Pinched Nerve, Pinched Nerve. “I wanna black out with you,” goes the opening track: a love song for the jilted generation. The band’s name is a reference to the injury that kept Kris Vieira bedridden while recording his first EP. For someone who wears his demons on his sleeve, Vieira’s stew of post-punk and hip-hop is surprisingly playful. (Self-released)
Static Thought, The Motive for Movement. Richmond’s Static Thought must be glad punk rock is marginal again. Informed by hardcore, street punk, hard-rock, metal, and ska, but hardly a glimmer of punk-pop sheen, the young quartet has a hooky sound bound to thrive in the East Bay underground. (Hellcat Records)
Birdmonster, From the Mountain to the Sea. From the moment the acoustic guitars of “My Love for You” chime in, this record is nothing like the band’s last. Instead of tightly wound and abrasive, most of this new material is bright, spacious, and folksy — the result of writing in the Pacific Northwest and recording with Tom Schick (Ryan Adams). (Fader Label)
Marrow, Quiet Desperation. The lyrics need help, and the dual male/female vocals only work well about half the time, but the percussion-heavy instrumentation and clean production of this industrial-rock quartet (debts owed to Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode) is consistently up to snuff. (Self-released)
