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Like the Black Hills of songwriter Darren Jacksons native South Dakota, alt-rock duo Kid Dakota is a creature of extremes: Whisper-quiet vocals explode into searing guitar riffs and crushing drumbeats in a single breath. Loneliness and beauty go hand in hand. And a two-man band from Minneapolis makes a sound big enough to fill a stadium.

Those two men Jackson on electric guitar and vocals, and Ian Prince on drumsoffer up a moody fusion of rock, folk and country on the order of Okkervil and Sparklehorse.

Dark, dusty and desolate, the bands 2001 debut So Pretty was a haunting collection of sketches that put a slightly sinister twist on the classic breakup album. Jackson showed his teeth and his scars on these brutally honest, heart-achingly brilliant tales of lost love and wasted years.

With 2004s The West is the Future, the band shifted its focus from personal torment to universal struggle. Recorded live as a four-piece with layer upon layer of intricate overdubs, this cinematic rock symphony artfully exposed the seedy underbelly of westward expansion at the turn of the century.

Kid Dakota currently is the studio tracking their forthcoming Winter 2008 release, A Winners Shadow.