Some bands seem to have the worst luck. When I first heard the band I Am the World Trade Center, I felt like I was bouncing around at a Japanese rave dressed as a trendy Fruit fashion victim. Their sound is simply put - fun! The tunes are jam-packed with cheerful, looped keyboard melodies and jolly, bleepy sounds.

But when Sept. 11 happened, their band name became rather morbid. Without a World Trade Center, what would the band name really mean to an audience who didn't know them before the terrorist attack? The band (Dan Geller and Amy Dykes) is well aware of this since moving to Brooklyn, NY from Athens, GA. And so out of a show of respect, I Am the World Trade Center is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their record Out of the Loop to the United Way of New York's September 11th Fund.

That aside, Out of the Loop (distributed from the ever-addictive Kindercore label that Geller co-founded) is something quite extraordinary. The duo record all their songs entirely on a single laptop computer. Seriously! They don't need any fancy-schmancy studio. And this proves that no one has an excuse not to make funky music. Songs like "Metro" and "In Your Head" are good enough to listen through a decent pair of headphones. Trust me, midway through the CD you'll be fighting the urge to bounce around your apartment. Don't fight it! Boing! Boing!

More Info on the I Am the World Trade Center:

• Pop Matters -- Review of Out of the Loop.
• Creative Loafing Atlanta -- Review of Out of the Loop.