Sick Electric - Haywire (2008)

Lazer. Laundry. Buffalo. Accident.

In 2008, the four aforementioned members of Sick Electric released their magnum opus, Haywire. Clocking in at 16 tracks, the album is a math/surf/prog/metal epic about surfing, robots, headless lovers, some more surfing, zombies, the future, nuclear war, outer space, and the apocalypse. While thematically this album sounds like fodder for a MST3K episode, the band manages to pull everything together by employing tight, concise song structures while remaining outrageously mathy, aggressive, and intricate. Most reviewers have attacked the schizophrenic genre-bending action as a source of confusion, but for me the multitude of sounds has kept the album interesting listen after listen.



Post-Haywire, Sick Electric put out a straight-alt-rock LP in 2010 which tanked hard. Then they broke up. But Haywire remains an essential piece of experimental rock.

Sick Electric - Haywire

Ecstatic Sunshine - Freckle Wars (2006)

These gents are in the band Ponytail, which I'm sure many are familiar with.  Could never get into em myself (that vocalist needs to scream talk elsewhere) Ecstatic Sunshine finds these two guitar slingers doing what they do best.....strumming together. Its kinda poppy, certainly indie tinged, sprightly and slightly distorted. Maybe a more all encompassing statement would be youthful happy surf folk music for slightly miffed pre-teens. I know that prolly doesn't sound so tempting but I promise there is much to enjoy.

Freckle Wars