Throw Me The Statue

Seattle’s Scott Reitherman began releasing home-pressed discs of droney, lo-fi indie rock in 2004, but it wasn’t until he pieced together an album’s worth of his Neutral Milk Hotel-meets-Eric’s Trip songs that Throw Me The Statue became a common exclamation outside of the Indiana Jones oeuvre. TMTS' 2007 debut Moonbeams echoes Jeff Mangum's work in its collision of home-recording technique and grandiose intent (brass, guitars, drum machines, multi-tracked harmonies), snaring the attention of in-vogue label Secretly Canadian, which re-released it the next year. The new Creaturesque, full of buzzing guitars and Reitherman's moody, sweetly sighed vocals, is a big step forward. TMTS now feels like a full-fledged band and not just a means to fleshing out Reitherman's songwriting, which itself has grown more complex and solid without losing its quirky appeal.

Updated 08/11/2009