Just Another Band From the Val

Two guys making indie rock in their small town basement in the Central Valley; got to admire their spirit. Lyrics about life in the valley are pretty authentic, simple and low-key. Some nice tunes, yet music varies from naïve to slightly more interesting; production is lo-fi but aspires to be more. The vocals, unfortunately, are not always accurate and are a bit of a downer. It is a really uneven album, yet interesting: you feel like you get to know these guys; you become a citizen of the valley. Guys, keep up the spirit! DJs, give them a listen. You can also play 1, 12, 6, 15.

[note: album name is homage to Zappa's "Just Another Band from L.A". Interesting.]

1. Voice samples (including “The Doors” quote and Usual Suspects) over drums and looped bass/guitar excerpt. Cool distorted transition into next track.
2. FCC (Fuckin’) Distorted guitar fest, strait forward garage drums and very iffy vocals.
3. Slow beat, cool little resonating guitar riff, echoed vocals.
4. Strumming acoustic guitar and harmonica. Anti folk (read: vocals a little off) with a Dylan touch.
5. Repeated acoustic guitar riff, simple spoken vocals.
6. Yer standard mellow indie-rock tune and sound. Mid tempo, distorted guitars, wailing on the chorus. Simple build up of tempo, drums, extreme vocals toward the end. *
7. Acoustic strumming, grows louder/distorted quickly.
8. FCC (fuck, shit) spoken vocals about whites, blacks, and the drug market over looped beat.
9. Aching vocals with significantly delayed (Pink Floyd’s The Wall style) echo. Hard strumming acoustic, lyrics about the absurdity of drug law enforcement.
10. Anti-military garage punk number, scattered vocals over simple bass line and loud guitar outbursts.
11. Neil Young-inspired garage distortion. Riff sounds like Neil’s version of All Along the Watchtower. Dies down towards end after short drum solo, quite bass with shouting vocals. Picks up again.
12. Dreamy distorted vocals, simple quiet guitar picking, drums come in. Minimal, repetitive, nice tune, and the vocals sound better.*
13. Quiet mid tempo one chord electric guitar strumming, drums.
14. Start quiet, slow acoustic strumming, slightly echoed (and slightly off) vocals.
15. Minimal acoustic picking; almost-spoken, pronounced vocals. Lyrics are poem by Charles Simic.*
16. Mid tempo, many layers including a disco-style short guitar burst, drums, bass, distorted guitar and dancy beat.
17. Dark, moody vocals; slow acoustic strumming.
18. FCC (Fuck repeated in first few seconds) Sampled looped vocals over piano-like keyboard; changes to quiet acoustic picks and singing, another transition to random recording studio conversations.