El Boxeo

Now, I love Petra Haden as much as the next guy and i have a lot of respect for Sophie Trudeau from GY!BE, but Lisa Norton of Livonia, Michigan's El Boxeo is queen of the metaphorical violin mountain in my book. Along with brother/bassist Zach Norton and drummer Danny Sperry, El Boxeo play some of the most unique post-rock(yes, post-rock, but hear me out, these guys are good) I have yet to hear mainly because, like fellow post-rockers Out Hud, El Boxeo manage to make their intrumental melodies incredibly dancable. This comes as no surprise though when you consider how ridiculously wide and varried the post rock genre really is. The first thing you may notice about El Boxeo is that they have no guitarist, which also sets their sound apart from many other bands as well.

Speaking of their sound, their Myspace lists influences like Fugazi, the Cure, Radiohead and Modest Mouse, however, the hardly sound like any of those bands. They are however, very... dark. But they allow a little light every now and then in the form of Lisa Norton's breathy angelic voice. However, as many of you know, playing violin and singing do not go very well together, and while she definitely doesn't fail as a vocalist, her bowing is much more valued as it makes music so much more interesting. "Devotion" is definitely my favorite out of these songs. It starts out with a bouncy rolling bassline and quick poppy drums and then the violin falls in and the song takes off, rising and falling, until it ends with a chaotic wash of cymbals and fiddle-like violin bowing. The band have several releases on one of my favorite labels, Suburban Sprawl Music, and are currently playing alot and trying to have a TON of FUN all the time, they say.

MP3s:
Devotion
New Science
Venture to the Black Lodge

Stumble It!