The Need's self-titled debut may not be billed as such, but it might as well be considered a CD compilation of the Olympia, Washington-based duo's early singles. Yet while many of the album's 9 sci-fi tracks were previously available on vinyl-only releases by labels such as Kill Rock Stars and Outpunk, having them all on one CD is definitely an easier way to digest the band's quirky and catchy art-punk. And the Need are nothing if not quirky: full of chaotic time changes, carnival-styled dementia, almost surreal sexuality ("Rim Me Isabella"), their songs teem with operatic vocals, guitars, drums, organs, crying babies and alarm clocks. So while it seems everyone is saying it's all been done before, queer provocateurs
Rachel Carns (ex-
Kicking Giant) and
Radio Sloan have recorded an experimental punk clickety clack that sounds like nothing else.