Summer at Saddle Creek
A first look at the label's summer releases.

Coming off last year, a few of us know-it-alls laughed in our best Muttley wheezes at the prospects of poor Saddle Creek Records. "They blew their load in '04," we said, pointing at the CDs released by most of their best-selling artists, including two of their (current) Big Three. Sure, there were those duo Bright Eyes releases in January, but other than that, what was there to look forward to in '05? A few of us (actually, just me) hypothesized that the label had expected its Slowdown project to go down this year, and purposely kept the release load light. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

With summer burning hot on our backs and August just around the corner, Creek again finds itself with a plethora of releases from new artists and second-tier statesmen that could draw as much revenue as the '04 contingent. Here's an early look at what's headed down the road.

Orenda Fink -- Invisible Ones (Release: Aug. 23) -- The other half of Azure Ray takes her shot at a solo project with better results. While both Fink's and co-hort Maria Taylor's CDs are more upbeat and interesting than anything they put out together, Invisible Ones raises the bar even further. "Bloodline" is hot ambient rock, like a laid-back Faint track, maybe because Mr. Fink (the former Mr. Baechle) plays guitar and keyboards on it. "Les Invisibles," with its mock choir, jazz flute and Fink's droning melody, sports the same dreaded undertone as Tricky's "Christiansands" with Fink playing the Bjork role. "Animal" is downright tribal, while the "Dirty South" is downright filthy. They aren't all departures. The mewing "Miracle Wonder" and "Easter Island" could have come off the last Azure Ray CD along with "Blind Asylum," in spite of its cello-plucking accompaniment. So which is the better of the two? I'm not saying.

Mayday -- Bushido Karaoke (Released: June 21) -- Is it me or is this the most upbeat thing Ted Stevens has recorded under the Mayday moniker? Damn right it is. I wouldn't call it rock, as much as honky-tonk or blue-grass or just plain fun. "Continental Grift" is as funky as these white guys get. "Old World New World" is a banjo-pluckin' skipper, while "Father Time" recalls a dusty Ennio Morricone soundtrack sung by rednecks. It's probably no coincidence that Stevens' voice resembles David Byrne's since his songs do as well (albeit with a twang). Yee-haw.

Broken Spindles -- Inside/Absent (Release: Aug. 23) -- Mr. Lexus commercial himself starts his new one sounding like that same Lexus commercial -- all noodling-keyboard-spider-web-tinkling spook -- before floating into the thump-thump-thump electronic pulse of "This Is an Introduction" -- a track that proves Joel Petersen's atonal vocals are no longer mere novelty. In fact, they're a necessity, adding Depeche-Mode drama to dance-floor poser "Please Don't Remember This" and Faint-outcasts "The Distance is Nearsighted" and "Painted Boy Face." For contrast, Petersen returns to the creepy Lexus-tinkling a few times too many, but not enough to bring down the disc. Too laid-back for the runway, Inside/Absent confirms that Broken Spindles is more than a Faint side project.

Criteria -- When We Break (Release: Aug. 23) -- Easily the most commercial-flavored CD Creek has ever released, When We Break is pure FM-ready back-break indie rock in the vein of such scorchers as, say, The Jealous Sound, Jimmy Eat Word or (dare I say it) Cursive. The diff is in Stephen Pedersen's soaring bird-call melodies and the stutter-step, boot-on-your-neck, five-beat rhythms that have all the subtlety of a drunken waltz on meth. A.J. Mogis has emerged as Pedersen's Michael Anthony harmony-wise (though he more closely resembles a shaggy Walter Becker). Because the hooks are easier to find and less dissonant than Cursive's, more modern-sounding than The Faint's and more radio-ready than Conor's, this one could turn Creek's Big Three into The Big Four.

What's missing? Cursive's The Difference Between Houses And Homes (Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001), slated for release Aug. 9. Why? Because I haven't heard it yet. The 12-song collection includes two previously unreleased tracks and 10 from out-of-print 7"s. Consider it a prelude to what lies ahead, as Cursive brushes the dust from its shoulders and reenters the fray in 2006.