June 2011
84 posts
Absent Without Leave – ‘Neath the Tumbling Stars...
Pleasant, song-based light drone, guaranteed to trigger tears in about half of you. No real buildup here, just some really precious melodies repeated in a pristine environment of reverb and clear, sincere tones. It’s the product of one George Mastrokostas of Greece, who I hope to hear more from in the future – he’s got a handle on this sort of thing that is worth visiting and re-visiting....
Audiocrip – Blue Yo Speakers LP (Sonic Lozenge)
MPC noise/lopsided beat strategies from Audiocrip, who hails from LA (cred listed on the one sheet), and now resides in Portland, weirding things out beyond G-funk and GTA into a mode of individual expression. Noisier and a bit more aggressive than expected, this still falls comfortably around the whole left coast electro-bizarro mentality. The smoke must really be that good out there, huh. Cool...
Axis:Sova – “(I Feel Like) Laying Low” b/w...
Lonerman (meaning alone + also a man) spiritual cramp with a guitar or three, and a wooden heart used to keep the beat. Said man sings on “Laying Low,” the stronger of the two tracks here, and the one with an actual skeleton of songwriting, off which these crossed-up, folk-chanting sounds amount to a good deal of passion. The flip is some tossed-off amp burn set to a djembe loop, you can forget...
Janina Angel Bath – Gypsy Woman LP/10” (Prophase...
Right about now I expected the nth-string Grouper clones to surface, and Ms. Bath fills those sandals quite well. Hippie nonsense, extended raga drones and some terrible lyrics come together for a big folk-psych comedown, one which takes itself seriously to the point of silliness and derision. I hope to never listen to this again. Crazy colored vinyl in a gatefold sleeve....
Michael Beach – “A Horse” b/w “The Exhilarating...
Singery/songwritery dude backed only by guitar and drums. Laidback A-side “A Horse” reminds me a little of the Lapse, a band I wished was better than they really were. “The Exhilarating Rise” is better, building and tightening up to no release ala Bedhead, complete with a catchy melody. Something Richard Thompson might leave on the cutting room floor, but a curio nonetheless, and a song that...
Sanders Bohlke – “Quiet Ye Voices” b/w “The Weight...
What’s the first thing you’d associate with a name like Sanders Bohlke? Not “fun,” that’s for sure (more likely Verbena, the stalled Alabama major label band of which Bohlke was once a member). Two dour, melancholy tracks of infinite sadness that might appeal to guys who used to shop at Eddie Bauer, and Methodist girls who grew up with lakes in their backyards. The pseudo-portentousness of “The...
Bridesmaid/Sun Splitter – split 7” (Bastard Sloth)
“Bridesmaids” was a great movie! I laughed a lot and I felt something. Also I wish Tim Heidecker just made faces in the backgrounds of movies. There should be some sort of way to skin Netflix so you can just digitally add him into the film or TV show of your choice. Imagine “The Wire” with Tim Heidecker standing around. But we got a review to write here, between a bass-heavy tech sludge trio...
Brute Heart – Lonely Hunter LP (Soft Abuse)
Second album from this curious, arty Minneapolis postpunk-via-folk trio. Wonderful music: violin-led (and often plucked) tiptoes through politics and betrayal of the social contract. They are kindred spirits with another great band (Grass Widow), who pursue a similarly careful path and a highly specific sound. Much like Grass Widow, Brute Heart also uses the move to a slightly larger label to...
Christmas Island/Meth Teeth – split 2x7” (Sacred...
Christmas Island gets up to a respectable, Feelies-esque strum storm on “Drawing Skulls,” while Meth Teeth rolls through a sleepy, Sebadoh-quality guitar pop number on “Don’t Come Home” and a melancholy bulldozer on “Control.” Since the first Christmas Island song here isn’t too great, at least in comparison to some of the duds sitting in the pile, I have nothing more to say about it. Honestly I...
Company – Holy City LP (Exit Stencil)
This is not the Company from NYC, that great country/roots/pop band that existed for long enough to release at least two albums, and whose impeccable songwriting will now be confused with this South Carolina outfit, desperately trying to get on the circuit. I’m biased and probably dislike this more than I should due to the name swipe; nomenclature clashes with bands should be avoided whenever...
