Today marks the start of a new feature we’re going to try here at Tympanogram.  We lauded praise on Amie Street earlier in the week, so we decided that we’re going to dive into their collection headlong, finding albums, EPs and singles that we believe are worth your time and money.  We’re already spending an inordinate amount of time on the site, but now we can tell our significant others that it’s for research.

We’re going to limit the price of the album (when we review it) to $3 or less, and we’re going to give you the opportunity to win the music we’re talking about as well.  We won’t be posting any mp3s, because we want to support both the band and the site as much as possible, but we will stream a couple tracks for you.  So, if you like the music, please go and support the week’s band and Amie Street by purchasing it.

With that said, this morning, we’re talking about the Bridges and Tunnels EP from The Static Jacks:

I’ve been wondering lately about my inability to maintain zeal over the years, and I imagine that this holds true for most people.  Moods change, fervor lessens, attitudes merge and ebb and are influenced by competing sources.  I’m certain that eighteen-year-old Andy would be surprised to learn of all the things I once held dear that are barely a passing concern now.  I’m somewhere along my “long journey to the middle.”

But now and again I still catch sparks, that excitement in other people, and that makes me happy.  The Static Jacks give me that feeling.  They’re garage rock at it’s finest – all lo-fi, handclaps, and testosterone.  And it makes me happy that 18-year-old guys haven’t changed all that much in the intervening years since I was 18; there’s always a girl to be passionate about.  There’s always an issue that needs promoting, from vegetarianism to animal shelters, from going green to hybrid vehicles.

The band’s talent has already allowed them to share the stage with Tympanogram favorites Youth Group and Tokyo Police Club, and their follow-up EP is slated for the fall, to be produced by Andrew Maury, who has worked with TPC and Ra Ra Riot, and who runs the RAC (Remix Artists Collective.)  That’s high company for a band with just 2 four-song EPs to their credit.  I’ll be looking forward to hearing that when it’s released.

The quintet has a very short summer tour lined up, with just four dates in CT, DC, MA and PA.  If you’re around the Northern East Coast, check their site or their MySpace for the details of where and when they’re playing.

Stream two of the songs below, purchase the whole thing over at Amie Street, and/or leave a comment for your chance to win a copy for yourself from us.  To win the EP, tell us about the cause most dear to your heart right now, along with your e-mail address.  (You should also sign yourself up for an account at Amie Street.)  It’s that simple.  We’ll pick our favorite and send you the goods.  Make us laugh, inspire us with your passion, whatever.  Good luck!

The Static Jacks – Stay a Lover from Bridges and Tunnels EP

The Static Jacks – Resistance/Self-Control from Bridges and Tunnels EP

The Static Jacks – Fire on the Bridge and the Tunnel Below (RAC Maury Mix) (mp3)

: : : : : : : : : : :

Even before we were proprietors of a blog, Dave and I were constantly looking for music – new music, old music, cheap music, free music. We have the musical metabolisms of hummingbirds, consuming constantly, sometimes to our own detriment. Speaking for myself, I know that in my quest to accumulate music, I can often miss a good song when I first get it. It sometimes takes weeks/months/years for me to discover something I’ve owned for a long time.

The folks at Amie Street aren’t making anything easier on me in that regard. Since being drawn in by the allure of a half price album through their ads on Hype Machine, I’ve spent $42.50. But with that $42.50, I’ve purchased the following:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light
3. Au Revoir Simone – Reverse Migration
4. Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music
5. Au Revoir Simone – Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation
6. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
7. It Hugs Back – Inside Your Guitar
8. k-os – Yes! (Deluxe Edition)
9. Pelican – The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
10. Jeremy Enigk – The Missing Link
11. The Black Keys – Chulahoma

In addition to those 11 albums, I purchased 34 songs to complete some albums, and I still have a balance of $21. (To be fair, the Au Revoir Simone was a package deal – if you purchased their new album, you got their other three for free.)

This type of purchasing on Amazon would have cost me about $130 altogether, and I’ve only spent $42 on Amie Street. In addition to offering excellent pre-pay deals (they match the amount you pre-pay over $25, but they are running a special right now where they match whatever you pre-pay from $5 and up), the community at Amie Street is consumer driven. If no one purchases a song/album, the music remains free or very cheap. (There are albums that sell for less than $1.) Popular albums generally cap at $8.98, and popular songs cap at 98 cents.

Finally, once you’re purchased a song, you have the ability to recommend it to other listeners. If the price of the song you’ve recommended increases, you receive a kickback to your account – keeping the music socially driven, and creating a sense of community on the site itself. (I have yet to try this, although I know I should.)

It’s nice to be a part of a site that is so clearly focused on word of mouth – the backbone of what good music always has been about anyway, and one that strikes a happy medium between artists and fans. While they don’t always have what I’m looking for, they’re fast becoming the first place I look for an album or song.

Please, go and check out Amie Street. Pre-pay $25 (or more!) and look around the site. Get some albums you were intending to but haven’t. Take a chance on an artist who has an album for less than $1. Find something you didn’t know you loved. Involve yourself in talking about what you already do love. You won’t regret it.