JEFF The Brotherhood:
“These brothers are unassumingly talented, and their music, as well as their passion to create it, is infectious.” – Exclaim!

"Seriously, Jake and Jamin put on one of the rockin-est, most fun shows I've seen this year." - Brooklyn Vegan

"They jam econo. They sound like they were teleported from a time when Rivers Cuomo still wrote songs we adored and our biggest concern in life was whether or not we'd get invited to a party before we were in college." -RCRD LBL

"Nash Vegas-based Ted Leo/Ty Segall tourmates kick out the brain-mashing riffs. Think this is 'heavy'? Try 'obliterating.' -Self-Titled

”Depending on the song, Nashville’s Jeff the Brotherhood can recall either a metallic stoner-rock outfit or a melodic power-pop band. The group sounds confident and convincing in either guise.” -Time Out New York

"JEFF The Brotherhood are a duo comprised of singer/guitarist Jake Orrall and drummer Jamin Orrall (fake?), blew my mind with speedy riffs, frenetic drumming, and loose solos.  JEFF take big ’70s rock and squeeze it into the basement, creating a kind of D.I.Y. stadium sound, one that fuses the divergent genres of punk- and blues-based rock ‘n’ roll." -Limewire

Ted Leo about tourmates JtB: "Amazing, and honestly, pretty fucking inspiring." -Stereogum

“Right now it doesn’t get any better than rock team JEFF The Brotherhood. They’re very awesome and weird, and I think everybody here in a band should see them. Their sheer lack of professionalism combined with their seemingly unintentional disregard for by-the-book “rock rules,” combined with their right-on teenage humor makes them by far the most interesting live group in Nashville.” - Nashville Scene

"Nashville's awesome JEFF the Brotherhood, meanwhile, have managed to finish their album, Heavy Days, despite near constant touring. It pretty much rocks the whole way through, and is indeed heavy (three tracks on the album have that word in the title), sometimes veering into metal territory, then back into driving hard rock, with a little surf and psych in there as well. It's out October 13 on Infinity Cat. I've written about these guys plenty this year, but I will reiterate: Jake and Jamin are great live, so do go see them as they seem to be hitting most of North America between now and November where they'll be touring with Ted Leo, Ty Segall, and Shonen Knife." -Brooklyn Vegan

"Writing your own rules is something that comes naturally to Nashville's Jamin Orrall. Orrall was the first drummer for miscreant teens Be Your Own Pet before leaving that band to focus on this, his sibling project with brother Jake, dubbed Jeff The Brotherhood. Mixing lo-fi, true-to-the-bone rock 'n' roll with minimal production and maximum energy, the band are crushing stages left and right." - Culture Of Me

“JEFF The Brotherhood's fast-paced blend of psychedelic garage rock has been waking up neighbors from surrounding basements for a few years now, and as a result a steady fan base has emerged. The Orrall brothers (Jake and Jamin) certainly seem to know what they're doing. JEFF's songs are similar to a shot of whiskey. They're short, they're sweet, and they hit hard.” - The Deli Magazine

“Nashville sibling duo Jeff The Brotherhood's celebrated live show is hypnotic pop that's equal parts old-school college rock and classic psychedelic garage.” - The Tennessean

"The entire set found me unsuccessfully groping for a reference point - though JtB doesn't sound particularly "out there," they aren't easily pigeon-holed either. There are guitar-heavy moments that take a page straight from the classic rock and metal book, while just as often, the band sounds like a tidied up lo-fi pop outfit. Whatever it was, the songwriting was superb and the performance thrilling. JtB sound most like some lost classic from greatest moments of the 1980's American indie scene, but like a sonic chameleon, the band wouldn't sound out of place much of anywhere. It would just sound damn good." -Radio Flyer

MEEMAW
Review: MEEMAW "Glass Elevator" (3 and 1/2 stars): The eight (mostly self-recorded) songs on local band Meemaw's art-punk gem Glass Elevator sound like someone slipped something psychoactive into Minor Threat's Coca-Cola, meshing old-school punk charge and tough-guy husk with lo-fi adventurism, trippy lyrics and a surprising dose of melody. The results are strikingly unique, but more importantly, they're incredibly catchy. Don't be surprised if you find yourself singing along to lyrics about bear traps, bald eagles and Lou Diamond Phillips by the second spin of their anthem "Cancer of Society." (The Tennessean)

