Grave Babies

Many people will probably stamp this band with the “lo-fi garage” label or something equally inaccurate. But while Grave Babies’ sometimes raw recordings and live performances are reminiscent of Siltbreeze artists like Eat Skull, the group’s melancholic atmospheres are more akin to some bizarre hybrid of Sonic Youth and 154-era Wire. That is, if those bands emphasized a paradoxical blend of resigned nihilism and nervy bursts of energy over any kind of traditional musicianship while sharing a penchant for the kind of unconventional pop song that makes some people love the Smiths and the Cure and others hate them. Ultimately, Grave Babies sounds like Richard H. Kirk and Helios Creed reluctantly started a band together — you know, to remind people that sometimes music seems dark because it’s not trying to cater to conditioned expectations.