Formanymusicians,makinganewalbum,especiallyadebut, is somethingofajourney—aprocessthatleadsthemdownmanydifferentpaths,whichcaninturndefinewhotheyareasartists.SanDiego-basedbandPistolitahasbeenonthispath fornearly twoyears since therelease of a four-songEP in December2004entitledGliss-Note.Now,atsome-thingofacrossroadsindefiningitsownpersonalsound,thebandhasreleaseditslong awaited debut full-length album.Thenewrelease,Oliver, Under the Moonincludes several songs from that EP, aswellasothertracksthatshowthegroupwantstoexpandonitsreputationasan“indie”band. Picking up where Gliss-Note leftoff, guitarist Justin Shannon, bassistAlexKuhse, pianistConorMeads, anddrummer Cory Stier give their fansmoreof the same solidpunk rock thatwasafocusoftheEP,whiledrawingoninspirationfromthelyricsofEltonJohnandthemusicofbandslikeDashboardConfessional (which they shared thestagewithonseveraloccasionsaspartoftheWarpedTour)tocreatenewsoundsandmusicalstyles.Mostofthesongwrit-ingishandledbyShannonandMeads,andisaremarkablygoodmatchforthemusic that accompanies it. The band,evenatthisearlystageofitscareer,finds

a way to stick to the indie punk thatmade it popular while branching outintoother genres, showing a greatdealofversatilityandstayingpower. Thisversatilityisshowcasedinsev-eral tracks as the band tries to setitself apart from other groups of thepunk genre by showing a softer side.“Fadawhite,” for example, features aprominent piano part, giving the songthe feel of a ballad (a characteristicthat is present on many of the tracks,but gives each song a unique quality).“Papercut”ismuchthesame,withcom-pellinglyricstogoalongwiththemusicthat shows the band’s ability to matchcompellinglyricsandmelodies. Ofall the songsonthealbum, thelast track, “Panic” shows just how tal-entedthebandreallyis.Thesongtakesamoreballad-like approach that leavesthelistenerwithalastingimpressionoftheband’sabilitytoplayvariousdiffer-entstylesofmusic. Songs like “Cupid,” “Age” and“Voicebox” are more in the vein oftraditional punk fare, and are exactlywhatfanshavecometoexpectfromthegroup. These certainly do not disap-pointandprovideabreakfromsomeoftheexperimentationof theother tracksbyreturningtoafamiliarsoundthatisupbeatandwell-rehearsed. Certainly, this expanding of stylesand soundsdoesnotdiminish thepol-

ished sound of the punk music on thealbum,butservestoshowthatthebandmembers have room to grow and findoutwhotheyareasmusicians,andwhatkind of music best suits their playingstyle. The middle of the album slowsdown considerably, as “Fadawhite,”“Papercut”and“ChinaDolls”showcasethe adventurous side of the band as ittries to get away from the traditionalpunkrocksound. For a debut album, Oliver, Under the Moon breaks new ground for thepunk genre, showing that it is not asone-dimensional as it may seem. Thefour guys from Pistolita have inventedtheir own unique sound and created athoroughlyenjoyablealbumthatshow-cases the band’s many talents and only

leavesthequestionofwhatthebandwilldototopwhat isundoubtedlyastellardebutfull-length.

Friday, February 17, 2006  5

Pistolita CD out of this worldBy Christopher Finazzo

Jarhead:n.1.AslangtermforaU.S.Marinebecause the “high and tight” haircut worn byMarines leaves their heads resembling a jar. 2.Themental conditionofMarines because theirstrict training into killing machines leaves theirheadsemptyofemotionlikeanemptyjar. A war film about the mental anguish thatsoldiers experience while waiting for combat,Jarhead gives the audience a sometimes-comicaland compelling insight into what many U.S.MarinesfacedduringtheGulfWar. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) and Jamie Foxx (Ray), Jarhead isbasedonAnthonySwofford’smemoiroftheGulfWar.Withnobeginning credits, the film startsquickly,introducingtheaudiencetoSwoffordor“Swoff” (Gyllenhaal) at boot camp. Unsure ofhispurposeinlife,Swoff joinstheMarinesandissentasasnipertotheGulfWar.Conditionedtokill,Swoffandhisplatoonslowlysufferfromboredomthatspiralsintomadnessastheyantici-patewarfarethatneverseemstocome. Swoffistheheartofthefilm.Complementedbythedarkhumorofthescreenplay,Gyllenhaal’svoice-overconveysthestrictregimenofaMarine.Withnohintofinflectioninhisvoice,GyllenhaalisabletoshowhowaMarineistrainedtothink,leavingemotionoutofthenarration. “For most problems, a Marine is issued asolution,” Swoff says. “If ill: go to sick bay. Ifwounded: call a corpsman. If dead: report tograves registration. If losinghismind,however,nostandardsolutionexists.”Gyllenhaalperforms

