A rather busy end to 2011 and start to 2012 saw me miss what I thought would be a lot, but it turned out that I was just late to my first listen to the new Guided by Voices record.

Wait, what?

I shouldn't be surprised.* When I saw GBV at Matador at 21 — you know, that concert that was supposedly their only reunion show that turned into a full-fledged tour — they looked, well, happy. And really happy at that. None of the infighting (oh, Pavement…) and just some good old-fashioned rock music. Well, if old-fashioned means 1990s indie rock, then that. Otherwise, I retract my statement. At any rate, I also shouldn't be surprised that they're planning to release three albums in 2012. End of the world my ass.

But this — well, this is good, I think. A few tracks in and there's nothing hugely surprising yet. Let's Go Eat the Factory isn't the polished pop-rock heard on soundtracks to mid-2000s television series (hey, I like that stuff sometimes, no hard feelings!) and it's not exactly the fuzzy nonsense of Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. No, it's somewhere in-between, and I can't place my finger on where that really is. That's kind of nice, actually — we already have those albums to listen to whenever we want, and another just like it — well, that's a bit much. Or, you know, something like that. Honestly, I wouldn't actually have complained at first.

Wait, what's this piano doing in here? "Spider Fighter" … nice vocals. It's different. It's… nice. Respectable. Why? Maybe it's Robert Pollard's Surprise Symphony. No, wait — it's Tobin Sprout. Maybe that explains it. I really should listen to those two Tobin Sprout solo albums again.

Yeah, it's all here. The oddball songs, the slowdowns at the end of tracks that just sing GBV, the overtly cut-short writing, and, of course, those attempts that really don't come off but somehow made the album anyway. All those things that made the band a cult classic. I'd wonder if it was a forced thing, but I won't complain either way.

Shit, wait. There's a song called "How I Met My Mother"? It's probably just a nice little shout after the repeated use of Guided by Voices tracks in How I Met Your Mother. Oh, and it's a minute long. Plus two seconds. Maybe five seconds of that is guitar noise at the end though. Well, that's weird and a bit cool.

So, yeah. This is classic Guided by Voices — to a point. It's not obnoxiously classic, and it's not just a weird throwback album. Or maybe it is, I don't know.

Whatever it is, I think I like it.

* I'm not actually surprised. I already knew it was coming out long before today. But at some point, I was surprised and that's what matters. I hope.

Nada Surf — The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy

Onward and upward — and onward to The Binding of Isaac, which is my favorite game of 2011. Now, of course, I didn't play it until January 2012, but you'll hopefully forgive me for some delay there. But relevant to this piece is the album I've opted for: Nada Surf's latest. Sure, everyone's going to say something about "Popular" while completely ignoring the four very good albums that came after High/Low — and then declare that they're mounting some sort of brave comeback with their last two albums. Yeah, If I Had a Hi-Fi is good — but so too was Let Go and The Weight is a Gift.

But I guess that's water under the bridge, isn't it? OK, so The Stars… is good. I'll have to listen to it a few more times. In the mean time, I suppose I'll watch the end of the U.S. Women's National Team demolition of the Dominican Republic. 14-0, seriously?

Still, this Nada Surf album is a nice one, and I'm sure it'll hold up to repeated listens without much controversy. They're a band I keep coming back to because of their consistency, so to see that continue is quite nice indeed.

Diagrams — Black Light

Right, on to the point where I listen to new things and play video games or, well, something. I'd read some Quine but I suspect I'd fall asleep.

I'd not heard Diagrams before this (as, I suspect, is the case for most people — it's Sam Genders, formerly of Tunng) but a first listen reveals some poppy shambles. Good lord, it's fun, and I suspect I've already got a song or two stuck in my head. There's nothing quite like British experimental pop, is there? Juan over at No Ripcord (where I also write, though perhaps not as often as I should) called it "an album of brainy arrangements and palatable textural work." He's right, of course. http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/diagrams/black-light

Hell, I'll say it: It's sometimes downright proggy. And I like that.

While a track with a title such as "Kill The Kids" might disrupt the average not-so-hard rock listener, it is actually a track that holds a 90's alternative to everything sound that was so highly acclaimed when Sonic Youth did it a decade before, while being accepted in the grunge era as well.  Sure, White Orange is prone to a bit of screaming, but they are without a doubt a much finer portayl of thrash core than their previous successors of this age.  They take sort of classical element when composing tracks like "Save Me" and "Color Me Black", the latter of which is very reminiscent of the highly underrated Stabbing Westward.

