Maldroid’s history would make any new band jealous: the quick courting by music industry honchos; the backing of local radio; the appearance on Good Morning America — all surfaced without a single recording or live show to speak of. Winning a YouTube music video contest in 2006 propelled the Oakland seven-piece into the national spotlight, leaving behind a trail of listeners eager to see just what these guys are made of.

With the April 15 unveiling of their debut full-length just around the corner, the Oakland Lad’s Club EP, released in September, offers a brief two-song, two-remix appetizer of pop anthems fit for rock airwaves. On “You Wanna Touch It,” Maldroid transforms into sexed-up robots, fusing a soaring Bon Jovi chorus (“Turn off the lights and take off your clothes/ I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”) with spaceship synth sounds and a thick ‘80s hair metal thump of guitars and drums. “Heck No! (I’ll Never Listen to Techno)” continues the band’s let’s-party spirit with a page taken from Devo’s deviant new-wave songbook in, oddly, a Radio Disney-friendly burst of bouncy keyboard blips.

The robot and tech overtones of lyrics and instrumentation transition well into remix treatment. Both reimaginings by fellow Oaktown artists — “You Wanna Touch It” by Scott Blonde (the Lovemakers) and “Heck No!” by Amp Live (Zion-I) — tender groovy beats that would shine brightly amid any dark nightclub dinge.

Led by frontman Ryan Divine who, in a thoroughly modern approach to the music biz, formed the group to focus more on creating artistically vibrant videos à la its YouTube hit rather than on the music itself, Maldroid still has some catching up to do, song-wise. The music-by-numbers, three-minute-length structures prove catchy enough, but lack the rawness and heart for the songs to stand on their own. They’re still developing, though, and the impending LP will likely provide a better clue about Maldroid’s sound.

But with energy that oozes fun and a compelling visual spectacle, Maldroid has certainly earned the cast of watchful eyes — and ears …

San Francisco quartet the Dont’s are on the verge of releasing the biggest album of their young career. Must be an exciting feeling. The band is barely four years old, and Inner El Camino, due January 30, is a big step forward from its 2005 debut Misc Radio Leakage. Both have been self-released, but this one streamlines and elaborates upon the experimentalism of the first while proving that the Dont’s ability to distill quirky, old-school indie rock was no fluke.

Inner El Camino is indeed an indie rock fun house. Taking stalwarts like Modest Mouse, the Fall, Can, Tortoise, and Sonic Youth, and boiling them down to their most quintissential and palatable elements, the record is simultaneously off-kilter and embracing — a weird record that’s not hard to listen to. That alone is an accomplishment, but a few moments across the album elevate it to a higher level: wild vocal melodies, sublime guitar parts, jagged rhythms, and unique bass lines that bounce through uneasy indie rock tunes like tumbleweed of pure gold.

A few tracks can be overly derivative, especially the way-too-Fall-to-be-an-accident kick-off number “Blah Blah Blah.” That doesn’t stop it from being one of the record’s high points. And lead singer Jonny Dont’s voice, whether by accident or not, sounds at time a LOT like that of Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine (what a name!). The key to this record is appreciating it for what it is and shutting down the indier-than-thou part of your brain, if you have it. If you don’t, you’re in the clear, for the Dont’s execution is flawless. Songs like “AKA Sob” and sax-laced closer “Motherfather” are all Dont’s, assuring the skeptical listener that this is not a gang of ripoff artists, but four musicians with eight great ears. They know quality music when they hear it, and they sure know how to make some of their own.

THE PLEASE DO’S
-In addition to singer Jonny Don’t, the group includes Joey Don’t on guitars, JJ Don’t on bass, and Ken Don’t on drums. Something tells us they’re not actually brothers.
-Inner El Camino was recorded on analog tape at the Tiny Telephone and SF Soundworks studios in San Francisco.
-The band has retained hundreds of hours of experimental recordings since forming in 2003. This does a lot to explain the band’s more precarious moments — they probably come from improv rather than deliberate songwriting sessions.

Hometown: San Francisco
Next local show: 2/18, The Makeout Room
Recent release: Time Wrinkle, 2006

Who said young white dudes and dudettes from San Francisco can’t play real reggae? It was you, wasn’t it? Still Flyin’ aren’t rastas (nor do they pose to be), and their style is more indie-rock-meets-rocksteady-and-dub than straight-up roots, but it’s reggae nonetheless. And boy do they jam it out. So shut it!

Still Flyin’ want you to reach the same hodgepodge nirvana — that freaky-deaky higher consciousness — sought by groups like Architecture in Helsinki (buddies of the band) and Polyphonic Spree. Reggae influences come from the likes of Toots and the Maytals and U-Roy, and the rest is noise plucked from the indie rock atmosphere. Lead singer and songwriter SA Rawls‘ voice is nasal and uneven — a sometimes welcome, sometimes jarring departure from the warm, steady tones of more traditional reggae singers. A chorus of backup singers occasionally evens him out and adds some punch to the vocals.

Time Wrinkle’s sleeve names no less than 18 people who “made it to the jam” (i.e. appear on the record) and 17 “spiritual members who sadly could not join us” (ghosts, dealers, and influences?). The recording (released this past July on Oakland’s Antenna Farm Records), is Still Flyin’s debut and includes only six songs. Thus far they’ve been primarily a live entity, all about messy reggae energy and unfettered fun. But the beautiful chaos of their live show doesn’t translate to the CD as well as one might hope. Maybe before the next recording, they can take more time to work on songwriting. After all, the record’s strongest hook (the horn riff in “Coupla Smokies”) was lifted from OutKast’s reggae-liscous “Spottieottiedopaliscious” — a killer song in its own right — then slowed down and lo-fi’d just a bit.

TOTAL HAMMJAMM!
-In April, the group heads off to Europe for another tour including shows in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
-Time Wrinkle was recorded by Jason Quever of SF indie pop group Papercuts. He has also worked with Portland’s uber-sensitive Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
-The record was also released on vinyl. Its B-side contains six dub versions of Still Flyin’ songs.
-Click here to see a cool homemade music video for “Rope Burn” at YouTube.