Sic Alps

As our digital scalpels have gotten sharper and more affordable, and even basement recordings get ProTools surgery, bands made of ideas, noise and accidents like Sic Alps have become endangered. Napa Asylum plays in places like the relics of a leaked rehearsal tape, with its sudden stops, starts and giggles, only to then surprise with a fully formed rock nugget around every corner. The trio's budget arsenal of reverb tanks, Tascams and (one assumes) cheap American beer dusts the garage sound with a vintage feel. Stretched out over 22 tracks, one could argue that a tight half-hour of "actual good songs" could be quarantined from the half-realized exercises, but those provide both context and mood, enhancing the overall experience. If your idea of fun is Sonic Youth with special guest Jonathan Richman playing half time at a Napa Valley tractor pull, Sic Alps are pleased to meet you.