Jookabox

Jookabox's sparse, harsh sleaze sounds at first more electronic than it really is; underneath mastermind David Adamson’s jerky beats and synthetic textures lies a squirming nest of organic weirdness. As if to prove that, last year's Dead Zone Boys features the track "You Cried Me," two and a half minutes of frantic, acoustic strumming and very human harmonies that stand in stark contrast to the stray oscillations of 2008's Ropechain. Despite dropping the senile "Grampall" from its name, the band remains slathered with a dementia as marked as that of early Beck or even shock-treatment-era Roky Erickson. Whatever you do, don’t try dancing to it; at best, you’ll dislocate your hip, at worst, your conception of time and space.

Updated 05/13/2010