Local Motion: A Fine Brine Storm

Arizona Daily Wildcat Brine It On: The latest compilation from Gouramie Records higlights some of Tucson's best.

A year in the making, Brine Storm is a whopping 24-song collection of songs by as many artists, clocking in at more than an hour's worth of music. Local acts take up the bulk of the space, via the familiar song stylings of The Weird Lovemakers, The Fells, The Pork Torta, Shoebomb and many others. Yuma, San Diego, Albuquerque, N.M. and Scottsdale also find musical representation, with tracks from The Wongs, Shambles, The Impostors and Absinthe.

According to Mike Panico, the self-proclaimed "big . . . and only cheese," of Gouramie Records, the length of the CD serves two purposes. First, it provides a vehicle through which quality bands from Tucson and the Southwest can have their music heard by, and distributed to, a wide audience, via Gouramie's mail order and retail distribution. Second, the CD provides a veritable combination platter of music to those already in the swim of things, and those just dipping their little toe in the big pool of local music.

"I really like the idea that if someone's gonna plop down eight or nine bucks, they're gonna get a ton of music," Panico said.

One listen through this compilation reveals a diversity of sound not usually associated with regional compilations. The perfectly pop "Greeting Cards" by Shoebomb is soon followed by The Weird Lovemakers' raucous tribute to the king of board games, "Milton Bradley." Scott Moody's "Ho-Daddy-O" is an instrumental number, equal parts surf rock and blues. Bargain Town's four-song medley is a groovy homage to guitar distortion and lo-fi recording effects, a la Guided By Voices' Alien Lanes.

Panico said the eclecticism of the release is a testament to the variety of talent in our patch of the desert.

"I hear great things from all the bands; they all really like everyone else's songs, not just their own," he said, a fact he attributes to the usually cooperative spirit of local music. "I think there is a feeling of community here. Everyone's doing their own twisted version of things; there's not one predominant sound."

Through Gouramie (pronounced "Gormie," after the fish), Panico strives to provide those interested in Tucson music with access to recordings by individual artists and compilations like Brine Storm. Like an archivist of all things indie in the Old Pueblo, Panico feels a responsibility to catalogue the work being done by Tucson acts.

"There just needs to be a place where you can find local music," he said. "Not just to sell it, but just so it's there. Now, I'm compiling all the old Mondo Guano seven-inches. I don't know if anyone will buy it - that's not so much the point."

Brine Storm is available from "finer purveyors of all things musical," and through the Gouramie web site, http://www.azstarnet.com/~gourami.