Imagine that something forced a couple of musical novices to record a 72-hour drinking binge, replete with the requisite meltdowns, ineffective eruptions, and moments of painful clarity by continuously writing and performing songs for the duration of the time. Imagine the tapes were then poured through for the most poignant, disturbing or song-like moments and pared down to 10 “songs.” This may give some inkling as to the sound of this most peculiar local release.The Yellow Circles is the project of guitarist Ray and percussionist Kate, although these are surely pseudonyms. “The Turbulent Lives of…” presents the artists as primitive, depraved bratty roommates, putting themselves through a musical/psychological wringer for some reason known only to them. The effect on the listener is a rare one in music; a mix of confusion, concern and awe. The opening track, “Homebrew,” is one in which there is at least the façade of musicality, and one of the rare moments where the two vocalists sing with each other, instead of at. One might want to pigeonhole the Circles as a kind of darker offshoot of the “freak-folk” trend, and this might not be entirely inaccurate, with Ray and Kate singing the chorus in something approximating traditional harmony: “This is my homebrew/You’re in the bath room/What do you do?” It sounds like Ray’s acoustic guitar may only have two strings, and he’s using a quarter instead of a pick, and Kate’s percussion amounts to an arrhythmic stomping sound, but this track is by far the most focused on the CD.The remainder of the album’s hour long span is an unfocused quagmire; conversations with topics ranging from “who left the mayonnaise out” to “living with you is a nightmare” with some guitar plucking or pot-and-pan banging in the background. While not pleasing in a conventional rock ‘n’ roll sense, the value of this album is pure voyeurism. Therein lies The Yellow Circles’ unlikely triumph.