Icky Mettle

Ah, North Carolina. Can anyone explain why it's been such a hotbed of original-sounding music? Why every year there's a new crop from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle? Sure, it has lots of colleges, but there's gotta be more to it. Never mind the silly band name and LP title, here's a two-guitar quartet that takes a normal starting point -- whirling, loud, harsh guitar pop with an unpredictable edge -- and adds a bawling, full-throated vocalist named Eric Bachmann, who himself sounds like he's been singing all night and his voice is a little sore (just enough to make him sound like he really means it). Or like Ric Ocasek singing his lungs out for a change, on top of a roaring, screaming loud band. Which means if they're on the same bill with Dillon Fence, DF is the polite, ringing hook band, while these guys are gonna jump-start the keg party. Music to sing to and bounce off the walls to at the same time, with all that Southern quirky dedication and sincerity and congeniality that make us love the place so much.