B. Hamilton: Other Lives of Magic and Wonder and Whatever

Oakland lo-fi garage rock duo B. Hamilton think outside the box on their new EP Other Lives of Magic and Wonder and Whatever. They included a cover of Wand'rin' Star and wrote a song inspired by Tyler Wagner. They try to get away from the usual fare, without foregoing catchy melodies and danceable back beats.

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Parks' at ease vocal delivery is in full force in I Bought a Lottery Ticket, sounding like a cross between Gerry Rafferty and Jim White. Drummer Raj laid down a twisted groove for Kyle Thinks a lot of Very Cool Thoughts. The duo enlisted the help of Joel Robinow for a bit of piano and singer Rosie Steffy, who sprinkled a couple of choice notes on top of Rhododendrons and Daisies.

B. Hamilton: Everything I Own is Broken

Oakland trio B. Hamilton are into dirty blues garage rock, with a touch of shoegaze and psychedelica. Their album Everything I Own is Broken sounds like the MC5 rhythm section making love to the Black Keys. Singer Ryan Christopher Parks has the sandpapered voice that is tailor-made for noise pop at its finest. It is a safe bet to assume that drummer Bill Crowley and bass player Andrew Macy have worn out their copies of The Stooges' LPs.

Surpisingly melodic underneath all the bravado this band taps into the darker niches of classic rock and guitar loving indie acts that like to push their amps and shit to the limit. Stand-out track Miss Carolina is augmented with a great bottleneck guitar on top of the in-your-face kick drum. It's not all loud as fuck. Oakland and Anaheim (Ain't Divided by the 5 Tonight) is a solo acoustic showcase for Parks, singing about youngsters that have been gunned down by the police.

The mastering skills of Matthew Tammariello preserved the bleeding and leakage, and are only murky when the song requires it. Hillary Overberg (violins), Caleb Nichols (bass), Erika Pipkin (Wurlitzer) found their way into the core of the trio, without sounding out of place.

B. Hamilton:
Bill Crowley: drums
Andrew Macy: bass
Ryan Christopher Parks: vocals, guitar

Everything I Own is Broken is released on Parks and Records. Full stream on Bandcamp.

Tracks:

1. Me and Margaret Counting Countdowns
2. Miss Carolina
3. Gold Tooth
4. Between the Gutters and The Ballrooms
5. Outside a Hexagram
6. Everything I Own is Broken
7. Turn Out the Lights
8. Dolltime (for Swans and Bulldozers)
9. Now or Eventually
10. On Borrowed Time
11. Oakland and Anaheim (Ain't Divided by the 5 Tonight)
12. Everything I Own is Broken (Fixing Fucked-Up Shit Version)

Live dates:

• 05/18 Uptown Nightclub, Oakland, CA
• 08/09 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA

» B. Hamilton on Facebook