Many terrible rock records have been released in the name of art. But for every such failure there emerges a record by a band, such as Experimental Dental School, that creates music filled with vision, wit, and vitality. On 2 1/2 Creatures, the group incorporates noise, samples, fuzzed-out punk-jazz guitar, cheesy organ, and roller coaster drums on heavily caffeinated tunes that move from polkas to Beatles pop. On "Our Blood Is Laughing," Primus-style riffs meet Middle Eastern minor scales and musique concrète to great effect. Organist Shoko Horikawa steals an arpeggio from the Beatles as guitarist-vocalist Jesse Hall and drummer Ryan Chittick thrash away on the dramatic waltz "Po!son Reverb." Another highlight, "A Little Bird Told Me," features producer Greg Saunier on drums, trumpeter Matt Volla, and noisemaker Stephen Barkley for a slice of modernist pop that takes Elvis Costello and the Attractions' Armed Forces to its logical conclusion. The bizarre noises and explosive bridges of "2nd Wing" bring the Horikawa-sung Tin Pan Alley verses into the urban present with touching results. In the end, the record succeeds because of its ability to fuse musicality to its disparate test tube ideas. That's their great feat on the record: They make the unknown grippingly familiar. Experimental Dental School perform Aug. 18, Bottom of the Hill, SF. (415) 621-4455. (Alex K. Fong)

Blayze McKee
From the Cradle to the Stage (Renaissance Music Group)

"The South Bay be the home of Blayze, now tell me do you know the way to San Jose?" After spinning Blayze McKee's debut release, From the Cradle to the Stage, you will. The rapper was raised on McKee Street in sunny San Jose, and his first name is definitive of his rhyme style – blazing. He's quick-witted and smooth on the mic, which might lead listeners to mistake his flow for that recognizable, hard Oakland sound. On the track "BLAYZE," McKee lauds himself as having "All types of flow from fast to slow / I can release some gangsta shit as if I spit for Tha Row." Cradle to the Stage is full of gansta flows that might draw criticism from some in the business who think hardcore rap is dead, but McKee's irresistible voice and the on-point production by the Mystery Men will put the naysayers to rest. Every hardcore album needs a gangsta ballad and a tribute to getting high. McKee comes correct with the ghetto-fabulous and erotic cut "4-Play," featuring captivatingly breathy vocals by Joy Thompson. Roll a phat one before you spin "Keep Smokin'," because you're going to want to spark it when the chorus hits. McKee is further proof of the Bay Area's thriving underground rap scene, one that's ready to bust out and come up. (Jana Rogers)

Mail stuff for review to Sarah Han, Bay Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107.