Attack of the EPs, Part 3

Hecuba - Tom & Jerry

At first listen, Los Angeles' Hecuba, I thought I would classify them as lo-fi electronica, but by the time "Ch-Changes" came on the debut EP, the sound shifted to soul and gospel. This is due to Jon Beasley's vocals on the track, and according to his biography came from an Alabama church choir. Although this would easily be the song of choice for me, based on the six tracks on the Sir EP, it wouldn't really represent the band.

I picked out "Tom & Jerry" because I did think this was the best song, but the bonus remix of "Sir" by Lucky Dragons, came in a close second.

The two band members, Isabelle Albuquerque and Jon Beasley, came together working on film and theater, so you do get a sense of performance art in their songs. So it's perfect that they are doing some tour dates with I'm assuming an art show & music:

07/19/08 Mission Creek Arts Festival SF, CA
08/18/08 Spaceland Los Angeles, CA
08/26/08 Peter’s Pool Boys at the Smell LA, CA
10/21/08 CMJ New York City, New York

Mökshya - Look Up

They sent me what looks like a sampler in a DVD case. The back of the case describes the band as a political and spirituality charged metal band.

There's only three songs on this sampler, "Blacklight" (a powerful guitar-rift-driven song), "Look Up" and "Anomaly" (a metal song that has quiet/acoustic inbetween the chorus). Between, the three, I liked "Look Up" the best, especially at the end where it ends with the monstrous singing of: "left, right".

It looks like Mökshya are playing a few dates in 2008:

07/25/08 Joe’s Grotto - phoenix, Northern Territory
08/08/08 Flagstaff, AZ - Club 111 -
08/28/08 Blackfoot, ID - Tony’s - others TBA
08/29/08 Helena, MT - Ear Infection Festival
08/30/08 Missoula, MT - The Crystal Theater
08/31/08 Lewiston, ID - Lewis Clark State College
09/01/08 Olympia, WA - Charlie’s w/Rishloo
09/04/08 Hoquiam, WA - TBA w/Rishloo
09/05/08 Lakewood, WA - Maggie O’Tooles
09/06/08 Seattle, WA - TBA
09/08/08 Seattle, WA - The Central
09/11/08 Eugene, OR - TABOO all-ages
09/12/08 Portland, OR - Glo Loca
09/13/08 Salem, OR - w/Still Dead and Rishloo
09/27/08 Bullhead City, AZ - Corn Fest

Kalliopi - Around the World

Her press release said she she's from Greece, but I just checked her myspace (which may be more recent), that she's current based out of London. I think this is her debut EP, Around the World, was originally released 2005 (according to amazon) but all the documents on this single is copyrighted in 2008.

I thought the lead song, "Around the World" is a pretty catchy pop song. Good production and hearing the clapping in the song would suggest this would make a great dance number.

"Naked" and "Fire and Sea" are more pop-oriented. On these two songs, it really shows off Kalliopi's excellent English vocals. There is a slight accent, but it's so faint that you would think she's Canadian or something.

Although there are only three songs on this single, and her website lists three more songs, so expect more music from her in the future.

Guns Are For Kids - Not Bright Kid

From Sydney, Australia, are a great name for a band, Guns are for Kids. They just released their 6-track EP, It Takes A Nation Of Morons To Hold Us Back in March, and it looks like their debut EP, Too Much Red Not Enough Red was only released last year.

Listening to it, they seem to be kind of a progressive rock, lots of angst singing and heavy use of guitar. Sometime there are interested voice/backup vocals and the occasional weird noises, like the "gun shot" on "Not Bright Kid" or the feedback on "Oh, Tropical Worthless".

I felt the song that people will like will probably be either "Cockroach Killer" or "Not Bright Kid", based on five songs (since one of them is a very short intro piece). Based on the lyrics and song title, I felt "Not Bright Kid" might just be their anthem.

They don't look like they're on tour, but It Takes A Nation Of Morons To Hold Us Back is out on Fourth World Records.

The Ginger Ninjas - Liberate Your Mind

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I couldn't find any details of The Pleasant Revolution on their official website, and looking at their myspace, the EP is listed as an album "Sampler".

There's eight tracks, but only five of them are actual real songs (the rest are intermission/transitional random music and noise). These transitional arcs suggest that the band will be heading down the DJ mix path, but with a strong-Latin sound of Eco (she's Uruguayan) to hold them together.

"Total Believer" surprisingly has a reggae-ish beat, but with a jazzy Eco on vocals (I think she's actually singing in Spanish towards the end).

I think my favorite song on here is "Liberate Your Mind", despite the uneven vocals mix. I believe it's intentional, but someone moved her voice from left speaker to the right one - that may sound cool in doing the mix, but it just sounds like an error to my ears.

The coolest thing about the band is that they totally love and believe in their bicycle. Apparently last year, they biked over 5,000 miles on tour throughout San Juan, California. As a bicycle enthusiast myself, I love this idea ever since I heard the Ditty Bops did it a few years ago.

The Mood - In The Forest

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CMJ (College Music Journal) really loves this boy-girl New York pop group, and one listen to their music and you can see why. They've previously have two singles, Two Night Stand (7") and Get In (CD), and Synaesthesia (CD) was recently released on July 1^st.

Marco Argiro's sound (especially his vocals) reminds me of 80s rock and roll, reminiscent of Elvis Costello. Their music sounds like it was influenced by 50s pop, a doo-wop sound almost (like the song "Suddenly", sung by Corinne Callen, which I think may be a cover song).

All the songs on this six-track EP are really good, guarantee to make you boogie. Since they are all good, narrowing down to one song to represent them was really hard.

It just ended up falling on their lead in song, "In the Forest", which I thought would be showcase their sound (plus the cover artwork by Caroline Geys goes well with the song).

If you live in New York, do yourself a favor and see them on July 25^th at Crash Mansion. The Synaesthesia EP is out now

PS, they are allowing "Masquerade" available for download on their myspace.