Sound Bites

Curtis Salgado, Strong Suspicion. Curtis Salgado may have been the inspiration behind John Belushi's character in The Blues Brothers, but these days he sounds a lot more like the Saturday entertainment at Bubba Joe's New Orleans Fish Fry. Curtis, I've got a strong suspicion Jello shooters are 2-for-1 at the bar.--NB

Guttermouth, Eat Your Face. The same goofball buzzpunk celebrating the joys of arrested development. Or is it? When Guttermouth's moved to comment on national politics--such as its indictment of our chicken-or-fish system, "Party of 2"--something's seriously wrong. But maybe not that wrong: They do close the album with a song called "Hot Dog to the Head."

Bongzilla, Apogee. Sludgy and slothful, Apogee makes you feel like you've been sitting on the couch in a three-day weed haze, sunk into your own snack-food funk while watching "Bewitched" reruns--in a good way. In fact, the homebound vibe makes the live tracks on the second half seem like a silly exercise in irony.--AK