Tune out carolers with local releases

Killer b-sides and seasonal songs about a randy Santa top this month's roundup of local releases:

SOMOBE, "The Great Communication" (Go Home Hip Hop): Their handle is taken from swing-era slang meaning "so cool," and true to form, Somobe is something of a throwback: a sample-free, jazz-inflected hip-hop duo whose airy synth and snaking bass lines set the stage for introspective narratives on alcoholic moms and the struggles of a hand-to-mouth existence.

"I got a little Kweli in me, Jay-Z, too," MC Jon B announces at one point, and though Somobe is rooted in the underground, they don't hate on the mainstream like so many of their peers. "Who am I to be judging?" Jon B asks on the album-closing "You Can't Risk That." "You're just trying to sell what they buy. ... I ain't trying to stay overworked and underpaid."

Having dropped one of the best local releases of the year, he shouldn't have to worry about that too much longer.

VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Merry X-Mas Dammit from the Double Down Saloon" (Wood Shampoo): Like getting your stocking stuffed with whiskey, nicotine, condoms and vomit insurance, this yuletide gut-punch re-imagines St. Nick as a coke dealer (Suite 666's "Blow Me Santa"), a fascist (The Vermin's "Santa Was A Cross Dressing Nazi") and the kind of good-natured swinger who'll slip ya a six-pack under the tree (The Dirty Panties' "Santa Baby"). Grab a bacon martini and let the tire smokin' garage rock of the Real Shames and the enveloping drone of the Sparkler Dims drown out those damn carolers already.

THE KILLERS, "Sawdust" (Island): Triangulate this: On the Killers' b-sides and rarities collection, the band covers Joy Division (naturally), Dire Straits (OK) and, uh, Mel Tillis (huh?). This set offers a closer look at the group's gene pool, from early tunes first cut in guitarist Dave Keuning's apartment to a haunting new duet between frontman Brandon Flowers and the dead-voiced Lou Reed. It's a diffuse set, and when Flowers announces that he'd "do anything, just to be your man" on "All the Pretty Faces," it's pretty clear that he's done just that.

PARANNOYD, "Kill Yourself or Die Tryin'" (myspace.com/parannoyd): Better humanitarians than spellers, this co-ed power trio offered some helpful advice to this reviewer, scrawled across a fold-out of the album cover to their latest disc: "If you think we suck, you can always wipe your ass with our poster."

Thanks, guys!

A hooky metal troupe that alternates between moody, midpaced missives and double-bass-drum driven thrash, the band's fronted by singer/guitarist Brendan McAllister, who balances a pained, larynx-mincing yelp with gruff melodies and riffing reminiscent of a poor man's Prong. Sure, this bunch aims to offend with song titles such as "Anal Bleach" and "P.M.S.," but really, the only shock here is that a band with a tune called "Shallow Toilet Water" is actually worth your time.

Jason Bracelin's "Sounding Off" column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 383-0476 or e-mail him at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com.