I like these guys, and if you hadn't heard of them it's because of the overzealous press release that accompanied their debut CD. Immediate comparisons to Sonic Youth, The Fall, Dinosaur Jr,and Royal Trux elicit salivation in the mouths of the IRS that write so many reviews. (You know I started re-reading and am almost ashamed of using IRS in here. But among other things, I am an income tax preparer, so you could imagine where my head is these days, aside from up my own ass.) The acronym was for indie rock snobs. (I really freakin' hate that term, “indie”. It should go away, sure labels are independent and non-derivative musicians can certainly lay claim to an independent sound, but “indie” is no indication of the type of sound created. After all, they named the dog Indiana. And while we're calling for the deathknell for the term indie, (which should find a nice burial plot beside alternative, post-modern, and progressive (the late 80's pregressive definition)), could someone please re-release “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (no not a cover the original, any cover by the current crop of radio-friendly mallpunks would just make matters worse), 'cus radio really needs a strong dose (I actually re-read this sentence because I got lost too and the word uberdose (with umlaut(not shown)) came to mind. I immediately considered a lobotomy.) of triclosan to eradicate the current bacterial infection, and I have no fucking clue where the next sound is going to come from to break this camel's back. (Of course everyone knows that bateria mutates and develops resistance when opposed by anti-bacterial products, so my triclosan metaphor is pretty much as inefficient and ineffective as triclosan itself.)(By the way, anyone having difficulty following these parentheses needs to deal or visit another site. This is what you get when you mess with us.)(I've also eliminated paragraph breaks from this post to reduce readability for your inconvenience. I would type all caps except it would annoy me too much as I type, so be thankful this is as bad as it gets.) Perfectly mussed hair coming from bands who's influences go as far back as Blink-182, are leading today's youth down a path all too familiar to those taken in by hair bands in their youth, who later realized that most of their cassette collection was better off as unrefined crude oil. Those who never realized and remain blissfully ignorant may be blessed, their interest in music may have ended there. They've gone on to middle management, pattern baldness, and NASCAR. But those that have seen the error of their ways are deavastated, they've strayed from the ordinary found something else, and felt the emptiness of what they had missed. Back catalog purchases of the Ramones and the Clash are helpful in healing these wounds, but what about the kids today. How do we prevent this to happen to them? The shelf-life of many of these current bands is reaching the end. If you keep drinking the expired milk you will puke. It's a fact. The aural equivalent of post-partum depression looms in their future, and without a new baby to care for it will worsen. Those of you fooled by hair bands, must rise up and tell your nieces and nephews their favorite bands suck. It's tough love, but whoever said love was easy like Lionel Richie on Sunday morning.) Although it's really not a behavior limited to critics. By now we know the louder the hype, the greater something will suck. We've been given a license by these claims to search for suckiness (you get my point) in these things. And damned if we don't find it more often than not. But unfortunately for the bands who are making records, they do not write the press releases of their labels, and need to deal with the repercussions. All this said, the “these guys” mentioned before do not suck. And Warren Ellis would refer to this recommendation as whorebaggery, and so be it. (Although there's certainly nothing wrong with promoting the work of Lauren McCubbin) I know the Sudden Ensemble. I've seen them play at the Repellent Festival. John Peel apparently liked them (Search the track listings), too. I hated the record label write up of their album, because there's no sense creating big shoes to be filled, when there's really no need to fill them. They've got some mp3's here and here. Listen and enjoy. Hopefully there will be some upcoming shows, which will certainly be mentioned at this humble blog. And check out the artwork at their apachematrix 11. The illustration is tip-top. I think I would have much rather have said a few nice things about them, plugged the URL, and have moved on, than have bookended a shepherds pie of a rant with my recommendation of their labors, but it's obviously too late. Did I mention they illustrated the Royal Trux comic as well? Well, they did. And I'm done, because much like many a train on Thomas the Tank Engine, my boiler's out of steam, and it's time to add the pre-requisite URLs and get some sleep. Buy here. Bye-bye.