January 2012
44 posts
2011
30. Sloan, The Double Cross (Yep Roc)
29. Reports, Dinamo Cambridge (Ride the Snake)
28. Zombi, Escape Velocity (Relapse)
27. Blues Control w/ Laraaji, FRKWYS Vol. 8 (RVNG)
26. Glands of External Secretion, Reverse Atheism (BUFMS)
25. Dan Melchior und Das Menace, Catbirds and Cardinals (Northern-Spy)
24. Skoal Kodiak, Kryptonym Bodliak (Load)
23. Zachary Cale, Noise of Welcome (All Hands...
December 2011
64 posts
Lost Tribe – s/t LP (Blind Prophet)
Scuttlebutt on this band throughout 2011 was quite intense, like a second coming of the greatest deathrock outfit you could hope for, scuzzy Richmondites doing poppers at their shows and getting lost in the visual effects. Naturally, they’ve been built up to some degree to be better than anyone could possibly hope (or God forbid, someone who doesn’t really know that much about punk proclaiming...
Psandwich – Northren Psych LP (Columbus Discount) ...
RECOMMENDED
No arguments from this corner – the biggest unheralded event of rock music in 2011 was that there were two new Ron House-related projects released this year: an archival Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments 7”, all the way from Australia, and a full-length for the new band that he fronts, Psandwich. I’ll go ahead and claim this to be the best band Ron has sang for, definitely the most...
Dikes of Holland/Daniel Francis Doyle – split...
After a fine LP, Dikes of Holland reveal a truer nature, kind of a drunken Austinite version of the Thinking Fellers, the hyperliteracy of that band replaced with the invisible codicil of a day out in the sun, swimming, then getting blitzed in the evening hours. In their tendencies to floor it through busy, curiously strange forms of punk bar/garage rock, they find a kindred spirit in one-man band...
Future Shuttle – Water’s Edge 12” EP (Holy...
Oberlin-to-Brooklyn synth duo (some manner of polyphonic keyboard is issued to graduates with their diplomas) kick out the measured, modulated jams for drone-n-drive nights on the nation’s darkened highways. Stylistically this is right in between traditionally New Age works of the late ‘70s (Froese/T. Dream, M. Hoenig), the red-eyed dawnwork of Honey Owens’ Valet, and a methodology-free take on...
Hidden Twin – Empire Art Gallery Pt. 1 10” EP...
Back under his solo guise, Phil Boyd (Modey Lemon guitarist) heads back towards the same electronic pools of mercury as found on his recent single as TM Eye on the same label. Previous Hidden Twin releases concentrated on folk-tinged sounds, but here Boyd goes full on early ‘80s AOR, with songs like “Kill Clock” and “Alright to Claw” abstractly channeling the same glowing circuitry of Don...
Land of Blood and Sunshine – Phlegm Realm 7” EP...
Iowa is a state I don’t know anything about, but a tendency towards cultist psych pop seems likely enough. Doug gasfaced the other Whoa! Boat record, but Land of Blood and Sunshine are doing it for me. Four varied songs that communicate some corn-fed warnings of dark and forgotten territories, which manage to walk a line between sinister/outsider obscurity and catchy exteriors. Clever and mixed...
Mad Nanna – “I’ve Been Talking” b/w “I Made Blood...
“I’ve Been Talking,” someone in Mad Nanna moans, and he sounds rather apologetic about the fact. He needn’t be. Sure, this Australian outfit sounds like someone captured Michael Morley fronting a couple less-enabled Hanley brothers with a classic tin-cans-and-shoelace recording set-up, but you gotta give ‘em credit – they used virgin laces. “I Made Blood Better” isn’t so fancy; wayward yawp,...
Opéra Mort / Decapitated Hed – split 7”...
It took three nations to put together three hundred little black records of synth abuse, but this is one UN effort that should not be dismissed out of hand. Baltimore-based Decapitated Hed’s side is all in the wrists; they twist knobs, not arms, and the flickering locked groove at the end signifies their eagerness for you to leave. This track could have come out in 1981 with a picture of...
