DBA!: I was born, I was dead

photo: Dylan Cubbin

Liverpool based indie rock quartet DBA! capture boredom and frustration in the midst of a world gone mad on their I was born, I was dead EP. Becoming something cool and interesting is still within their grasp (A Poet And A Clown), while people they used to call their mates have given in with steady jobs (Little Rivers).

Being English ensures that there is no Hollywood ending, and maybe it is easier to call it quits for their quest for living dangerously (I Fall Away). As long as their anger fuels their art, the band can keep going with this fuzz-driven take on post-punk, making it sound nasty to create beauty against all odds.

Marco Bartoccioni: Bartok

Italian multi-instrumentalist Marco Bartoccion can shred and purr on both his electric guitar and his lap steel. Steeped in rough-around-the-edges blues rock and soul, plus passionate vocals he has created an impressive catalog. The latest addition is called Bartok and while it won't pick up any awards for musical risk taking or even straying too much from tried-and-true chord changes, the energy and obvious joy of stitching together these tracks one layer at the time are top shelf and should be enjoyed at maximum volume.

He played every instrument on the album, safe for the drums courtesy of Piero Pierantozzi and he invited a bunch of guest vocalists to set up a conversation with. If anything, it is nice to know that roots music is alive and well in the capital of Italy, providing a new answer for "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

Vulture Twin: Vulture Twin

Psych garage rock DuoElizabeth Vallero and Eddie Sanchez used a hell of a lot fuzz on the self-titled EP by their Vulture Twin project, three dusty sounding songs wherein guitars and muffled synths are trying to commandeer the spotlights. The push and pull between the instruments has spilt over to the songs, ensuring that melodies that are pretty as such don't get a chance to become sugarcoated or, even worse, boring.

The pair set out to create a bunch of tracks that they would love to hear themselves and offer them as a take-it-or-leave-it statement. They may sing about wanting to connect (Signals) and the need for healing after going through a rough patch (Messorem), but those things will need to happen on their own terms, a very rock 'n' roll outlook on life indeed.

Words about music (838): Syd Barrett

It's always been too slow for me. Playing. The pace of things. I'm a fast sprinter. The trouble was, after playing in the group for a few months, I couldn't reach that point.

Syd Barrett

Todd Tobias: Ammon and Goam

Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias wrote the soundtrack for an imaginary dystopian Sci-Fi movie, Ammon and Goam, wherein a a man and a half-human are trying to survive on a planet where only a few scattered places are still inhabited. They happen upon an abandoned ship, try to decipher the meaning of pictures in a canyon and are stranded in the doldrums.

Tobias' capability to tell stories without words, but using softly percolating noises, drones and sculptured soundscapes, makes it easy to picture the duo making their way through hostile environments. Some movies don't need to be actually made - it's all there in the soundtrack.