PAINFUL REMINDER is what happens when folk singers go bad. It's for when you want to stare into the depths of human depravity and despair, but you want to smirk and hum a catchy tune while you do it -- to snap your fingers with one hand and hold a shotgun to your head with the other.

Stylistically, it's driving folk rock sprinkled with gritty riffs and slower dirges. The sound is melodic enough -- it's the lyrics that are off-kilter and hard-edged, always surprising, always carrying that dysfunctional bent that grabs attention and offers cold comfort to the jaded. The lyrics would appeal to fans of Nick Cave, Concrete Blonde, Roger Waters, Johnny Cash, Cake, Bad Religion, Jill Sobule, and Fear; the style to an even broader spectrum of music listeners, from folk singer/songwriter fans to indy rock, punk rock, and even metal fans. It's dominated by a clean guitar sound and traditional song structure, but also by challenging rhythms, hard-hitting percussion, and just generally the kind of attitude you would expect from hateful, angry music -- but without any reliance on distortion and screaming to get the point across.

Coming from the Atlanta area, Painful Reminder consists of singer/songwriter Ben Phillips, bassist Rob Solomon (singer/songwriter of Poodleface), and drummer/guitarist Philip Simmons -- a trio of experienced young performers with a large network of fans and friends. Their self-released album, "One Way Ticket: Songs To Slit Your Wrists By" has sold over 100 copies by word-of-mouth alone, and at the band's first three gigs (on a Monday and two Thursdays) they averaged a head count of over 50 people each night, there specifically to see Painful Reminder.