Localized The Alpha Centauri and Michael Yonkers With The Blind Shake

The Alpha Centauri, Lava Rocks
(Self-released)

The Alpha Centauri lives up to its solar-system-sized sonic aspirations on this sophomore release, an over-the-top prog-rock epic that arrives on the local scene six years after its well-received debut. Sumptuous string and brass arrangements are further swaddled by woozy synthesizers on much of the disc, but a hyperactive rhythm section anchored by ace drummer Luke Anderson (also skinsman for the likes of Chris Koza and Haley Bonar) keeps the music from feeling bloated. Lava Rocks occasionally suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, which is to be expected on a disc this ambitious, and of a band with two lead singer-songwriters. (Founding frontman Lance Conrad now has a female foil in new addition Linnea Mohn of Coach Said Not To.) But whether they’re favoring the Mohn-led electro-funk theatrics of “Electrostatic” or Conrad’s more ethereal space-rock leanings on tracks like the Radiohead-indebted “With Respect To Landscapes,” The Alpha Centauri's sound is vibrant and distinctive. 

Grade: A-
Upcoming shows: July 24, Sauce Spirits & Soundbar; Aug. 22, 7th Street Entry

Michael Yonkers With The Blind Shake, Cold Town / Soft Zodiac
(Learning Curve Records)

St. Paul power trio The Blind Shake was already a pretty good band before it hooked up with Michael Yonkers, the psychedelic guitarist whose long-buried 1968 debut, Microminiature Love, was finally released in 2003 by Sub Pop, giving him a long overdue cult renaissance. The combination of Yonkers and his much younger brethren has been electrifying, both on last year's Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons (with the Shake backing Yonkers), and again on the collaborative Cold Town / Soft Zodiac. Not even half an hour long, it packs more punch than many albums twice its length. The disc's double-sided nature is implied by the title, dividing the 13 songs into a set of eight Yonkers-led tracks and five with the trio alone. The intensity burns white-hot on both sides, though the dynamic shift between the sets is immediately apparent. Yonkers' swirling, adventurous riffs pull material like "Before" and "The New End" off into space, while the Blind Shake offers a more directly propulsive post-punk squall. But more important than the differences is the remarkable chemistry, maybe the clearest sign of which is how little the Blind Shake needed to alter its approach to give Yonkers room to roam. His sound fits like a precision-carved mechanism, and when Yonkers steps off, the guitars of brothers Jim and Mike Blaha step up, closing the gap with an airtight seal—and creating one of the local scene's best efforts of the year.

Grade: A-
Upcoming show: July 25, Grumpy's Downtown (Note: Yonkers' decades-long battle with a spinal injury recently forced him to announce his retirement from live performance. The Blind Shake will perform without him here.)

Michael Yonkers with the Blind Shake at the 2007 Heliotrope Festival: