Sleep Out - Not Even Dust

I can't lie, I feel guilty posting a record released within the year that is still very much in print. However, I think Sleep Out is so underrated, I don't think anyone into incredibly well crafted indie-rock should be without this album.

In 2006 they released their debut full length, I Was Your Shroud, a great debut containing one of my favorite songs of the year, "It wasn't Darkness." The record was in my top five albums of the year and I raved about it to anyone who would hear me, including the readers of Punk Planet during my tenure as a reviewer for the publication.

Last year, the band released their second record Not Even Dust, an altogether more focused and gloomy effort inspired by Chicago's Graceland Cemetary. It has no shortage of stand out tracks like the title track, "Not Even Dust," or the more upbeat, "I'll Take Care of It," but the album is best presented in its entirety. The 11 tracks on Not Even Dust speak of Chicago's sadness and hope, and tell the stories of those deceased and those still living. Much like their first record, this made my "Best of 2008" list, so if you like it please support them and buy it.


Sleep Out - Not Even Dust

Buy the Album

Sleep Out on MySpace

Aloha - Sugar

I think Aloha are one of those bands that have a little something for everyone. Their abundant use of vibraphone is what reeled me in initially, but their unique and incredible pop melodies coupled with their experimental tangents kept me wanting more. I also appreciate their awareness of "enough is enough" in regard to their progressive, freak out tendencies and they are great musicians without being too Steve Vai about the whole thing. Humility goes a long way in my eyes.

Their second full length, Sugar, came out in 2002 and quickly earned a spot as one of my favorite summertime records.
The songs are full of depth and layers, but still have this undeniable breezy quality that makes me want to lay in the grass on a 75 degree day or drive with the windows down on Lake Shore Drive late at night. Even after seven years of listening to this album I get this incredible sense of relief when "Let Your Head Hang Low" starts with that steady guitar riff and singer Tony Cavallario's soothing, airy voice.

I often want to give drummer and multi-instrumentalist Cale Parks a lot of the credit for Aloha's greatness (see 2:43 and forward in the song "Balling Phase" for an example of what a machine he is), but I truly think they are truly the sum of their parts. If you've been looking for a new record to accompany your summer adventures, I suggest this be it as it's the perfect time of year to really absorb it.


Aloha - Sugar

Buy from Polyvinyl Records

Aloha on MySpace

Seam - The Pace is Glacial

This was another record purchased on a whim sometime in high school. The main selling point was the $2 price tag it boasted in the discount bin at Bizzy Bee in Naperville, IL, where I purchased records during my formative years. I had only heard of Seam through the fliers that covered my bedroom walls at my parents house, but I knew they were an indie rock band on Touch & Go Records and that was enough for me. I listened to this record constantly, finding more and more things to love about it. The laid back, almost bouncy riffs, singer Sooyoung Park's breathy, hushed vocals and the simple leads that often get stuck in my head the way vocal melodies normally would. Seam only really seems to get their due within a certain, select facet of the indie rock community, but The Pace is Glacial (along with the rest of their discography) is essential listening for the genre.

A few years ago Touch & Go celebrated their 25th anniversary and Seam reunited to play on the final day of the weekend. It was a rainy, grey fall afternoon and by that point in the day the numbers dwindled because of the weather and the previous two days of shows, but Seam was great. They played almost everything I wanted to hear and they looked like they were having a great time. It was absolutely worth getting rained on and possibly the perfect accompaniment to their song selection.

Seam - The Pace is Glacial

Sunday's Best - Sons of the Second String 7"

For Christmas my family bought me a nice, new direct drive record player complete with USB capability. In the 12 years since I received my first record player for my 15th birthday, I've never had a truly nice one so needless to say, I am pretty psyched. With that comes the ability to rip old records for this blog which is something I've wanted to do for a while.

My first attempt at vinyl conversion is the debut 7" from California's Sunday's Best. I posted their EP Where You Are Now about a year ago and have wanted to post this ever since. "Sons of the Second String" is one of my favorite Sunday's Best songs and I think this 7" as a whole is a great indicator of what was to come for this incredibly underrated band. If you are familiar with the EP, this 7" offers more of the same great Midwest inspired emotional indie rock (think Caufield Records). Unlike Where You Are Now the three songs here shy away from the slower, darker end of the spectrum and keep things upbeat. If this sounds like your sort of thing, it probably is.

Sorry for the stolen eBay pic, but I don't have a scanner and this was the best thing I could find.


Sunday's Best - Sons of the Second String

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

Two records were integral in my middle school Indie Rock development - Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. Liz Phair, like Pavement and countless other bands of my formative years were introduced to me during late nights watching programs like 120 minutes and Alternative Nation on MTV. The song "Supernova" off her second record Whipsmart was a moderate hit which led me to buying both that record and Exile in Guyville. This was right around the time the ball on obsessive music consumption really got rolling for me.

Liz Phair has a number of things going for her - she is gorgeous, she is from Chicago and she is able to write incredibly candid, frank songs about sex, men and life, without adhering to completely conventional song structures. Allegedly, her 18 song debut is a song for song response to The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, but don't hear it so much as I hear her saying "Fuck You" to every dude that's ever wronged her. With that comes her response of vindictive behavior, revenge, and fear. At 12, I didn't really get the complexity of the subject matter, I was just into the songs and the low budget production. Most of all though, I was interested in this new facet of music I was discovering.

Ten years after the release of Exile in Guyville Phair made her most extreme leap into mainstream success with the song "Why Can't I" from her self-titled record. It was a record full of bubblegum pop songs more suitable for a flash in the pan teen star than a woman in her 30's. Although, that song was pretty catchy and everyone has to pay their bills, this record is definitely the better bet when it comes to Phair's career.

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

Statistics - Leave Your Name

Even though Statistics mastermind Denver Dalley was the primary songwriter for the much loved Conor Oberst side project Desaparecidos, Statistics still remain what I consider a "cut out bin band." By that I mean, despite writing very interesting and wonderful songs, no one ever really seemed to care about Statistics and thus all their records ended up in the discount section of record stores. Thankfully for nerdy bottom feeders like myself, I was able to obtain their entire discography for pennies on the dollar. However, it's a shame because I literally never hear anyone talk about Statistics and everything they released is quite good and deserves to be heard at the very least, by the people who liked his work in Desaparecidos. So, for those living in the dark, I have uploaded their first LP Leave Your Name. It definitely builds on the initial taste test of their self-titled EP - sparse and atmospheric electronics behind these incredibly catchy straight-forward melodies. Dalley has a natural ability to write a very focused pop song when needed (see "Hours Seemed Like Days" for a reference point), but I find his most endearing trait lies in his quest to work in beautiful sonic textures in with what might be an otherwise "typical" rock song.

Statistics - Leave Your Name

Statistics on Myspace