Phases and Stages

Jetscreamer

Starhead (Bella Union) This is the kind of twisted, high-density rock tsunami Austin was once known for. Denton's Jetscreamer may be camped up I-35 a ways, but they subscribe to the same methods of sabotage that Ed Hall displayed at last month's sweaty Room 710 reunion. It's a shame it takes the support of the British for this band to get off the ground. After holding on to a rough version of Starhead for several years, the veteran Denton trio has finally gotten their break via Bella Union, the British label run by ex-Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde, who inked fellow Dentonites Lift to Experience a couple of SXSWs ago. What the Cocteaus heard in Jetscreamer was the dual slide-guitar screech of Will Kapinos and Samantha Moss, and what it delivers is a sun-baked helping of unfettered psychedelic blooze rock. "Front Porch" opens with a mangled wail, falling into a rollicking barnburning stomp. At their heart, this is what Jetscreamer is all about. Kapinos' outlaw-blues vocals are tough and self-assured, but Starhead thrives when it falls apart, vintage Sonic Youth-style, as on the Confusion Is Sex-influenced "Rain/Venus/Rain." Ten-minute closer "Bliss" smolders, crackles, and breathes deeply, Jetscreamer's own "Expressway to Yr Skull." Like Lift to Experience, Jetscreamer is another weird Texas treasure tucked away on a British indie.