Machine Go Boom

Emerging from Cleveland's indie rock scene, Machine Go Boom serves chiefly as an outlet for the versatile tunesmith Mikey Machine. Before gathering the group, he had already launched a solo path through a self-titled 2001 album. The lineup he assembled featured Mike Uva on lead guitar, Carrie Bukala on keyboards, Brian "Bubbles" O'Connor on bass, and Arran Biggart on drums. Their debut full-length, Thank You Captain Obvious, appeared via the Collectible Escalators label in 2004 and mixed an offbeat array of sounds that spanned Pavement, Guided by Voices, and the Pixies to anti-folk singer/songwriters and alt-country figures such as Will Oldham's many guises. Once Uva gave way to Kevin Jaworski in the lead guitar role, the band delivered its follow-up, Music for Parents, in spring 2007.