While we have become prone to only loving simplistic indie rock and understandable heavy metal, there should always remain a soft spot for the hard edged, exterminators of reality sound that a group like White Orange has blessed us with in this strangely distant day and age.  Sometimes we just need to rock.  But how can we do this without losing our artistic integrity?  Just throw in White Orange's self titled beauty and begin to relive the glory years when "alternative" was not a brand name for bullshit radio stations playing "Spoon Man" on repeat while advertising mattress outlets.  Rather the period where you could be loud, proud, and purposely deprived of adhering to the social norms.  You know, the way rock and roll was suppose to be!

Twin Sister — In Heaven

I first saw Twin Sister open for Beirut in Salt Lake City. Until I heard In Heaven in its entirety, my knowledge was limited to basically that. That this is their debut LP might be a little hard to believe — it's mature, inviting and a nice electronic indie pop record.

Veronica Falls — Veronica Falls

Everybody needs some noisy C86-style indie pop once in a while. When you can't be arsed to get out your tapes, try this debut LP from Veronica Falls. It's two years in the making and well worth the wait. Need a track to start with? Try "Stephen."

Youth Lagoon — The Year of Hibernation

No week would be quite right without a reverby pop mess of an album — especially when that album is actually pretty good despite it all. Youth Lagoon is more in that synthesized-but-lush vein and it's well worth a listen.

Ivy — All Hours

Full album stream (Soundcloud)

Here's some interesting indie pop that delves into the electronic side of things. If you like what you hear from a few tracks, you'll probably like the whole thing, though personally the strict rhythmic nature gets a bit overbearing at times. If you listen to the full album stream, you can catch some interesting thoughts from French-born Dominique Durand on the album — and that might make the whole thing worth a listen. It disrupts the flow of the album, sure, but it's fun. Why not?

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — Hysterical

Full album stream (NPR)

To be completely honest, I never really cared about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Just one of those band names, you know? Something about that name doesn't sit right with me. Who knows why. Anyway, I don't hate the music, though if you only read the first line of that, you'd think I did, and that's only my fault. Hysterical's more of that energetic pop music you may or may not love (hopefully for better reasons than I.) Who knows, maybe this album will finally change my unjustified opinion. Hell, if it holds up after this good first listen, I'll change opinion immediately. At any rate, my rambling says nothing about the album.

Jens Lekman — An Argument With Myself (EP)

Full album stream (Soundcloud)

We all love things that remind us of a surprisingly effective but sadly imaginary collaboration between The Smiths and Stephin Merritt, and An Argument With Myself (especially that title track!) fits that mold surprisingly precisely. If this is a precursor to a third full-length, count me among those who are now sold on it. You see, this EP is really, really good.

It’s an album that includes such, uh, hits as “I Lost Me Cookie in the Disco” (“...and me got careless, me don’t know how, and me have something me can’t find now...”) and the inimitable “Bein’ Green” in a strange disco mode.

Imagine, if you will, the sounds of singing Muppets, female backups, and that predictably bouncy disco sound. Bizarre, right? It won’t come close to how absolutely weird this is. Hell, the album art alone is worth the inevitably low cost of this album. The sight of Grover thrusting forward as he does the hustle, or Ernie with a gold chain around his neck and a white turtleneck, or Cookie Monster with his shirt open wide? Why, that’s all I needed! The addition of Oscar, The Count, Big Bird, Herry Monster, and a young muppet girl with pigtails (Prairie Dawn, is that you?) — why, it’s icing on the cake. Oh, and you mustn’t forget that there’s a sandwich board advertising the special guest star: Kermit the Frog! The gatefold also shows some of the Muppets with children. That’s sort of weird. And if you couldn’t get enough of the front, why, it’s repeated on the back, only, you know, smaller. It’s a weird one.

Sure, this was a novelty record for kids, but there’s plenty here to enjoy. If you’re looking for something strange and exciting to listen to repeatedly, though? Well, don’t look here. Those backing female vocalists just keep going and going and going: It’s enough to drive anyone crazy. And those bouncy beats? If you’re feeling particularly down, listen to this. If it doesn’t help immediately, turn it off. This is somehow lots of fun, but it’s also enough to drive one to madness. “Disco Frog” is particularly egregious. It included a moment where I thought the record was skipping — I found out after 10 or 15 seconds that the repeated bass line and the “ribbit ribbit” was quite intentional. Oh, boy.

