Constantly evolving, constantly changing, defying labels and descriptions while trying not to get bored with their musical direction... This is the agenda of the Los Angeles band Ritual, associating them with ambition with such L.A. "art rock" bands that have preceded them as the Doors, X, Jane's Addiction and Stone Temple Pilots. To say that Ritual is striving to create a "Radiohead-with-an-edge-that-will-hit-you-back" kind of sound has probably been the most accurate description of the band to date. Ritual's unique sound is the result of the severely diverse musical tastes of the band's core members and songwriters; wasted-on-the-way lead vocalist/lyricist Mike Day, the Boston poet/rocker with the not-so-subtle death-by-pleasure wish; guitarist and token California native Jon Tompkins, the pop heart and soul of the band; and bassist George Radai, the Master of All Things Low End and the progressive rock element to the band's sound. Groove-rock priestess Jerry Jones-Haskins on drums, a veteran of both the East and West Coast music scenes (who also just happens to have been named after the immortal "Killer", Jerry Lee Lewis); and lead guitarist Kwan Hearns, who sharpened his hard-edges Detroit guitar rock sound with the timeless purity of Heavy Jazz Influence as both a student and teacher at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, complete the diversity that is Ritual.