CREEM – “Good Riddance” b/w “I Hate You” 7”...
Dudes from Natural Law and the Nomos slam to some chugging mid-tempo hatred. “Good Riddance” burns with the primary-colored precision of the Hives and the unbridled anger of the Cro-Mags until maybe 20 seconds out, when it bursts to the finish in a hardcore blaze. “I Hate You” has more of an even keel, and aside from the aggression of the vocals, sounded a lot like that Brain Handle 7” on Iron...
Matt De Gennaro – Adversaria LP (TU 134)
Some people fly under the radar by accident, some by design. Matt De Gennaro’s been making music since the ’90s, and has collaborated with the likes Alastair Galbraith and Scott Tuma, but he makes even those homebodies look like gauche self-promoters. Which is both a shame and entirely a propos, because while this lovely record, like everything else I’ve heard him do, is well worth...
Diamond Catalog – Magnified Palette LP (NNA)
After a while all the strange records that come to Still Single via Dusted can sometimes start to blend together, so I had to check myself when dropping the needle on this Diamond Catalog LP. Here we have a virtual ecosystem of electronics and field recordings woven together against insistent and occasionally dark drum programming, which veers from subdued 4/4 house to wound-up drum & bass....
Dow Jones and the Industrials – Let’s Go Steady 7”...
Straight reissue of a corn belt post-punk classic. Two long, pensive, arty brooders, loaded with weird synths and strange, alluring, primary-source wavo tension, bookend the KBD barnburner “Can’t Stand the Midwest.” Record’s got a cool Pere Ubu style feel to it. Totally recommended, especially at this price. Full discography coming this year on Family Vineyard, but this is worth having on its...
Drunk Elk – “Seneca’s Last Breath” b/w “I Want To...
Tasmanian group that’s mentioned in the same breath as The Native Cats, likely due to proximity. If I was going to name this band I’d call them This Kind of Self-Punishment. Torture, the austerity of New Zealand’s singer-songwriter elite bumped down to LiveJournal/”pleeease love meeeee” emotions. Can’t get behind this. (http://www.quemadarecords.blogspot.com) (Doug Mosurock)
The Electrocutions – “Forgotten City” b/w “Days...
Five-piece, bright/alert, above-average pop-punk band that probably has been through their fair share of the classier late ‘70s British punk and pogo, and some Fucked Up records too. Gruff vocals break it down about how cities die and outsourcing kills dreams. Kid Congo Powers is co-producer and might be responsible for the cleanliness in presentation of these two songs, and there’s kind of a...
Eleven Twenty-Nine – s/t LP (Northern Spy)
Guitar duo of Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Marc Orleans (Sunburned Hand of the Man, D. Charles Speer and the Helix) blast all the air out of the room with extended improvisations and occasional folk/bluegrass rambles. Most of the tracks here are electric, and you can’t blame them for wanting to tear the carpet off the floors with the kind of noisepocalypse they throw down here (especially...
Esben & the Witch – Chorea 12” EP (Matador)
“Chorea” is the second or maybe third single from the E&TW album on Gothador, and it’s emblematic of the album as a whole – the mood is right there, but is so specific that it sometimes comes at the cost of stronger songwriting or danceable rhythms. This track comes closer than others by them (save “Warpath”) but needs a good remix to get it all out. Another LP track, “Eumenides,” gets...
Everything Falls Apart – “Ghost” b/w “Brace...
Mid-tempo noisy punk from Buffalo that does absolutely nothing for me. Bellowing guy, unmemorable melodies, blah blah blah. On the A-side we “go down with the ship” and on the flip “this plane is going down.” Next time take a road trip, guys. “Brace Position” devolves into some decent cacophony after a rudimentary chord progression is repeated ad nauseum. According to the band’s handwritten on...
Fat History Month – “Safe & Sound” b/w “Here Comes...
Boston-via-Philly duo of majestic, nautical indie rock meandering, who recorded these songs and let them sit for a while before being inexplicably released on the Bedroom Suck label from the vicinity of Brisbane, Australia. I lived through this whole sound once and wasn’t particularly excited about coming back to it, so there’s not much going on here to recommend unless you really miss...
