MOBIUS BAND /// THE LOVING SOUNDS OF STATIC /// GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL ///
	SKELETONS & GIRL-FACED BOYS /// Git /// GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL ///

Two bands from the Ghostly International label have recently released their new electro-rock albums, but in notably different approaches-one accessible, another more abstract. There's Mobius Band, a Brooklyn-based trio, who are the more pop-laden; and Skeletons & Girl-Faced Boys, the five-piece group who are considerably less so. Both groups have an obvious fondness for the bleeps and blicks of a synthesizer and the rat-a-tat-tat of electronic drums, but in an already jam-packed stratosphere of similar sounds, what makes these albums stand out? Well, a lot, actually.

Minus the theatrical gloom of Interpol, Mobius Band's nocturnal pop in The Loving Sounds of Static sure has a way of getting into your head with lingering aftereffects. Lead singer Ben Sterling's monotone delivery acts as a kind of underground guide through varying degrees of introspective intensity, yet always keeps us grounded in an earnest reality. Their music is the stuff of everyday life-riding the subway, reading the newspaper, hailing a cab. It's often the small, unglamorous moments that provide fodder for bigger ideas, and they know it. In "Twilight," slightly detached from the rote existence of a 9 to 5 routine, Sterling laments: "I will keep my shit office job/Sideline dreams have run from the law/You should always try not to aim too high." Anyone who has moved to the big city in pursuit of great endeavors (but was then forced to make ends meet in less-than-desirable office settings, along with meals of macaroni and cheese) will rejoice in these modest insights.

See, two of the members of Mobius Band have recently moved to New York from a tiny Massachussetts town, and have obviously been confronted with the mixture of anonymity and the race to stardom. After varying degrees of success from their past three self-produced EP's-the latest being the excellent City vs. Country-it's obviously given them the confidence (and cred) for this full-length. With a polished and dreamy delivery (and a tap into something so fundamentally real), Mobius Band won't be working those "shit jobs" much longer. They're an exciting new talent.

With a slight detour off these tracks, Skeleton & Girl-Faced Boys deliver a considerably more esoteric, bizarre take with Git. It's as if the members of Phoenix have become mad scientists, and have broken into the lab, knocking over test tubes and beakers, to play all night long. Although the group has an unfortunate sounding band name, it reflects the weirdness and utter unpredictable nature of their music, which is so trippy, so fractured and carefree, that it's a welcome respite from the mindless drones that currently dominate the airwaves. There comes a point, however, when their volatile sounds wears mighty thin on the nerves. On tracks like "There are Seagulls in Parking Lots," we'd wish they'd get on with it, already.

The title-track, however, is a great one. Skeleton concocts a synth-induced wake-up song for the over-emotional set (which is all of us in the morning, right?), that's quirky, and at times, downright cheery. They continue in this thread in "Ya'll Think it's Soo Easy" with one non-sequitor after another, coupled with a merry-go-round sensibility-that, if you're not careful, you may make yourself dizzy. "You can do back-flips and break your neck," the song goes; it's as if this line is the Skeleton's battle cry. Their music does exactly that: leaves us a little wobbly, but always ready for more. Kevin Taylor