Edge of the Radar: Who to dig in ’08 from the Nashville underground. With the proper mix of pop hooks and grit, this co-ed trio had a bit of a coming-out party in the last few weeks of 2007. After months of playing shows exclusively in the basement of their East Nashville home, aptly dubbed Meemaw House, Meemaw eventually took their garage rock to other people’s garages, then finally an honest-to-goodness rock club. RIYL: Television, The Sonics, Black Lips.

Review: Summer is finally here. School’s out, obligations are at a minimum and everyone is ready to cut loose. Infinity Cat’s newest band MEEMAW couldn’t have picked a better time to release their debut album, Glass Elevator. MEEMAW has been around for a while now, winning over locals with their fast-paced garage punk rock, and they finally stepped up and recorded an album. Although Glass Elevator only contains eight tracks, MEEMAW doesn’t disappoint. In fact, I have never had an album revitalize my love of the Dirty South like Glass Elevator has. Each song is like a small anthem for the different aspects of life as a Southerner—red meat, smoking, sweet tea and shotguns. The album’s guttural roars and fuzzy guitars capture the adrenaline of the band’s notorious live performances perfectly and make you want to sucker punch whatever’s around just because. Glass Elevator’s scorching energy never lets up, but the abrupt conclusion of this all too short and sweet CD leaves you wanting more. Glass Elevator is only $5 and comes with a free 7" vinyl as an added bonus. So face it: if you live in Nashville, there’s really no reason not to own this album. Get the beer and light up the grill. MEEMAW has created the raucous, youthful soundtrack for the summer. You can listen to "Smoking in the Sun" from Glass Elevator above. Check out Infinitycat.com for how to purchase the full album (The Deli)

MATTOID
Album Of The Month: "Glory Holy" by The Mattoid. The guttural rumblings, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and whimsical chord progressions of Finnish musician Ville Kiviniemi have been captivating audiences here in the Tennessee for years. As The Mattoid, Kiviniemi employs a skillful cast of players from a handful of renowned local bands including Lambchop, Lone Official, Silver Jews and more. The Mattoid’s latest album The Glory Holy was released on Infinity Cat earlier this year. The Glory Holy's playful background vocals and straight-ahead, palm muted guitars leave the album somewhere between punk, lounge and novelty music. The Mattoid’s trademark vulgarity and irreverence are once again present on The Glory Holy, as is apparent on the track "Suicide," which, despite its seemingly sober subject matter, includes an awful lot of lighthearted chuckling. The track "Hey Dude" is a clear homage to Jimi Hendrix’s "Hey Joe," as it revolves around a disgruntled Inuit who is going to harpoon his old lady for "rubbing noses with another Eskimo man." If you’ve been lucky enough to see The Mattoid live, his ominous, caped appearance and growling throat singing no doubt left a serious impression. But if you’re unfamiliar with the Finnish freak-rock frontman, “The Glory Holy” is definitely a fitting place to start. You can purchase a copy at Infinity Cat’s website. (The Deli)

WIZARDZ

"What they’ve come up with is a dream catcher-adorned, muscle-toned mix of punk, classic rock and a little Southern working-class camp value thrown in for flavor. It’s quite possibly the perfect soundtrack to blare from your restored Camaro, speeding through a sunny afternoon in Smyrna while sporting an ironic handlebar mustache and matching trucker hat." - THE SPIN

