If you can conjure up a notion of LCD Soundsystem playing the rootsy dirges of 16 Horsepower--with male and female vocalists (Holly Prindle and Marc Mozga, who also comprise the entirety of the "band") singing mostly separately--you might begin to get the idea. Hobbyist isn't interested in easy listening. These distracted pile-drivers are not for the weak of heart.

Hobbyist Sonic Cramps (self-released)

Even if you can't connect with the eerie throb that emanates from Hobbyist, the music is a spectacle. It's like the cleanup after a car wreck. The pieces are all over the ground, and they're being swept up in indiscernible patterns.

Good god, now I'm writing like them! Okay, I'm one of those people with an immediate attraction to this sort of understated chaos. I'll follow any rabbit hole to its illogical conclusion. That's not just my job, either. I actually love that sort of thing.

And so, fellow travelers, gird up for a journey into the weird. Another reviewer called Hobbyist "Suicide meets Jim Croce," which isn't that far from my earlier comparison. It just uses references from the 70s instead of the 90s. That's cool. The resulting smoothies are very similar in taste. I'd say "Enjoy!", but that's really not the point. Endure. Just endure.

Jon Worley