January 2012
44 posts
Æges – “Roaches” b/w “Dirt” 7” (Hawthorne Street) ...
Chicago’s Æges offer a couple cuts of competent if not terribly groundbreaking sludge-power pop in the vein of Torche, or that band’s forbearer, Floor. “Roaches” opens with chiming guitars that give way to a meatheadbanger riff and good-cop-bad-cop vocals, and earns a +1 for dispensing with a guitar solo in favor of the extruded, echoed-outnoodle that fades in and out of the mix in its stead....
Avon Ladies – Guns & Gold 7” EP (Katorga Works)
Four excellent tracks of total shit-on-the-walls from folks previously serving in the H-100’s and Pigeon Religion (I think). Per usual, the meatier the riff-cut, the nicer the song-steak and these are all juicy cuts. Hardcore bands always get to at least second base with me with mid-tempo noise, so the opener “Cyanide Lactater,” all random feedback, randomer pick slides and almost casual...
The Ax – Fossils of Our Kind 10” EP (Whoa, Boat!) ...
Two dudes from the NW with an octave pedal and plenty of hubris approach the guitar/drum duo from known vistas, doubling down on the “Hassan chop” of Karp/Big Biz style fuzz riffage, and putting a guy on vocals who could be the voice of Chester Cheetah, all cool and detached. Much like you’d expected, this really gets them nowhere except maybe at the bottom of a four-band bill, but they take the...
Bright Ideas – Saturdays and the Turning Tide LP...
RECOMMENDED
Way back in the fall of 2006 I covered a Bright Ideas single for this column, the product of Sacramento songwriter Scott Miller (the other one, not the Game Theory guy, but the dude from Nar) and a couple buds rounding out the ideal pop trio for these days. Saturdays was apparently released on CD in 2005; its appearance on vinyl, years after the fact, is perplexing but very welcome,...
Cuffs – “Privilege” b/w “Archer” 7” (Ride the...
Boston’s Cuffs are an All Star northeastern supergroup, featuring members of Pants Yell!, Big Trouble, and Reports teaming up to thoughtfully present some twee, twee, indie pop for gentlemen (of all genders). The gentle sweetness of “Privilege” is normally something far outside my purview, but Cuffs exhibit a dignified exuberance that roped me in. The spindly, layered guitar lines have a sweet...
Decimus – Decimus 1 LP / Decimus 5 LP (Kelippah)
Two offerings out of a projected dozen albums for the 2011-12 season (seven have already been released) from NNCK/Malkuth man Pat Murano. The music from these 12 albums is meant to serve as meditations on the zodiac calendar as described by Latin poet Decimus Ausonius. Murano has no beef with heading straight into the overbearing realm of darkness, with longform, claustrophobic, pressurized...
Hiss Golden Messenger – Poor Moon LP (Paradise of...
RECOMMENDED
Some of the most accomplished country-rock I’ve heard in some time is on this record. HGM frontmen M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch (ex-The Court and Spark, if any Aquarius/tUMULt devotees are paying attention) are versatile enough to be able to project both weathered ballads and soulful crooning, right at the lip of “hot country” tropes, as well as your country royalty (Hank, George,...
Nu Sensae – Tea Swamp Park 7” EP (Fast Weapons)
Bass and drum duos are just something that doesn’t seem to work for me, Agents of Satan being the rare exception. It’s tough for me to believe that most such combos have made such great use of the space, that nothing could improve it, and the sparseness becomes distracting. Though I have faith in the Records Nominal roster, this time via Portland’s Fast Weapons, Nu Sensae give it a righteous...
Peter & Craig/Erode and Disappear – split 7” EP...
Peter & Craig (their real names) revisit the time-honored indie rock guitar/drums/tuneless vocal format, plowing through unintentional odd meters and fIREHOSE- or Phantom Tollbooth-style stops and starts with slop and gusto. But the silly in-joke lyrics of tunes like “Rocky” (about the movie “Rocky”) and “Peter & Craig Practice Today” (about Peter and Craig practicing today) inevitably...
Shuteye Unison – Our Future Selves LP (Parks and...
Toothless indie rock with gentle Death Cab-style vocals and a crisp recording. These are the guys you work with, probably starting a band as a night away from their wives and kids, who either make enough cash to bankroll a vanity pressing of an LP, or else guilted everyone they know into a Kickstarter campaign to get these meandering songs cut to vinyl as soon as possible. Green vinyl,...
The Super Vacations/The Ceiling Stares split 7” EP...
Dullsville Friend Rock split by people I’m not friends with. The Super Vacations play standard modern variant of slouching mid-paced garage, without frills or charm. Their unremarkable riffs churn through the motions by rote and the singer’s delivery is monotonous like a supermarket white label version of Crystal Stilts dude, minus the swagger. You don’t need melody to make this work, but in...
Ashrae Fax – Static Crash LP (Hot Releases)
RECOMMENDED
Released on CD-R in 2003, then on cassette, and now in a limited edition vinyl pressing, the “grad thesis” of sorts by North Carolina’s Ashrae Fax is nothing short of incredible. It’s a goth/ethereal/synth pop record with a homemade quality that belies serious musicianship and establishment of themes in a Siouxsie/Cocteau Twins/Kate Bush opiate gauze sort of way, wholly a part of the...
