Review: MEEMAW "Glass Elevator" (3 and 1/2 stars): The eight (mostly self-recorded) songs on local band Meemaw's art-punk gem Glass Elevator sound like someone slipped something psychoactive into Minor Threat's Coca-Cola, meshing old-school punk charge and tough-guy husk with lo-fi adventurism, trippy lyrics and a surprising dose of melody. The results are strikingly unique, but more importantly, they're incredibly catchy. Don't be surprised if you find yourself singing along to lyrics about bear traps, bald eagles and Lou Diamond Phillips by the second spin of their anthem "Cancer of Society." (The Tennessean)

Review: Summer is finally here. School’s out, obligations are at a minimum and everyone is ready to cut loose. Infinity Cat’s newest band MEEMAW couldn’t have picked a better time to release their debut album, Glass Elevator. MEEMAW has been around for a while now, winning over locals with their fast-paced garage punk rock, and they finally stepped up and recorded an album. Although Glass Elevator only contains eight tracks, MEEMAW doesn’t disappoint. In fact, I have never had an album revitalize my love of the Dirty South like Glass Elevator has. Each song is like a small anthem for the different aspects of life as a Southerner—red meat, smoking, sweet tea and shotguns. The album’s guttural roars and fuzzy guitars capture the adrenaline of the band’s notorious live performances perfectly and make you want to sucker punch whatever’s around just because. Glass Elevator’s scorching energy never lets up, but the abrupt conclusion of this all too short and sweet CD leaves you wanting more. Glass Elevator is only $5 and comes with a free 7" vinyl as an added bonus. So face it: if you live in Nashville, there’s really no reason not to own this album. Get the beer and light up the grill. MEEMAW has created the raucous, youthful soundtrack for the summer. You can listen to "Smoking in the Sun" from Glass Elevator above. Check out Infinitycat.com for how to purchase the full album (The Deli)

Album Of The Month: "Glory Holy" by The Mattoid. The guttural rumblings, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and whimsical chord progressions of Finnish musician Ville Kiviniemi have been captivating audiences here in the Tennessee for years. As The Mattoid, Kiviniemi employs a skillful cast of players from a handful of renowned local bands including Lambchop, Lone Official, Silver Jews and more. The Mattoid’s latest album The Glory Holy was released on Infinity Cat earlier this year. The Glory Holy's playful background vocals and straight-ahead, palm muted guitars leave the album somewhere between punk, lounge and novelty music. The Mattoid’s trademark vulgarity and irreverence are once again present on The Glory Holy, as is apparent on the track "Suicide," which, despite its seemingly sober subject matter, includes an awful lot of lighthearted chuckling. The track "Hey Dude" is a clear homage to Jimi Hendrix’s "Hey Joe," as it revolves around a disgruntled Inuit who is going to harpoon his old lady for "rubbing noses with another Eskimo man." If you’ve been lucky enough to see The Mattoid live, his ominous, caped appearance and growling throat singing no doubt left a serious impression. But if you’re unfamiliar with the Finnish freak-rock frontman, “The Glory Holy” is definitely a fitting place to start. You can purchase a copy at Infinity Cat’s website. (The Deli)

Review: When it comes to JEFF the Brotherhood and Nashville, there are two kinds of people: those that love their music and those who haven’t heard it yet. If you are in the former group, you most likely already own this album; if you belong to the latter, then stop reading this and go buy it right now. JEFF’s fast-paced blend of psychedelic garage rock has been waking up neighbors from surrounding basements for a few years now, and as a result a steady fan base has emerged. The Orrall brothers (Jake and Jamin) certainly seem to know what they’re doing--their last release, Castle Storm, received a positive response from practically everyone who heard it, and now they’re back with a new album, The Boys R Back in Town. JEFF’s songs are similar to a shot of whiskey. They’re short, they're sweet, and they hit hard. Or at least they were. Gone are the one to two minute bursts of quick bullet music in exchange for some extremely ambitious songwriting. On the brothers' new album, you’ll hear tracks that stretch out for five minutes or so. Withholding one or two tracks, that’s quite the departure from 2006’s Castle Storm. Fortunately, this is a welcome change. Though some of the tracks have been released before (many of them on the album’s pseudo-early-release cassette tape late last year) there is enough new stuff here to keep fans happy; not to mention you can finally hear their new songs on something other than a cassette player. From the epic fourteen-minute opener, "Ghost ride Th’ Whip to Berlin", which is seriously good enough to have an EP all to itself, to the "better than the original" cover of Devo’s "Screaming Banshee", the brothers' exceed expectations by leaps and bounds. There’s even a handful of whirlwind live performances of old favorites like "Nooo Sixties" at the end of the album to remind you how awesome their older songs still are. If you aren’t familiar with this band, trust me--now is the time to discover them. Though they’ll be playing shows on and off in town this summer, their touring schedule makes it much more sporadic, so catch them before it’s too late! (The Deli)

WIZARDZ: "What they’ve come up with is a dream catcher-adorned, muscle-toned mix of punk, classic rock and a little Southern working-class camp value thrown in for flavor. It’s quite possibly the perfect soundtrack to blare from your restored Camaro, speeding through a sunny afternoon in Smyrna while sporting an ironic handlebar mustache and matching trucker hat." - THE SPIN

MEEMAW: Edge of the Radar: Who to dig in ’08 from the Nashville underground. With the proper mix of pop hooks and grit, this co-ed trio had a bit of a coming-out party in the last few weeks of 2007. After months of playing shows exclusively in the basement of their East Nashville home, aptly dubbed Meemaw House, Meemaw eventually took their garage rock to other people’s garages, then finally an honest-to-goodness rock club. RIYL: Television, The Sonics, Black Lips.