HAM 1
The Underground Stream, the new album by Athens quartet Ham1, is wrought with spontaneity and brims with effortless, nonchalant performances. It's a brief 28 minutes full of studio-orchestrated front-porch pop songs that smack of California harmony on a rainy day. Given the record's bevy of melodious songs and instantly likable plain-sailing presentation, the band's decision to release this—their third record—on local art-punk label Infinity Cat forges an alliance with Athens that Nashville should welcome with open arms of Steve Perry proportions. It's a decision that was fostered when the band developed an affinity for some of the city's off-kilter local rock chestnuts, like Dave Cloud and The Mattoid. But despite their fascination with circa-now Nashville, Ham1 are Athens through and through. Having released their previous record The Captain's Table on Orange Twin, played as a backing band for Vic Chesnutt and Liz Durrett, and sharing a member with Elf Power and Olivia Tremor Control, they have more in common with their local Elephant 6 faction than with Nashville's hard-working misfits of the DIY underground—Infinity Cat, best known as a home to more abrasive acts like JEFF the Brotherhood and Heavy Cream. Luckily, The Underground Stream is a good fit for the label nonetheless. With its four-part harmonies, acoustic guitars, folk-rock leanings and flirtations with tropicalia and easy listening, it's as serene and moody an offering as Infinity Cat is likely to put out, but it also provides a well needed yin to a band like JEFF's yang. Every single song on this ramshackle record sounds effortlessly spirited, relaxed and resolved—even darker moments like those found in "Toothless Front Lines." Opener "Will You Ever" sounds like Pavement's "Range Life" but with a Southern Gothic warmth that has a calming effect as immediate as a dose of Valium. Instrumental cuts such as "Mel Bay," "Begonia" and the closing title track go by with such pleasing ease that it isn't until they're over that you realize there weren't even vocals. "Thalyacine" brings to mind the jangly post-punk roots of their city's favorite sons ,R.E.M., while the brisk country slow-dance of "This Is Your Life," like the record's wistful calm, is a sonic reminder of life's small pleasures—Ham1 among them.

SKYBLAZER
"SKYBLAZER, who played their second show Friday at the Springwater, consist of JAKE and JAMIN ORRALL on guitar and drums and Cake Bake Betty singer/keyboardist LINDSAY POWELL on keys and backing vocals. But this wasn’t just a CBB show with the JEFF boys sitting in, but four new songs, including the proggy closer “Young Squire Parts I, II and III,” that made us long for a flagon of mead. It’s rare to see a group of musicians so bursting with ideas that they need to start new bands to explore them, but here it’s definitely the case. Skyblazer pounded out riff-heavy rock, full of syncopated guitar and keyboard lines that would make bands like Black Mountain and Pearls & Brass do a spit-take. One inebriated attendee shouted, “You’re battling The Melvins—and winning!” referring to the sold out Exit/In show down the street. " -NASHVILLE SCENE

Alongside Whirlwind Heat member Brad Holland, Powell and the Orrall brothers also comprise the riff-oriented, 70s prog rock-influenced and fantastically named Skyblazer. Skyblazer's heavy Hawkwind and Sabbath-inspired psychedelia tribal, squelchy psychedelia. They easily out-Hawkwinded Eaglebreeze's opening night set of long, heavy psychedelic prog riffs.

MORE INFINITY CAT PRESS
From BEST OF NASHVILLE 2007: BEST SUMMER FLING: JEFF We were sorry to see Jake and Jamin Orrall leave for Chicago last January, but this summer, it was as if they’d never left. The brothers, otherwise known as JEFF, cropped up everywhere—they played houses, backyards and delivered a standout performance during Next Big Nashville. They released a cassette entitled The Boys R Back in Town that reminded us why we liked them so much in the first place. Opener “Ghostride Th’Whip to Berlin” is a 15-minute exercise in trance-y psychedelia and riffage. The tape is quirky and irreverent but, simply put, it rocks. Then there are those JEFF eyes. My God, those eyes—you just get lost in them for hours. They’re like tranquil oceans of calm. We don’t blame JEFF for leaving us again. We saw it coming—Jamin is back in Chicago for school while Jake is in New Zealand. Maybe next summer? Call us, JEFF—just call us. We miss you already. —MATT SULLIVAN

