Choice Cuts: January 2005

To kick off the new year, we're going to visit a few albums that slipped past the radar on their first go-round. Better late than never, yes? Yes.

Artist: THE AUTUMNS

Album: The Autumns

The Scoop: Shimmering pop goodness. Concrete-thick walls of guitar and distortion give way to fragile vocals and ooh-la-la harmonies. If this formula sounds familiar...well, it is. But The Autumns have evolved into the sensitive Mercedes in the shoegaze garage. To put it another way, they beat the crap out of Keane. Now, granted, The Autumns seem to suffer from the same epidemic of Brit envy that plagues otherwise unrelated bands like The Killers. While the more bombastic tracks like "Every Sunday Sky" are hindered by their resemblance to flavors-of-the-moment like Keane, Muse, et. al., The Autumns elsewhere show themselves plenty capable of producing drama without resorting to melodrama. Frontman Matthew Kelly walks a vocal high-wire act; his treatment of the words is much more important, emotionally speaking, than the words themselves. That the album is self-titled-more typical of debuts-may be an indication that The Autumns, after a few years away, wish to start anew. Or, on the other hand, it may signal a continued embrace of the strengths they've shown since day one.

Highlight Tracks: "Deathly Little Dreams" and "Désolé"

For More Info: Visit http://www.theautumns.com

Artist: EARLIMART

Album: Treble & Tremble

The Scoop: While mostly well-received, some e-zine criticism of Earlimart's Treble & Tremble was insufferable enough to be noteworthy. Earlimart frontman Aaron Espinoza was a close friend, coworker and neighbor of Elliott Smith, yet some fanboy writers persisted in playing bodyguard to the Smith Legacy, making a competition out of grief and appreciation, and-most ridiculously-concluding with some sort of glib "Smith is better than Espinoza" analysis. Eulogies, critically dissected, sometimes may not warrant inclusion into the literary canon. Does this make them dispensable? Shouldn't context count for something? That Treble & Tremble is a departure from Earlimart Past-and presumably Earlimart Future-makes it all the more moving. Musically, the songs are infused with a stately but spare charm, save for fuzzy rockers and more "classic" Earlimart numbers like "Sounds." Lyrically, Espinoza keeps it simple, not attempting any grand ruminations on death and loss, just speaking-and singing-from his bruised heart.

Highlight Tracks: "Sounds" and "Broke the Furniture"

For More Info: Visit http://www.earlimartmusic.com

Artist: FEMBOTS

Album: Small Town Murder Scene

The Scoop: One man's trash is another man's treasure, and Toronto's FemBots delight in finding music where others haven't thought to look. Like Bjork's character in Dancer in the Dark, they see that music surrounds them, and tap into whatever sources they can find (and afford). With that said, Small Town Murder Scene is, at its heart, a rather traditional work of Americana. It just rises on more inventive legs. For a band once described as "avant-garde thrift store toy noodlers," though, Dave MacKinnon, Brian Poirier and Company show themselves unexpectedly capable of building a consistent atmosphere and channeling a deep amount of soul. The "found sound" serves the whole, rather than existing for its own sake; for example, the unforgiving and intrusive ticking clock on "A Million Dead End Jobs" or the spliced-in home recording of Skip Olmstead singing on the strangely moving "Transit Song." The bluesy lark "Mom's Ether Blues" and the ragged "Theme from a Radio Play" provide a slight blemish on the end of the album, but inventors are bound to misfire occasionally. It beats playing it safe.