Self-released, 2010

Along the lines of Appleseed Cast, Settlefish, Bear Vs Shark, and something more experimental, the Michigan trio’s debut is a fairly messy and raw – but impressively ambitious – endeavour. There’s plenty of head-nodding jazzy melodicism, and you can sense the passion that’s gone into the record. To say it’s worth the free download is an understatement.

Fluttery, 2010

Combining post-rock (in the strong atmosphere, the piano, cello, and rangy guitars) and arty indie (in its dynamic bent, the shared male/female vocals, and the spoken samples), Swallow Up The Moon sounds a bit like Murder By Death covering Gregor Samsa songs. Or vice versa. An impressive EP from the Californians.

Anchor Brain, 2009

Sleazy and deranged dance-punk, with guitars as sharp and squealsome as the vocals. Call them catchy and they’d probably break a guitar over your head, then play a show with it. That’s also the problem for me though: the record is more fashionably objectionable than it is enjoyable.

Southern, 2009

If there were such a thing as horror indie, this would be it. Angular, dissonant, noisily theatrical, disturbingly anthemic, and always creepy – this is what the family secret chained in the attic is listening to whilst dreaming up his revenge.

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We Put Out, 2006

Vibrant post-punk that flits between an almost dancey indie/pop influence and (more commonly) frenetic art-punk teetering on the edge of discordance, and produces a fine record in the meanwhile. Re-released on We Put Out Records.

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