The members of Betwixt caught something interesting on MTV recently: a mention of their outfit, which Kurt Loder included in a year-end wrap-up of regional buzz bands.  (In fact, he was referring to a review of the Girls Girls Girls compilation on Curve of the Earth that ran in these pages.)  That’s one indication of how well Betwixt have done in their first nine months together.  Another is the level of excitement among the band members, most of whom have been local headliners before.  “Friends of mine, who’d tell me if they really hated it, have told me they love it,” reports guitarist Tom Devaney.”  “They tell me they’ve been waiting a long time for me to do something like this.”

Betwixt were formed earlier this year by guitarist Devaney and singer Leah Callahan, who’d pursued different blends of art, punk and pop in their previous bands, Bulkhead and Turkish Delight.  With Betwixt the blend has gotten more diverse  - it’s ethereal, rocking, and sinister all at once  - but it’s also meshing into an identifiable band sound.  The two tracks they’ve released, “Sea Horse” (on Girls Girls Girls) and “Shrine of ISO” on Castle von Buhler’s Night compilation), catch the band at different extremes.  The first is a Zepplinesque pounder; the second is quiet and haunting.  Both tracks share a mysterious approach that hints at straight ahead rock but never quite goes there.  That’s partly because of an ensemble  - vocals guitar, cello (Gordon Withers), and drums (Chris Foley on the tape, Dave Nelson currently) – that encourages left-field arrangements.  There’s also a playful imagination at work: Callahan can turn a pop hook with the best, but she’s likely to save them for the band’s wilder instrumental moments.  She’s equally likely to speak in tongues when the band plays straight ahead.

“When you’re in a band for a long time, you fall back on the easiest things to do, says Devaney.  “We’re trying to resist that.” -- Brett Milano