Asteroid B-612 | en

Asteroid B-612 is the home of the Little Prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's children's story The Little Prince. No less than two bands have borrowed the name:

1. Punk, Sydney.
Formed in 1992 in Sydney and quickly became mainstays of the then-burgeoning Melbourne punk scene, sharing a sweaty Detroity rock aesthetic, as well as gigs, with bands like Hoss, Bored!, The Powder Monkeys and Seminal Rats. Have sporadically recorded and toured to a devoted fanbase ever since.

2. Indie, San Francisco.
Fronted by the somewhat legendary Ryan Harper, Asteroid B-612 provides what has been described as "indie-shoegaze" to the very appreciative Lamorinda indie scene. With indie filmmaker Ross Meckfessel on drums and abstract artist Gaelan Baird on bass, this three-piece outfit draws influence from Yann Tiersen and Yo La Tengo to create a style that transcends genre.

While the majority of the talent clearly lies in Meckfessel and Baird, Harper is all too often credited as the only essential member of the band. After hearing repeated praises of his supposed genius, Harper has cut a solo album and played a few shows on his own.

Asteroid's The Piano EP clocks in at just over half an hour and features the talents of fellow Orinda musician Jordan Pecherer, aka JPech, on saxophone. The album meanders through various moods, kicking off with the instrumental "C'mon While We're Still Legal" then switching into full "Conor-Oberst-thinks-he's-Bob-Dylan" mode on "I Swear I'll Pull Through This Time." The strongly Yann Tiersen-influenced "A Railing And A Sun" evokes the Amelie soundtrack, and while the fan favorite "The Lighthouse" also relies heavily on piano, it takes on a more upbeat tone, complete with awkward "try-as-hard-as-you-can-to-clap-along-with-the-beat" handclaps.

The last release from the band The Robot EP was released on August 25, 2006. With 9 tracks the EP delves beautifully into the group's beginning indie-grunge-era with the opening trio of instrumental tracks. Without jarring the listener, the album fades into posi-indie bliss, with the epic "Enoch" towering at the center. As their last release, The Robot EP sums up Asteroid's complete sound amazingly well and showcases the band at its best.

Gaelan Baird is quoted as saying "lol" after reading this. .