As longtime readers of the site will know, I hardly ever shine the spotlight on local bands from wherever I am living at the moment. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the chief one is I don’t like to give preferential treatment to groups just because I know them and hang-out with them. I guess my philosophy is, if the music is great it’ll speak for itself regardless of where it was made – and I’ve maintained that attitude with the site since its inception.

With that in mind, Salt Lake City’s Albino Father has added their name to the relatively small list of relative local bands that deserve wider attention, and the group’s debut LP Age is just the release to help them do that. Clocking in at just under forty minutes, the twelve track album is a psych/garage/blues rock swirling orb of sound that you can’t help but be caught up in. If you’re a fan of messy guitars, heavy pedal effects, and guitar solos that you hope don’t end, then you are sure to find something you like with each track. I’ve gone through the album four times in total, and each time I can’t help but to press replay afterwards.

It’s tough to pick stand outs on this records as each song has its own personality and personal (or personable) sound. Do I go with the slow-paced guitar-centric ballad “Dirty Mirror” that’s suited perfectly for the smoke-filled, cramp venues of Anywhere USA? Or how about the surf-rock jam appropriately titled “Deth Jam” that bands like The Allah Las (PT-Music’s Cali favorite) would be chomping at the bit to play? Or maybe the blazing sub-two minute “Little Girls” that leaves you in a trail of dust wandering what just happened by the end?

If I had to choose, I would say I dig “Dirty Window” the most because what you finish with is so radically different than where you started. The track opens with the smoothest of smooth guitar line that’s straight out of the classic rock playbook and continues that way for the first two minutes. Before your high from “Ghost Dad,” the previous track, has completely mellowed out, in comes the raucous drums and kick-ass, fist-pumping rips that boost your energy more than a six-pack of Red Bull. Talk about a roller coaster ride of a song!

You can stream the whole album from Albino Father’s bandcamp page (and buy it via a “Name Your Price” scheme) and head over to their facebook to “like” them because I’m pretty sure you will after listening to this album.

Albino Father // Deth Jam

A little late on this one, but one of my favorite finds of 2009 was made this past week when I got a copy of Portland’s own Explode Into Colors’ 7” entitled Paper. Released as their final installment in a “singles triptych” on the verbosely named Just For the Hell of It Records (the other two were on Kill Rock Stars and M’lady Records, the latter of which houses a fellow kick-ass all-girl act Finally Punk), Paper packs about as much punch as you can get from two songs.

A drum solo reminiscent of an Amazonian tribal ceremony starts off the A-side title track before bassist Claudia Meza takes over command of the song with her momentum swinging funk line. Meza also takes on the vocal responsibility in the act, spewing a couple of Molly Siegel-esque yelps before settling down and actually singing lyrics which sliver across the melody.

The B-side “Heat” continues much in the same fashion: prominently displaying the talented drum and bass playing while keeping the mystery with wavering, lightly tinged reverbed vocals. Maybe included for comedic effect or some sort of symbolic meaning, the backing vocals slip into a rendition of Outkast’s “Bombs Over Background” mid-way through before Meza kicks in with the shaky second verse.

A 12” EP, composed of six already released songs with one extra thrown in, is scheduled to be released in February, so if you want to just purchase a single item rather than hunt down all three 7” (some of which are out of print), you might want to hold off until then. To tide you over here is an mp3 of “Heat”:

Explode Into Colors // Heat