From BEST OF NASHVILLE 2007: BEST SUMMER FLING: JEFF We were sorry to see Jake and Jamin Orrall leave for Chicago last January, but this summer, it was as if they’d never left. The brothers, otherwise known as JEFF, cropped up everywhere—they played houses, backyards and delivered a standout performance during Next Big Nashville. They released a cassette entitled The Boys R Back in Town that reminded us why we liked them so much in the first place. Opener “Ghostride Th’Whip to Berlin” is a 15-minute exercise in trance-y psychedelia and riffage. The tape is quirky and irreverent but, simply put, it rocks. Then there are those JEFF eyes. My God, those eyes—you just get lost in them for hours. They’re like tranquil oceans of calm. We don’t blame JEFF for leaving us again. We saw it coming—Jamin is back in Chicago for school while Jake is in New Zealand. Maybe next summer? Call us, JEFF—just call us. We miss you already. —MATT SULLIVAN

FROM NEXT BIG NASHVILLE 07: "It was a big drunken haze and it was hella attended. Infinity Cat showcased at The End, and Deluxin’ opened their set with a free-form, no wave-inspired number before spazzing out and setting a frenetic pace for the rest of the evening. The Valentines weren’t nearly as amped up, but made up for lost energy with quirky, cutesy pop, complete with dinky drum machines, rudimentary playing and baby-talk vocals.

It served well to transition into Cake Bake Betty’s set, which was a bizarre happening, rife with eerie backing vocals and chanting—but that’s all in the Infinity Cat instruction booklet. “Oklahoma City,” played with a full band, was a shining highlight. Recently relocated to Brooklyn from Nashville, Cake Bake Betty is primarily the vehicle of Lindsay Powell. Consisting largely of a piano and Powell’s gorgeous voice, Cake Bake Betty, along with JEFF and Be Your Own Pet, make up the core of local label Infinity Cat’s roster. Alternating between cute and creepy, Powell’s lyrics to last year’s Songs About Teeth tackle everything from monsters to babies to cannibalism, often juxtaposed against whimsical keyboard flourishes that occasionally drift into more experimental territory. The approach lends itself to the obvious Tori Amos comparisons, but rather than focus exclusively on melodrama, Powell’s songwriting maintains a strong undercurrent of playfulness.

JEFF rounded out the night with all the trancy repetitive jam stuff that makes us love JEFF. The crowd worked up as heavy a sweat as the band, thanks to the quasi-mosh pit that endured for the majority of the set. Yes, it was the indie rocker version of a mosh pit, so it was a little timid, but amusing all the same, and their heavy, A.D.D. rock ’n’ roll left nothing but a trail of sweat and resin behind them.

Alongside Whirlwind Heat member Brad Holland, Powell and the Orrall brothers also comprise the riff-oriented, ’70s prog rock-influenced and fantastically named Skyblazer. Skyblazer’s heavy Hawkwind and Sabbath-inspired psychedelia tribal, squelchy psychedelia. They easily out-Hawkwinded Eaglebreeze’s opening night set of long, heavy psychedelic prog riffs.

The bands really brought their A-game. When it was time to rock, you rocked. When it was time to charm, you charmed. No more shows that feel like we’re were watching you practice at your parents’ house. No, this time, you knew you had a captive audience, and you made it count. And it was a sweet victory to see Turncoats, Wax Fang, The Privates, The Clutters, Save Macauley, Kindergarten Circus and tons more cranking out the awesome when it mattered. Oh, and sorry, haters, but JEFF’s colon-vibrating set of dirty, dirty rock jams shook it up enough to spark an actual, honest-to-god mosh pit at The End Friday night. That’s right. A mosh pit. In Nashville!" (Nasville Scene) (Ed. note: The Mattoid brought the Partytime as only they can, whipping the packed crowd into a frenzy!)

SKYBLAZER: SKYBLAZER, who played their second show Friday at the Springwater, consist of JAKE and JAMIN ORRALL on guitar and drums and Cake Bake Betty singer/keyboardist LINDSAY POWELL on keys and backing vocals. But this wasn’t just a CBB show with the JEFF boys sitting in, but four new songs, including the proggy closer “Young Squire Parts I, II and III,” that made us long for a flagon of mead. It’s rare to see a group of musicians so bursting with ideas that they need to start new bands to explore them, but here it’s definitely the case. Skyblazer pounded out riff-heavy rock, full of syncopated guitar and keyboard lines that would make bands like Black Mountain and Pearls & Brass do a spit-take. One inebriated attendee shouted, “You’re battling The Melvins—and winning!” referring to the sold out Exit/In show down the street. -NASHVILLE SCENE