Doris Henson
Give Me All Your Money
(DeSoto)
released: March 22
rating: **1/2

Oh, these bands with the tricky names. Perhaps a little too tricky, as this quintet from Kansas is only going to confuse people. I bet they got the name from some obscure actress from the '40s or it's some girl that hangs out in bars in Kansas. Name-critiquing aside, Doris Henson (which has a couple members that prove there's life after a ska band) can be pretty old school indie rock. Well, sometimes at least. The opening track starts the record with a field recording of some girl talking about...bees (guys, get to the music, you're wasting time). After the first song, which doesn't do too much, they really get the album going with "The Most," which has the semi-memorable lyric refrain "do the most with what you have, do the most from what you want." "A Dark Time for the Light Side of the Earth" is where the indie rock really kicks in, as they do their best impression of Built to Spill. From there, however, they change the pace. "Let You Down" starts with a wacky vocal intro and then burns rubber with harder rocking guitar. They pretty much slow it down from there, but don't let their guard down on energy. And hey, they must be doing something right cause they're playing some shows with Trail of Dead! -- Kenyon Hopkin

styles: Indie Rock