Last Wednesday after work I headed over to the Southgate House to catch Brooklynites, Say Hi To Your Mom. On my way over I called a friend, who has been in a number of bands himself, to see if he wanted to join me.”I’m busy,” he said, “but, I was just beginning to think that they’re weren’t any good band names left. Thanks for proving me wrong.”

I spoke with Eric Elbogen, the lead singer of SHTYM, before the show and talked to him about the name. “It was just something I heard during one of my first visits to the Midwest and I liked the way it sounded.”

When I first heard SHTYM, despite the great band name, I thought they might be a little too emo for my tastes. But something happened between their debut, Discosadness, and their 2005 album Ferocious Mopes. Maybe it was the addition of drummer Chris Egan III (The World Without Magic) and keyboard player Jeff Sheinkopf (Sea Ray) or maybe it’s just simple maturity, but Say Hi To Your Mom is now less Dashboard Confessional and more Magnetic Fields.

The latest album, Impeccable Blahs (released this past Tuesday), is kind of a loose concept album about, um, vampires… and I like the way it sounds.

• Listen to Snowcones and Puppies
• Listen to Blah Blah Blah
• Listen to Angels and Darlas
• Listen to Say Hi to Your Mom on WOXY’s Lounge Acts

Buy Impeccable Blahs from Insound.