I will say this much: The disco rendition of "Bein' Green" is actually kind of interesting. Who'da thought?

Is it fair to criticize a kid’s album from 1979? Well, probably not. But this is Sesame Disco! — it’s in a world all its own. If there’s one thing we can certainly agree on, it’s that this is definitely one strange find.

Well, he’s done it. He’s gone and changed his signature style. You know the one: stripped-down recordings, acoustic guitars, that voice of his. Thankfully, the change really is quite good: Believers is lush, evocative, and most importantly, an enjoyable 40 minutes of great songwriting.

Girls — Father, Son, Holy Ghost

A. A. Bondy — Believers

You probably know A. A. Bondy for his evocative songwriting and stripped-down style — a reasonable expectation, as his first two albums were in that very style, and it’s what he made his solo name on. Through those first two albums, he made his name as an effective songwriter in the folk style, and his songs were really very good. But with Believers being his third album, it was perhaps time for a minor shift in style to, you know, freshen things up.

Why, then, am I surprised that Believers departs from his stripped-down instrumentation, a lush aural environment taking its place? Because, well, this is good. And I don’t just mean passable — that was sort of a foregone conclusion. This is really quite good even though the lyrical sensibilities he brought to the fore of his style previously are perhaps buried a bit. There’s something regrettable about that, though not in a big way, because the additional layers are viscerally enjoyable: The steel pedal, the fullness of the guitar, the wholly flowing feel to some of these tracks — it all makes for quite an experience.

A. A. Bondy has made himself out be a songwriter worth his weight in, well, something — salt, probably, but how much does he weigh? I can get 100 lbs. of fine rock salt for $130, so I’d say he’s worth somewhat more than about $200 (a rough estimate, mind.) Back to the point, right? Believers is good, and it builds on the work he’s done without tearing it down. The stylistic shift he engages in is both effective and approachable, but most importantly, the album just … works. Everything comes together in a beautiful collision of sound, and the sound of the impact is more ocean-waves-soothing than it is jolting. And when you make a shift like this, that really is something you’ve got to look out for.

The inimitable Nick Drake, recognized after his death as a brilliant songwriter but rarely before, is still the master of that brand of moody, emotive finger-picked acoustic guitar. The haunting melodies, the unshakable vocals, the ability to move through song: Nick Drake, an English songwriter but a speaker for deep veins of sadness and despair running through all culture, is still untouchable as a musician.

His first album, Five Leaves Left, was produced between 1968 and 1969, when Nick was 20 and 21. Keith Morris was asked to photograph Nick for the album cover by the album’s producer. Incidentally, this was the first album cover Keith would work on, and it’s one that defines him still today. The moment for both young artists, both near the start of their careers, was the first in an unfortunately cut short collaboration between the two, in which Keith photographed Nick in conjunction with each of the three legendary Nick Drake albums: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later, and Pink Moon.

• Visit the Keith Morris Gallery online for more of the iconic photographs of Nick Drake.

Keith, still, had little chance to engage the elusive Nick Drake; despite being the only professional photographer to work with Nick, he hadn’t worked with him aside from the work the three albums — and then, on but a single day for each.

The artwork taken for Five Leaves Left, the first of those opportunities, captures the young Nick Drake looking perhaps as contemplative as his early music. The photograph used for the front of the album depicts Nick gazing out a window, and presumably, the only light in the room being the natural light coming from the two windows seen in the photograph. The strong shadows cast by only in the corners of Nick’s Hampstead flat set the mood for the music: The whole thing is not cast in shadow, though certainly parts of it are. The play between the light and the dark serves as a visual metaphor for the bleakness and the exuberance heard contrasting in Nick Drake's guitar work and vocals.

The photograph from the reverse side of Five Leaves Left. © Keith Morris. Image used under Fair Use rationale.

The photograph on the reverse side is as much revealing, but it exists more as a metaphor of Nick Drake’s musical attitude than of the musical performance. Nick, against a brick wall, is still, and again, he is gazing into the distance. It’s not the gaze of a combat-hardened soldier, that thousand-yard wear gaze. Nick is instead looking almost wistfully into the distance, unaware that, ahead of him, people are running by, carrying about with their busy lives. The specific photograph in the series depicts a man, perhaps a businessman, running into the frame in some sort of rush.

