Hung up on a Japanese girl, but you never date her? You never even summon the courage to talk to her, but you worship her from afar? It happened to Rivers Cuomo, and he got Pinkerton out of it. I'm guessing the same thing happened to Scott Murphy.

While you've heard of Weezer and the rise from the ashes success of their sophomore effort, Pinkerton, you may not have heard of Murphy and his band Allister. But Allister is one of the few bands that can honestly say they're big in Japan. So it seems perfectly natural that two dudes hung up on heavy guitars and Japanese women might get together and write a bunch of songs... In Japanese... And turn it into an album.

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Jangly teenage indie pop quintet the Vogans are about to prove they are more than just another hobbyist band playing in their parents garage. This weekend, these talented dudes are gearing up for the release of their debut self-titled EP with accompanying party at Delray Beach café-cum-music-locale the Beat Cup. Due to some post-production issues, the album was delayed for nearly a year, but that hasn't dampened the spirits of these fresh-faced maestros.

The band gave us a sneak peak of the record, and we can tell you, there is not one single dud found amidst this album's six shimmering, tightly-crafted songs.

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Monica McGivern

The sun has set, and you're far from any city lights; there are no clouds in the sky. Whattdya call that? Astari Nite. The Miami New Wave band with that simple but imaginative name dropped a new track today that's certain to make you think of darkness and of stars.

While working on their upcoming album, the song, "Pyramids" -- available and downloadable for free on astarinite.com -- will appease your tragically Gothic soul till autumn, when the full length is completed.

Singer Mychael Ghost described his take on the tune. "In my head, the song seems to be about understanding obsession, the guilty pleasure of lusting for someone or something that you can't ever have." But, he adds, "I'm more curious as to what the listener's point of view of the song is. I do encourage you all to contact us with your thoughts." Get on that, people.

See also
- Astari Nite to Work with Grammy-Award Winning Producer Steve Thompson on Debut LP

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When spoken-word duo the Weeds came back from their second hiatus, they had a completely different mentality from before their first two stints, and more than a decade, as a band.

Adam Matza had always been the vocals in the group, growing up writing poetry in high school and later reading his work at a nightclub. The effect his poetry had on the crowd felt right, he says: "The whole performance aspect happened by accident."

Matza morphed his poetry into music with his first band, the Baboons. That was before he started his current act, titled after the last line in a book of poetry he wrote also called Weeds. When the band got back together last fall for the first time since 2003, the guys wanted to see where they were musically. Matza realized he didn't want to continue with poetry and the "angry element" it once had, and drummer Jim Seidel didn't want to play acoustic drums anymore.

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Gravel Kings

There is something bigger at work than just Auto Tune or electronic beats or guitars on the eponymous debut album of South Florida natives, Gravel Kings. What's at work is a group of musicians who not only understand vocal harmony, but the harmony of acoustics in a fashion that surrenders to the roots of folk music.

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When you can woo an Indigo Girl over dinner one night with just your vocal talents, it's clear you've got it good. The Shadowboxers did just that and ended up the backing musicians for the "girls" on a handful of tours. But this trio isn't just a bunch of good pipes; this band is ready to show the world it has a bigger niche to carve and many more fans to win over. 
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Andy Cox

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BleedingPalm.com

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