Earlier in the millennium, I got a chance to hear Brando's Peacocks on Linen, and it remains one of my favorite surprises from my reviewing tenure at Splendid. I liked the way Brando spun a dark cloud upon low-fi power pop riffs and had me singing along to short epic murders, guillotines and the French Revolution. The only Brando song I didn't enjoy was "AM Ejaculation" -- due to subject matter I just have never had a hankering to sing along with.

Derjason is the new project of Derek Richey, Brando's leader, and it pairs him with his brother Jason, who's something of a whiz with beats and samples (though he doesn't always show it, as when he becomes the zillionth person to sample the music of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" in "Gladiator"). The first eight tracks of this two-part CD are titled "Side Swab and D", and they makes the group appear to be Derek Richey's own "Folk Implosion" project. The ever-evolving songs seem as wild and eclectic as Brando's, yet they're a little more mellow, with a soulful aura wrapping around them like latex, and making Derek's unique perspective again very accessible and inviting to the ears. Among the highlights in these tracks is the brothers' dance-song rewrite of the Olivias' "Define a Transparent Dream". While it won't do for the Olivia Tremor Control song what DNA did for Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner", it's a very good and very interesting cover, and makes one wonder if OTC should put more disco into their brand of psychedelia.

The second part of Derjason's debut, dubbed "Side Level and Grumpster", is utterly different from all before it, with the songs no longer recalling Lou Barlow's guitar or an Elephant 6 band at the ball. Instead, you'll think of fellas like Del the Funkee Homosapien or...I don't know, the modern rap gods of your choice. With these songs, the Richey brothers prove the extent of their gifts and their sheer strangeness by delivering a six-pack of straighforward rap. Derek's lyrical vision, placed into the mouths of Level and Grumpster, works surprisingly well, making one wonder if tenors and sopranos might soon be gathered in the Smokey Lung studios, asking Derek and Jason if they could translate a word like "ejaculation" into "Italian". Here's hoping Luciano is afforded that opportunity, and hopefully you'll also get yourself in the position to hear It Don't Show. Contrary to the title's assertion, the talent of the brothers shines all through it.