Pee-Pee
Castile Jackine is Vooded at Broonus Mousin: Volume 1
Helmet Room Recordings
Street: 11.11
Pee-Pee = Connor Oberst + Pee
The only reason SLUG hired me to write reviews was to dump the stupid-named bands on me. It’d be hard to make music that sounds worse then this band’s name. So am I saying this album’s good? No, fuck no! Actually listening to this album just pisses me off. Even worse then the band’s name is the grandiloquent album title; I won’t even lift a web-browsing finger to find out how cute, abstracted or stoned Pee-Pee was when they came up with it. Even the song titles of this band piss me off, like “Love Needs A Quivering, Restless, Aching Fire to Lay its head On.” Gawd, I feel dirty after listen to this album. I need a shower—a golden shower. –Cinnamon Brown

Phobia
22 Random Acts of Violence
Willowtip
Street: 10.28
Phobia = Napalm Death + Nasum + Pig Destroyer
Grindcore has never been about songwriting, or playing your instruments well, it’s always been about playing fast, ferocious, pissed off and obnoxious. First spin, I didn’t have the volume on my stereo up that high, but with repeated listens, I turned it up, and what a difference just volume makes. With the volume low, the album sounded bland, lacking that grind violence and hatred, but with the volume up, it’s as blasting and devastating as grind should be. 22 Random Acts of Violence’s best quality is the punk rock and hardcore leanings, mainly in the vocal department; there’s a bunch of hardcore-type chants, which gives a pleasing diversion from other grind acts that just blast n’ scream. There are also plenty of chunky grooves, with a few leads and solo-type guitar sounds and screeches. It’s not the greatest grindcore record I’ve heard, but hell, the band has over 18 years of experience, so it’s better than the vast majority of imitators out there. –Bryer Wharton

The Points
Self-titled
Mud Memory Records
Street: 11.10
The Points = The Stooges + The Ramones + The White Stripes
Washington, D.C., has been the birthplace of many legendary bands of punk, hardcore, rock, indie and other various genres over the years. Simply mentioning a band comes/came out of the D.C. scene lumps them in with many greats. I mean, let’s face it, it sounds much more promising than hearing a band originated from North Dakota. Regardless of scene associations, the D.C. duo The Points really aren’t half bad. Are they and their self-titled punk/garage rock record good enough to hang with the D.C. crew of iconic bands past and present? It’s debatable. One thing for sure is that they know how to rock your eardrums raw and aren’t the least bit bashful about it. Their frenzied guitar, drums and vocals combine into a sort of static cling on your brain, making it hard to focus on anything else except their chaos. –Jeremy C. Wilkins

Reino Ermitano
Rituales Interiores
I Hate Records
Street: 07.08
Reino Ermitano = St. Vitus + Drain STH
Peruvians Reino Ermitano dip their ladle deep into a bubbling witches' cauldron of crushed-velvet 70s hard rock and current stacked-speakers doom. While extremely charming, the entire album is just too long, and the songs aren't varied enough to sidestep boredom. This band is at their best when the music wears bellbottoms, as on “El Despertar,” which swirls with the keyboard-heavy influence of early Deep Purple. If Reino Ermitano took a step back from the Acid King influence and do some gigantic paisley bonghits, they could put some real meat on their bony bar-band frame. –Ben West

Richard Cranium
S/T
Self
Street: 11.11
Richard Cranium = Bedouin Soundclash vox + We Versus The Shark guitars
This is one of those rare groups I don’t “get” right away, but along with stretching my ears and musical grey/white matter, I find a happy medium in most of these situations. If I can temporarily remove the sanctions placed on my old standards of what makes music inherently and immediately likable, I usually find that it is worth the time. Richard Cranium is a group that may require some aural calisthenics to really resonate, but they certainly do. Only so much can be written about some of these songs that lack a certain cohesion, but at least half of this EP is solid and inventive—something most seriously lacking in “modern rock” music. Investigate the first track, “Bury St. Edmunds Behind the Royal Exchange,” and its awesome guitar and bass meanderings, which will definitely stretch the bounds of most brains. “Televangelist” is also a track that I enjoy, especially the intro. –JP

The Rollo Treadway
The Rollo Treadway
Team Clermont
Street: 12.16
The Rollo Treadway = The Beach Boys + The Zombies
Ah, 60s psychedelic pop; ask any musician and they’ll tell you it’s the happiest way to tell a sad story. This concept album about two children’s kidnapping sounds like it was stolen out of Brian Wilson’s cut pile. Sunshiny and happy from beginning to end, this album could be the soundtrack to any Ferris Wheel or merry-go-round. At first listen, it seems so fresh and new, but after a few times through the wash, you realize that there’s a reason oldies stations only allow one Zombies song per hour. –Cinnamon Brown