Babble On When asked “Why do the solo thing?,” Pitchblende guitarist Treiops Treyfid answers, “Why not?” He’s terse and succinct, just like “Hand Full of Babylon,” his contribution to a split 7-inch for the Kilogram Denial label. Instead of the dense, textured sound of his regular band, Treyfid opts for crisp, quirky pop that’s closer to early XTC than Sonic Youth. With one half of Pitchblende living in New York and the other still in the metro area, Treyfid’s side project may become his main musical outlet. “We are officially on hiatus,” he says of the band. “We will not be playing any more shows in 1995. Playing early in 1996 to support our upcoming release Gygax! is a possibility.” Treyfid also drums for Arbour Day and records avant-garde material as Triptic of a Pastel Fern at his home studio, ELFsound. “Hand Full of Babylon” is available from Kilogram Denial, P.O. Box 2462, Amherst, MA 01004-2462.

Levelheaded In the tradition of Simple Machines, Level Records is releasing its own thematically linked series of compilation singles. Its leitmotif? Rodents. Following last year’s Hamster comes Squirrel, the series’ second release. The four-song 7-inch features Tuscadero’s kitschy garage-pop on “Island Girls” (featuring the unforgivable pun, “Island girls make great leis”); Chisel’s energetic blast of mod-punk, “Out for Kicks”; angular, discordant rock from Frodus on “22-D10”; and Bloodnation’s similarly testy “Flesh of Another.” Available for $3 postpaid from Level Records, P.O. Box 21313, Washington, DC 20009.