Drive Like Jehu

Obits

Obits: Nonchalant Rock ‘n’ Roll

Chicago-based Obits has an impressive pedigree (Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu), but these days its members are just playing to have fun, hoping that people dig their “crappy rock band.”

Obits

Record Review: Obits’ Moody, Standard and Poor

Obits: Moody, Standard and PoorObits: Moody, Standard and Poor (Sub Pop, 3/29/11)

Obits: “Shift Operator”

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/8676.mp3|titles=Obits: “Shift Operator”]

Few bands have had their first live shows bootlegged by fans. But when Obits‘ January 12, 2008 gig at the Cake Shop in New York City leaked on the Internet, few were surprised. Followers of Rick Froberg‘s previous bands, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, had been anxiously awaiting his new partnership with Sohrab Habibion, of Washington, DC-based Edsel, since the band began writing and rehearsing together in 2006.

After a fan leaked the lo-fi recordings, things moved quickly for the Brooklyn-based indie rockers. Obits posted two of the songs to its MySpace page, was subsequently signed to Sub Pop in late 2008, and released its first record, I Blame You, in March of 2009.

Its follow-up album, Moody, Standard and Poor, finds Obits further honing its gutsy blend of melodic garage punk without sacrificing the energy that defined its first release.

The Mars Volta: In Control

Pumping out loud, fractured rock, The Mars Volta challenges their audience with every new release and live show. If you’re offered ear plugs, take them. And if you’re asked to describe them, don’t say “prog.”