Junkmail is a new section starting this issue where we will feature a selection of whatever the hell our readers, friends, and bitter enemies email us. Get involved next issue by sending art, poetry, rants, hate mail, nude photos and the like to theatomicfamily@gmail.com Enjoy!

First, 2 poems by Erik Jansen:

City Living.

Sharp, brassy chords
and rough, hacking vocals
like too many cigarettes with
a bad cold and half a

bottle of whiskey tonight
pouring it in a glass straight
pour straight from speakers
and the road fades easily

under tires whining over
cold rain collecting in
grooved payment, paying
the price for cheap asphalt,

sagging under the 2 am
weight of the bar crowd
cautiously meandering home on
back-roads and boulevards

braking entirely too early
for red-light reminders
of other people on the
back-roads and boulevards

on a Saturday night, chilled
by sweeping northern winds
not stopping at the border
breakdown bad-luck on the

side of the road, jacking
up an old ford begging for
a rusting grave, gave its
last revolution, rotten place

in wraith-like fog distorting
depth-perception, mixed with
prescription sleep aids
kicking in kindly for sleep

behind the wheel, mixed with
smoke and smothered by
climate-controlled dehumidified
condominium city-life.

Saturday Nights in April, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaina.

Shooting from the hip(flask)
on a watered-down spring
midnight, rivers rising
around the triangle city

and cars and ferries
merrily, side by side,
float down the alley
washing away cigarette

butts and chocolate
wrappers left to
in the equinox torrent
tearing up concrete and

lives as the swelling tide
decides to flirt with man's
creations on god's damned
ethereal earth and the

temperature's rising
in the poles and the Poles
will be kneeling at mass
in the gray morning

with mediocre enthusiasm
in the working class
district, diatribes discerning
saved souls from the rest

of us poor saps pours over
public address in a one
hundred year old stone
cathedral groaning

in the rain.

And a show review by Sean Atkins from The Lost Sea:

Bloomfield Bridge Tavern--March 29, 2008

I don't get out very much due to some anxiety problems, but in the last few weeks I've really been feeling a newfound desire to step out of my shell and take in some local music. To that end, I recently saw Sirens & Songbirds, Persona Grata, and Mrs Toothbrush--or, to most of us attune with the Pittsburgh scene--“Jackson from Grand Buffet." When I get there I'm not immediately comfortable, but I think that's what we all deal with at first: only knowing a few people and feeling slightly out of place, yet eager as hell for this night to begin. I was fortunate enough to know Scott and Chris from Sirens & Songbirds as well as a few others around the room, so those folks were really sweet and managed to kind of squeeze me in to their conversations and just hang out for a while, and I've got to say, it's really very amazing when our local shows become a scene, or hell, I'll say it'a family. If I could persuade anyone of anything here, it's that, there's no reason to sit in on a weekend whether it's about nerves or apathy. You're going to be damn glad you made it out. I've long thought that local music in our fair city rivals any other scene or even any other act, but before I go off about how fucking sweet we all are, let me just talk about the show.

Persona Grata opened up the night with a very tight-knit performance of what some might describe as art/rock, or experimental indie fused with the kind of aggression reminiscent of post hardcore. When singing more aggressively, the vocals are not unlike a young Jim Ward (At The Drive-in, Sparta) but frequent changes in the vocal attack keeps it fresh and original. You can see why fans of experimental post-hardcore might even flock to this band over say, Sparta. Why? Because they keep it fucking real. It's a straight up, in your face take on their genre that really grabs you by the throat and moves you. As far as the musicianship, there isn't a whole lot more I could say about the drummer than he is a juggernaut. Looking at the word, I don't feel it's overstated at all. He has a robot-like consistency while playing some of the most complicated parts you'll see. Never a shift, never a miss. He is a fresh bottle of chaos. The guitarist and bassist Joe and Ben maintain a brilliant level of play while moving back and forth between their instruments making the live feel all the more impressive. This is a band you've just got to see live. The passion, the power, the throat grab...

Next came a fellow who is now going by the stage name Mrs Toothbrush. Jackson from Grand Buffet has had a lot going on?the release of a new record and a burgeoning career as one of the more creative modern hip-hop artists. I think it's pretty amazing that he still doesn't think he's too big to play a night at the BBT. He didn't disappoint. The performance was both entertaining and hilarious, taking time to promote his favorite beer (O'douls) between songs and displaying his special gift for spontaneous randomness. Mixed with the more obvious gift of rhyming, it was a sight to see. He also has an amazing way of presenting his social outlook without seeming preachy or lame. One particular song that comes to mind is a nice little rhyme about how parents scold their children if they believe them to be smoking pot, and then put them on more acceptable drugs like Ritalin or Zoloft. It was quite creative and made an amazing statement about how terribly over-medicated our country has become.

Finally, I caught Sirens & Songbirds for the second time in as many months, and I've got to tell you, this band is high energy art-rock/hardcore, and many other things finely tuned into what amounts to face-melting excitement. It's an explosive set from start to finish and the music is amazing, something that a lot of like-minded bands seem to forget. A lot of times you'll see 100% energy, 20% skill but that's just not the case in Sirens & Songbirds. With 3 more than capable vocalists, it's a non-stop barrage of well timed yells/screams that culminate into an onslaught of rhythmic verses and choruses. The intensity of the show is evident in the ferocious drumming of Chris, accompanied by an ever-stomping guitarist (who's name I could give you if they weren't the kind of assholes that use fake names on myspace) and of course the dance stylings of bassist Scott. I, for one, am ready for the band to make a full length release with a producer that specializes in their brand of raw power.

To summarize: if you're not going to local shows, give it a try. In going to this show, I found that I didn't necessarily need to wait for the public media, which is controlled entirely by advertising dollars, to tell me what the next sweet band is going to be. I need only log on to www.thesteelcitysound.com; or theatomicfamily.org to find out what's happening around town.

I'll see you at the show.