Kill Me Tomorrow

Alongside the recent explosion and quick implosion of electroclash has been an even larger ka-pow of cranky bands looking to mine the 45-degree angles and mysterio-bleeps of the early '80s. And it's easy to lump this San Diego-by-way-of-Portland combo of creepies into the bloated ranks of noisemakers.

But instead of just another crew of Casio-carrying cuties, Kill Me Tomorrow comes from an artier tradition, using a rock-band setup to mash modern white noise with dark-alley heebie-jeebies, in the style of middle-Pere Ubu or Throbbing Gristle. There's also a beatnik vibe, as well as bursts of punk freakout, an occasional girly chirp, and fleeting hints of melody, all wrapped in the cut-up lo-fi manner of their initial '90s blue lights (Pavement, Brainiac). Not nearly as "goth" as their press reports, they're more a nervous noise that can't help but reflect a real nowtime confusion about what might be next.