The Lacking Permanence

The Ghoulies from Perth, Australia look like regular blokes caught out grocery shopping, but the sound they make is an urgent, insistent punk rock howl with a frenetic keyboard bubbling through.

The original “Crimson and Clover” was Tommy James and the Shondells' biggest hit, but it was also one of the first songs to be recorded on 16 track equipment, and is a textbook example on the use (or overuse) of rhythmic tremolo. Pom Pom Squad does a good job of channeling the song's sweet yet feral vibe.

I will let you in on a secret weakness: a band like The Rare Occasions can seize control of my playlist just by showing up with a surplus of pop hooks and grade AAA harmonies.

Australian Ben Lee broke through as the singer for the teen outfit Noise Addict, but has since made quite a solo career for himself. He kicks off this edition of Version Control — all covers, all night long.

The Weatherman returns and takes prominence on this latest sound art foray, taking on the intersection of the surveillance apparatus and our insatiable need to have machines listening for our latest whim.

If you love Neil Young as much as Scott McCaughey does, you’ll be able to grin at yourself on recognizing each and every one of these deep, deep cuts, delivered in McCaughey’s enthusiastic yelp rather than Young’s grizzled whine.

This collection of instrumentals is bewildering in its variety and intent, miniature symphonies with the tinkling plunk of a toy orchestra and a sharp whiff of sulfur from a struck match.

A heady brew of oscillations, arpeggios, and other pulsing throbbing sounds set against layered vocal harmonies that bring to mind multiple participants in a spacewalk aggregating to form a conga line.

Creating minimalist compositions out of broken loops, glitched samples, and clearly electronic sounds is a dangerous path to tread, balanced between chaos and monotony, and one Atom™ walks quite easily.

They couldn’t figure out why they kept returning. At first, the hookah lounge was a noxious hangout, bearable only for the crushed-on bartender. Then, suspicion of nicotine addiction. Finally, the realization that it was the music on the jukebox.