Through the visual metaphor of Morris’s photographs, the album gains additional valuable meaning that could not be achieved without a visual narrative, as non-literal as it may be. There is a specific art in capturing the combination of weariness and optimism that is packaged gracefully in Five Leaves Left: Keith Morris, for his part, tells the story of Nick Drake, the musician, through these two beautiful photographs, and through the others he took throughout the musician’s tragically short career.

Perhaps it’s just out of a desire to start with a clean slate: The music really piles up when you’re making those year-end lists, then there’s nothing of note for two, three, maybe four weeks. That break is a bit like those coffee beans they give you to cleanse your palate at a wine tasting, and after a full year of listening, a cleansing is certainly beneficial.

This year, my early pick was the consummate Destroyer album Kaputt — easily my top pick of January and somehow still in the running for my year-end list. It’s full of little things that are easy to ignore but brilliant to take in: Every listening produces something a bit different. And those melodies — oh, those melodies — are impossible to ignore. It’s the lack of jumpiness, both in construction and in presentation, that really define Dan Bejar’s outpouring. The melodies are evocative in the smooth, definitive quality that permeates the album.

It’s even better on vinyl, too! The third side of the album is a bit of a suite that’s not found in other releases, and it adds a nice quality to the flow of the album. Sure, it pushes the runtime to a lengthy 70 minutes, but it completes the album. The thing is, I’m not even sure it needed completion, and it was dangerous to mess with what was already very strong — but here it is nonetheless, and it’s one of the best parts of the double LP. See what a little risk-taking gets you?

Standout tracks include “Suicide Demo For Kara Walker,” “Song for America,” and “Kaputt,” though it’s a bit odd that tracks can stand out when the whole of the album is at a high level. To be fair, any of the songs could have reasonably been picked as standouts, and any decision has a degree of arbitrariness to it.

Has it held up well? Certainly so. It’s one of the few albums released this winter that have held my attention raptly through the spring and summer, and I don’t think I’d be lying if I said that I expect it to last a good deal longer than that with consistent listening. Is it Destroyer’s Rubies? No, but it certainly holds up favorably next to it. Thankfully, I’m not in the business of ranking Dan Bejar’s work on some mysterious scale.

At this point, it would take a downpour of brilliant releases to seal this one out of the top ten. It is, I think, one of the few surefire bets of the year.

"... this is an early contender for album of the year — when the end comes, don’t forget about this January masterpiece." — Me, in January.

Yeah, I'd say it's held up just fine.

Regina — Soita Mulle

While people in the U.S. are busy sleeping, Regina are busy making beautiful indie pop in Helsinki. Unless they record at night. That’s possible. Check out “Unessa” and “Haluan Sinut” from Soita Mulle, due out September 20 on Friendly Fire. They’ll be releasing the album in Finland tomorrow.

The Rapture — In the Grace Of Your Love

In The Grace Of Your Love: More dance rock from the band that helped kick off the post-punk revival in the early 2000s. Stream it right here and give it a listen while you make some food. Or, you know, something. Dance, maybe.

The Horrible Crowes — Elsie

The Horrible Crowes, Brian Fallon’s new project, ranges from moody to energetic, but it usually falls on the side of the former. The instrumentation’s solid if not stunning, and that’s probably enough motive to give it a listen. If you’re only up for one track, try “Sugar,” but the whole thing's available on SoundCloud.

Roberts & Lord — Eponymous

Rafter Roberts & Simon Lord have produced an endearing debut on Asthmatic Kitty: Eponymous promises some vaguely unconventional instrumentation and a wonderful sense of timing. Listen to “Oblique” and “Windmill” below and try not to get sucked into the sound. Check out more from Roberts in his project Rafters and more from Lord in Simian.

In November, Girls charged out with Broken Dreams Club, a six-song EP that saw the band moving in a forward direction, trying out a new feel while retaining the unique value of Christopher Owen’s vocal outlet and the relaxed mode that made Album a sonic joy.

Shift forward to 2011: In 8 days, the band’s second full-length effort, Father, Son, Holy Ghost hits shelves. It’s again the band moving in a forward direction, taking what they did with Broken Dreams Club, picking up the successes and weeding out the failures (or half-failures — it’s a very good EP) and adding a boost of excitement.

Now, that’s not to imply that it’s all fleet-footed and stunning — for example, the delicately named “Vomit” shows the band slowing things down more than they have before. But when it comes time to kick things into that higher gear, there’s no fear to be found. Where Album was at times daunting in its consistency, Father, Son, Holy Ghost takes a more varied approach.

Check out the video for Vomit

Where instrumentation is concerned, there’s a clear inclination toward a strange country music melded with the San Francisco band’s indie rock sound. They’ve managed to combine that laid-back big-city feel with something a bit more rural, and while the sound is a little lacking in the refined quality you’d expect from others practicing an indie with country music aesthetic, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Girls.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is what the band needed to do for their sophomore release. They’ve avoided staying dreadfully the same (though I’m not sure it would have provoked huge complaints) while treading some new ground as a band. It’s neither as raw nor as exciting as Album, but at the same time, it’s more musically engaging and interesting, and it’s proof that there’s more to Girls than a great album and an EP.

Lotte Kestner — "Halo" | download

Lotte Kestner's (Anna-Lynne William's solo project) latest album, a collection of somewhat obscure covers, is obviously beautiful.  Her interpretations of Trash Can Sinatras and Interpol are obviously commendable as she spews her beautiful vocal chords upon the world.  But, somewhere on the bonus disc of the aptly titled Stolen, we find the wife of the hip hop legend Sean Carter.  We find Williams creating something so sensual and captivating, it is extremely hard to believe these words did not come straight from her heart, but from any given songwriter who will probably always remain nameless.

Beyonce can sing.  This is obvious.  But, anyone who hears Lotte Kestner spill out her heart to the same words the lady of R&B once did, should instantly realize that an improvement was made.  Should Mrs. Carter ever come across this track, I can feel that even she would agree that she was trumped.  Hopefully she can understand.  And if she doesn't, we can still be entirely thankful that we have beautiful voices all over the world.  From Knowles to Williams, we can be happy for these tones of beauty that plague even our darkest moments.  Within these folk's talents, we can find peace.  We can find love.
Lotte Kestner's latest album "Stolen", and the 5 song bonus EP, featuring "Halo", can be found at SaintLoupRecords.com.  The critically acclaimed debut of Lotte Kestner, "China Mountain", can also be purchased from the site as well.

Community Group is likely to be known as Jonathan Jones's finest work to date. One listen to a track like "East Coast Feeling" brings to might the powers that be as being ever present and phenomenal in an entirely non-theological sense. Only the sense that one man's sensual ability can bring your heart ablaze as melodies and harmonized beauty sweep and swill through your body. The kind of feelings only a wonderful song can invoke within you. So, find your way to whatever fine venue our hero of virtue and musical genius might be spitting his venom of positivity into the faces of an adoring crowd. Go ahead. Go get spit on!

To hear Community Group in its entirety and for three free downloads, including the amazing "East Coast Feeling", visit jonathanjonesmusic.com.

Find Jonathan Jones in a city near you very soon:

6/22 - Logan, UT @ Logan Arthouse

6/23 - Provo, UT @ Velour

6/24 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

6/25 - Rexburg, ID @ Hemming Village Complex (FREE Show)

6/27 - Boise, ID @ The Venue

His last album, 2010’s Small Craft on a Milk Sea, is still sinking in, but Eno’s wasting no time in sending out blasts of experimental, boundary-pushing music. Drums Between the Bells, due for release July 4, promises to evoke that same imaginative young man that literally shifted musical paradigms.

It’s a dazzling combination of music and poetry — a marriage that so often turns over-wrought and uninspired, but Eno and the poet behind the work, Rick Holland, dart around the obstacles with such ease — it’s clear that this is the work of two artists who know their way around their respective craft.

Brian Eno - bless this space (taken from Drums Between The Bells) by Warp Records

Drums Between the Bells, Physical Editions

The three released tracks, “Glitch”, “Pour it Out” and “Bless This Space” are not just full of the electronic work Eno’s mastered — they’re boiling over with it, and the only thing keeping these from spilling into chaos is the poetry. The music’s familiar in a way, but there’s an exuberance in the instrumentals that feels more akin to Here Come the Warm Jets than anything he’s done since.

Brian Eno - pour it out (taken from Drums Between The Bells) by Warp Records

Drums Between the Bells will be released July 4 on Warp Records and is available for preorder from Brian Eno’s online store in the UK and Bleep in the US. It’s being released as a 2-CD hardback edition and as a double LP 12” vinyl.

Read more about Drums Between the Bells on Brian Eno’s site.

