Birote The Musical is a weird quasi-folk band from southern California. They make short, sometimes spastic songs that border on folk punk with their combination of shouting, bowed upright bass, and acoustic guitar, but ultimately have enough plugged-in instruments and jazzy arrangements that they end up sounding like something between Captain Beefheart and the Minutemen. This is freaky stuff. Despite some questionable track titles, I like it. –Lyle (Self-released, birotethemusical.bandcamp.com)