Six Eye Columbia

*****Six Eye Columbia got together with the idea of forging the songcraft of the likes of GBV and The Flaming Lips with the lysergic sepiatone of Sparklehorse and The Red House Painters (with whom they shared bassist Jerry Vessel until recently), and the technicolor rush of sonic/godspeed/gospel psychedelia. That last element is a big thing, but--unlike a lot of "psychedelic" bands--not the only thing: singer/writer Josh's tenure in the latest incarnation of Gong and collaborations with Japanese psych-rock warriors Acid Mothers Temple, Ruins and legendary Can singer Damo Suzuki certainly nurtured an already healthy appetite for interstellar overdrive, but his heart--when it all comes down to it--belongs to the song. *****Six Eye Columbia released two debut albums simultaneously --"A Million Six" and a vinyl-only covers album, "Frowny Frown", on which everyone from Throbbing Gristle to Hall & Oates get the 6EC treatment. Since then, they have written and starred in "Get Me Rodd Keith!!", a hit quasi-musical about the wunderkind of the 1970's songpoem industry, released a solo album (Josh's home-cooked collection, "The Pushcart Wars"), scored three plays for the East Bay's Shotgun Players, sweated over their latest opus, "Judy At Carnegie Hall", and even laid a little groundwork on their next cover-tune extravaganza, "No Kwaanza For Jeremy" (which'll feature tributes to Jimmy Webb, The Mountain Goats, and Van Halen, among others). Somewhere in there, Josh managed to lay down some banjo on the latest Pansy Division album (cos when Pansy Division asks you to play banjo, you play banjo) and back up John Cale and Flea at last year's Patti Smith-curated Meltdown Festival in London.