Time Being Books, 120 pages, paperback, $15.95

“‘Abyssinia’ is a 1930s pun on ‘I’ll be seeing you,’” reads an introductory page among the dedications and acknowledgements in David Herrle’s fresh new collection of poetry. The book is a modestly sized paperback, small enough to fit in a front pocket of a backpack or be rolled up into a purse. The cover is adorned with a pen and ink illustration of a young woman surrounded by a myriad of mysticism and inset into a purple gradient. It sure is a pretty little thing, but judge this book by its cover, you cannot. Upon diving midway into Herrle’s work, you’ll find yourself hanging on to declarations of love, loss, and other ponderings intimate enough to make your jaw slack.

The selected works of Abyssinia are alive with a kind of wild wit that’s sometimes subtle in its delivery and other times blatantly hard-hitting with pop culture references and unashamed sexual banter. Herrle uses no distinct form in his work, but keeps things short and quick to the pay off, which is not only fitting to the times they are written in, but perhaps even relevant. It’s a refreshing read if you’re looking for a break from the stylistic poetry published of late and the classic classroom standards.

The book is split into three parts: “Self-Centered,” “Jill Rush,” and “Abyssinia.” The first section is just as it sounds. It is comprised mostly of work based in self-reflection, musing candidly over both his physical and mental state often with youthful whimsy. The second section, Jill Rush, largely concerns a love in the past tense, presumably by the name of Jill. Then, in Abyssinia, we see the growth of a man’s story begin to unfold. The last section tackles darker subjects: depression, the complexities of life, the day-to-day struggle it takes to reach “healing.”

It is a beautiful first look into Herrle’s twisted mind. I’m curious to see where he takes his talent from here.

British Sea Power are practicing poets who project all their charm through the form of quaint English gentlemen. Valhalla Dancehall combines the perfect mix of melody and rhythm into its adventurous soundtrack, melding pop with the sounds of fairy tale fantasy.

British Sea Power is not unknown. As their name suggests, they’re a force to be reckoned with, although there is something deeply sentimental that exists as their driving purpose. The group, based in Sussex (naturally), has been recognized by such big names as The Flaming Lips, The Killers, and The Strokes. Since debuting to rave reviews in 2003 with The Decline of British Sea Power, they’ve grown stronger and stronger and today with their signature streamlined perfection, have produced yet another visionary work for the world weary.

(Rough Trade Records, 66 Golborne Road, London, W10 5PS, UK)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Who’s In Control?” by British Sea Power

Spawned from the streets, Fishman is a man with many voices. With roots in New Orleans all the way to New York, Fishman has experimented with jazz, blues, folk, pop, rock, funk, and country along the way. His latest venture, No Further Instructions, targets the deepest roots of these many styles and seems to produce gypsy-inspired ballads and wayfaring folk songs with antiqued detail.

Written and influenced by Fishman’s trip through rural eastern Europe, No Further Instructions is an adventure in itself. An old world style of story telling, complete with subtle humor and truthfulness, seems ever present within the tracks such as “In Romania,” “The Farmer’s Song,” and “Through the Countryside.”

Howard Fishman paints pictures as real as your best dreams. No Further Instructions is an inspired piece of work through which speaks the curiosity of distant culture and worlds forgotten.

(Monkey Farm Records, no address provided)

How did the two of you meet? And more importantly, how did the two of you go from just meeting to forming He Is We?
Trevor: We worked at Ted Brown Music in the lovely Tacoma, Washington.
Rachel: It’s mostly a band and orchestra rental store…which we know next to nothing about. We would sneak into the back with a guitar and jam.
Trevor: Turns out [that] being surrounded by kazoos and French horns puts you in the mood to write sad acoustic tunes.

How do you two collaborate when you write songs? How are the lyric writing/musicianship responsibilities shared, and how do you think that affects the finished product — if it does at all?
Rachel: Every song is totally different. Some start with a concept or story. An idea or a vision.
Trevor: Yeah. Sometimes I’ll have some chords, or Rachel will have part of a song she put together on piano. I think not having a specific formula for how we write helps each song sound different and be its own thing.
Rachel: Totally! “And Run” started with the idea of the hook being, “Oh ah oh ah oh ah oh oh.” Dan Romer — who produced this song — and Trevor totally ran with it and turned it into more than I ever imagined.

