Pink Reason

Even before the Siltbreeze label released Pink Reason's debut album, Cleaning the Mirror, the 20-something dude (born Kevin Debroux) was a shadowy myth caked in rumor and hearsay. He lives in Green Bay, Wis., voices murmured, where he's been on the streets since his teens. He doesn't even own his own guitar. In interviews Debroux has only added more fuel to the fire, talking about dealing drugs, shoplifting, living out of vans and even dabbling in magick. Whether any of it is true doesn't matter; Cleaning the Mirror totally sounds like a product of the classic American outsider. Similar to Royal Trux circa "Junkie Nurse," as well as that angry iconoclast Jim Shepard, Debroux submerges punk-blues in gothic reverb and Joy Division-inspired doom. We're talking indie rock that's lo-fi, cacophonous, amateurish and shattered like nobody's business. But there are really good tunes. Of course, being an outsider means Pink Reason thrives on unpredictability: releases are sporadic, backing musicians change incessantly and performances, according to most reviewers, shape-shift as effortlessly as your neighborhood werewolf. The only given in the life of Kevin Debroux is his excess of talent.