FROM NEXT BIG NASHVILLE 07: "It was a big drunken haze and it was hella attended. Infinity Cat showcased at The End, and Deluxin’ opened their set with a free-form, no wave-inspired number before spazzing out and setting a frenetic pace for the rest of the evening. The Valentines weren’t nearly as amped up, but made up for lost energy with quirky, cutesy pop, complete with dinky drum machines, rudimentary playing and baby-talk vocals.
It served well to transition into Cake Bake Betty's set, which was a bizarre happening, rife with eerie backing vocals and chanting—but that's all in the Infinity Cat instruction booklet. “Oklahoma City,” played with a full band, was a shining highlight. Recently relocated to Brooklyn from Nashville, Cake Bake Betty is primarily the vehicle of Lindsay Powell. Consisting largely of a piano and Powell’s gorgeous voice, Cake Bake Betty, along with JEFF and Be Your Own Pet, make up the core of local label Infinity Cat’s roster. Alternating between cute and creepy, Powell’s lyrics to last year’s Songs About Teeth tackle everything from monsters to babies to cannibalism, often juxtaposed against whimsical keyboard flourishes that occasionally drift into more experimental territory. The approach lends itself to the obvious Tori Amos comparisons, but rather than focus exclusively on melodrama, Powell’s songwriting maintains a strong undercurrent of playfulness.
JEFF rounded out the night with all the trancy repetitive jam stuff that makes us love JEFF. The crowd worked up as heavy a sweat as the band, thanks to the quasi-mosh pit that endured for the majority of the set. Yes, it was the indie rocker version of a mosh pit, so it was a little timid, but amusing all the same, and their heavy, A.D.D. rock ’n’ roll left nothing but a trail of sweat and resin behind them.

The bands really brought their A-game. When it was time to rock, you rocked. When it was time to charm, you charmed. No more shows that feel like we’re were watching you practice at your parents’ house. No, this time, you knew you had a captive audience, and you made it count. And it was a sweet victory to see Turncoats, Wax Fang, The Privates, The Clutters, Save Macauley, Kindergarten Circus and tons more cranking out the awesome when it mattered. Oh, and sorry, haters, but JEFF’s colon-vibrating set of dirty, dirty rock jams shook it up enough to spark an actual, honest-to-god mosh pit at The End Friday night. That’s right. A mosh pit. In Nashville!" (Nasville Scene) (Ed. note: The Mattoid brought the Partytime as only they can, whipping the packed crowd into a frenzy!)

Review:"When it comes to JEFF the Brotherhood and Nashville, there are two kinds of people: those that love their music and those who haven’t heard it yet. If you are in the former group, you most likely already own this album; if you belong to the latter, then stop reading this and go buy it right now. JEFF’s fast-paced blend of psychedelic garage rock has been waking up neighbors from surrounding basements for a few years now, and as a result a steady fan base has emerged. The Orrall brothers (Jake and Jamin) certainly seem to know what they’re doing--their last release, Castle Storm, received a positive response from practically everyone who heard it, and now they’re back with a new album, The Boys R Back in Town. JEFF’s songs are similar to a shot of whiskey. They’re short, they're sweet, and they hit hard. Or at least they were. Gone are the one to two minute bursts of quick bullet music in exchange for some extremely ambitious songwriting. On the brothers' new album, you’ll hear tracks that stretch out for five minutes or so. Withholding one or two tracks, that’s quite the departure from 2006’s Castle Storm. Fortunately, this is a welcome change. Though some of the tracks have been released before (many of them on the album’s pseudo-early-release cassette tape late last year) there is enough new stuff here to keep fans happy; not to mention you can finally hear their new songs on something other than a cassette player. From the epic fourteen-minute opener, "Ghost ride Th’ Whip to Berlin", which is seriously good enough to have an EP all to itself, to the "better than the original" cover of Devo’s "Screaming Banshee", the brothers' exceed expectations by leaps and bounds. There’s even a handful of whirlwind live performances of old favorites like "Nooo Sixties" at the end of the album to remind you how awesome their older songs still are. If you aren’t familiar with this band, trust me--now is the time to discover them. Though they’ll be playing shows on and off in town this summer, their touring schedule makes it much more sporadic, so catch them before it’s too late! (The Deli)