I started to type "I don't want to get into a rant here" but realized I'd be treading on the ground of Dennis Miller (who, by the way, will be very interesting to listen to on Monday Night Football, but I digress…) What I wanted to convey was that this introductory part of each month's column just coincidentally turned out that way the last two months. Hell, last month's Napster foreword was so long that you needed a dipstick to get to the five case studies! And speaking of dipsticks, did Rush Limbaugh seriously think he was gonna….ah, the hell with it.

I've been part of some interesting music-related arguments recently, like were The Monkees a valid pop band, have the Stones made a worthwhile record in thirty years, how awful are these "revisionist rock history" movies made by people like John Stamos, and is it true that, in Rolling Stone magazine, "three stars means never having to say you're sorry"? (Yes, yes, very and yes).

I've also been browsing list-groups and concluded that while there are some very astute people out there, others are as dumb as a flat rock. I'll protect Ms. Mensa and Mr. Peabrain's true identities (at my lawyer's insistence) and just say that I found read some pretty smart things ("there are thousands of well-catalogued Internet radio stations playing music 24/7. Stop bitching about bad radio and go find good radio") as well as some incredibly stupid statements ("What's the differance between Napster and any radio station? If I wanted to record a song, I could just call a radio station, request it, and record it."). Yeah, right. The last time radio played requests for callers, Kennedy was president. The last time a radio station even admitted having something I wanted to hear, we didn't have a President! Oy, I'm kvetching again….

You want good music, folks, get off your ass and go get it. There's others out there just like you, willing to help. Like me. So to paraphrase my anonymous but intelligent fellow list-member from paragraph three, "stop bitching about no good music and go find good music!" There are five case files below that will give you a great head start. Enjoy!

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There are a lot of great bands out there floating under the vox populi radar, and they're not getting airplay, and they're not getting a major deal, and they're not getting on the soundtrack to Scream 16. But dammit, they are making great music, and they deserve to be heard. But how do you find them, when there are thousands and thousands of bands all over that fifth dimension we call cyberspace?

Welcome to The MP3 Files.

Our agent will comb through the nooks and crannies of the Internet, turn over rocks, wade through bombastic "sounds like" claims and bring you back dossiers on some truly worthwhile artists who deserve your attention. If you like what you read, you'll be able to follow the link to the band's site (or at the very least, an established site like MP3.com) where you can use your ears as well as your eyes. Most of the bands will have product available at reasonable prices, and you just might find some artists who worm their way into your "favorites" pile. When possible, we'll attach a direct link to an artist website, but when in doubt, travel to MP3.com and search by the artist's name. Artists profiled in The MP3 Files have willingly made their product available for download in the hope that you'll like what you hear, and if so, you'll act accordingly.

This month's case files:

Case 011: The Stone Coyotes

Forget what you know about "family bands" - this three piece band from Massachusetts flat out kicks ass. Fronted by guitarist/vocalist Barbara Keith, with husband Doug Tibbles on drums and stepson John Tibbles on bass, The Coyotes are a relentless and versatile band whose songs (written by Barbara) read like pulp novels with music to match. That means cry-in-your-beer country blues or three chord barroom brawl soundtracks; no wonder Elmore Leonard loves them and used five of their songs as the basis for his novel Be Cool. I won't use the space here to recount their background, but it's well worth the read. All you need to do is listen to the songs on their debut record Church Of The Falling Rain or especially the brand new CD Situation Out Of Control, both exclusively through Amazon.com and the band's website.

That's not to say the Stone Coyotes' music is all hard and fast. Barbara Keith can pen a murder ballad or bluesy "Knocking On Heaven's Door" type numbers wit the best of them; "If You See The One" or "Where The Old Oak Grows" could be pitched as movie concepts. But when they do rock, they smoke: check out the aptly titled "I Want To Rock", the Stonesy "Noah's Ark" and especially the live version of "Saw You At The Hop", where Keith's growling vocal balances tease and lust over a percolating beat. The woman can shred on guitar - check out "Train To Nowhere" and "When Parliament Convenes" as well as the title track - and the rhythm section doesn't let up for a second. After hearing Doug play, you'll wonder why drummers ever needed to embellish a basic drum kit; his playing is a textbook example of how to do more with less.

The band website only features excerpts of a couple of songs, and Amazon occasionally offers a free full song download, but please take my word and save yourself the trouble - just order both records right now. They rarely make 'em like this anymore - the Stone Coyotes is a band that demands your immediate attention!

Case 012: 3Tripper

With two members first hooking up in a Beatles tribute band called The Daytrippers, it's not hard to see where the name came from after the third member joined. (What, you think Beatle tribute bands are uncool? Beatlemania gave us Marshall Crenshaw, you know.) Hailing from Hawaii, 3Tripper has a trio of releases available on their site, which is well worth a visit as they have a good sense of humor. The list of influences also reads like the Who's Who Of Sixties Pop Music. Hell, even the artwork is great. The release is through MP3.com's DAM label and features some goodies for those of you listening on your computer players.

