Rough Jemz

"Brooklyn, by way of Providence" is not a comment you see much in band bios, but in the case of Javelin, the rarity is reality. Rarer still is for such a young, unknown group to bust onto the scene with a self-released full-length that takes many pages from the Avalanches' style guide and produces the best sample-based album in that vein that I've heard since Since I Left You. Dead serious. (When I write "in that vein," I refer to sample-based music that aims to construct actual songs with melodies, verses, choruses, and so on, and not Girl Talk or 2 Many DJs' mash-up sample-based stuff.)

Javelin's style merges hyper-active, wobbly club beats; synth ditties you would easily find in hundreds upon hundreds of 80s pop tunes; so-melodic-it's-sappy hooks that I wouldn't be surprised to hear come straight out of a Disney film that was never produced; and plenty of riffs and rhythms from a variety of world musics, namely South American ones.

While plenty of the LP, Jamz n Jemz, is dance floor-ready, there're a number of gorgeous, swooning epics that I simply can't get enough of (the cutely titled "Lindsay Brohan," "Tu Machina"). And then there're unexpected funk slow jams like "Doug Flutey" that make it truly impossible to put your finger on just what the hell Javelin is doing but completely okay with hanging out for the rollercoaster of a ride.

You can buy tunes digitally at the band's MySpace page and can invest in a rare 7" of theirs over here. The band is playing with friggin' Miho Hatori at the Market Hotel on September 18. Try concocting a reason not to go. Impossible.

Javelin - Lindsay Brohan

Javelin - Doug Flutey

Javelin - Intervales Theme

Javelin - Tu Machina

Javelin - Tryouts