indiescovered

Michael Edwards: The Diddy of Bowling Green, OH

If you like: Sufjan Stevens

Michael Edwards - Board Games and Kitchen Floors
Michael Edwards - The Family Lullaby
Michael Edwards - Mary the Icemelter

No one wants to be known as the emo Sufjan, but that's almost exactly what Michael Edwards is. Not like today's emo. But emo emo, like Sunny-Day-Real-Estate emo. In fact, on Michael Edwards' MySpace page, he lists as his influences: Sufjan Stevens, Mineral, The Gloria Record, Jeremy Enigk, and both his bands, SDRE and The Fire Theft, an odd combination until you listen to Edwards' "Family Album." While his songwriting is another beast, his vocal delivery (for the most part) could fit squarely onto a mid-90s emo album.

And it's no surprise that "The Family Album" sounds Sufjanian, and is maybe even derivative of Sufjan's work. My friend Chas, who has made a habit of writing mean songs about nice people and then deleting them out of (hopefully) guilt, told me that before Michael Edwards recorded the album, he fine-tuned his studio skills recording note-for-note covers of some of Stevens' songs.

This is not to say Michael Edwards isn't worth listening too. If he's ripping off Sufjan, he's damn good at it. His songs are catchy, and he's clearly a skilled musician, playing (as far as I know) every instrument on his album in addition to recording it himself.

And on top of all this he co-founded, with his brother Justin, a sort of miniature mega-conglomerate production co. called Pseudobook, where the two record a number of bands, including The Tapes, Modern Soviet Enemies, and The Secondary. Worth noting: Many of the bands recording under the Pseudobook banner are Christian, like Sufjan. Unlike Stevens, most of these bands willingly reveal their religion, but like Stevens, Danielson, and Page France, none among them seem to be the fire-and-brimstone, overtly-converting type. As a proud atheist, I'm not bothered by their religion, as it seems only to flavor the songs, not drive them. This is not "Christian rock" by any means, any more than the bands mentioned above are.

Pseudobook also produces short films and broadcasts a weekly podcast. Most of what these brothers do is at least worth checking out.

Pseudobook: Website | Michael Edwards' MySpace | Justin Edwards' MySpace | Podcast | The Tapes | The Modern Soviet Enemies | The Secondary

Drive All Day/Edward Lasher/Mountain Kids: Less Pretensious Than They Sound

Drive All Day
If you like: The Decemberists, Elephant 6 bands, Cat Power, American Analog Set

MP3: Drive All Day - You Were Born
MP3: Drive All Day - Far Away From Far From Here
MP3: Drive All Day - Caffeine

I'd like to believe that Drive All Day's Lasher brothers (Alex and Edward) are freaky pop geniuses able to crank out a gem a day with little to no effort. I'd also like to believe that they're actually the same person, but something tells me that's probably not right. Either way, the day Drive All Day makes an album available to the world, I'll snatch it up.

Okay, so maybe this is why I like them. After pointing out that hip bands never list influences on their MySpace profiles, and that they must all be completely original, Drive All Day's profile goes on to say this:

Influences? We are such geniuses that we can take visuals and feelings and make them into sounds! Our influences include lonely streets, Descartes, sunsets. tea, being pretentious, moonlight mixing the dusk into a blackorange glow; A dark glow of light, the feeling of falling, Eggers, fear, death, life, bullshit.

It also seems the Lashers both write and record their own stuff. Sort of lo-fi stripped down Drive All Day.

Edward Lasher
If you like: Page France, Jens Lekman, Elliott Smith, Of Montreal's 4-track stuff

MP3: Edward Lasher- Maybe I Won't
MP3: Edward Lasher - Embers
MP3: Edward Lasher - Sister

Mountain Kids
If you like: Daniel Johnston, Bright Eyes, Elf Power, Bonnie "Prince" Billy

MP3: Mountain Kids - I Don't Know About You, But I Don't Care About Me
MP3: Mountain Kids - Sharks Swim Faster Than Man
MP3: Mountain Kids - I Collect Lots of Rain

Drive All Day: MySpace | Edward Lasher | Mountain Kids

Said the Whale:Words Over Music

If you like: Grandaddy, Final Fantasy, Destroyer, Neutral Milk Hotel

MP3: Said the Whale - Better For You
MP3: Said the Whale - The Real of It
MP3: Said the Whale - The Place I Love The Most

These two Vancouver kids have been overlooked somehow. I was fairly certain Canada (as a country) had gotten pretty good at recognizing their talent and exporting it before us American's could get our greasy paws on it. Not so with Said the Whale.

Said the Whale (formerly Words Over Music) doesn't fit into your typical view of a Canadian indie band. In fact, they don't fit your view of anything that you're listening to right now.  (Or maybe they do. How would I know what you listen to?) And I really don't think they have any idea how good they are. I talked briefly Tyler (one half of the band) via email last week and he asked if I'd wait to post until he could get me newer mp3s. I think the old ones are pretty great, so I'm going to post them unless they tell me otherwise. I'll definitely post the new songs when I get them.

What got me about Said the Whale is that, from what I've heard, they write two types of songs. The second, and it's important that it's the second, is the slightly-better-than-mediocre powerpop song (see: Plans for the Future). The first, however, is a sort of pop version of what Dan Bejar is doing in his free time. Or Owen Pallett even. And they're doing it in under two minutes. In their finest moments, Tyler Bancroft and Ben Worcester are the more accessible Final Fantasy/Destroyer for the safe indie-pop set.

Words Over Music: Site | MySpace | More on YouTube | Contact

Uncle Jellyfish:The Most Bizarre Band I Can Still Totally Tolerate, At Least In Small Doses

If you like: Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, Komeda, Fiery Furnaces, Weird French Shit

MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Wake Up Bird
MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Out of Season
MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Wild Linens

My first band outside of North America wins a couple of awards from me, the first being the Most Bizarre Band I Can Still Totally Tolerate, At Least In Small Doses Award. The second is the Worst Band Name That Maybe Would Be Okay In A Different Language Award, and the third is the Most Adorable Band Pretending To Be A Super Group. Not that they couldn't be. Given some time (and maybe a name change) Uncle Jellyfish could put together a pretty impressive album. It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of them.

Uncle Jellyfish is by no means for everyone, but is definitely worth a listen if you're tired of the standard fare. I'll try to find out more about these crazy kids, but so far, there's not a whole lot out there.

Uncle Jellyfish: MySpace

Dirty Damn Band:Get Your Shit Out On The Dance Floor

If you like: Sleater-Kinney, Peaches, Le Tigre, Tenacious D, Tegan & Sara

MP3: Dirty Damn Band - Dirty Damn Anthem
MP3: Dirty Damn Band - Tilt-A-Whirl

The Dirty Damn Band straight-up makes my shit want to dance. And they're a three-year favorite in the Northwest Ohio music scene (where I reside) for good reason: their shows are a blast. Also, they're about the only band that I can legitimately say is less mature than me. From Dance or Die!!:

"Shakey tits and floppy dicks, get your ass into the mix. Get your shit out on the dance floor."

On top of it all, their melodies are so catchy they burn their way into your brain and live their for days, sometimes weeks.

Dirty Damn Band: MySpace | Contact