When you think humboldt, you think stoners, and when you think stoners, you think of:

a: zeppelin
B: bob marley
C: king crimson
D: eating a lot of very bad food.

But the Ian Fays are going to change all that. The ladies of Humboldt are out to prove that a all-girl, drummerless band from a place more famous as a marijuana archetype than as a college town in California can rock. Or at least, that's what you'd think.

Actually, the Ian Fays' demo is a delicate colection of quiet, Leonard Cohen meets Bate Bush-ish songs that are quite good, if you can get over the absolutely horrendous recording quality (too much reverb, too quiet, hiss-y and inscrutably dark). But what home recording ever made wasn't? The songs are the important part, and they show a glimmer of some real potential.

They are named for a cool person in their hometown who apparently owned 100 pairs of shoes. Hmm.

-Thomas Hampson

Click here to listen to the Ian Fays.