Brian Eno - glitch (taken from Drums Between The Bells) by Warp Records

When he was fronting Pedro the Lion, Bazan was clumsy, awkward even, but he was ruthlessly efficient. That’s continued into his solo career: Bazan doesn’t just throw ideas into a song; he molds and crafts them to a point that the music almost seems secondary — not an ignored secondary aspect, and one that’s not given short shrift.

davidbazan.com by David Bazan

...This is an album that’s more lyrically subtle than Curse Your Branches, and in that same way, it’s sounds a deal less angry. Of course, we still have lines like, “Wake up in the morning / Check your revelation / Make sure you know it as well as you can,” in Level With Yourself. It’s clear that Strange Negotiations is not a wholly secular piece, but Bazan is clearly moving in that direction.

Read the entirety of this review written by Matthew Montgomery at No Ripcord.

(from No Ripcord)

Check out Crewdson:

• Crewdson at White Cube
• Crewdson at ArtNet

Soul Distraction — "Talk About It Later"

Now, we all know such ideals are pretty much dead and gone (save for the resurrection of Cee Lo Green), and we are more app'ed (get it?) to digging around on our iPhones and finding the next underground sensation from a city we may have never heard of, and will probably be disbanded within a year after a SXSW appearance and a west and/or east coast tour.  We love the music for the music.  But, we seem to have lost the Cheap Tricks and the Deep Purples that once were ruling the airwaves, as well as our hearts.  And if you long for that classic rock vibe that has seemed to disappeared into the depths of the indie rock sea, fear not, because the sound has been recaptured in a way you probably never imagined.  And the high definition lens showing us the future, as well as the past, is seen through the eyes of Portland's Soul Distraction.

Soul Distraction is to old school rock n' roll what renaissance fairs must be to monarchy buffs.  Hearing these their heavy guitar riffs mash up with Elsa Faith's soothing yet demanding vocal chords is a sure fire reminder of what it used to mean to be an all around talented group of folks making music that not only appeals to the masses, but shows an array of emotion that is trumped only by the spirit and courage to move forward in a world where total obscurity is more important than the ability to turn the old into something completely fresh and original.

There are many bands from the golden years of rock n' roll that always seem to stick out in the mind's of most when it comes to pure musicianship.  And, in their own right, they might have deserved the recognition they have earned.  But it can mostly said, most of these bands are shit.  This could be a potential tangent that is best saved for a later date.  So let's just leave it with this theory:  Soul Distraction takes the original blueprints from their predecessors, and perfects in a way that they never did, and never will, really be able to portray on stage or on the recorded surfaces.

For an in depth perspective of Soul Distraction's ability to create a more defined and original "classic" rock sound, check out their new track "Talk About It Later" from their latest album set to be released later this year.  For even more examples, their 2009 release Ticket To Paradise is chalked filled with wonderful rendition of original tracks that will definitely send you through the looking glass of time, and contemplating all that you thought was holy in in your Dad's collection of hand me down vinyl pressings.  Soul Distraction is the finest definition of homegrown rock n roll redefined for the new age.  There is absolutely no question about that.

The Seldon Plan — "Fractionation"

This Baltimore based indie pop group has been impressing audiences and critics alike for the better part of the last decade with their 90's anti-aspiration towards change attitude they generously fuse with unique vision of a band living independently the age of now.  They share a strong comparison to another Baltimore based group known as Lowell, who's posthumous releases happen to be share a label with The Seldon Plan, known as The Beechfields Record Label.   They both involve label founder Michael W. Nestor, so it's not that hard to comprehend, but it's still a beautiful coincidence.  The real common denominator here is just plain raw talent and an engrossing consciousness that allows these rockers a chance to create some beautiful indie pop treasures.

Written And Directed By Tom Scharpling
Producers: Robert Hatch-Miller & Puloma Basu

Cast: Jon Wurster, Julie Klausner, Kevin Corrigan, Wyatt Cenac, Horatio Sanz, Ted Leo, John Hodgman, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Todd Barry, Donald Glover, Esther Crowe, Michael Lisk, Gabe Delahaye, Max Silvestri, Jay Norton, David Rosenblatt, Terre T., Anna Copacabana, Rob Cuthill, Brian Turner, Alex Scordelis, Jonathan Fernandez, Therese Mahler, Candace Mills, Christina Stanley, Christine Tadler, Owinema Biu, Chris Spooner, Jacob Wolk