Boy plus Gorilla = dangerous weather

Typhoon - Death Was The Driver

Helping run a music website like MFR, I hear a lot of music that is so-so, some that is bad, and some that is quite good. All of us robots are open to music submissions - its our bread and butter really - so I love it when a band gets in touch with me and the music is actually striking and interesting, like these guys, Typhoon.

With a band like Typhoon, I know that "today's youth" isn't as doomed as some might think. According to their bio, idea of the band started in 2004 "on the 18th floor of the Tokyo International Youth Hostel" (I want to hear more about that day or night; I bet it was a great conversation and/or party), and the band that grew out of that idea is their "whole gang of friends since the beginning of high school." Pretty great idea, right? Who hasn't wanted to get all their friends together and form a band?

The band is from Oregon's capital city, Salem, but they're now based out of Portland. The "band" is pretty huge, with members Tyler Ferrin, Kyle Morton, Toby Tanabe, Casey O'Brien, Devin Gallagher, Conlan Murphy, Dave Hall, Jordan Bagnall, Paige Morton, Leah Ng, Eric Stipe, and Gavin Pritchard playing everything from guitar, piano, bass and drums to autoharp, lap steel geetar, cello, viola, violin, accordion and trumpet. The sound lies somewhere between indie rock, experimental pop and folk - with that many people contributing to the band, playing that many instruments, it makes sense that their musical reach is fairly broad. RIYL: Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, Sufjan, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nick Drake, etc.

If you want to hear more, you can purchase their self-released, self-titled album (with hand-screen-printed covers and CDs) direct from the band - email them at boygorilla (at) gmail.com - they've also got a cool looking t-shirt available. Check their blog for info on their upcoming shows and other foolery, AND their Myspace page for more songs and info!