Eddie From Ohio

Although Eddie from Ohio's name pertains only to percussionist Eddie Hartness (his girlfriend called him by that name as a reference to guitarist Ed from Ohio from the band fIREHOSE), the band has certainly found a willing audience here in the Buckeye State. But we're no different than the rest of the country. In their nearly decade-and-a-half existence, Eddie from Ohio has amassed a cultishly devoted and yet respectably sized audience across the nation, and they've done it on their own without the strings-attached bonuses that come with major label affiliations. Since forming in 1991 as a diversion for a quartet of college graduates from Virginia-area universities, EFO has turned into a model for the way indie bands should handle their careers, releasing over a dozen albums independently, including last fall's This Is Me. Within a Folk/ Bluegrass context, EFO offers a fairly broad range of musical expertise, somewhere in the Barenaked Ladies/Moxy Fruvous Folk/Rock-with-a-sense-of-humor groove. Vocalist Julie Murphy Wells has a voice that hangs on the line with the likes of Alanis Morissette and Natalie Merchant, while guitarist Robbie Shaefer, multi-instrumentalist Michael Clem and Hartness supply the musical foundation and contribute inspired harmonies and occasional frontman turns. EFO's accomplishments over the years are made more impressive by the fact that each member of the band takes a primary role in some facet of the band's business identity (including their Web site at efohio.com) which has to be factored into their scheduling along with writing, recording, touring and promotion. Amazingly, Wells and Shaefer have even found the time to conceive solo albums. While Dave Matthews was an object lesson for turning an indie band into a major label cash cow, Eddie from Ohio remains a shining example of how to get exactly what you need without selling your soul to the company store. (Brian Baker)

GitoGito Hustler with The Spunks, Super77 and The Gravity Car

Saturday · alchemize

One of the best things to come out of Japan -- apart from sushi, consumer electronics and animé -- is the music. Japanese culture takes bits and pieces from other cultures and makes those odds 'n' ends distinctly their own. And that's the case with "Japunk," the explosive, propulsive Japanese version of American and English Punk Rock. The Japanese don't muck around with so-called "Punk" acts like Blink 182 and Good Charlotte either. They go straight to the source and dissect bands like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and Iggy & the Stooges, infusing the results with hell-bent-for-leather energy. Since a lot of the Japunk bands sing entirely in Japanese, they grab you with hooks and insane drum beats rather than lyrical content. The songs stick a hook in your head and suddenly you find yourself doing laundry singing words you don't understand at all on a verbal level, but grasp completely in your rhythm center, where it really counts. When the songs are performed by hyper-cute, all-girl bands like GitoGito Hustler, so much the better. The quartet hails from Kyoto by way of Tokyo and aren't the "Hello Kitties" you might expect. GitoGito formed back in 1995 and started their own label called Candy Poison in 2002. Their Cincinnati stop is a warm up for two SXSW showcases this month, one of which is the very popular "Rising Sun/Japan Nite." GitoGito rocks -- in matching outfits, no less -- and rocks hard, but that doesn't mean that they can't utterly charm you with a Pop number, like their candy-coated (but not nauseating) song "Wonderful." They can also make your heart race with bounce-off-the-walls tunes like "Hyper," which recalls early Go-Go's crossed with someone who severely needs a dose of Ritalin ... or at least less sugar in their diet. As the GitoGito girls eloquently put it: "Please listen to the music of GitoGito Hustler. Everyone will become a very fortunate feeling." (Dale Johnson)

The Queers with Black Tie Bombers and Groovie Ghoulies

GitoGito Hustler

Saturday · Radio Down

For the past two decades, no band has manifested the Rock philosophy of "stay young and stupid forever" more than The Queers. The New Hampshire trio has been perfecting the art of Punk juvenilia (as influenced by no less than The Ramones, Black Flag and The Beach Boys) since their inception in 1982 under the direction of Joe King. The first Queers singles were actually King working alone; it wasn't until the late '80s that he met drummer Hugh O'Neill and, shortly thereafter, bassist B-Face and decided to form a real band under the banner he had created for himself years before. The Queers' first album, Grow Up, came out on a small English label that went toes up with only 1,000 copies in circulation. King sent one of the only copies of the album he owned to Screeching Weasel frontman Ben Weasel, who promptly connected with Lookout! Records honcho Larry Livermore and insisted he sign the band. The Queers' first album for Lookout! was the un-PC titled Love Songs for the Retarded, produced by Weasel, in 1993. For the next several years, The Queers managed to push out nearly an album a year until O'Neill was diagnosed with brain cancer in the late '90s, forcing his departure from the band (he passed away in January 1999). B-Face left to join Groovie Ghoulies in 1998, leaving King to work on The Queers' debut for Hopeless Records, Punk Rock Confidential, with a rotating cast. Since then, King has remained busy, with a subsequent live album and several new studio works, including Pleasant Dreams in 2002 and a split CD with Italian Punk band Manges entitled Acid Beaters in 2003. It is an amazing accomplishment and to Joe King's eternal credit that he's managed to consistently maintain The Queers as one of the world's most blissfully and purposefully dumb-ass Punk bands of all time. (BB)