Serene Dominic

Special for the Republic | azcentral.com

You don't like rules. I don't like rules. We probably don't even dislike the same rules and yet we are united in our disdain of them. Rules seem to exist for one reason -- to make someone else happy. So I'm sure someone will be very unhappy indeed with this week's column since it obliterates every parameter I set for myself since beginning this column on local Phoenix music many months ago.

Get ready haters, because this week we will break all these rules:

a) We'll be featuring music released locally but not recorded in these area codes: 480, 602, 520, 623, and 928.

b) We will mention artists who are world famous and do not need the extra boost this column will provide to their careers.

c) We will also include self-deprecating comments about the column writer's recording career, best described by some as "What recording career?"

Ready for the most no-holds barred Plugging into Phoenix Music column yet? Of course you are!

Captain Baby – Sugar Ox (Sunset Alliance)

Arizona's longest running label, Sunset Alliance, has brought you mostly sounds of a local pedigree since 1999. The last time the label released a physical CD unrelated to its owner and founder David Jensen (he of Before Braille, Art for Starters, and Loyal Wife), it was the quirky Mr Fantastical's "Ham Hocks & Guitar Strings," an album that could have been released as a children's record were it not for the Parental Advisory sticker for bad language that would have been required by law.

That was back in 2008 but now come this here July 22, Sunset Alliance will release the debut album of Captain Baby, the brain child of musician and street artist Asher Rogers. And, we might add, an out-of-towner who has never lived or even stepped foot in Phoenix as far as we know.

After bolting Nashville and eventually relocating to New York City, he formed this band whose unique sound is aptly self-described as "Hindi Halloween" music. Having heard the CD several times before reading their one-sheet, I feel somewhat vindicated when I look back at my scribbled-down early impressions of their CD (which read "XTC on crack" or "Vampire Weekend playing Bollywood pop backwards"). Rogers has said in interviews that he was driven to music by "My parents playing XTC all day everyday my entire life" and you can hear traces of Andy Partridge's earlier, jumpier self in songs like "Bury Your Head" and "Olive In the Ocean" but there's also a feeling of unease that permeates even the catchiest of Captain Baby's dance pop. It sometimes feels as if these melodies were arrived at by looking for satanic backmasking on Bollywood pop, liking what was heard and recording it going forward. Both dynamics are amply demonstrated by a brooding song like "Row On," with its slightly nightmarish chorus, "They say row on away from you/ But that's not what my heart says to do." It's as if you're hearing the echoey voices in someone else's head and luckily, they can carry a tune.

This challenging pop is not for everyone, but given time and repeated exposure to "Sugar Ox," it could be. But don't just take my word for it; see if the sweet and heavy sounds implied by the album title don't trample you like hypoglycemic bovine. Watch and listen to this official video for "Olive in the Ocean" where the men of Captain Baby recreate a Benjamin Moore salesman's wet dream.

You can get physical copies of Captain Baby's "Sugar Ox" at Stinkweeds Records, well before its release date. Like, now!

Related Records: The 1st Year Bundle (Various Artists)

Although it reached this milestone with the minimal of fanfare, Ryan Avery's label of local eccentrics and their music, Related Records, has reached the one year mark and to commemorate it, Related Records is offering to sell its entire year's physical output of CDs and cassettes (15 in all and an $81 value) for only $50. Included in this cornucopia of cool are the likes of Drunk and Horny, Treasure Mammal, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Father's Day, Sweat Lodge, Dinosaur Love, Mary Ocher and three other selections.

In the interest of full disclosure, there are two Serene Dominic cassettes included in this package. Two titles which I've been informed, much to my chagrin, are the worst selling items in the entire Related Records catalog. This confirms Related Records' selling point that I am truly "Phoenix Arizona's most under-appreciated artist EVER!" Related Records are only making ten of these bundles available and if they sell all out, it will be ten more copies than either of these cassette titles will sell likely sell in the near future.

Also included in "The 1st Year Bundle" is a live, direct-to-microcassette recording of the Aquabats (yes those Aquabats) playing an acoustic campfire set for their fans at a Cadet Beach Party in 2002 (Ryan Avery was Cadet #3489). Not sure what the legality is behind issuing such a cassette when Saturday morning TV stars are involved. But for an envelope-pushing label like Related that includes used copies of "Vicki Carr's Greatest Hits" and Aaron Carter's "Oh Aaron" on its product page, it goes without saying it's better to be funny than predictable.

Here's one of Ryan Avery's most enduring creations, Father's Day, performing "Why Are You SO Mad" and one other selection at Funny World in 2011.

In 2013, Related Records released a Treasure Mammal 10-year anniversary album, produced by Ryan Breen, that is among the label's (and Treasure Mammal's) best releases. Here they are performing "Dream Girl."