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* Har Mar Superstar:
Eponymous release (Kill Rock Stars)
Oh, me so clever. A squeek-voiced Olympia Casionaut parodies
R&B love jams with cheeseball Wal-Mart beats and lyrics
like: "I already sold your ring on eBay/ And I'm leavin'
you on Valentine's Day." Very funny at a drunk party, circa
3 am; otherwise, we're too sober for this much irony.
* Wow & Flutter: Pounding
the Pavement (Jealous Butcher)
A radical theory: Portland's blessed rain drives its artists
to introspective distraction! Whether that oft-pronounced
postulate holds any truth or not, Wow & Flutter's layered
meditations would play perfectly on a set of blown-out headphones
as drops strafed the windows. Not the feel-good hit of the
summer, and a bit too Sonic Youthful at times, but mostly
a good, slow burn.
* Wasabi: Playroom of the Magnificent Electron
(self-released)
In a nutshell: mid-fi, minor-chord-happy, indie college
pop-rock with emo and riot undertones. When Wasabi vocalist
Merri Garcia opens her mouth, it's a musical crime. Completely
tuneless singing has become the norm, but this woman just
goes too far. She should work with the deaf. (Scott D. Lewis)
* Kind of Like Spitting: You
Secretly Want Me Dead (Jealous Butcher)
A mournful reissue of a Portland band's king-hell weepers.
Songs like "Catch the Redeye Out of Girlfriend Land" could
help expel the misery of lost love or help bring it on,
while spare and elegant instrumentation comes packaged for
devastation, no matter what you're feeling otherwise.
* The Vogue: As Brass
and Satin (Made in Mexico)
These teen supercats are either Seattle's new hope or its
most despicable band, depending on who you ask. It's not
hard to see how their self-consciously artsy, stylized aggression
could grate on many. As Brass contains some unlovely
moments--that's by design, it seems--but it's also a riveting
pile-up of soul, punk, glam and precocious, precious drama.
Annoying? Maybe. Ambitious? You're goddamn right, and that's
not at all bad.
* Space Breath:
Cloudland (self-released)
A saucerful of guitars with Floydian flange effects swirls
alongside a crisp, Brit-poppy breadloaf smeared with a smattering
of glam and melody. Playful lyrics and a plucky sense of
humor help this platter to please the palate. And so on.
Besides, it's just bad karma to argue against a band with
a song like "Shag," a chipper ditty whose repeated chrous
is "I just want to get laid."
* Jeroan van Aichen: Ancient Chinese Secret (Thon
Music)
Songman van Aichen is joined by stringbending friend Tim
Ellis for more witty jaunts across varied pop and folk territories.
Ellis' precision fretwork and Van Aichen's strengths--chord
progressions that never leap to simple conclusions, lyrics
more oblique than obvious, an unwillingness to fall into
the traps of triteness--are all in evidence here. So is
JvA's occasional weakness: vocals that strain too hard to
be emotional. That's a nice problem to have, eh what?
* Architecture: Eponymous
release (self-released)
For the love of Mike, here's a three-song demo by an unheralded
band that actually should be longer! Simmering rocker-boy
swagger counters coolly assured New Wave mischief and a
heavy dollop of Brit flavor on this promising taste.
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