Our fair little city's music scene bristles with a special kind of entrepreneurial spirit, fostering the work of those enterprising enough to give themselves over to it fully. That's one of the reasons you'll find dudes and chicks in this city in not one, not two, but often three different working musical outfits. Case in point for this week's column is one Lo-fi Bri — he of one-man electrojunkyard dancey-punk outfit Carjack. The dude's been working it as of late, cranking out jams and playing regularly under the "Carjack" moniker. But his joie de rock has gotten him engaged in some wildly awesome side projects. Let's take a trip through the MySpaces and hear from his nascent family tree, shall we? The Internet waits:
Electric Fire Babies
Carjack's Bri, Justin Audio from Siddhartha and Miss N. make like true Neu! 313-soul acolytes rockin' it motorik-punk-style talkin' shit on the front porch. Owing equal debt to such obscure '70s dusty soul grooves as Adult.'s aggressive, austere electronic minimalism, this group's months-old "demo" tracks — including "Back to the D" and its more dancefloor-focused sibling "Back to the D Reprise" — are a more fully-realized vision than one expects from most 5-year-old outfits. True grit; true groove. (Next live jam opportunity: Saturday, May 24, at Jacoby's downtown with Marco Polio & the New Vaccines.)
myspace.com/electricfirebabies
Siddhartha
Meanwhile, Justin Audio's former outfit has relocated to L.A., but with frontman Marlon Hauser being the only member listed. Still, if you're interested in finding out what one of Detroit's former "next big things" is up to in 2008, head over to the address below and ragga your face off with the psych-rock Love-ness of a cover of Madonna's "Holiday." The Material Girl's jam never sounded so unconcerned with the material world.
myspace.com/siddharthamusic
Wildcatting
Ferndale instro freak-rock quartet lay out the full-bore manic panic on such neological gerund-titled slices of attack, effect and space, such as "Lipping," "Beefing" and "Expandering." They can bring the heavy, to be sure: "Expandering" has a Sabbath-in-the-basement mood. But they rock best (on "Lipping," for example) utilizing a sort of nervy, rollicking guitar punch and poke mode that throws in an oddball handful of left-field sounds and walks a thin line between ADDaddled sneak attacks and hyperfocused buzz. (Next live opportunity: Saturday, May 17. at Jacoby's, with Silver Ghost.)
myspace.com/wildcatting
locognosis.com (to download their full-length album, How to Survive a Sneak Attack)
And here's where the internet trail of six degrees of Carjack fails us and we're forced to leave the house: Lo-Fi Bri recently joined forces with the Wildcatting boys to form an outfit called — what else? — Carjacking. There's a jam on the Carjack MySpace that runs Wildcatting's "Lipping" through the metal machine of Carjack's rock processor. Check it at: myspace.com/carjackband. Nevertheless, as evidenced during their Blowout set in March and other sporadic local appearances, the Carjacking experience is something best left to experiencing in the flesh. Don't blame the internet. It's a tight little circle that's surrounding Carjack. And it's further evidence of the groundswell of sonic awesomeness being offered any weekend of the year — all helping folks to forget the specific aesthetics of the now 10-year-gone Detroit garage rock explosion while reminding vets and the young alike of its bombastic community spirit.
