Some six-odd years ago, a few guys from Iowa started playing around in a basement. With old reel-to-reels and broken PA’s littering the floor, they struggled to eek out some kind of fun from the ruins of their failed schooling, lack of beer money, and large collection of Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell records. The result was The Multiple Cat. Things went well, with the group playing to about fifteen adolescent boys and a pie-eyed drunk with a rolled-up bandanna around his head. They howled during the breakdowns in “A Microphone and a Starter Jacket,” they conjured the ghost of Ian Curtis (briefly) during “For Bernard.” They made a late-coming mother of one of the boys cry with “It’s Your Song.” A circuit blew. The kids sipped their pop. Now, in the spring of 2001, The Multiple Cat still hunkers in a basement. 3/4 of a new band, they practice material culled from their latest album, “The Golden Apple Hits.” A conglomeration (as always) of material from the last few years of recording here and there, this record finds the Cat bouncing around their genre, from show-tunes to slow tunes, from simple pop to art-rock drama. Undefinable to some, and still hopelessly obscure after eight releases, they know the meaning of nonchalance, of the stubborn side of rock, and the value of a well-placed mic.

Moon Jr. is a four piece indie rock band from Missouri. Although they hail from a small town, they do not have a small sound. Their music combines elements of rock, psychadelia, dance pop, and blues. With intelligent melodies, tight harmonies, heavy groove, and an electric energy, Moon Jr. is capable of captivating listeners of nearly any genre.

Charlatan is the solo project of Chicago native, Omar Rashan. Writing began in 2011 and the repertoire of tunes continues to grow since. Cultivating elements of electronic beats, buzzing synthesizers, catapulted into blaring guitars dripping in reverb, Omar’s vocals are delightfully dolloped into the mix, resulting in a poppy, yet textural harmony.