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The Sky Catching Fire
This Is a Protest Album
(self-released)

Laguna Beach's Thomas Monroe is, if nothing else, a passionate fellow. Also a prolific one--This Is a Protest Album is his fifth album via the name the Sky Catching Fire in two years' time, a pretty good clip by any measure.

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The Wingard Manor
If You Could See Yourselves
(Primitive Electro)

Long Beach's David Wingard works with electronic arrangements on his self-released debut album under the name the Wingard Manor, but in delivery and approach, one can hear the started-with-a-guitar roots of his music--it's the kind of impassioned delivery that actually calls to mind many early performers in synth-pop's earliest days who had similar backgrounds, eschewing Kraftwerk's cool control for something more visceral.

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Don't give us that look--who could be better for a Beat Blvd. entry? She's totally local (from Anaheim Hills), she's got a new release, and let's face it, if everyone isn't actually talking about her, the fact that you're reading this via the Net means that if you haven't seen this already, someone you know has and is about to forward it to you. And none of you--and certainly none of us here--knew about her even a week ago. It's instant viral Internet fame of the most classic variety.

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The quintet of fellows who make up Big Bad Wolf--who'll be celebrating the release of this free EP at a Gypsy Lounge show this Thursday in Lake Forest--clearly have ambition when it comes to their work, no bad thing at all.

Their self-titled EP, though, is the kind of debut release that best serves as an initial calling card rather than a full statement of purpose, if only because it's clear (at points arguably all too clear) what their various role models include.

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Bullets for Breakfast
Tea, Crumpets and Loneliness
FatKid Records

After all that idiocy about Imperial Stars supposedly being a  hip-hop/alternative group from OC, it's kinda nice to deal with a local duo that is much more focused on the real thing. (They'd also would probably do charity work for real rather than block a freeway.) Garden Grove's Bullets For Breakfast has been at it for some years now. and their short, self-released debut showcases Jonas Grumby and Manifest's chill-dudes-next-door delivery, reflecting about the vagaries of life, the collapse of love and the grind of both.

Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave., Suite 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. You can also e-mail us digital downloads at lbose@ocweekly.com.

​Tomorrows Bad Seeds
Sacred for Sale
Urbantone Records

The SoCal version of reggae seems especially friendly to metal--call it the combination of guitar geeks loving Andy Summers of the Police crossed with everyone who at least partially remembered KNAC. 

Tomorrows Bad Seeds have more than a little of that interspersed among their general Jamaica-inspired approach, and if the result is more pleasant than noteworthy it's still little surprise why the band's built up a steady fanbase over the years. 

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Hell and Half of Georgia
Hell and Half of Georgia
fucktheeagles.com

Any band with a website name like that has to have their heart in the right place (this is the "Mojo Nixon rule" with regard to whatever Don Henley is involved with). If you head over to that site you'll see news of a forthcoming release from the band after a string of local appearances over the summer, but that's as good a reason to step back and listen to their self-released debut, originally surfacing last year.