The Overcast believes in music, passion and action. Interviews, reviews and features on unsigned bands and art-related social causes. http://www.theovercast.net http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/monkeyjacket-fourtwentythree.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/monkeyjacket-fourtwentythree.shtml Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:01:00 MDT Monkey Jacket have always been ones for experimentation, and if there's really a label that could describe all of their songs (or every part of one song, for that matter), it's "unpredictable." Playing out like some unorthodox concoction of switchblade rhythms, sinister synth and distortion, and a bass backbone like lightning, Four Twenty Three is obviously the product of surrealist mad scientist brilliance. http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/gunbunny-thewhitecity.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/gunbunny-thewhitecity.shtml Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:01:00 MDT Relying on the classic four-piece set-up, familiar song structures, and simple production, you might think you can come into Gunbunny's debut EP The White City having heard it all before. But it's this same bare simplicity that brings attention to the band's creative, mad scientist songwriting: twisting bass lines, smart-alecky rhythms, unhinged vocals, and some wonderfully warped understanding of how to put it all together. http://www.theovercast.net/action/criticalexposure.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/action/criticalexposure.shtml Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:01:00 MDT Critical Exposure combines journalism, art, and community organizing by arming students around the country with the cameras and training to capture "the best and worst" within their school systems. http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/heymarseilles-totravelsandtrunks.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/heymarseilles-totravelsandtrunks.shtml Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:01:00 MDT Hey Marseilles fittingly refers to their seven-person outfit as "folkestra," featuring a trumpet, accordion, viola, the occasional series of hand claps, and so on and so forth. Despite their bulky roster, their full-length debut To Travels and Trunks is a most graceful journal of passages far and hearts longing, letters written in cursive over long drives and sea rides. http://www.theovercast.net/interviews/theheyday20080826.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/interviews/theheyday20080826.shtml Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:01:00 MDT "I've always just kind of felt that music in general, any type of music, is more a human need than a hobby." (with Randy Ramirez) http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/manplus-thehungariansuicidesongbook.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/manplus-thehungariansuicidesongbook.shtml Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:01:00 MDT So far this year, I've noticed two recurring themes in the albums reviewed on this site: 1) A sort of sonic irony, in which the band's sound plays traitor to the lyrics' spoken emotions, and 2) Gender ambiguity. The Hungarian Suicide Songbook, the third release by Seattle's Man Plus, is just continuing those trends. http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/pic-elnovahustle.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/pic-elnovahustle.shtml Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:01:00 MDT P.I.C. kicks up their sound with a Latin sense of style set to piano and bass you'd tip your hat to, and they rip it up with bold horn swank. They press together as many flavors as you'd find in NYC, the city they call home, and eventually end up with something sly, something retro, something with serious groove. http://www.theovercast.net/interviews/mattandisom20080531.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/interviews/mattandisom20080531.shtml Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:01:00 MDT "It's a part of you and it's what you're thinking. It's why people write books. Art is such a different language of describing who you are." http://www.theovercast.net/action/yellowbirdproject.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/action/yellowbirdproject.shtml Wed, 28 May 2008 00:01:00 MDT Yellow Bird Project takes sweet indie bands (for PR value), has them design stylish t-shirts (for hipster value) and sells them to raise money for various charities (for makes-you-feel-all-good-inside value). http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/cloverleaf-spectrum.shtml http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/cloverleaf-spectrum.shtml Fri, 23 May 2008 00:01:00 MDT Cloverleaf experimented like an adolescent with hairstyles on their first album, juking between acoustic, piano pop and some sort of avant-garde poetry recitation. On this EP, the band finally finds its voice without cracking.