You know I’m smitten with three things when it comes to a band; a good heavy bass beat, some reverb, and if they’re from the UK I’m more than happy. Well, I bring you Projekt A-ko, my dears. I’ve been hoarding this for far too long and it’s damn well time to share. Their album is out April 20 and you can get it directly from them. They have a great combination of sound, girl/guy vocals, and chutzpa which results in this killer little album, which you are gonna find quite addicting. Fergus Lawrie (guitar / vocals), Elaine Graham (bass / vocals), Ian Graham (drums) make up this trio of goodness, who are releasing their album under their own label,  Milk Pie Records. They call it shoegaze-pop, I call it good.

I got a three song sampler, “Supertriste Duxelle” opens loud, like someone’s rather odd older brother, still quite melodic, slightly disturbing, but cool. He comes on strong, ends up sweet, it’s a memorable change up throughout! “Here Comes New Challenger”  is that song that everyone sings, you get the whole family in on this one. Images of crazy household capers flash across my brain as this soundtrack plays. There’s room for handclapping, for skipping, dancing… that drum roll is just asking for the handclapping. And then you get to the wonderful, “Molten Hearts” she’s the pretty girl at the bar that everyone stares at. She’s put together well, recognizable chords and structure and it sits well in your mind with what you already know about this kind of Sonic Youth, Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain music. I can’t wait to hear the whole album to see how my crazy family metaphor holds up

I heard about this group from friends at Filthy Little Angels (who have some of the best naughty Christmas songs ever – I’m still getting hits from folks googling those, thanks!) Darren wrote me about Projekt A-ko and surprised the hell outta me! He writes, “The band features three members of Urusei Yatsura and are, in my opinion, amazing. We released one of their singles last year, but they are financing the album themselves.” I’d been looking for what Urusei Yatsura was up to next. Ever since hearing them over on Matthew’s blog, I wanted more. And here they were, being planted on my doorstep. I love how the internet works like that sometimes.  Now, go buy this little band from Glasglow’s album. It’s a DIY thing, support local music, even if it’s not your locale, eh? xoxo

Supertriste Duxelle mp3

Molten Hearts mp3

buy it! Monday, April 20 (but you can pre-order it from them via paypal!) official site (pssst, there’s more music there) …..MySpace

sneak a peek at the inside of the CD here and see some fan discussion