Five Foot Nine is a six-piece collective that specializes in developed alternative rock. Rather than relying on hooks or frills, the group has built itself on the contributions and strengths of its members to write concise pop rock songs.

The eponymous debut album features ten songs that fall somewhat into the same musical category as 10,000 Maniacs or Toad the Wet Sprocket, and hold influences from the likes of REM and Neil Young. Although difficult to match up to any of those, Five Foot Nine makes a dent with excellent male/female vocal harmonies, moving percussive treatment, and a deep instrumentation lineup - trumpet, trombone, tambourine, synth, cello, sitar, and the conventional rock guitar/bass/drum formation.

Although the self-titled full-length release is not for everybody, it is a collection of songs that anyone - indie rocker to country folk - could find common ties to. High points for new listeners could be found in "Where Am I?" and "I Was In Pictures," which features the pedal steel guitar work of Ken Champion (Smog/Jim O'Rourke contributing fame).