Know how the White House issues those “Talking Points” for the press every week? I think they’re doing it for music sites now too. Something must have gone out this week that said:

UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR ASS SHIPPED DOWN TO GUANTANAMO, WE SUGGEST YOU POST THE FOLLOWING:

1. OMG, JEFF MANGUM POSTED ON A BULLETIN BOARD!

2. OMG, SLEATER-KINNEY BROKE UP!

3. OMG, HAVE YOU HEARD THAT GIRL TALK ALBUM?! (Whoops - guilty).

Coming soon: Time Magazine Top Story - Jeff Mangum Seen In Cafe, Eating Sandwich! Film At Eleven!

Anyway…

Know what I was thinking? How sometimes, the best time you can hear a band is when they’re still totally fresh, just a little bit raw, like the little baby birdy what just cracked out the egg (but with an amp). Sure, the quality might be a little lo-er than lo-fi, but still, if you listen, you can still catch that little spark…

Antarctica Takes It are from Santa Cruz, CA, and I just got their lovingly-handmade-packaged homebrewed album, The Penguin League. This is dance and sing, hug your friends, march around, kiss the girl, clap your hands (and say yeah) kind of music. I once referred to Richmond, VA’s Great White Jenkins as “A Jake-Legged, Brokedown, Marching Symphony,” and I’m gonna christen Antarctica Takes It “A Jake-Legged, Brokedown, Marching Symphony…On Uppers.”

::: Antarctica Takes It - Circuits :::

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world (er, kinda, I think (C+ in Geography)), we’ve got London’s Screaming Tea Party.

Frenetic and sweaty here, as opposed to exuberant, but good shit, yeah. I have to thank my good friends over at Stolen for introducing me to this “Half Tokyo, Half Italian” band.

::: Screaming Tea Party - Between Air and Air :::

And with that, we’re off. Meet you back here on July 5th, with a new mix (July banner artist, I hope you’re reading this), and, god willing, a couple crates of CBR 005 to get out to you guys.