"It's just that I said to myself that I'd get myself home on my own." - The Halo Bit.

Because we just picked up their sole full-length on the cheap, we've been thinking about The Halo Bit, the mid-'90s indie rock band fronted by Small Factory's Alex Kemp. Mostly what we've been thinking about is how we've given the record, Gravity... (Is The Force That Always Drags You Down), short shrift since it came out 11 years ago. The record closes with the band's best song, "W/ Sarah," which is a simply superlative, understated break-up song. The only Halo Bit songs that come close to being as good as that one are the three the band released on their earlier "Stay Away For A While" 7" [Spin-Art 12], which we've discussed here previously. There is an Indie List review of The Halo Bit playing a Studio Red benefit here, and an Indie List review of the "Stay Away for Awhile" single here. So the question is why, after releasing a remarkable three song 7", could Kemp only coax one more really great song under the Halo Bit shingle?

The answer is simple: we were wrong. Sure, there aren't any other truly amazing songs on Gravity. But there are a few good ones, including "Kiss for the One," "Birds Not Flying" and "In Case She Spaces." So that's that. No great insight, just deeper consideration for a record we didn't wholly appreciate on the first go 'round. To make this worth the effort of reading, here is "Kiss for the One." Enjoy.

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Follow-up: There is good news and bad news coming out of the search for Low Numbers/Numbers/Hi-Soft recordings. The bad news is that Insound can no longer sell you the "Legion of Boom" compilation on I Spy Records because it is out of print. The good news is that you can download the Numbers song from the comp, "Junior Mornings," for free from Insound. Just go to the web site, click the MP3 button on the nav bar, and search for Numbers. The song is a bit of a departure from the jerky new wave sound of "Entertain Good Taste," and is more of a simple electronic bleeper with Notwist-ish vocals.

You all know that guy who's always at the show, no matter what show, what night, what club? Here in Cambridge, at least a couple years ago, it was that really tall skinny dood with the straight, long hair and tinted eyeglasses. No matter who your guy is, nobody is more hardcore than Indie Rock Kyle, who I had forgotten all about until I saw him on Philebrity the other day. Kyle looks pretty upstanding now, but if he ever runs for office I have a couple snapshots of him wearing a dress at a fab coctail party in Princeton about 10 years ago. Anyway, it would seem Indie Rock Kyle, now apparently "Wild Kyle," is still on the scene in Philly. Good on ye, I.R.K.

Clicky Clicky has been beset with extreme allergies, exacerbated by taking the exact opposite 24-hour allergy remedy as the one we should have taken at 8AM today. Which means we can't take anything else until 8 AM tomorrow. After an excruciating day cite checking a memo, the current plan is three-day weekend. Yee-haw.

That is all.