The Feeling of Love – Dissolve Me LP (Kill Shaman)
Third full-length offering by this French trio who blew the doors off last year with OK Judge Revival. This new one, Dissolve Me, doesn’t attempt to push things in any more of a violent or spontaneous direction, and is the most smoothed out record the group has made to date. That’s alright; it doesn’t seem like they were trying to repeat themselves (admirable gesture) and their stabs at...
Four Eyes – Towards the End of Cosmic Loneliness…...
Four songs, with what I hope are eight healthy and functioning eyes (16 if you count the specs) behind ‘em. Big riffs, big heart. Nothing new at all, but a very nice and refreshing spin on a Chapel Hill-minded indie rock band bashing it out. Very easy to love, unless you hate fun or making mixtapes. (http://puzzlepiecesrecords.bigcartel.com) (Doug Mosurock)
Fungus Brains – Ron Pistos Real World LP (Load)
This ain’t Agnes DiPesto’s Real World, baby! Fungus Brains popped up around Melbourne in the early ‘80s after the Sick Things broke up, and their ’83 debut LP they were a band that played simple, Stooge-like two-chord pummel with glorious, two-fisted release and a tense, dry sound for some uncertain times in cultural history. They have a singer in Geoff Marks who seems intensely influenced by...
Girlfriends – “Cave Kids” b/w “Eat Around the Bad...
New England indie rock action right here, sounding like a band that knows a bit about music and is trying to write songs that have the elements of ‘90s and ‘00s guitar-led strum without directly copying any of it. Alas, this leads to somewhat of a boring listen, songs that don’t really stand up, even with mild lo-fi arguments lifting at their skins. Versus was this boring of a band, too....
The Great Book of John – “Let Me Slide” b/w “On...
Another limp Communicating Vessels release with more packaging than necessary. These guys make the Starbucks label sound like Earache in its prime. This is moody, violin-y, supernatural super serious Radiohead-y stuff that sounds too mature for its own good. Lighten up John, why so glum, chum? Pick up a couple Randy Newman records, go watch “The Jerk”again, crack some jokes on stage, and make...
Happy Noose – s/t LP (Dead End Social Club)
Nth stringer pop punk with a rootsy, smoky Dinosaur Jr. feel at points, and with the same sort of feeling in the vocals – non-descript, bored, anxious, less than relevant. Really hard to find much to say about these songs, particularly when they share a town with a band like Milk Music, who has saturated and supercharged this formula into their own thing. There’s no ownership or authority here,...
High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine LP...
Third LP by this side project band of the Marked Men, Riverboat Gamblers and certainly some others. Do the detective work yourself, because this time it’s hardly worth mentioning: their first LP Send a Message was a flat-out rager, and their second Midnight Cashier featured at least one mind-blastingly simple, perfect pop song in “Old Enough to Be Home Alone.” Welcome New Machine kicks off with...
The Hood Internet & Kid Static – “Chi City” b/w...
Has there ever been a more appropriately named label than Two Thumbs Down Records? If Ebert ever hears this 7”, I’m sure he’d take to Twitter or his website and write some vitriolic screed (actually, Ebert doesn’t have time for shit like this). More interestingly, what would Siskel (R.I.P.) think of this? Knowing that Gene was not a hip-hop fan (just look up his review of Who’s the Man? on...
Icon Gallery – s/t LP (Dear Skull)
Long-awaited album by this Pittsburgh band, lodged between the ethics and dirty fringes of peace punk and a more driven, seasonal angst characterized by the Wipers. Chani Ferencz’s impassioned vocal delivery and wide range helps to set Icon Gallery leagues apart from their contemporaries – she’s like the Nancy Wilson of this time/place. Beautiful sleeve and classy, crisp production from the guy...
In Tall Buildings – “Warm Rock” b/w “The Way to a...
Solo recordings from some Chicago guy, redoing songs on earlier albums that nobody’s heard unless they know him. “Warm Rock” is pretty stunning, though, and warrants attention, the performer Erik Hall successfully wedging himself between two significant American songwriters – Will Oldham in his weariness, and Joel R.L. Phelps in his anxiety – and showing his hand at quick/dirty arrangements as...
