Entheos' sophomore EP, 'Sense,' was recorded by a slew of talented sound engineers. Sister-and-brother Alison and Carl Shepard share vocals, pushing out soaring angelic harmonies, altering leads. With more electric guitar and Justin Webb's drumming on this release, the overall feel is fuller and more intense than their previous work.   

It's a sticky Saturday afternoon in College Corner, Ohio, and four out of the five members of Grooveshire are sitting under a small canopy at Ohmstead, the neo-hippie music festival on the grounds of Hannon's Camp America. We discuss the band's new EP, 'American Son,' the centerpiece of their "Louisiana Bayou Grunge," a term stemming from Jacob Jones' sizzling slide guitar riffs.   

On their new CD, 'Permission to Land,' you can really hear the many different layers of the White Girls' sound. Bringing to mind Joy Division and The Stooges, with Captain Beefhart-type structuring and the upfront, impersonal delivery of bands like The Hot Snakes, the album is pure sonic danger.  

All four members of Krononauts wear glasses. True thinkers, they pause before speaking. See, they're worried. Outside of music, they work together. Closely. And revealing the intricacies of their jobs could have catastrophic results.  

Two guitarists in a band is fairly standard, and even two drummers has been done successfully. But two bassists? Now there’s something you don’t often see, unless you follow the exploits of Cletus Romp.   

Mike Oliva is smiling as he recalls a surreal evening in Atlanta. The Harlequins played there July 2 and, to their surprise, the club was sold out. The loving crowd even showered the band with comments like "Move to Atlanta!" and "What the fuck are you doing in Cincinnati?"   

Dirty, sexy, seedy. And without a doubt kickin'. A souped-up Beta Band. LCD Soundsystem with a li'l bit of Modest Mouse. High energy, this music's got "late late night trouble," dark rooms, weird lighting and couch surfing written all over it.  

Q: What did the drummer say just before he was fired? A: Let's try one of my songs. Clearly that old joke has never applied to Rick Powell ("Bam" to his friends, and that's just about everybody), one of the busiest and most musical drummers in the local music scene.  

Drive carefully down narrow, tricky River Road. Twenty minutes from downtown, Sayler Park magically appears. A vividly green place lost in the deep southwest corner of Cincinnati, it's a hidden artistic community with a small-town, old-time feel. Every second Saturday of the month from June through September, Nelson Sayler Memorial Park holds rich concerts backed by local artists; this week's lineup features A Day Late, Jane Andra and entheos.  

State Song's success is based on the idea of three members who feed off one another's chemistry, energy and intensity. What makes the band sound bigger than life, however, is the members' willingness to burn slowly, to embrace dynamics, to use a sampler and a keyboard. To maximize the sonic potential is the main goal.  

When I step into Reality Tuesdays, a Covington coffee joint, I scan the room for "band signs" — tattoos, Chucks, skate shoes, black clothes, wrecked hair or wicked T-shirts, the usual dead giveaways. Then I see two guys huddling in a booth — early twenties, whispering about sound systems. Bingo. Watson Park.   

For the better part of the last decade, Brian Olive has been someone's guitarist — sometimes as Oliver Henry or Henry Oliver — from post-high school outfits to his stints with The Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers. When the time finally came for Olive to blaze a solo trail, he had plenty of experience to draw on when considering what he wanted to accomplish as a solo artist.  

When vocalist Jack Novak joined guitarist Colin Finch and drummer John Bertke three years ago, he brought change with him — a change in philosophy and musical direction away from the straight Hip Hop/ Funk that defined their initial group, Raze.   

A good band reflects its collective influences, a great band transcends them. Denim Road folds its members’ long musical histories into a hybridized synthesis of sounds they love and sounds they’ve already made. As a result, the sextet’s eponymous debut exudes a soulful Pop vibe that is comfortably, classically familiar, like an album you’ve heard a hundred times the first time through.  

Kinda dark. Kinda a sweet relief. Perspective is tricky. And for Jason Wells of for algernon, although his sound veers toward soothing, then leans into the moody side, a focused, optimistic, artistic view is key.