Jon Ragel recorded the first Boy Eats Drum Machine record,

, in his basement, and packaged it by hand in his kitchen. Then, he recruited friends Benjy Rickard and Peter Swenson to fill out the stage for live performances. The music scene has never been the same in Portland, OR:

"Just one listen to let's get lost sometime (

) off Boy Eats Drum Machine's latest album, , and not only will you have it permanently stuck in your head — you'll be happy about it. Bouncy, bubbly electro-pop, it actually does make you wonder if this is what it would sound like if DJ Shadow produced Neil Diamond. Other tracks call to mind Portishead and the Postal Service -- sometimes at the same time." [Barbara Mitchell, for The Portland Tribune]

Unlike BEDM's debut, the band's second effort represents the full collaborative contributions of Benjy, Peter, and Jon, and the resulting whole is bigger, stranger, and more inspired than the sum of the individual parts. With the release of

, Boy Eats Drum Machine seem poised to leap from the comforts of hometown hero status into the harsh climes of the national stage. They're ready. Are you?

Boy Eats Drum Machine is all but a sure bet if you're a fan of Beck, TV on the Radio, Sublime, and Cursive. The and is important there, since elements of all those bands will take turns jumping out at you. This is really interesting, exciting, different stuff. Please do give it a shot.

Start with these...
into the open spaces of the west (

)
we'll blacken up the sky ()
rebuttal 2 ()
two ghosts ()

...and then just keep on going.

* Bonus: check out this interview with Boy Eats Drum Machine at Northwest Noise.