JJ & the Real Jerks – “The Future Is Now … (And It...
Band rocks along like Urge Overkill – no bullshit era, like their new record – but they don’t have their own Nash Kato. Sadly, no. No, no, no. No, this is some bullshit in line with, like, Gene Loves Jezebel, attempting to marry facets of metal to dumbed-down, singalong pop. Glow-in-the-dark vinyl, sounds really hissy. No me gusta. (http://www.myspace.com/jjandtherealjerks) (Doug Mosurock)
Duquette Johnston and the Rebel Kings – “Roll Baby...
Solid Lou Reed-meets-a-better-guitar-player-than-Lou Reed rip on the A-side, “Roll Baby Roll,” that it’s really, really good and ends almost too soon. That’s right Dookie, leave ‘em wanting more! The flip, “Rise Up Children,” kicks in after an intro with a beautiful major chord wall of sound and it’s something to behold. I bet looooooser Arcade Fire fans would love this, but who gives a fudge?...
Kawabata Makoto & Michishita Shinsuke – Maru...
Unholy racket at a very holy meeting between Acid Mothers Temple and LSD March kingpins, performed entirely on ancient acoustic string instruments. Two-sided affair: “Spiders Thread” stands in front of the yawning abyss with detuned drone and plectrum-chipping intensity, while “Rock of Fate” takes a more abstract but no less restive path. I call bullshit on the whole “acoustic only” thing as...
La Ligne Claire – Cheri LP (Bruit-Direct)
A new-ish/no-ish French band plunks together unsteady junkshop/Dumpstered songs with a loose togetherness that can only come from practice, but an amateurish sensibility that says otherwise (members hover around the 18-year-old mark). My first instinct was Magik Markers territory, but the strictness of the drumming (played slowly, not an easy feat) and the consistency of themes within tell me...
Le Face/Dva Damas – split 7” EP (Psychic...
Le Face: punk, as usual. Sounding pretty urgent against their internal discordance, this is a bumpy ride, and you’re in the bed of their truck. Heard some of their earlier work but this is quite memorable. Dva Damas does something politically interesting (put the guys on bass and drums, with the women up front) but burns it all on low-lit spookytime rumbling, like an X record on 16rpm. For Le...
Maybe, Baby – Little Beerz 7” EP (Windian)
“Over the Edge” style teen Stridex punk without the snotty vox. Think acne, not boogers. This is some Redd Kross-type shit – songs about homeroom, parties, girls, killing your best friend, farting (two people are credited with “fartwork” here), all sung by some shithead who might actually still be in high school. Good stuff that makes sense, and aurally sounds better than the legions of “no...
The Mediums – Shiny Void Blues LP (E.V.P./I.T.C.)
I pulled this record out of its sleeve and barbeque sauce sprayed out the side like one of those dye packs that tellers throw in with the money they give to bank robbers. Reviews are canceled for the rest of the weekend. 23 out of 25 copies, let’s hope it stays that way. (email to pagan.surf@gmail.com) (Doug Mosurock)
Mind Spiders – s/t LP (Dirtnap)
Mark Ryan from the Marked Men kicks out another side project. The fervent fans suck it up, the rest of the world (including yours truly) yawns at lazy chord re-use abuse and a thorough lack of inspiration. They’ve got melodies for days, but I got ‘em here in my stacks at home too. Maybe you don’t, in which case this Mind Spiders record might be for you. Even the T-Rex nod of Little Richard cover...
Monarchs – Polio 7” EP (20 Sided)
A scuzz-caked reverb-inflicted garage punk band from ‘90s Ann Arbor; yes, those were the Monarchs. A French metal band which plays dinosaur-slow, epic songs; sure, that’s Monarch. So it looks like there’s no room for these bloodless Oakland jamokes to bore us with their re-re-re-re-retelling of some old indie rock 7”s they found at Amoeba. Stop playing music now before the lawsuits get too much...
Annelies Monsere/Richard Youngs – split 10” EP...