Purevolume gave you guys a bit of a running start. Would you say the exposure you got from Purevolume made it possible for you to record My Forever?
Trevor: I think Purevolume was a platform, and then the listeners did all the work. Rachel’s songs are really honest and vulnerable, and people really connect with that.
Rachel: Purevolume has been amazing to us. When we put “My Forever” up we got something like 50 or 60,000 plays the first day! That blew my mind and was a really humbling moment.

You guys come from the Pacific Northwest — what would you say about the area in terms of music? Did it help or hinder you in any way?
Trevor: I don’t know. That is hard to say. We have a lot of great bands that we grew up with like Sunny Day Real Estate, Acceptance, Gatsbys American Dream, and now we have bands like This Providence, Classic Crime, [and] Scene Aesthetic, as well as the indie stuff going on like The Head and The Heart, Fences–
Rachel: Deathcab for Cutie!
Trevor: Absolutely. We love Seattle and have a lot of people that love us there, but actually, our biggest followings are in Salt Lake City and Toronto, believe it or not.
Rachel: Yeah, it’s kind of crazy, but I’d say it’s helped over all.

He Is We got its start as an independent group and identifies as “indie pop.” How does signing to a major label affect your image?
Rachel: It hasn’t really affected it. They loved us for us. We made the record that we wanted to and are really proud of it.
Trevor: A bunch of guys in suits never sat us down, zapped our brains Men In Black-style, and told us our new names, new sound, new image–
Rachel: Or did they? Straight up Matrix style. We’ll never know. (laughter) No, but really…they liked what we were doing and wanted to team up.

What can you tell us about the new album?
Trevor: We worked with a bunch of awesome producers who have worked on records we really love. Dan Romer has done Ingrid Michaelson, Aaron Sprinkle has worked with Eisley and Acceptance, and Casey Bates did Portugal The Man and Gatsbys American Dream. They helped us learn a lot about writing good songs, and it sounds cheesy, but we learned a lot about ourselves, and I think that comes across on the record.
Rachel: The record is called My Forever, and I guess to add to what you said earlier, it is kind of my definition of love. Love isn’t just something for a moment or for a while for me…it’s forever. The album also pairs well with a “romcom” and pint of Ben & Jerry’s.

You just finished up a tour with The Rocket Summer. How was that?
Rachel: It is always so great to get on the road and hang out with our fans. It is even better when we get on the road and make new fans.
Trevor: And new friends! The whole Rocket Summer crew was awesome. We had a lot of fun. Gave them all sweet nicknames: Ace Bryvry (Bryce Avary), PanTara (Bryce’s wife) MegaSeth (guitar tech), Striker (sound guy). Definitely was an honor and a privilege to be out with them. It was acoustic. We’d love to do a full band tour with them sometime.

Are you relaxing now?
Rachel: (laughter) We never get time off. As soon as one tour ends we start practicing for another tour, or writing new songs.
Trevor: Of course, we’re taking a little holiday break, but we like to be working on getting better and better. Rachel is super into hip-hop, and we always read these interviews and those guys never slow down.
Rachel: Everyday I’m hustlin’! (laughter)
Trevor: Something like that.

What can we expect from He Is We in the future?
Rachel: Touring! I think we’ll be on the road the most of 2011. We truly can’t do this with out the fans. Being able to get out there, hang out, and become friends more than anything. Trevor will also be releasing a calendar with different cats and his collection of energy crystals.
Trevor: Energy Crystals? I wish. Available at mall kiosks around the country. I should really look into that. I think I would pull off a Young Tarzan calendar much better. Plus, I’m allergic to cats.

Last thoughts?
Rachel: Check out our music. Love it, hate it, feel free to email us whenever and let us know.
Trevor: Our email is heiswefans@gmail.com. We try and reply to every single email.
Rachel: I feel like I’m supposed to be inspirational now. Follow your heart!
Trevor: Dreams come true.
Rachel: Never look back.
Trevor: Hard work pays off.
Rachel: Michael Jordan probably missed his first free throw.
Trevor: Are you sure?
Rachel: I said probably missed his first. That’s a safe assumption.
Trevor: I’m inspired! Thanks Hanna. We love you Verbicide!

