CASKET SALESMEN – Sleeping Giants (Longhair Illuminati)

CASKET SALESMEN was formed in 2006 by two ex-members of A STATIC LULLABY, Phil Pirrone and Nathan Lindeman, and released their debut disc titled Sleeping Giants the same year. Needless to say, the album has been around for a while now, but I was just recently introduced to the duo. Firstly, Sleeping Giants is worlds better than anything ASL has done or will do. Pirrone and Lindeman write trippy psychedelic rock songs that fit comfortably alongside classics like PINK FLOYD and YES and contemporaries like THE MARS VOLTA and, to a certain degree, CAVE IN (some of the songs here are actually pretty heavy). Secondly, the absolute highlight comes in track four, “The Anaheimlich Maneuver,” where an atmospheric backdrop is graciously accentuated with mild keyboard touches, whispery vocals, and a rather enthused saxophone interlude. Although the album does lag at times, the band keeps the pretentious notions to a minimum. This is a very promising debut effort from the SALESMEN, and I hear a follow-up is right around the corner.

THE STILETTO FORMAL – This Is My Boomstick (Self-Released)

Also released in 2006, This Is My Boomstick is the second self-released effort from Phoenix’s THE STILETTO FORMAL. When describing the band, one really only needs to use the word “amalgamation.” They blend together musical influences such as CURSIVE, MURDER BY DEATH, and CHIODOS and mix it with a vocal performance that is dead-on AT THE DRIVE-IN. While the music definitely sounds familiar, THE STILETTO FORMAL is surely onto something here. The EP itself only has four tracks and the third one, “I Sing The Body Electric,” is a dud that relies too heavily on synth notes to be musically captivating. Other than that, Boomstick has some decent content, now it’s just up to the band to refine that content to make something a bit more long lasting.