When I first reviewed Female Wrestler by Power Animal (a.k.a. Keith Hampson) in December 2009, I remember thinking where are those amazing tunes with the ridiculously long names that were on his MySpace. I actually felt bad that more people might not get to hear them. Well, I’m happy to see/hear that those tracks have re-emerged on Power Animal’s official debut full length People Songs released on Waaga Records, an offshoot of indie label Lefse (Neon Indian, Tape Deck Mountain). These bedroom recordings have returned more polished, but certainly have not lost any of their experimental pop goodness that makes People Songs its own unique animal among the herds of lo-fi artists grazing on the landscape of the indie music scene. The album puts you in a dream-like state where there are plenty of moments that you find yourself happily grooving out to the strangest mixtures of polyrhythmic beats and harmonies mixed with samples, handclaps, xylophones, banjoes and anything else that might make noise. The highlight of the album for me is (take a breath) “Dear My Body, I'm Not That Body. Dear Keith Hampson I’m Not Your Name. You Are A Shaky Boat With A Curse Upon It, But I Need You To Get To The Other Side Of The Lake.”, but with other favorites like “Money/Pocket”, “All I Can Hear Are The Bees”, “Birds Have Worries Too!”, “Copernicus”, “Sometimes” - actually just hit Play Repeat All and enjoy. Fun drugs definitely recommended while listening. myspace.com/poweranimalpa - Q.D. Tran

So I’ve been gravitating toward the debut tracks from Creepoid, a new local lo-fi psych dream pop outfit. They’ll have 30 test press 7” records available for their EP Yellow Life Giver out on Phonographic Arts tonight when they open for lo-fi California dreamin’ Best Coast and West Philly 1-2-knockout-punch combination Reading Rainbow at The Barbary. I liked Creepoid’s description of themselves from our Open Blog (yes, we do read and check them out whenever we get a chance) so I thought that I’d share it with you below, but with tracks like “My Rotten Tooth”, I think that the ghost of Kurt Cobain joined their beer-drinking and acid-taking hang with his acoustic guitar. Count me in too!

“Creepoid has a sad, dark sound that would definitely make your third eye cry. Think Beck and Lou Reed drinking beer at The Modern Lovers practice space listening to Mazzy Star on acid.”

myspace.com/creepoidphiladelphia

- Q.D. Tran

Hosannas, formerly known as Church, are only a little over a month away from seeing the release of their Hush Records full-length Then & Now & Then. Cursory listening sessions with the advance of the album reveal a lush, melodic soundscape full of acoustic guitars, lots of echoed vocals, and layered keys, specifically in opener "The Sea."

Subsequent spins have uncovered even more sonic noodling from the Portland quartet. There's an innocence employed here, with tempered digs into early '00s Merge motifs, as well as a (hopefully) prevalent sense of purpose. It's all pretty intoxicating stuff, even if its oft-lauded tag of psych-pop doesn't really fit.

But be warned: The first leaked track, "Happiness," is the least indicative tune for the purposes of considering listening to this album, but is still a decent listen. Give it a whirl below...

Take our word for it, and get your hands on the full disc or download when it's released on May 11th.

The band will hold what's likely to be one of the most anticipated Portland album releases of the year on May 9th at Mississippi Studios. Opening will be the amazing Tu Fawning, and Ah Holly Fam'ly. $6, 9 p.m.

- Ryan J. Prado

At SXSW this year YAWN caught the eye and ear of a lot of folks. Here is some footage of their performance at Levis Fader Fort courtesy of the WILD honey pie. They will be performing at Abbey Pub on April 13th with Caw! Caw!.