While making their new album, House of Large Sizes, perpetual and willful misfits of the underground rock scene, decided to ditch most of the trademarked musical "tricks" commonly identified with their sound in the past.

Somehow, the Iowa based veterans sound more like themselves than ever.

As a result, the trio quite appropriately decided to call the album "House of Large Sizes."

If you don't know House of Large Sizes already…

The husband, wife and drummer team known as House of Large Sizes plays angular, hard, minimalist underground rock. James Gang, Wire and X meets Rainer Maria, Mission of Burma and Burning Brides.

Needless to say, House of Large Sizes (HOLS) do not fit in with today's stoner or retro rock any better than they fit with the punk rock popular during their early years.

Their punk influenced sound has expanded steadily over the course of several albums, EPs and 7 inches.

On stage, HOLS is energetic, precise, charismatic, and slightly possessed.

If you do know House of Large Sizes already…

You’re quickly going to realize that "House of Large Sizes" represents a dramatic improvement in the band’s songwriting.

"In the past, when a song got boring to us, we’d just stop, then change tempos and direction," explains bassist Barb Schlif, "each song was actually more like four songs stuck together. On this album, we took more time with each song and tried to find more subtle ways to keep them going."

Guitarist / singer Dave Deibler adds, "Our knee-jerk reaction used to be to just add another part – but we’ve gotten more confident in our songwriting abilities this time out." This change can partially be credited to the chemistry the band has found with new drummer Brent Hanson, who brings new energy to the band’s live shows and strong contributions to the group’s songwriting process.

Further evidence of the hard work put into this album can be found in the lyrics. The album’s repeated themes of media sprawl and the resulting loss of personal identity form the most cohesive set of lyrics on any HOLS album to date.

As Dave says, "This is new ground for us. We’re very comfortable with how it all sounds, the story it tells, and we are happy to let it stand as is."