Tapes 'n Tapes

"The Internet is made of tubes," remarked an elected official in 2006. Not everyone gets it, but Tapes 'n Tapes do. The Minneapolis group self-recorded The Loon, self-released it, self-promoted it -- total DIY. Then the bloggers did their thing, the buzz spread like Ebola and bango -- the group gets picked up by XL, which re-releases the album. That album? Well it rocks. Jagged and jerky, it bristles with creativity, its songs winding around corners, falling on their face, freaking out, getting up -- the Pixies, Modest Mouse, Wire. Good times. Tubes? No, man, no.