PHOTOS BY NICOLE FRANZEN

"That's what we call [hydroning], at the end. It's just like milking it," chuckled Earlimart lead singer Aaron Espinoza, after shredding some extra cacophony on top of a fresh track from their latest LP, Mentor Tormentor. Call it comic relief from the texture-smiths of Silverlake, CA's rainy-day rock scene. Or call it accurate.

Accurate in the best of ways. The milking of cacophony was definitely a good thing with new tour recruits, the String Dream Team quartet, who tugged and lifted a few cuts short of the complete new record. All together, the crew stood nine people deep last night (Aug. 28) at Joe's Pub in New York City; a deceiving place, with its very un-pub-like table-only service and high-class jazz bar design.

The evening began just as Mentor was pressed: the ominous drum charge of "Fakey Fake" setting up the washed-out acoustics of "Answers & Questions," but now all dressed up with violins and cello. It wasn't until the fourth track, an ode to the band's late friend and inspiration, Elliott Smith, called "Heaven Adores You" off 2004's Treble and Tremble, that they strayed from the new.

The crowd of mostly weathered fans played the attentive card, keeping the between-track requests to a minimum, save for one gentlemen's encore shot out that drew a nostalgic response from Espinoza -- "Oh shit, we never play 'Drink On the Job'…'play that one song you wrote when you were 16, but…skateboarding'," he joked, before honoring the old punk gem.

But just when the band had the opportunity to 'milk' it best, they killed it. The exiting track, a cheery in chord, dark in irony sing-along called "Cold Cold Heaven" was sterile without the choir present on the Mentor cut. Why did you bench the Dream Team Earlimart? Why? Mentor Tormentor indeed. 

We asked: Taking the new Earlimart LP title Mentor Tormentor at face value, who's the most evil mentor you've crossed paths with, and why?

Name: Sara Hodgekins
Age: 36
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Visual artist
"I'm very positive -- I have nobody in my life who is that way."

Name: Greg Hillman
Age: 27
Hometown: Sea Girt, NJ
Occupation: Sales planner
"My brother because he always use to beat me up along the way. In a weird, twisted way he made me who I am."

Name: Michael Sheffield
Age: 21
Hometown: New Jersey
Occupation: Marketing representative
"My third grade teacher turned out to be a huge pedophile. Instead of learning how to spell, we learned about Star Wars."

Name: Carrie Tolles
Age: 26
Hometown: Greenwich, CT
Occupation: Publicist
"My third grade religion teacher -- he was crazy. He was studying to be a priest, and he made me think I was getting the signs of the cross etched into my hands. I woke up every morning looking at my palms."

Name: Marry Crawford
Age: 29
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Occupation: Music industry
"Miss Poindexter who tormented other students -- big nose, white hair pulled into a perfect bun every day. She would make girls get on their knees to check if their skirts touch the ground or not or you were sent home."

Name: Valerie Strait
Age: 40
Hometown: Muskegon, MI
Occupation: Landscape design firm
"Officer Bostrom -- in Junior High, he arrested me and three of my friends for jay-walking, took Polaroid pictures of us, and dropped us off at home. When I graduated high school, he gave me a miniature pair of handcuffs. Why didn't he bust the smokers that were walking in front of us?"

Earlimart guitarist Aaron Espinoza and bassist Michael Orendy / Photo by Nicole Franzen

Earlimart and the String Dream Team quartet / Photo by Nicole Franzen

Bassist Ariana Murray / Photo by Nicole Franzen

Espinoza is going to 'break into your heart' / Photo by Nicole Franzen

Murray on keys / Photo by Nicole Franzen