Mailbagging it

The e-mails requesting album reviews come thick—way too deep for this 200-word section. Yet I try. And so, first, Garage Jazz Architects, a local surf-jazz trio (disclosure: former SN&R film critic Mark Halverson on drums—with Lob Instagon on bumping bass and Chad E. Williams noodling furiously on guitar). Their album, Live at Luna’s Cafe, is the first such release I’ve heard put to (digital) tape at the venerable spoken-word den, and you can almost feel the big energy of Halverson’s ripping kit and William’s hurried surf runs overwhelming Art Luna’s small, all-ages room. Good stuff. Try their live album from Davis’ John Natsoulas Gallery, too, at Bandcamp.com. Also in the review pipe: Sir Jhon (www.myspace.com/sirjhon), punkabilly-skater-banjoist from Sacramento who whips together rough-hewn American rockers, recorded in low-fi fashion. “Don’t pick your nose / don’t smell your socks / don’t scratch your ass / don’t touch your crotch,” he sings on “How Gauche,” a fun rocker with a hint of gypsy mystique. On “March of the Caca,” a clunky, creepy viola instrumental, he doesn’t sing. The rest, however, is pure twang; catch him live on April 24, at Naked Lounge Live (1111 H Street, (916) 443-1927; 8 p.m., call for cover). And so, keep e-mailing the music; we’ll keep an ear to it.