Stigma Rock Unit Treasure Path to Soul-Winning by Jarrod Hood Jagjaguwar Records All right, so this is not the most timely of record reviews. The first full-length record from Stigma Rock Unit (SRU for the tragically hip) was released in June of last year, but considering their upcoming show in our beloved sushi basement and their relative anonymity among Charlottesvillians, I figured, what the hell. SRU (formerly plain ol' Stigma) is what happens when four wayward youths with huge record collections stew for most of their adolescence in small-town central Virginia. It's been a long road from the salad days of Ruritan Club gigs in Lynchburg, VA (the band's original hometown), with such local favorites as Tinkerbell, True Romans, and Water Monitor, to the bright lights of Blacksburg and the earthshaking deal with lords of Virginia indie rock -- Squealer Records, which signed them in 1995 and produced that fall's single, "Texas Hollow Road / The Softest Core". This alliance, further strengthened by a lucrative collaboration with Charlottesville PRE giant Jagjaguwar (preferred label of Drunk, Fuck, other one-word pejoratives, and that digit so hallowed as to be unnamable) produced the disc that has led Stigma Rock Unit to riches beyond their wildest dreams. The album was recorded at WGNS Studios in Washington, D.C. under the watchful eye of Geoff Turner, whose production credits include Hoover, Regulator Watts, and even (gasp) the Foo Fighters. SRU produces a record that sounds like a well-blended noise-core cocktail that is two parts Slint, two parts Fugazi, and one part Archers of Loaf, with a dash of Hall and Oates and a twist. Lounge music for the post-apocalypse? Perhaps. Considering that it was recorded completely live (with a few overdubs added later), this album is exceptionally tight. The songs are extremely well written, noisy but catchy, loud but surprisingly intricate without being noodley. These kids definitely win honors for inventive titles, beginning with the first track "Les Paul vs. Leo Fender", and others like "They All Gave Us Static", "Armies of Malcontents Are Yours / Chaos Theory Revisited," and "S.I.L.O. S.W.E.E.P.E.R." The tunes that bear them are as quirky, engaging and (dare I say it) epic as the titles imply. Stigma has a peculiar gift that few bands possess; the ability to create music that manages to be powerful, emotional, and driving; without pretention, but with the crucial self-awareness without which one risks the fate of Styx and Queensryche. All in all, this is an exceptional first effort from a relatively young band, and presents itself as just that. The songs are inventive and fun, the musicianship is solid (Jack the drummer is good as all hell), and Jeremy Koren (he of the high-pitched shriek) can turn a phrase like nobody's bidness. The highlights: "Les Paul vs. Leo Fender" (June of 44-esque), "These Are Good Scars" ('sounds like Superchunk, rocks like Slayer', the best of all ten cuts?), and "Texas Hollow Road" (the Archers would be proud -- long live slacker-rock!). This all means one thing: go out this Saturday night, fork over the couch-cushion cash (you'll get change from a fiver), and see them play, they are great live, and if you're lucky, they might sweat on you

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