In service of this blog I have found myself spending a lot of time traipsing through band camp. There is plenty of good and bad music populating that site, undiscovered music is often undiscovered for a reason. Then again, every once in a while you come across something that really speaks to you.

The band that caught my eye this week was one by the name of “Lovers Turn To Monsters”. Their odd kind of awesome handle was taken from the song “Untitled”  by Bright Eye’s. Untitled  is about the inherent contradictory nature of romantic relationships and the line goes “Lovers turn into monsters at the loss of affection almost like it was the affection that kept them from being monsters”.

There is quite a bit to like about LTTM, here’s a list:

1)     The band is a band slash guy. I like that. There something humble and mysterious about a solo act with a bands name (Mountain Goats, Bon Iver, Iron and Wine). I think part of the reason I have always had a hard time getting into the Andrew Birds and Ray Lamontagnes of the world is the implied lack of imagination and vanity that comes with using your full name as a your band name.

2)     The music is without pretention. The songs are delicate and simple and appear to be cranked out on the spot. This can lead to the occasional swing and a miss, but for the most part it gives the songs a feeling of spontaneity and discovery, as if you were in the room as it was created.

3)     The kid is prolific. He records and posts a lot and there’s enough music on his page that you can get a full picture of his talents. He even has a 35 song album of covers.

4)     It’s low-fi in a good way. LTTM often records onto analog tapes, which gives his music a gritty second hand quality. Unlike last week’s band The Airlooms who have a lot to love about them, but could unquestionably benefit from a little time in a real studio LTTM thrives in the medium he has chosen. He uses the method as an instrument rather than an obstacle.

5)     Finally, as serious and emotional as his songs can be LTTM still manages to incorporate dashes of nerd humor in his work, for example he has a side project by the name of Hank Scorpio (Albert Brooks’ pitch perfect bond villain on the Simpsons)  and his 8^th release “Toby the Ghost” appears to be a tongue-in-cheek tip-of-the-cap to the Paranormal Activity series.

Over all LTTM is for a very specific demographic. If you’re the kind of person that would be excited about an  acoustic Save’s the Day  album full of really low-fi Ben Lee covers, then I can’t recommend this band more highly.  If that last sentence confused and scared you, you might want to sit this one out.

The internet is overflowing with people giving their opinion on music, and unfortunately it’s all the same music. Every music blog on the planet wants to tell you their thoughts on the new Shins and Jack White albums. That’s not what I want to do here.

What I want to do in these Sunday Music Corners is one of two things.

Thing one: Shine a light on music I love (old and new), that people might be unaware of (Promise Ring, Mike Doughty, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone)

Thing two: Share music that I have happened upon and really like (Cloud Nothings, Volcano, I’m still excited!!).

So far I’ve done a better job with the first than the second.  So, I have modified my mission. I’m going to be proactive. I’m going to try to find new, unsigned bands that no one is talking about and start talking about them.  The bands have to meet 3 criteria:

1)      Their music can be found on bandcamp

2)      They have to have fewer than 100 likes on their bandcamp page

3)      The music must have been made in the past year

These new post will be called Sunday Music Corner (Bandcamp Edition) and I will do them as often as time allows.

This week I would like to point you in the direction of a pretty good little band by the name of The Airlooms. This mysterious Kent Ohio group is hard to pin down (literally I couldn’t even find a picture).  Their music is very low-fi, which makes the collection of catchy songs on their latest EP Deadweight Revision all the more charming. The Ep is a bit scattered and  reminds me of everything from The Replacements to My Morning Jacket to the fairly obscure Canadian/ Hardcore / Emo outfit Grade.

Overall, The Airlooms make the kind of honest, sloppy, simple, post grunge music that I really like.  Deadweight Revision EP has it’s lower points, but if you like raw, heartfelt, indie rock and you don’t mind it a bit messy then these are your guys.

My favorite is the title track, but it’s free so you might as well check out the whole thing.