Perdition – s/t 7” EP (Distort Reality)
The Disclose tour of 2004 hit American punx like a bomb blast, forever closing the door on Profane Existence-modeled political dirge and grind crust, letting the Japanese raw style spread across Myspace like wildfire. In 2011, Myspace is tossed to the wolves (and low-quality teens), while New York DIY hardcore is in full revival. Crazy Spirit is probably the best known of the bands leading this...
Psychic Teens – TEEN LP (Golden Voyage)
Dark, hard-charging modern rock from a Philadelphia trio that lays into the wall of noise with the sort of mechanical, militaristic gusto you might have expected out of a band in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. Their bio rounds them out as great guys who like a wide variety of music, and therefore have opened for Goth bands, metal bands, and prog/indie bands in their hometown. It’s fitting that...
The Psychopaths – “Till The Stroke Of Dawn” b/w...
The Psychopaths have a catchy name, but it’s misleading. Not that truth would have gotten them very far; neither in 1967, when this record was originally recorded, nor in our age of over-sharing and self-knowledge, would “The Nice Earnest Young Men” garner many listeners. Singer Richard Arvedon sings about waiting for his baby until the stroke of dawn, but let’s be real, when does anyone capable...
Dan Russell – s/t LP (Aggravation Overdose)
RECOMMENDED
After a while of digging new trenches to skeins of DIY music, it becomes hard not to wonder if there are/were any real world parallels to the handful of genius singer-songwriters who rode the rails of DIY culture – guys who might make you think of a Nudge Squidfish or Jim Shepard or Fred Cole, but with even less exposure. This belated compilation of songs by Flint, MI based...
Sex Church – Growing Over LP (Load)
A big step forward for this Vancouver outfit, having dropped some memorable releases that stuck more closely to genre conventions. Here they have amassed enough ponderous, weighty questions to deliver a stronger, more thought-through answer than most of their contemps in the chain-rattle/death rock circuit. Won’t be the first one to say that this is where Clockcleaner might’ve gone (minus the...
Sonoi – Tropics of Holland LP (Meno Mosso)
Back in the early aughts, when Adam Busch recorded under the name Manishevitz, he seemed to take on a new guise every time he made a record. You might get shut-in acoustic strum or strutting Roxy Music redux, but at least you wouldn’t get the same album twice. Nowadays he records nearly under the radar with Sonoi, a trio that also includes ex-Manishevitz bassist Ryan Hembrey and drummer Pierce...
Andy Stott – Passed Me By 2x12” EP / We Stay...
RECOMMENDED
Figure I had to weigh in on these two before the end of the year: you need ‘em, and you need ‘em on vinyl to feel their full impact (though the double-pack CD that just came out would be a good substitute, and has bonus tracks). It’s said that Mr. Stott’s output prior to these two recent releases wouldn’t necessarily point to the developments (he claims “mastery of software” or...
Supercluster – “Paris Effect” b/w “Neat in the...
While most of Supercluster has Elephant 6 credentials, the draw here is vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay, who once sang in the mighty Pylon. “Paris Effect” leans closer to E6 winsomeness and standard ‘90s indie rock chug than Pylon’s stark, indisputable throb; I doubt that James Murphy will be dropping it into his DJ sets any time soon. A proliferation of acoustic strings adds padding but little...
Union Electric – “Tunnels” b/w “An Irish Orphan”...
Ambitious but raw alt-country, and for a genre I don’t expressly care about, the Union Electric manages to do a reliable job of delivering the odd record I can enjoy. They have a general vibe of “effort” which is a pleasant variation from our typical slouching garage dreck. Your mileage may vary. Tim Rakehell’s grizzled voice and fuzzed guitar makes this a good record for you busker shitpunks...
Black Humor – Love God – Love One Another LP...
RECOMMENDED
First release off a new reissue label dedicated to presenting punk and raw/wavo outliers of the Bay Area in the ‘70s and ‘80s, who’ve announced a reissue of Tuxedomoon’s earliest and best releases, as well as an unearthed full-length by drums/vocals protest outfit Noh Mercy (track down their instigating anthem “Caucasian Guilt” on the Earcom 3 2x7” … even if you don’t like that, you...
