Blunt Mechanic

Add Date: April 20

Artist: Blunt Mechanic

Album: World Record

Label: Barsuk

Genre: Rock

Comments: From the creepy Nickelodeon cover art, I didn't quite expect such a fine collection of riff-heavy lo-fi rock. Blunt Mechanic is the latest moniker of King of Like Spitting's Ben Barnett, who spends his days as music director at Seattle's Paul Green School of Rock. (I'm resisting the Jack Black jokes...)

World Record is electric and fuzzy, wise beyond its years, and another fine addition to the Barsuk catalog (which, of course, already includes Mates of State, Ra Ra Riot, and once Death Cab), Blunt Mechanic sounds kind of like Pavement, but in a not-ripping-them-off sort of way. "Is or Isn't All the Same" is a winner.