thisdevoidofemotion,allowingtheaudiencetofeelhischaracter’sboredomescalateintolunacy. Otheractorsaresolidbutnotasnoteworthy,suchasFoxx,whoplaysStaffSgt.Sykes,atypi-cal military superior barking orders, and PeterSarsgaard(Flightplan)asSwoff ’scalmandsubtlesniperpartner. Walter Murch’s editing, along with RogerDeakins’cinematography,makethestarkatmo-sphere of the desert a supporting character initself.Whentheoilfieldsstartburningagainstaninkypurple sky, theaudience isdrawn into thebeautyandmysteryofthedesertandfeelsSwoff ’saweashegazesatahorsecoveredinoil,wander-ingthefieldsbyitself.Thefilm’sonlyproblemistheslowpointsthatdragitdowntowardtheend,allowingviewerstofeelforthemselvestheennuithatSwoff ’scharacterhasbeendescribing. Jarhead may be a disappointment to thoselookingforamoviewithalotofwarfareaction.Itdealsmorewiththepsychologicalcomponentsof the Marines, and while remaining politicallyaloof, itgivestheaudienceauniqueperspectiveonitseffects.

In1993, the first-person-shootergameDoom,inwhichyou are a lone space marinewhofightsdemons fromhell,hit shelves. It revolutionizedthevideogameworld,leadingtoothertitlessuchasHalo,andis deemed one of the greatestgames of all time because ofits amazing 3-D levels andaction-packedroleplaying. Recently,themovieadap-tationofthegamewasreleasedon DVD. Certain parts ofthe film are great, but as awhole,itfallsincrediblyshortofexpectations. DoomstarsDwayne“TheRock” Johnson (The Scorpion King) and Karl Urban (The Bourne Supremacy). The twoare part of an elite team ofMarines sent in to investi-gate scientists who are trans-formedintogeneticallyalteredcreatures in a research facilityon Mars.The team finds outthe scientists created aDNA-altering substance that causesmutations in humans, andaffects them depending ontheirsouls.TheMarinesmusttrack down the scientists andcontainthesituationbeforeitspreadstoEarth.

This movie has nothingto do with the original videogame,whichiswhymanysim-ilarfilmswerenotassuccessfulas they could have been. Itwould be more interesting ifitweremorelikethegame,inwhich players are trapped inhellandhavetofightdemons,rather than fighting on aresearch facility.Althoughthestoryisinteresting,ittakestoolongfortheactiontostart. The acting in the film ishorribleandhasnosubstance.Johnsonbossespeoplearoundand does not add any flavortothecharacteruntiltheend.The creatures appear under-developed and the computergeneratedimagesaretooobvi-ous.Theonlyhighlightisthecamera’s first-person perspec-tivelateinthefilm.Itistrulyan ingenious idea. More ofthese moments should haveoccurredinthefilm. ThisDVDhadsomegreatextrafeaturestoit.Therearealotofbehind-the-scenesdocu-mentaries about the creationofthecreaturesandthetrans-formationofJohnson’scharac-ter. But these features do notmake up for the movie as awhole.SticktothegameifyouwanttrueDoom.

Photo copyright Universal Pictures

Jarhead will play in the BLC Theater tonight, Feb. 17, through Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.

By Catherine Jablonski

By John Schulter

‘Jarhead’ storms into BLC Theater

New DVD on road to ‘Doom’

1.) “KingWithoutaCrown” ByMatisyahu

2.) “Monsters” ByMatchbookRomance

3.) “Hypnotize” BySystemofaDown

4.) “You’reBeautiful” ByJamesBlunt

5.) “IWriteSinsNotTragedies” ByPanic!AttheDisco

6.) “WhenI’mGone” ByEminem

7.) “PerfectSituation” ByWeezer

8.) “Talk” ByColdplay

9.) “MoveAlong” ByTheAll-AmericanRejects

10.)“Conceived” ByBethOrton

Photo copyright East West Records

Pistolita’s Oliver,  Under  the  Moon, was released on Tuesday, Feb. 7.