Sounds like Braille - sounds like little bumpy bursts of sound exploding and then constricting tight tight tight and then loose loose loose. Straight Out of Left Field, Straight to the Middle of Nowhere has a very Chicago-sounding flavour to it – & by that I mean they sound like a revved-up Tortoise, a less-sedated Slint and some “je ne sais quoi??� (I don’t know what??). The “don’t know what� part is probably a healthy dose of outsider hinterland influence seeing that these guys are from the middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin – Menasha to be exact. Being from Menasha these boys don’t have nearly as many finger prints and smudge marks across their music-crit consciousness’ – which in turn has led them to the develop an original sound which is a pretty daunting challenge to overcome in the genre these guys rock-out. There’s no doubt that this music falls into the instrumental prog-rock/art-rock/experimental-rock categories – that’s a gimmie, but rather than tow the line SLB show a much more refined panache and well worn authenticity that many replicators cannot accurately “get right�. SLB have been making music together for close to a decade in each others bands and their near-veteran status is apparent in the playing, style and production of this record. They sound like they are a live band first and foremost, but don’t ask me for sure because I can only comment on what recorded SLB sounds like, but by the sounds of it, their studio muscle sounds mighty. SLB are no imitators but silent supporters of a genre which apparently has lots of life and possibility left to it. The opening track “Framing October� is a first-time-classic post-rock instrumental piece, but it grooves, grinds and it has flair. But it is tracks like “The Christian From Vanderville� where SLB get to show off their home crafted sound mixing john cage atonal blips and van-halen-in-a-blender guitar rif-riffings into a georgeous post-rock serenade. Sounds Like Braille - sounds pretty darned good to me. Check out their Contraphonic Music Ltd. debut Straight Out of Left Field, Straight to the Middle of Nowhere. (www.contraphonicrecords.com)

By L Pounds
May 3, 2004