The Superions take the fruitcake for this holiday season’s most adventurous and enjoyable Christmas record, Destination Christmas. Fronted by Fred Schneider (you may remember him from a little group called The B-52s), it’s impossible to imagine a more unique backdrop to your family gatherings around the Christmas tree, or perhaps more accurately, your wild parties the weekend before. Of course, could we expect anything less from the same comedic genius that gave us rock lobsters? Songs about the trials and tribulations of baking, dropping by Santa’s Disco, caroling around the “Crummy Christmas Tree” — yes, it’s just what I wished for this Christmas. As a lot of new age holiday records are generally hit-and-miss, often pretentious, and just plain (can I say it? In the Christmas spirit?) lame. The Superions make a point not to be taken seriously and are, as a result, as refreshing as a double shot in your hot cocoa.

I think, after centuries of tradition, maybe it’s time for Santa to loosen his belt a little and relax. Take a break and party on for Destination Christmas.

(Fanatic Records, 332 Bleecker St. #G7, New York, NY 10014)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download Verbicide Select Mixtape 8 featuring “Fruitcake” by The Superions

It is the debut full-length album release we’ve all been anticipating since 2008’s EP, Exquisite Corpse. The group consists of four gals (Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg, and Stella Mozgawa) from the flavorful LA scene. The Fool came together from a mess of trial and error, lots of post production, and experimentation taken to the limit (drummer, Mozgawa, was not even a solid part of the lineup until she was found in the final stages of demoing!). This chaotic style of recording crosses over into the final product leaving an open-ended, surprising, but steady track.

(Rough Trade, 66 Golborne Road, London, W10 5PS, UK)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Undertow” by Warpaint

The group, a duo made up of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall, set out on a mission to “write songs [they] would be psyched to listen to,” which is an inspired notion. You can feel the energy that went into these songs and you know they achieved their goal by how much fun Spunt and Randall seem to have had performing them.

The album twists its way through a windy road of perilous experimentation, but by the end, what you’re left with is the satisfaction that only a well rounded album can leave you with. While the album does have that “all over the place” vibe, it isn’t overdone and this amateur aspect seems to be working in favor of Everything in Between. While it may not be the album everyone’s going to be talking about, the compilation is a win for No Age and a definite step in the right direction; perhaps a developmental step and a preview of what’s to come.

(Sub Pop Records, 2013 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download Verbicide Select Mixtape Vol. 7, featuring “Glitter” by No Age

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “You’re a Target” by No Age

Glasser fetches a progressive crowd, her sound often described as a hypnotic Joni Mitchell, which I suppose isn’t too far off the mark with her natural, range-defying vocals paired with a throbbing chorus of backing tracks. It’s a direction taken by a fearless innovator.

Growing from musical roots (her parents both accomplished musicians), “Glasser” became the guise of Cameron Mesirow’s independent pursuits. Drifting in and out of high and low profile scenes, Glasser finally releases Ring as if solidly pronouncing her presence in the welcoming world.

(True Panther Sounds, 304 Hudson St. 7^th floor, New York, NY 10013)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Home” by Glasser

Given the premature age of the musical duo (after only just debuting at SXSW this past spring) I think that a lot can be expected from this group in terms of advancement, although there’s really not a whole lot to improve upon now (at least, in terms of good ‘ol rocking and rolling).

(self-released, no address provided)

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Frenemy” by The Wicked Tomorrow

There is a moodiness to When the Chorus Walks that is broody and contemplative. This is a theme that is echoed throughout with a dial tone-like consistency, obvious from the first set of repetitive notes. The songs are seasoned just right with the effects of guitar-based instrumentals which are placed over a quiet, consistent rhythm that can only be described as delicious.

The album, which is only seven tracks long, is still well over 35 minutes in its entirety. It is an ideal soundtrack for which to nod off into one’s own mind. The swirling, kaleidoscope of sound entices the imagination like a fairy tale. Brookhaven is the solo endeavor of Sonny James, When the Chorus Walks being the second album release by the group (following 2005’s Transitive Verses). This sophomore effort displays a cleaner collage of melancholic ambiance, more practiced, perhaps. Regardless, When the Chorus Walks is just the vehicle for a stormy weather “mellow out” session.

(Expel Records, PO Box 12353, Oakland, CA 94604)