The Illustrated - Alphabaggage

Alphabaggage, the debut album for three piece garage band The Illustrated, is incredibly diverse. Loud and raw Sonic Youth-esque indie rock leads to avant-garde instrumentals then to folk/country ballads; this album has a little bit of everything. After a 40-second intro of noise, cheering and drum rolls, the first three tracks are standard hard rock/post-punk. “The Zahir” sounds like a new demo track for My Bloody Valentine with its spoken/singing vocals and simple guitar riffs. However, the track that stands out on this album is undoubtedly “A Torch Is Lit,” an old-school country/blues rock ballad which is, inevitably, slightly cheesy but still a lot of fun.

It’s hard to classify it as anything other than “rock” since it covers so much ground, but that is the album’s strength. The Illustrated are a band to watch, and I’m eagerly anticipating their next album, Betageist.

The Illustrated - Racecar

The Illustrated - Monsters Awake!

The Illustrated - Sean Mower

Buy Alphabaggage here

Visit The Illustrated on Myspace here