It’s been about four years since The Minus Scale played a live CD release show on the Seacoast. Although the indie rock band’s four members have remained active in the scene, they have limited most of their recorded material to short EPs and online releases. But, after 18 months of work on a new album, The Minus Scale will hold a long-awaited release party at Bourbon’s Music Club in Portsmouth on Friday, Oct. 3.

“We’re unbelievably excited about actually having a CD that people will be listening to in their cars and playing for other people,” said bassist AJ Tobey. 

Consisting of Tobey on bass and vocals, Ryan Levasseur on guitar and vocals, Chris Delisle on guitar, keyboard and vocals and Pat Griffin on drums, The Minus Scale is one of a number of area bands that are unveiling new CDs this fall and celebrating with local release parties.

Veteran Seacoast guitarist Tom Yoder is set to put out his second solo album, “Never Get Enough,” this month. He held a small release show at The Dolphin Striker on Aug. 15 and will follow it up with a larger party at The Press Room on Friday, Sept. 26, with his live band, The Thieves. “It feels very good to have it done,” Yoder said. “The excitement level is up all the way across.”

In an age when bands can make their music available through a variety of online forums, including MySpace pages, Web sites, podcasts and YouTube videos, it’s easy to overlook the significance of a physical recording. But Tobey and Yoder both feel that CDs are paramount to expanding a group’s fan base. 

“To have a CD just means so much more to us,” Tobey said. “I still hold the CD as just this great tool to reach more people quicker.”

Although “Hotter” will be available on iTunes and selected tracks can be heard on the band’s MySpace page, Tobey noted that people still primarily listen to CDs in their cars and play them at gatherings where other listeners get exposed to the music. Plus, a physical recording demonstrates a band’s commitment to making music and spurs fans to take them more seriously.

“It really helps solidify your place in their world,” Tobey said. “Now people can actually take this music and have this artwork and we can proudly display all the work that went into it in the liner notes inside.”

The Minus Scale is planning a total of at least five release shows in the area. In addition to the 21-and-over show at Bourbon’s on Oct. 3, the band will return for an all-ages double release show on Sunday, Oct. 12, along with Portland, Maine-based pop-punk band Sparks the Rescue, which is releasing “The Secrets We Can’t Keep.” Sparks the Rescue will also join The Minus Scale for a release party at Portland’s The Station on Saturday, Oct. 11. Other Minus release shows are being planned for Derry, Boston and possibly New York.

Tobey said area venues often jump at the opportunity to book CD release shows. “I think (CD releases) actually help with the promotion of a show,” he said. “It’s almost a given that if it’s your CD release party, you’re worth a lot that night.”

The shows also offer bands an opportunity to distribute their new CDs directly to fans. Although “Hotter” will also be available at area stores like Bull Moose Music and Newbury Comics, Tobey said many listeners relish the chance to hear a band play its new songs live and then bring home the recording that night. “It’s fun going to a CD release party and buying the CD at the show,” he said.

Tobey said The Minus Scale plans to play “Hotter” in its entirety at Bourbon’s. Recorded partly in Brooklyn, N.Y., and partly in Maryland, the album will pose some challenges for live performances, with some songs introducing electronic elements that are new to the band’s sound. The CD will be available at a reduced price at the shows.

“We’re not trying to make any money on this thing. If we break even in the end, that’ll be just fantastic,” Tobey said.

Yoder plans to mix songs from the new album with older tunes and covers at The Press Room. He played most of the instruments on “Never Get Enough” himself, and the songs sound a bit different when he plays them with The Thieves. But he feels that the new CD shows progress over his first solo album, 2001’s “Layin Down Roots.”

“I think it’s a step up, but I think my first album represents that I do a lot of different stuff, and this is more evidence of that,” Yoder said. “You learn stuff every time you do one.”

Making his music available on a Web site and at CDBaby.com was a new process for the old-school Yoder, and he still feels that live performances are the best way to promote an album. He has another release show planned at Shovel Handle Pub at Whitney’s Inn in Jackson on Friday, Sept. 12, and he hopes to schedule another party at Three Chimneys Inn in Durham.

cd roundup

• Portland, Maine-based dance band The Beat Horizon will show off its new self-titled release with a show at Bourbon’s Night Club in Portsmouth on Friday, Sept. 12.

• Dover-based alternative rock band Speed of Film will release “Vows and a Party” with an all-ages show at Bourbon’s on Sunday, Sept. 14.

• Guitarist Tom Yoder and his backing band The Thieves will release “Never Get Enough,” at The Press Room in Portsmouth on Friday, Sept. 26.

• Singer-songwriter Guy Capecelatro III will celebrate the release of “Abandoned Christmas Trees” with a party at The Red Door in Portsmouth on Monday, Sept. 29, where he will be joined by Michael Holt of The Mommyheads.

• The Minus Scale will hold a CD release party for “Hotter” at Bourbon’s on Friday, Oct. 3, complete with Budweiser.

• Boston-based soul singer Jesse Dee will hold the local unveiling of his new CD “Bittersweet Batch” at The Press Room on Friday, Oct. 10.

• Portland-Maine based power-pop quintet Sparks the Rescue will release “The Secrets We Can’t Keep” with an all-ages show at Bourbon’s on Sunday, Oct. 12. The Minus Scale will also be present.  

• Local jam band Superfrog will release its first full-length album “Year of the Frog” with a show at Bourbon’s on Saturday, Nov. 15.

• Folk family The Makem and Spain Brothers recently released a live DVD called “Home Away From Home: Live from the Mother Lode Theatre in Butte, Montana.” They will follow it up with a CD release in late September or early October.