Snapshots: a faulty chromosome, The Terrordactyls, Pocketbooks

a faulty chromosome:


a faulty chromsome is a lo-fi, noise pop/shoegaze band from Burbank, CA and their new album as an ex-anorexic's six sicks exit,... is out now (self-released, like all proper lo-fi acts). The song “them pleasures of the flesh,” sounds like a thunderstorm in a desert and yet is quite tender at the same time. Electric guitars rip the skyline while casio keys underscore the melancholy. The last few minutes are quietly intense and require a headphone listening experience.

Links:
a faulty chromosome on myspace
Sun drenched video for "Jackie O"

The Terrordactyls:


The Terrordactyls (best name ever) are Michael Cadiz and Tyrel Stendahl from NYC/DC and their new self-titled album is sure to find plenty of love. Due to the recent popularity of Juno (and Kimya Dawson) the duos song “Devices,” featuring Kimya Dawson couldn’t have come out at a more perfect time. It’s a bit too precious for me with lyrics like, “You and I are meant for each other/ a literary device/but together we’re lovers,” but its got some mad kazoo skills through out and is already finding a mass audience due to the cute video on You Tube.

The Terrordactyls on myspace
Cute stop-motion video for "Devices"

Pocketbooks:


Remember Sunny Intervals? Well that was Andy’s side project; this is the band that he is a part of. Pocketbooks are a self-described, “Pop group from London,” and have new EP out called Waking Up and the lead single is “Don’t Stop.” It’s classic catchy pop even if the end of the chorus weirds me out a bit. No matter, the boy/girl harmonies,springy piano and the hook “Don’t stop/don’t stop/don’t stop me!” keep me coming back for more and more.

Pocketbooks on myspace
For UK kids, order Waking Up on Make Do And Mend Records
US kids, order Waking Up on Valiant Death Records
Buy Waking Up off Indiestore.com!

Those Nine Months Go By Fast With Juno (2007)

As if we didn’t know, but I sadly must admit; the Indie aesthetic is in. It isn’t because I follow Pitchfork on a leash or because I have my heart in living the thrift store life, I just didn’t think that what the “indie” kids were doing was unified enough to be marketed. Oh boy was I wrong. Juno, directed by Jason Reitman isn’t the first film dressed in the "Indie" aesthetic, but it certainly is the pinnacle of it. There are some that were widely successful, Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine (A terrible, terrible film); and there were some that were not so successful, The Science of Sleep, Eagle Vs. Shark. The latter two I feel were too honest to be popular in an age were being a nerd is romanticized and sold like any other product. So where does Juno stand? Well it’s somewhere in the middle and that’s fine with me. I could accuse it of trying too hard to be witty and clever, but I was laughing with every comment made by the fantastic Ellen Page playing the fiery pregnant teen Juno. I could also say that it throws out obscure, but not so obscure references left and right from B-movie horror to the best “Indie” precursors like Sonic Youth and The Moldy Peaches, but I don’t write for Pitchfork or My Little Ghost Friend (haha I’m kidding VA). What I’m getting at is Juno has enough heart to win over the most cynical hipsters. Michael Cera’s performance as the semi-nerd impregnator Paulie Bleeker really hit home for me and his somewhat muted but important role really sold me on this film as more than just another product in the new Urban Outfitter’s nation. I kind of regret having to reference this film so much to current popular culture; but Juno is too inextricably tied to the mainstreaming of "Indie" to ignore that fact. . Luckily when people watch this film ten years from now and all of "Indie" is old and passé they’ll find that it’s purely warm, witty and genuine.



Links:
Juno on IMDB