Carbon / Silicon The Last Post Caroline	Saturday Looks Good To Me Fill Up the Room K Records

Scouting Report: Back to life, back to reality. And, back to the mail bag, as I’m not much in the mood to listen to Ween.

Leading off today is Carbon / Silicon, a meeting of the punk rock minds, specifically Mick Jones (The Clash, roughly 9 permutations of Big Audio Dynamite) and Terry James (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik). Seeing as how these cats are an average age of 51, I can’t see how this act will be terribly punk, or even rock. I’m gambling on something more electronic influenced, despite having (reportedly) a live rhythm section. The Last Post is actually their first physical CD, in spite of having released three proper albums and 2 EPs in the last two years, as their existence thus far has partially served to test the parameters of exclusively-digital distribution. Hopefully, that experiment is going better than anything having to do with publicity, as this is the first time i’ve ever heard of this 5-year old act.

Saturday Looks Good to Me is the brainchild of one Fred Thomas, a veteran of some bands i’ve never heard of. Thomas helms this rotating pop collective, which actually dates back further than their counterparts in this match-up. Is it just me, or does “helms a collective” mean “difficult-to-work-with smarty-pants” in real life? Maybe that’s just the coffee talking.

Anyway, I really have no idea what to expect, which is just how I like it.

First up: The Last Post

1. The News (5.39) | Jesus Jones, this sounds like EMF. | STRIKE, 0-1
2. Magic Suitcase (4.27) | Scanning the credits for any mention of Dr. Rhythm, but nothing doing. Ingrates. Good song, though. | HIT, one on
3. The Whole Truth (4.42) | STRIKE, 0-1
4. (5.29) | All these songs are too long and i’ll never warm up to the chintzy drum machine. On the plus side, this tune contains the lyric “Year of the Smurf.”| HIT, runners on 1st and 2nd
5. Tell It Like It Is (5.09) | BALL, 1-0
6. War On Culture (6.03) | The punk rock sentiment lives on in the lyrics. Still, six minutes is quite a long time. | STRIKE, 1-1
7. What The Fuck (3.14) | Compellingly terrible. | BALL, 2-1
8. Zulus (4.43) | “Action Zulus” would’ve been much, much cooler. | STRIKE, count evens at 2-2
9. National Anthem (5.10) | BALL, full count
10. Really The Blues (5.31) | BALL 4, walk, bases loaded!
11. Oilwell (5.55) | Mick Jones sings from an old newspaper. | STRIKE, 0-1
12. Why Do Men Fight (5.17) | BALL, inning over.

Thanks for the demo, lads. In all honesty, the material is very good and shows occasional spunk, and I feel pretty 90s bitching about a drum machine. Then again, this is a pretty 90s sounding disc, and not Nirvana 90s either. The Last Post leaves ‘em loaded. For Carbon / Silicon, no runs on 2 hits, none left on.

Next up: Fill Up the Room

1. Apple (2.52) | A simple guitar ballad, overwrought, but still promising. | BALL, 1-0
2. (even if you die on the) Ocean (3.18) | STRIKE, 1-1
3. When I Lose My Eyes (6.49) | Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel and the like will find something of value here. But I sure as hell ain’t one of them. | STRIKE, 1-2
4. Make a Plan (4.08) | STRIKE 3, out.

Thomas clearly has talent and a bevy of ideas to go with his standard issue, indie-approved yelpy voice. But, eclecticism can be generic, too; that or I really am that sick of hearing stuff like this. Either way, for Saturday Looks Good To Me, no runs, no hits, 7 left on.

Your final today: Carbon / Silicon 0, Saturday Looks Good to Me 0. Stay tuned for more Indie Rock Baseball.

— Simulcast on the IndieRockBaseball.com —