A clever short film set to the tune of the Jesus Lizard’s “Destroy Before Reading” song from 1994’s “Down” LP. The short is done by Ben Herreid and starring Danny Dikel, Ben Herreid and me in a cameo.
More sketch comedy from the great white north (Minnesota…or St. Cloud to be more exact). A hodgepodge of various sketches we did back in the late summer, notice the changing hair styles throughout. This episode is a little more off-beat, with more quirk and less belly laugh. We’re very proud of the material and it’s looking like we’ll easily have done six episodes by the time the one-year anniversary rolls around at the end of May.
So, sit back and enjoy the nipples, pain, cruelty and hilarity of “Sparkle Picnic: Pony Show.”
She Is So Beautiful / She Is So Blonde is the bedroom folk side-project for Elliott Kozel, the lead-singer and guitarist for Madison indie rock act Sleeping In The Aviary.
Taking an abrupt departure from SITA, a typically loud, rocking, punk-ish group, Kozel has crafted a quiet and intimate snapshot of his home recordings over the last four years.
“Days” starts off the album, setting the tone for what’s to come. It’s slightly country, entirely folky and a hundred percent ramblin’ man. Kozel’s voice draws up a happy, yet exhausted narrator.
“Played Your Guitar” eases the listener into a lulling, dreamy finger-plucking fantasy that’s drawn out and eerie, while maintaining something beautiful and ominous. It comes off as something that could have come from the king of the swamp ballads himself, Ray Raposa of the Castanets. Kozel’s love for the group Califone and their lo-fi sound plays out in spades on this and other tracks. The weary and dreamy style continues throughout the 11 songs on the self-titled debut.
The album was released by the Science of Sound record label based out of Madison. Science of Sound is also home to Sleeping in the Aviary and Charlemange and serves as a nice outlet for the local talent trudging through the Midwest indie scene.
Kozel has no plans to tour behind SISB/SISB, but he’s keeping busy with a variety of other projects. In addition to a new SITA album planned for ‘08, Kozel is writing all the time. The Lark Voorhies is his latest experiment, a successful and exciting, loud rock translation of Saved By The Bell episodes put to music. Tracks like “The Blond Tom Cruise” and “So Excited So Scared” were both inspired by and directly quote class episodes of the classic Saturday Morning children’s sitcom. Kozel is also working with Michael from SITA, who is crafting a Kinks style solo album, though Michael has yet to settle on a band name.
To hear a few tracks from SISB/SISB, log onto myspace.com/sheissobeautifulsheissoblonde and if you dig a little, you’ll find quite a few notable acts from the upper Midwest.
Originally published in the St. Cloud Times on 01-17-08.