The Strange and Private World of Aaron Read

If you were hoping to pick up the new album from local avant-pop songwriter Aaron Read, then we've got some bad news for you.

Despite the fact that Even Rats Can Feel the Sun came out two Fridays ago (Feb. 8), there's almost no record of its existence anywhere on the Internet. Read doesn't have a website -- just an out-of-date Bandcamp page and a Soundcloud account -- and the album is only available on cassette, meaning that anyone who ditched his or her tape deck two decades ago is shit out of luck.

The singer-guitarist -- who cracks jokes as part of the local improv troupe the Sunday Service and is a touring member of the experimental R&B project How to Dress Well -- seems curiously unconcerned with promoting his own product. I attended his album release party at the Astoria Hotel a couple of weeks ago, and he neglected to perform a single proper song; instead, his brief set consisted entirely of him crouching over his effects pedals and coaxing out an extended, ethereal drone.

In other words he's fucking terrible at self-promotion, which is a shame, since the 11 tracks that make up Even Rats Can Feel the Sun are gorgeously fragile and extremely catchy, albeit in a skewed, wonky sort of way. Take, for example, "Unlimited Sight." It's a crunchy indie rock anthem that sounds like a lost '90s classic, except that the bizarrely unbalanced mix drowns out the drums almost entirely with clanging guitar.

The rest of the songs are even more curious: opening instrumental "Soft Golden Drums" sports out-of-tune guitar leads, the lovely melody of "Woman in the Dunes" is partly obscured by reverb-drenched sing-speak, and "How Does It Mean (What Does It Feel)" contains ghoulishly pitch-dropped vocal overdubs.

I probably shouldn't harp on about everything that Read does wrong, however, since a big part of Even Rats Can Feel the Sun's appeal is its flaws. This is art-damaged brilliance, every moment of which feels like an unfiltered glimpse into the songwriter's musical whims. If he's trying to create a mysterious, enigmatic persona, then he's doing a damn good job of it.

More likely, though, he's just an unusual dude who doesn't bother catering his output to anyone's expectations. How great is that?