Our man Geoff from Pizza! and Big Whup now has a second solo release, this time an EP of cover songs!

There’s everything from Mariah Carey to Michael Stipe on here (oh, and a cameo with Michael Nhat), so download it before he gets famous and Warner Brothers makes him remove the link!

Check it out here.

Not only does this thing have TWO Michael Nhat collaborations, one of which with So Many Wizards, but it also has a response from Geis himself to Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,” perhaps the best evocation of that song since Beavis and Butthead watched Death’s “The Philosopher.”

There’re a lot of amazing things here, but I have to confess my favorite thing about this is how many fond memories it evokes of Big Whup, sniff sniff (that’s me crying, not snorting drugs). Here’s hoping they play a show again someday, but if not, clearly that creative energy is going into new and wonderful places, spreading like a rash into the earlobes of unsuspecting Angelenos.

-Dan Collins

Here comes a genre-crossing playful solo effort from Geoff Geis, frontman behind Pizza! and Big Whup (as well as various experimental incarnations of said bands, including the Avant-Garde Volkpenis). The album brings you in with a simple yet cinematic synth track that evokes a Morricone flute intro, yet removes itself from being taken too seriously with its sarcasm-laced title: “Very Important Stuff.” Geis displays great range on this charming, eclectic album. Mostly relying on simple synthesized beats to communicate a story, he moves into full instrumentation on “Superbowl B4 De-lete,” which is perhaps more recognizable stylistically, but pulls back with the simple heartfelt ballad “Where Have You Been (All My Life)?,” covering fellow Alabama statesman country-soul singer Arthur Alexander. Country elements continue on “The Lonesome Part,” and again on the lighthearted closer, “All These Ways That I Divide My Time,” which feels as though it might be right at home amongst the bluegrass stylings of Bill Monroe or the Foggy Mountain Boys. The interspersing of brief, enchanting instrumentals, some of which place the listener in a futuristic adventure setting, work to give the album the feel of a film soundtrack. Geis also manages to transform a political commentary on Saddam Hussein’s career as a dictator into a catchy party jam. His ability to inspire dancing to a chorus line of  “and they won’t count the bodies” in reference to Hussein’s genocidal massacre of the Kurds is hilariously ingenious.

—Walt! Gorecki

-Dan Collins

But don’t take my word for it–read her interview with Geoff Geis on Sean Carnage’s website.  And cry a little more at the sadness of death-bed boob pillows.

-Dan Collins

Travis Cthulhu just got a whole lot more sinister on The Cthulhus’ third CD-R release, EVAPR8. This collection of sci-fi sound poems, strung together with bedroom rock, bent electronics and musique concrète, sounds less like Wavves and more like Trout Mask Replica or early Zappa, with perhaps an assist from Bruce Haack on drum machines, which could easily be lifted from a Baldwin ’70s home organ. There are a lot more fast guitars on here than on, say, Jesse Rakusin’s Awaken! projects, but the end result is still psychedelic, brooding and ominous, a Cramps-meets-Robotech bike ride down a slippery slope. “Blood runs red round the honey pot,” Cthulhu sings in “The honey pot, the honey pot,” a cascade of oscillations sliced open by a sitar-tinged backwards-masked guitar, then an alarm, and then commands straight out of 1984: “Don’t speak, don’t even breathe/Don’t say a single word about anything that you believe.” The song titles alone, from “1000 Missiles” to “Nothing Works” to “WASP17” (named after a rare planet that spins against the revolution of its star), point to things going very, very wrong. And then there are the lyrics about broken eyes and nuclear-tested goats with peeling skin. “Mixed messages, dissipations, radiate the loss of a forward momentum” he whispers in “the TRANSAMERICAN.” Travis could be describing his own album, but really, he’s describing our future. No wonder the last song on the album is “No hope.”

—Dan Collins

Only a year after emerging from the artsy Eastside clique with the video for “PYCO,” KI is officially a big deal. Saturday’s extravaganza, with its $15 door price and ornate setting, had the air of a coronation. With the exception of openers Captain Ahab and a handful of guest-listed friends, the event was populated mostly by curious strangers who’d heard the hype surrounding the stereoscopy. Those strangers were certainly not disappointed. With significant help from their friend Kid Static, Ryan and band mate Nathan Huber gave them an incredible performance unlike anything that anyone else is doing. 3-D Live! was the ultimate dance party, and the sold-out crowd was head-over-heels for its grandeur. It was exciting to see these guys, who I first saw perform to a crowd of maybe ten people at L’Keg in 2009, enjoying life as established harbingers of a phatter, flashier future.

The only thing missing was the music. Nathan’s synth leads weren’t audible over the ricocheting beats in the cavernous ballroom, and Ryan was reduced to a few pre-recorded background vocals that occasionally poked through the mix. It was a shame to hear Kid Infinity’s songs pummeled into mush, not only because the visuals had been produced with such hard work and care but because the music is excellent. The first time I saw the duo, the only effect they had was a rotating disco light. I wasn’t impressed by the pyrotechnics, but I was an immediate fan of the smart arrangements, soaring choruses, and clever words. Despite the light show’s exponential improvement, those musical elements were all buried by bass on Saturday. I couldn’t help but wonder if the strangers were leaving as new fans of Kid Infinity, or if they were just stoked on “that 3-D rave we saw.”

I have faith in KI, though. They’ve designed a portable 3-D galaxy in which to perform, so they can master ballroom sound design. When they do, they’ll be unstoppable.

—Geoff Geis