Femminielli/Arraignée – split 7” (Fixture)
The womb-warm memories that analog synths evoke of a more hopeful time, when progress seemed like a possibility, go out the window when you add a “Chariots of Fire”-style drum machine track. Plug that in and listeners of a certain age will remember why it seemed like a good idea to pawn your keyboards in order to get a guitar and a paisley shirt. Bernardino Femminielli’s “Chauffeur” might still...
The OBN IIIs – The One and Only LP (Tic Tac...
RECOMMENDED
After a number of singles of varying degrees of quality/interest, Orville Neeley III and his OBN IIIs hit one out HARD, making the kind of record most garage punk outfits couldn’t even fathom. Neeley and the band swagger all over this thing from the get-go, which happens to be one of my favorite songs of the year, a call-and-response takedown of fashion entitled “If The Shit Fits,”...
Alasdair Roberts & Karine Polwart/Drew Wright –...
This split single is a contemporary tie-in with the release of Whaur The Pig Gaed On A Spree, on the Drag City sublabel Twos & Fews. That collection of Alan Lomax recordings made over fifty years ago in Scotland reveals the way Irish folk music sounded before rural electrification came to the Emerald Isle; these two songs show how it sounds in the Internet era. The Roberts/Polwart side...
White Hills – “Measured Energy” b/w “The Uncommon...
Rather than offer their most immediate material on the short format, White Hills go for their most abstract. And like Sammy Johns once sang, that’s all right with me. “Measured Energy” sounds like a video-game approximation of Cluster jamming with a digeridoo improv ace, while a shortwave radio in the background gives up its tenuous hold on being in tune to any station. The flip is a big,...
X Ray Eyeballs – “Sundae” b/w “Déjà Vu” 7” (Hardly...
Christmas trees. Who needs them? Assholes do: they are a horrible, senseless waste. If you kill a perfectly good cow, you can process it into hamburgers and cowboy boots. You chop down a redwood tree, and you can use the lumber to make a methadone clinic with enough left over to print a pornographic magazine. But Christmas trees are a glorified stand to hang overpriced ornaments on honor the...
Shoppers – Silver Year LP (Drugged...
RECOMMENDED
I hope I get this right, because to not give Silver Year the praise it deserves would cheat us all. It’s the kind of record that brings the notions of a few decades’ worth of music back to square one, pushing an underheard message of strength and the release of rage from singer Meredith Graves, through a carcrash of blistered noise crumbling apart atop a mile-long bed of hot coals....
Ambassador Gun – “Promise of Rest” b/w “Dynasty”...
Ten to thirteen years ago, the bar for this sort of thing was set by Botch, a band so great they could turn a twee-popper’s scowl into a look of awe and wonder. Though no twee-popper by any stretch of the imagination, I was nonetheless enough of an all-over-the-board’er that I would go searching for other bands as adept at elevating their chosen agenda to that of the sublime. Guess where that...
Go Rydell/Grey Area – split 7” EP (Black Numbers) ...
Again with a “what does it say about the state of things” intro sentence: This is straight-up melodic hardcore or suitably-fast and tough pop-punk that most likely has more than 500 fans to justify second pressing after this one of 500 is depleted (this is one of the 250 blue copies). So, with that ready to exit your noodle … (drum roll or dramatic pause) … WHAT DOES IT SAY when the impulsive,...
Household – Items LP (Dull Knife)
RECOMMENDED
Way far out on the L train, Brooklyn’s Household made one really great, honest, personal record – this one – then promptly stopped playing out by the time it was released. This happens, and the challenge remains in trying to find a band on hiatus a home with listeners. So please spread the word about Household, three women who pulled together a range of influences, filled them with...
High Castle – Spirit of the West LP (Zum)
The dream of the ‘90s is alive in Oakland. High Castle follows up their high-velocity one-sided 12” with a more methodical, historically steeped full-length, ringing out those ‘90s platitudes of militant-style vocals (singer Erin Allen sounds like he’s auditioning for Spitboy, or maybe The Ex), discordant post-HC punk that hangs around like the Fugazi and Unwound acolytes of the day (or maybe...
