MUSIC: UUVVWWZ - UUVVWWZ

Once upon a time, a new album on Saddle Creek Records was filled with folky angst and heartfelt, and at times over the top, lyrical sensibilities. Not anymore.

Lincoln, Nebraska's UUVVWWZ(pronounced double you, double vee, double double-you, zee) have not been a band for very long. Apparently their Saddle Creek debut is the first nine songs that the band has ever composed together and it's certainly a great start.

Lead singer Teal Gardner's pipes shine throughout, and the Deerhoof and Yeah Yeah Yeahs comparisons are obvious throughout. But where their sound really comes together is when they add their blues influence to their rambunctious rock sound. There are definitely four or five songs here that are worth your time, and apparently they put on one hell of a live show.

MUSIC: MewithoutYou, "It's Alright" alright.

MewithoutYou's latest release has a long title, "it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright". For our purposes, the title can be condensed to just, "it's alright."

It starts off well enough with, "every thought a Thought of You"(emphasis theirs). Which includes the following stanza:

"no one here to believe but You,
everyone else is bound to leave but You,
when we swear, my love is real, we mean,
I like the way you make me feel,"

Which, out of context of the album has to be the most self deprecating, non belief of love that I have ever heard in music. It seemed rather refreshing.

That is, until you listen to the rest of the album and look at the liner notes. "You" is capitalized, because it's a pronoun for Allah, God, Yahwe, et al.

All in all, the album(which is entirely acoustic) comes off as an odd mix of Neutral Milk Hotel, old testament Sunday school ethics, and some sort of child's tale about insects and plants.

It's the best christian rock album I have ever heard.

That's probably not a compliment.