Today, as I sat in my chair watching the sun creep out from behind three days worth of rain, I felt the need for a spaced out trip. And as luck would have it, waiting for me in this beautiful cyber world was Des Moines, Iowa’s Used Alien Mind. Behind the helm of this experimental drift-like ambiance is Mike Laporte, who with tunes like “Your Sad Eyes,” might conjure up thoughts of Spiritualized. Ultra slick and polished Used Alien Mind is not, but there’s a lot to be said of music that can make time float away.

If you like fun, sloppy, sometimes kinda poignant-sounding power pop, look no further than San Francisco’s The Boneless Children Foundation. The group is a traditional three-piece rock set up–drums, guitar, bass–and sounds like something you probably really dug 14 years ago when you heard it on college radio (if you’re as old as I am, that is).

The group is led by David Sophia Siegel, who originally hails from St. Louis, MO, but moved to San Francisco in order to become a rock musician and certainly has a flair for the dramatic. In addition to his work with BCF, he also enjoys composing music for film and theater.

There’s nothing really groundbreaking about this stuff, but it sure can get stuck in your head. The best part is, the band doesn’t seem to take themselves too seriously, and Siegel displays a sharp sense of humor in his lyrics as well as in the way he promotes the band. The BCF Web site features a biweekly photographic Web comic, the latest of which is a strip that attempts to explain the meaning behind the band’s name.

This is why you never let someone battling with paranoid schizophrenia host their own cooking show. Cincinnati OH one-man-band Joseph A. Peragine takes some burly photos; these images might at first come as stark contrast to the songs on “Self Medication…Poems of Alienation” that feature his soft vocal delivery and acoustic guitars. Then you run into spoken-word tracks that are spat with manic delivery and adderall-urgency. It’s like Filter showing up at a slam-poetry festival with an ovation guitar and a suitcase full of inner demons. His music is certainly not for everyone, but if it’s raining outside and your mood is a bit on the misanthropic side, at least you’re not feeling as confused and frustrated as our Band You’ve Never Heard Of Band of the Day, Joseph A. Peragine. Check out his space here.

Here’s to not beating around the bush:

If the name, not to mention voice of, Devin Shelton seems a bit familiar, it might be because of his day job as co-frontman / bassist of one of rock music’s hardest working bands, Emery. And though he can definitely rock with the best of them, Devin’s true musical roots are a bit more eclectic than one might imagine: after all, how many dudes in rock bands can claim, with unabashed honesty that they’re favorite band of all time is Boyz II Men, as Shelton does on the DVD included with Emery’s most recent CD, I’m Only a Man? To that end, Shelton’s newly minted side project, A Devin Flow, is about as far away from the balls-out hollering of Emery as you can get, drawing on influences from Al Green to Stevie Wonder and showcasing Shelton’s buttery croon in its native habitat. Though nothing hi-fi (the instrumentation on the demos is courtesy of the world’s most affordable session cats, G. A. Rage Band ) Devin’s vocal chops shine through. Just wait until dude gets Rodney Jerkins on the cut! Check out A Devin Flow’s myspace page here, and let him know that you’re picking up what he’s puttin’ down.

Like most small Northern California mountain towns, Chico has a serious cougar problem. Maybe “problem” isn’t the right word, many of them kill it at places like Monks Wine Bar; hell a few Synthesis Inner Sanctum matrons are quickly approaching cougar status. Still, I’ve never seen one of them kill a snake (though I’ve heard tales), so I’ve decided to give the time-honored Band You’ve Never Heard of Band of the Day distinction to Portland, Maine punk rock trio, Cougars Kill Cobras.

From the look of ‘em you might expect some quirky indie rock, but from one second listening to their ear-piercing feedback and pummeling beats and you know you are about to get your dose of garage-style indie-punk. Drawing firmly from the DC hardcore scene, this trio kills it with smart lyrics, abrasive scream-singing, distorted-octave riffs and tones that make you want to tear out your hair….in the best way possible. Check out their web site for useful information, or just check the space. And if you find the guitars are too gnarly for you, just hang in there for a second: it’s worth it, trust me.

I remember a few years back, Kittie came out and most people thought it was kind of novel that there was a group of young girls playing pretty heavy music. They’re also Canadian, which is totally precious. I’m not hating on Kittie (I’m not a fan, but whatever, there are far shittier bands that wave the metal banner), or Canada, and it’d be nice to go to metal shows and not have them be like comic book stores, sci-fi conventions and other nerdy sausage fests. Unfortunately for Kittie, most people have a hard time getting past the whole “girls playing metal” thing. But that’s probably because they’re not as brutal as Grey from Seattle, WA.

American metal heads can finally boast about having as stong an extreme metal scene as they do in parts of Europe thanks to Pacific Northwest bands such as Book of Black Earth. Grey is another band that should be added to that list. A power trio in every sense of the world, Grey consists of Suzanne (vocals/guitar), AJ (bass) and Becca (drums), who are also known as Gypsy Witch, Luna Loca and Bitch Hammer respectively, which is pretty damn metal. All their most recent press photos also take place in the forest, which is also very metal.

The most metal thing about them, though, is their sound which is a heavy, sludgy witch’s brew of earth-loosening doom. Three songs are posted on their MySpace page (my favorite of which is the despairingly beautiful and savagely heavy epic “Fields of Grey”), and that’s all I’ve been able to hear from them, but their first release, Mother Maiden Crone, will apparently be out in the spring of this year on Kreation Records–hopefully in time for Beltane.