Kim Phuc – Copsucker LP (Iron Lung)
On any given night when they’re playing (usually in Pittsburgh, because these guys don’t seem to like to travel much), Kim Phuc is easily within the top three to five greatest punk bands in the States, maybe the world. They play minor-chord, tough, mid-tempo rock that sound like the product of a broken home, brooding, maybe on its way to jail, or to a playground to beat on some kids. The angry,...
Mahonies – Eat ‘Em All 7” EP (Cass)
Not that I have to point this out, but this IS NOT the valuable release on Cass Records, the one that exits eBay for the price of a 1996 Camry with low miles. Thank me now or thank me later for that bit of investment advice. You can also thank me by understanding that hot dogs are the new boom-box in a world that assigns a “comedy gold” status to spoofing the cover of the most overrated...
Monkey Power Trio – Who Cares What the Vultures...
The liners state that the Monkey Power Trio gets together one day per year to play, record what they play and release it on a 7”. It’s also revealed that this, recorded in October of 2009, represents their 15th year of doing so. One listen proves that these folks are not in any other bands. It’s a worthless gesture of inept, charm-free fucking around and thinking about this clogging up the...
Son Skull – Wiped Clean 12” EP (Perennial)
Second record from this Olympia, WA band, and one of the most interesting and consistent punk scenes in this country, parts of which has been well-represented by local label Perennial. Everything they’ve released so far KILLS, and this Son Skull EP is no exception, the band growing further out of the reckless, raspy, rusty sounds of their debut into some surprising and sensitive directions...
Anthrax – “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t” b/w “The...
Being knocked on my dick by that Corrosion of Conformity 7” on Southern Lord had an unfortunate impact on me: Give me some brand new vinyl by a metal or heavy band that shouldn’t be worth a quickly-raised eyebrow and I will gamble on getting the same wallop as “Your Tomorrow,” regardless of how the two sonic footprints dance with one another. In short, this Anthrax 7” made me the prompt...
Birds of America – “Now I See It” b/w “Nitewalker”...
First signs of life in some six odd years from Nathaniel Russell’s Birds of America, a pair of nimble, strummed pop numbers in an Athens circa mid-‘90s mold with three chords between them. Both rest on a backdrop of shaker with little more than a steady near-clean guitar and Russell’s voice to carry the way. The flipside “Nitewalker” is the stronger of the two, surprisingly sturdy...
Bloody Gears – s/t 7” EP (Deranged)
If Sex Vid were 1/8th of the band they were, and released a 7” of material performed on a newly-tarred roof somewhere near the equator, and all of the members wore parkas while suffering from walking pneumonia, well…I have no idea what that would sound like, but I am convinced it would stomp all over the misleadingly-named Bloody Gears, who probably want to stomp all over me right now. Because...
Cult of Youth – The Devil’s Coals 7” EP (Blind...
First post-touring output from Sean Ragon’s Cult of Youth shows marked refinement from the self-titled release from earlier this year. Even if the vibe remains very removed from where I want to be, it would be difficult to deny that they’ve honed themselves into a tightly functioning unit. The recording quality plays a large role – as the furiously strummed guitar is pushed back, the...
Fat History Month – A Gorilla 7” EP (Sweaters &...
Fat History Month: the early days. Four pre-LP tracks from that embryonic time when the history of obesity had only a week to celebrate. And a dreary time was had by all. Probably being thrown off by the goofiness of the name, but would never expect this band to be as bleak as it is. No major problems with the music, just desolate, mid tempo indie rock of a mid ‘90s vintage, dirty, reverb heavy...
Feral Children – “Reverb” b/w “Ancient Videotape”...
A coin toss decided one of two ways to handle this 7” … to process it as an earnest endeavor. Honestly, neither of the two music fans who live under this roof could get away from the possibility that this is a prank; created to bait reviewers like myself while deftly commenting on its scene of origin. If this is a serious creative statement, I strongly suggest all readers block out a few days in...
Funk Police – Hot We Are Funk We Play LP (AVANT!) ...
Another corner of once-popular underground music – this time, the agitpunk bodywork of early ‘80s postpunk as it forced its way onto the dancefloor – is tackled by the Grande Triple Alliance, the so-tight-it’s-loose patronage of French musicians affiliated with the Feeling of Love, Scorpion Violente, the Anals, the Dreams, and a small handful of other latter-day Francopunx/Pussy Galore...
