Sic Alps, a messy, gritty indie rock affair rooted in noise pop and the Velvet Underground's seminal soporific lo-fi, formed in the early 2000s as a collaboration between Matt Hartman (formerly of Henry's Dress) and Mike Donovan (formerly of the Ropers). Starting with Semi-Streets, their cassette-only debut single released on Folding in the fall of 2004, Sic Alps released a little over half-a-dozen singles over the course of the next four years, along with three EPs and a full-length album, A Long Way Around to a Shortcut. Another full-length album, U.S. EZ, was released that summer. Napa Asylum arrived in January 2011 and was the first to feature new member Noel Von Haromonson. ~ Heather Phares