Music

Five-piece Americana outfit Fire on Fire is borne from the ashes of psych-prog-punk collective Cerberus Shoal, whose former members have abandoned their electric instruments for banjos, mandolins, and acoustic guitars. This debut EP, released via Young God Records, is long on the folk and short on the freakish tendencies that have characterized some of the label’s other bands. Cerberus Shoal thrived on an unpredictable, everything-but-thekitchen-sink approach; Fire on Fire relies on a straightforward brand of front-porch Americana.

With its debut full-length Dead Mountain Mouth in 2006, electro-grind trio Genghis Tron flashed compositional maturity while blending metal riffs, blast beats, synthesizers, and melodies. Board Up the House, their sophomore album and first release on Relapse, furthers the band’s development.

Like its predecessor, Board Up the House is well balanced between chaos and beauty, but the trio’s spastic grind is growing scarce; crushing, palm-muted riffs often take its place. Buzzing keyboards layer with the guitar, occasionally building to blissful noise crescendos. Singer/keyboardist Mookie Singerman expands his vocal range, belting new-wave harmonies in addition to his blackmetal screams.

Beginning in the late 1980s, the voices of Afghan Whigs front man Greg Dulli and the Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan taught many young girls (and boys) convincing lessons about the sensual powers of rock music. Since then, Lanegan’s prolific career has included a number of critically acclaimed solo records and collaborations with the likes of Kurt Cobain, Isobel Campbell, and Queens of the Stone Age. In turn, Dulli has created a successful career with one-time Whigs side project The Twilight Singers.

After the 2005 reunion of Louisville’s iconic rockers Slint, members David Pajo, Michael McMahan, and Todd Cook found themselves with the urge to play something faster and more aggressive. Joined by drummer Tony Bailey and vocalist Dahm, they named their new project Dead Child and developed a sound that pays homage to the ‘70s and ‘80s metal bands they loved as adolescents.

Venus on Earth, the third full-length album from LA-based band Dengue Fever, combines retro-kitsch and classic-rock revivalism. The early strains of opening track “Seeing Hands” call to mind those of “The End” by the Doors, but once the vocals, sung in Khmer (as they are on most of the remaining tracks), begin, the song becomes surreal, stirring an alien quality into Dengue Fever’s nagging familiarity. Rooted in Cambodian pop and psychedelic surf guitar, Venus on Earth seasons reverb-drenched rock with jazz, disco, and a dash of lounge. It threatens to devolve into self-consciousness, but sidesteps it; the psychedelia doesn’t feel forced, even when the ‘60s- and ‘70s-style production is a little too weird to qualify as a tribute to its inspirations.

Jucifer is one of rock’s great conundrums. A unique and very, very loud punk/metal duo, it has developed a reputation as one of the most punishing live acts today. Yet their songwriting has often failed to deliver the goods promised by their impressive instrumental onslaught. Previous albums have been full of difficult moments, awkward writing, and anti-melodic songs. On L’autrechienne, Jucifer has finally arrived.

Following an experiment launched by tech wiz and nerd extraordinaire Peter Eckersly, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and David Downs of SF Week; Eckersly concluded that Comcast was intercepting transmissions between the users of p2p file sharing program BitTorrent and stopping them from being sent.

True to their name, Evangelicals sound as though they’ve been worshipping at the temple of Thom Yorke. The Evening Descends is a reverent, shoe-gazing gospel that bridges the fourteen-year gap between Radiohead’s Pablo Honey and In Rainbows. Their aural tithing is more than mere songs; the group composes soundtracks for fever dreams. Riddled with reverb and petulant vocal performances, The Evening Descends is a wonderful, woozy record.

Punky collective Pegasus-XL is releasing their debut album The Antiphon on the Ernest Jenning Record Co. The brainchild of Mark Dale (Disband), Joel Hatstat (Cinemechanica), Jeff Tobias (We Versus the Shark, Dark Meat) and Jeff Rosenstock (the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry), Pegasuses-XL is a group of friends with mutual admiration for Scrabble, dystopian novels, and politics.