Gangwish – Space Case Vol. 2 7” (Dear Skull)
RECOMMENDED
Round two from Pittsburgher Sam Pace (of the excellent Centipede E’est) under the guise of Gangwish, his catch-all to document his journey to pair drums and electronics through the magic of electronic triggers. Pace surely possesses some Yogi-level patience and serenity as I’m sure this is infuriatingly frustrating to execute live. Live drums are scaled back on “Live...
Ghost Aquarium/Josh Dobbs and His Deficit of Dream...
Ghost Aquarium released one of my favorite 7”s of 2008, and if you want to hear it, the first pressing of 300 is still in print from this very label. In fact, the seven inch was the first title I reviewed for Still Single. While basking in the meaninglessness of this, I just realized the lack of impact exacted by my genuine effort to recommend a great 7” to complete strangers. That was three...
Goddammitboyhowdy – Is Rez Punk 7” EP/CDR (Minor...
I do believe there is more shit and garbage clogging up things than ever before, and I believe this because it is statistically true. Proof? You’ll have to get in touch, ask about my claim, and I will give you proof. Then I will post our correspondence on my blog. While nowhere near the mountain that is the aforementioned “proof,” the following sentiment easily adheres to it or moves from it to...
Heavy Chains – A Very Real Hell 12” EP (The...
The bassist and vocalist of Nu Sensae, the drummer of White Lung, and the guitarist from departed Vancouver outfit Mutators come together for a side project that’s less than the sum of its reliable parts. Promotional materials (including some praise from another publication that looks disturbingly like a bad copy of something I’ve written) try to tar this quick, slight seven-song EP with the...
Lab Coast/Extra Happy Ghost – split 7” EP (Saved...
Lab Coast either inaugurated a vast improvement or suffered a drastic drop in quality before or after they created the content for the split with Friendo, but that record cover utilizes barely-visible text and this record reviewer won’t be able to sleep tonight after recommended to the public a band that made a conscious choice to use the moniker “Lab Coast” to give the world a sonic footnote...
Locrian – “Dort Ist Der Weg” b/w “Frozen In Ash”...
RECOMMENDED
In which we come to that one 7” in the stack that will follow me to the grave … strong words I rarely stand by in the long (or short) run. Liner notes claim that the best side is influenced by Popol Vuh, but David Copperfield couldn’t turn what I’m hearing into Krautrock. Maybe some of you know that feeling when a Kranky release doesn’t have the teeth that you had hoped for. This is...
Violens/Erika Spring – split 7” (Friendly Fire)
Pleasant split harkening three decades back, each side drawing on previously released album tracks. NY trio Violens (good to see someone else inspired by the lyrics sheet from Pearl Jam’sVs.) offers “It Couldn’t Be Perceived,” in slightly modified form from their Amoralfull length, with what would have easily passed for well-studied, 4AD-style dream pop, were it not for that disco beat...
Per Purpose – Implicating More Than One 12” EP...
RECOMMENDED
Aggressive/progressive dealings from a Brisbane trio (including Bedroom Suck CEO and current Kitchen’s Floor drummer Joe Alexander), playing the kind of complex, exciting, hyperbolic p-rock compartmentalized in the ‘90s. Though they have the post-HC flare with lots of yelling and stormy musicianship, there’s some really obtuse logic behind these songs, and where they go is less...
Voytek – “Saturday Night Again” b/w “Voytek Party”...
Perfect party record, because unless there is a DJ, no one at a party pays any significant amount of attention the chosen tunes, and that’s an exact match for the attention this record will command in the comfort and relative simplicity of one’s own home. It is best to think that each time a record like this is manufactured, another record of beauty, inspiration and invention is robbed of the...
Fungi Girls – Some Easy Magic LP (Hozac)
More listless strum from the Hozac factory farm. Very little consideration given to sound or presentation, on a record that looks like other records. I don’t like to let music make me feel this beat down. (http://www.hozacrecords.com) (Doug Mosurock)
