic discs (two of which are reviewed here) many months ago, and I immediately made the no. 1 grievous error of any music fan or critic: I judged an album by it’s cover. And it’s band name, album title, song titles, record label, etc. Surely, this was an album’s worth of German techno, and I was going to hate it.

See, here’s why I thought that. First, the band name sounds electronic, with the whole “tronic” part. Then the album title sounded futuristic, and the cover art and inside artwork reaffirmed that. The song titles were long and fairly abstract, as happens on techno albums, and the label L’age D’or I knew of as a German label that has released several volumes of German and European techno. To make things worse, one of the Tocotronic albums was one song remixed several times. So surely you can’t blame me here, right?

Boy was I wrong and delightfully shocked by how much I like Tocotronic. From Germany, this band plays a style of indie rock that’s more comparable to bands like Idlewild and Travis. Take their style of mid-tempo indie rock with strong vocals – deep but sung in English – and add to it some mild guitar distortion and keyboards to provide a sort of spacey backdrop that’s not overpowering, and you get Tocotronic’s music. Some songs are slower and slightly loungy, others mid-paced behind a flurry of guitars.

The title track starts, and the repeated initials lead me to believe the band is really saying “ok” forwards and backwards as opposed to referring to some phrase. But it’s an oddity as the album really starts with the slower “Misfortune Must be Fought Back,” a kind of plodding song centered around an emphatic guitar and bass line and the rather morose vocals singing “it’s more and more and more and more unbearable.” “Jackpot” is the first more rocking track, with a barrage of driving guitars and heavy use of keyboards, and “The Boundaries of Good Taste 1″ is almost poppy, with its use of keyboards, the sounds of crowds cheering, and the “woo-hoo” vocals. To make matters even more interesting, “Let There Be Rock,” my favorite track, is slightly Beatles-esque through its use of trumpets over the guitar-rock and the catchy chorus. In the interest of expediting things, we’ll breeze through the album’s remaining 13, songs, pointing out favorites “The Gift,” a building 7-minute track that’s quite intense; “Beyond the Canal” is more mellow and steady, and the vocals really shine here; “Thought Around the Corner” has some Pavement-esque guitars and vocal styles to it, as does “The Boundaries of Good Taste 2.” There’s also the German language “Ja” to close things off.

I’m not sure who Console is, but now we get the techno. I knew it was coming. Yes, this is the same bandon this 7-song EP, all remixing “Freiburg,” which is included here in its original German language version, with crashing drums and a more driving intensity. It appears the band takes a stab at remixing it with “Freiburg v3.0,” and then a number of other people get in on the job, turning out over 30 minutes of electronic beats and vocodor style vocals. As you might expect, the tracks all sound pretty similar, since they all take the same song, and many get long and repetitive. Fans of The Faint might appreciate this, as it is based in rock, but only the original is enjoyable in a pure rock sense.

Apparently, K.O.O.K. is also available with German lyrics through Lado Music, but I’m guessing even that version is German techno, although I’m still surprised. This is good stuff, music I am certain I never would have heard if I didn’t get it a chance. There’s a powerful lesson to be learned here, kids. But I have no idea what that lesson is.

Laura Watling – Early Morning Walk

Gotta admire Miss Watling. On this 16-track CD, she plays all the instruments but trumpet and still manages to make them sound like a full band. Recorded entirely to 8-track cassette, the multi-instrumentalist has written some typical Shelife fare, which means cute and clever pop songs in their truest sense.

Watling has one of those high-pitched cute voices that make you think she could only be successful with this kind of sugary pop. She adds layers of guitars – both acoustic and electric – backing vocals, drums, and keyboards to these songs, eliminating the feel that this is one musician. And her style changes between short and up-beat pop songs and more quiet, shoe-gazing pop. It’s a nice mix, and she spreads the different songs throughout this album.

“Same” starts off with a rolling beat and some very nice acoustic guitar, showing off the poppy side of Watling, as does the almost infectiously head-bobbing “We’re Still Fun.” The drums on “Grey Day” seem to be keeping a different pace than the rest of the song, but “Atlantis” makes up for it by just being so sweet and poppy, as is the bounce “You’re Gonna Have to Change Your Ways.”

It’s the more introspective and deliberate songs on which Watling really shines. “Perfect Penmanship” is crisp and pretty, sounding something like a Belle & Sebastian song, and the jangly guitars on “My Fondest Wish” find a place in my heart. “Recover” is one of the loveliest songs here, with fantastic atmospherics and a nice mix of soft keyboards and resonating drums. “The One for You” is very quiet, almost a bit too much so. The title track is a charming, light-hearted little instrumental, and “Another Place” is a quiet, dreamy, subtle track. The closer, “Time is Never On Our Side,” is soft and piano-lead, and if only for more assertive vocals, it would be absolutely gorgeous.

The only problem with Early Morning Walk is Watling’s vocals. While they’re cute enough for the style, they lack the strength and assurance of most Shelflife artists. Certainly Watling makes up for it through her depth of instrumentation, but stronger vocals would make this an incredibly good release. Still, it’s fun and playful and quite pretty.

Sunset Valley – Split 7"

The two bands may share a similar love for a basic pop approach, but the two songs here couldn’t be more different. John Vanderslice, formerly of MK Ultra fame and now known for his two solo albums, contributes a song that is stark and bare in its emotional approach, and Sunset Valley counter with an up-tempo pop number that owes as much to the Beatles as 80’s new-wave popsters.
“My Old Flame” is a remix by John Croslin of a song from Vanderslice’s latest album, Time Travel is Lonely. It’s an acoustic folk-style song, centered around Vanderslice’s emphatic vocals. Electronic bleeps brush the background, and soft piano and drums do kick in toward the end, turning this into more than a bare-bones song but leave quickly. Without being sure how the album version sounds, I know this approach, quiet and almost desperate sounding, takes on a definite bitter and stark feel that matches the vocals perfectly. By its end, the song has more of a sense of urgency, and Croslin apparently plays with distorting guitars and vocals just a touch to fade out the song.
On the B-side is the demo version of “Parade on My Rain” from Sunset Valley’s forthcoming full-length Icepond. Much more upbeat than Vanderslice’s song, it is still something of a moody piece. The pace isn’t especially fast, but there’s a serious head-bobbing groove going on here. Multiple singers are used, both male and female, giving the song a kind of layered approach. And the chorus is clearly the song’s climax, much more upbeat. There’s definitely something of an 80’s new-wave feel here despite the apparent lack of keyboards. It’s as if New Order dropped the keyboards and went purely pop.
This is a nice release, especially for different versions of songs rather than simply songs of these bands’ albums. And this will make a nice introduction of Sunset Valley to a world who might already know of Vanderslice. I still prefer the Vanderslice track for its emotional sincerity rather than Sunset Valley’s playful pop.

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