The debut disc, Bottles and Bones, is the culmination of guitarist/songwriter Fortin's search for like-minded performers and his success found in Jon Assam, a singer-songwriter who fits with Fortin and generates manic energy with the best of them. Produced and recorded by Noah Cole ... with touches like tortured talking behind impassioned vocals that just about push you aside with their bulging neck muscles. The band, rounded out by guitarist Glen Capen, bassist Jason Elvin, and drummer Aaron Lachance, never quite let you get comfortable, with the guitars buzzing around each other and never settling into anything purely rock or pop, and the drums firing out snares and cymbals just when you're getting settled. I love the muted drums in the right channel of "Co-pilot," with everything caught up in a bit of a fog, the vocals doubled and buffeted by falsetto backing: "Make pretend/The perfect 10/To all you love letters/Make amends/ With all your friends/ Who love you much better." There is passion here, and art, and a mind toward the progressive, though the raw sounds are in many ways the polar opposite of prog-rock's structured underpinnings. There's a raw nerve present that's attractive and a reminder to keep listening for new things and to never be satisfied.