Unlike a lot of Beatle-influenced bands, however, 3Tripper does not focus on classic "Love Me Do" type songs. Yes, "Unbeliever" features a standard McCartney chord progression, but the guys lean heavily towards the Fab Four's contemporaries as well. Fans of West Coast psych-pop will enjoy songs like "Trees" and "My Unfinished Novel", not to mention the ambitious "The Other Side" (and stay with that one for the hidden Big Star sounding bonus track). "Today" starts off with the chorus like many sixties pop songs do, but the guys turn the track on it's ear through tempo changes. Other songs echo the Kinks' music hall style ("Life Is But A Game"), early Traffic ("Play The Odds" and "Wild") and even early Mott The Hoople ("Fall"). Although the production sometimes leaves a little to be desired, Waituke (get it?) is ambitious in scope and well worth chasing down.

Case 013: Love Candy

Yet another band with a Beatles tribute band (The Eatles Bay) as its roots, Love Candy's members get bonus points for being in the only pig-Latin tribute band I've ever heard of. But if you're going to hone your skills to play original pop music, what's so bad about emulating the chord structures and vocal arrangements of one of the all-time best bands? The fifteen songs on Sacrilicious all feature strong harmony and crisp playing, with several strong tracks that will have your hand on the volume knob from the get-go. Okay, and there's at least two songs about whores.

But "McBeavee" (and how can you not like a song - and a record - that opens with a Don Knotts sound byte?) is "Taxman" era Beatles thanks to the background vocals. Matter of fact, you'll spot George Harrison inspired licks all over the record, like the majestic "Somebody" and "Where We Wanna Go". Stephen Bunny writes more pop-flavored material and Kelly Mix more rock, but James Galloway is an enigma, penning the jangly and countrified "Mr. Rain" as well as the drop-dead Jellyfish "Sunday Morning" (although Stephen Bunny's "Insignificant" has jelly all over it, too!). "Wherever Jennifer" is great fuzzy punk pop, "Left For Dead" a pretty pop waltz, and "Nothing Matters" has a killer bridge and chorus that may remind you of "Free As A Bird" from the Beatles' Anthology. Many hits, few (if any) misses.

Case 014: Nice Guy Eddie

Perhaps this isn't your first encounter with Gainesville's Nice Guy Eddie. The band (named after the Chris Penn character in Reservoir Dogs) has been aggressively promoting themselves since their formation in 1994, and their bouncy pop rock sounds have been featured on compilation disks, pop festivals and web site competitions like garageband.com and the TDK New Bands competition. Or maybe you've just been lucky enough to find their upbeat, hook-laden releases like Snipe Hunt or Post Modern on your own. If so, you know why I'm touting them. If not, you'll be thanking me seconds after hearing songs like "St. John's Wort".

Drummer Jeff Emminger will certainly be convicted and sentenced for keeping you on the dance floor, as Post Modern is wall-to-wall great. Most songs have that short, sharp instrumental intro that catches your ear like great radio songs should. "True Blue" literally jump-starts the record, and the speed vocal by Ken McAnlis kicks the chorus into a higher gear. "New Place In The Sun" is rock and roll candy with a bubblegum center, while "Your Biggest Fan" sounds like Matthew Sweet time-traveling to 1967. Frankly, songs like "Time", "Linda's Coming Over" and "Other Side" stand alongside some of the most eminently danceable stuff I've heard in years. Whether rocking on the best Monkees song the Prefab Four never did (Chris Jackson's clever "What's Become Of Will Prunkl?") or mining the intersection of Splitsville and The Sweet, Nice Guy Eddie is a major player in the pop world.

Case 015: HensleySturgis

I didn't accidentally delete the space between the two names, that's the way it is on the CD. Perhaps that's to signify that Barry Hensley and Jason Sturgis are twin heads on one musical body, agreeing up to be a two singer, two songwriter band rather than face down the inevitable ego battles down the road. And, indeed, the writing credits for the twelve songs on Open Lanes are (ahem) split six apiece. Both play guitar and sing (Barry's the Gretsch/pedal steel guy, Jason is the Telecaster man) and, ironically, the rhythm section is on loan from fellow Columbus, Ohio residents The Lilybandits (who were profiled in a previous column).

Bands from American Flyer to Whiskeytown have dipped their pen into Americana ink, and so too do these guys. Whether turning up the pop side with handclaps ("Way Back To You") or sweetly spicing the song with pedal steel ("What's The Matter Now"), HensleySturgis combine solid musicianship, good harmonies and strong songwriting on tracks like "Swept Away" and "The Ride". I love the guitar tones on "I Fell Back" and the sweet acoustic sound of "After All". Based on their guitar preferences, I thought Hensley's material and voice would lean more towards the alt-country side and Sturgis would turn out to be more of a pop rocker, but it seems to be the other way around. Foster And Lloyd mined a similar artistic match-up into a wealth of great material, and I'd keep my eyes on Barry and Jason as well.


Next month's MP3 Files will bring more exciting, deserving artists to your desktop, including Destroyer, Early Edison and more! If you have some suggestions for overlooked artists who deserve some attention, drop a note to our MP3 agent at bholmes_fm@msn.com. Even a good detective appreciates a solid lead now and then!

(C) 2000 - Bill Holmes