Monsere performs one composition on five different instruments, with different arrangements for each. It really keeps you in the song, called “Sand,” with its broken music box charms, and extends the melancholic flow across the whole side of this 10” without much effort. Would have loved to have heard all five instruments playing at the same time, but maybe that’s for another record. While not...
No Problem – Paranoid Times 7” EP (Handsome Dan)
Canadians picking up the brash power-punk that Fucked Up has abandoned. They even have visual elements that recall Fucked Up’s logos. Pretty funny, but not that great to listen to if you have Fucked Up records within arm’s reach. (http://www.handsomedanrecords.com) (Doug Mosurock)
Oh Shit They’re Going To Kill Us –...
Pittsburgh area thrash return once again to the regional horror & sci fi convention and lay down six more extended blasts of fantasy-oriented monster tales. Proficient in both d-beat and galloping double kick metal, the guitarists seem to make some odd choices here and there, some of which work and some don’t. Overall the entire record is very throwbackish and in that sense, a good deal of...
Salva – Complex Housing LP (Friends of Friends)
Bay Area electro-funk guy Paul Salva effectively splits the difference between indigestible forms (FlyLo) and the easy-to-grip bass bin shakers of Maggotron. Complex Housing remains lively and bouncy throughout, despite the glitch frame its 14 tracks are laid against, and Salva’s good to us by never letting things get too slow/stoned to make the kind of thump he’s clearly in it for. Cool record,...
Philip Schulze – Cause Unfold Proceed I, II, III,...
Half-composed/half-improvised compositions rooted in musique concrete and total sonic immersion theories. Composer-performer Schulze seems interested in exposing himself – witness the blurry cheesecake shot on the inner sleeves, and the shirtless stare into an artificial horizon on the insert – and he pushes his machines into the cosmic orgy that one cannot have alone, with lots of revving,...
Serpent Throne – White Summer Black Winter LP...
Instrumental stoner rock with doom tendencies and screamin’ NWOBHM twin lead guitars. 60 seconds in I was getting’ vibed pretty hard: drummer has a nice, natural swing; bass player is better than he needs to be; personality lixx abounded. Then the next song started, and the one after that, and I realized this was as far as they were gonna take it, to a level of respectable competence but not of...
Snake Oil – s/t LP (Radium Dial)
Massachussets residents bonding sesh over their love of Fela/Afrorock comps and “Starsky & Hutch” TV series scores. This mystery dozen-member project has only a vague ans anonymous presence, with a record that tells us nothing except the band’s name and a website that does little more. Why all the suspense? Afraid we’ll find you, break into your houses and steal your Tortoise records?...
The Soupcans – Erotic Nightmare one-sided 12” EP...
Blown out rock n roll snot/spit from some Toronto-area basement. Gets movin’ in a Pussy Galore sorta way but never really overcomes influences. Mostly sounds like a tantrum and you parents out there know what that’s like. No thankee. 200 copies, silkscreened sleeve. (http://pleasencerecords.tumblr.com) (Doug Mosurock)
Spastic Panthers/Teenage Rampage – split 7” EP...
Eight, maybe nine songs by two bands that might as well be the same band; kinda silly hardcore for people who aren’t really into hardcore, the kind of people who get off on understanding the lyrics to a song like Spastic Panthers’ “Cocaine Werewolf” and think that it’s funny and shit as they drink another PBR, look for the shittiest drugs imaginable and try to get their pictures taken. No real...
Sunflare – Young Love 12” EP (Cubic Pyramid)
Red-hot, blown out high speed scene blooz choogle, comparable to High Rise, out of this Portuguese ensemble. Heavy on the guitar and the feedback and the soloin’, and the rest of the band doesn’t back down either. Four instrumental rippers across one 12”, pressed at 45 for big impact. Sounded at first like this was gonna go on a path I’ve been down before, but even in the overplayed confines of...
Topless Mongos – Hey My My 7” EP (Mammoth Cave)
Tin can recorded garage rock. More of it, more of the same. The days go on and on, this music never stops. I understand the importance of this music in a live setting – people need to sell beer – but it is really difficult to parse someone’s intentions from such a dingy little record like this. Can’t abide, Mammoth Cave, can’t abide. 300 copies. (http://mammothcaverecording.com) (Doug Mosurock)