Frattura Waltz – s/t 12” EP (Agenda del Mondo)
Mystery record from 2010, combining a dense, downtown rubbery Laswell/Ronald Shannon Jackson disco kinda thing that goes beyond mere groove into language itself. Brothers Joe and Tom Waltz play guitar and bass in collaboration with Cibo Matto drummer Timo Ellis and samchillian inventor Leon Gruenbaum. Frippery abounds, the rhythms patched together on “Nonno’s Scattone” slowing and speeding...
King Dude – Love LP (Dais) / Tonight’s Special...
RECOMMENDED
Someone has to have thought of cross-pollinating Pagan and country folk before King Dude (Seattle’s TJ Cowgill) turned up, but his trajectory is a lot more exciting to witness. In the span of two albums – 2010’s Tonight’s Special Death and 2011’s Love – Cowgill has pulled together a refinement of the form that stands up to most any challenge you could throw at it. Despite the...
Knurl – Reactance LP (Wintage Records & Tapes)
After dozen upon dozen of CD-R and tape releases, Canada’s Knurl finally receives a document on vinyl, and it’s no less punishing than the Nervescrap CD I remember from the new bin at WRCT, my old college radio station, back in 1995. Artist Alan Bloor has been busy in the interim, remaining on the harsh noise axis, and achieving his ear-splitting results by micing and manipulating actual metal...
Scraps – Classic Shits 2006-2009 LP (Bedroom Suck)...
Cabaret Casio tunes from Brisbane’s Laura Hill, and kind of a far cry from the other Bedroom Suck releases thus far (Kitchen’s Floor, Blank Realm, Per Purpose, Slug Guts). The sounds coming off of Classic Shits may be digital and fragile, but the sentiment behind them surely isn’t, Ms. Hill pushing a very personal-sounding, confident, exploratory agenda into real human feelings, propped up...
Back at it.
Seattle, I love you.
Looks like a big snowstorm is headed to NYC. Perfect time to knock out some reviews. I may even give some attention to long-neglected sister blog, Load Butthole. Not too much, though.
Axemen – Three Virgins Three Versions Three...
RECOMMENDED
Three Virgins surfaced in 1986, the first studio double LP (minding the Fall’s In a Hole, technically a bootleg) to be released by the Flying Nun label of ChCh, NZ, and passed around as a well-kept secret until about the early ‘90s, when the last copies went out of circulation. It’s a little known landmark of free/wild punk-folk-art splatter, a towering achievement that sobers and...
Bitch Magnet – Discography 3xLP (Temporary...
RECOMMENDED
About 1.5 LP’s worth of Bitch Magnet’s output holds up to scrutiny during these times of cultural warfare; times which greatly decrease the footprint needed to secure “keeper” status for any title. Now that I was “around the first time” for more and more reissue content, I cannot help that my brain automatically reverts to issuing a “hold-up” grade. I will say that I’m astonished at...
Dead Luke – Meanwhile … in the Midwest LP (Moon...
Dude who blew his first shot in the Mystery Artist Subtrend of 2007-08 by making legit boring music (and working on some of the earlier Zola Jesus records) now changes outfits into the lone gunman with a reverb unit. His accessory to this crime is a young woman who plays the tambourine, and together the two of them try to capture a Brian Jonestown Massacre Unplugged sort of thing, all twangy,...
The Embarrassment – “Sex Drive” b/w “Patio Set” 7”...
RECOMMENDED
Now here is something: the Embos’ highly desirable debut single, one which somehow rolls the joys of punk, new wave and power pop all into one, had one unforgettable flaw. It was pressed off-center. You know how much that sucks? A lot! That off-centeredness found its way onto the band’s discography, Heyday, as well. Warbling unsteadily, “Sex Drive” still punched well above its...
Future Virgins – Western Problems (Plan-It-X...
Above-average pop-punk out of Tennessee, with leans into the bike/folk direction (Plan-It-X South?!?) as well as some dips into the power-pop/private press/stars in their eyes types of the late ‘70s. It’s well listenable, with decent production and the kind of songs that make more of an impression than they let on. Lyrics provided in both English and Spanish. If you’re a fan of the genre, give...
The Great Society Mind Destroyers – Spirit Smoke...
If your day job puts you in the same office as the man behind Immune Recordings, the gauntlet’s thrown down; if you’re going to start a label, you better make your records right. From the production side, Slow Knife has it down; beautiful multi-color sleeve, heavy glossy insert, heavier and more colorful vinyl (tie-died yellow and orange) that sounds great and gives up nary a pop or click. So...
Human Resources – Saving Lady/Pauline 7” EP...
Textures and hints of ideas (some of which really deserve further development than is settled for here) dominate this murky offering from Human Resources. The unsettling “Saving Lady/Pauline” plods along, driven by a loop that sounds a little like heavy breathing, dips into ‘60s Brit-psych territory, then ends with a weird synth scrawl. Vocals are obfuscated under echo and delivered in either a...
Mastodon – The Hunter 2xLP (Reprise/Warner Bros.) ...
Because this wasn’t released on a proper metal label, there are two versions, with the 2xLP gatefold treatment rocking the 45 RPM “audiophile” vinyl and more than double the price of admission. It’s not just majors that make us pay extra for our metal to come in packaging we should get for the normal sticker, but this isn’t really another telling fact that the biz is laying skid marks in its...
New War – Ghostwalking 12” EP (Fast Weapons)
From the Australian rock scene you don’t hear about comes New War, playing one long, ample-sounding post-punk whiner, filled with one-chord synth stabs that feel like someone kicking your seat, some thoughtful rim clicks and tomwork, moaning vocals, and thick bass. It’s way too moody and dour to dance to on its own, and too long by half – the dub action in the second half of the tracks opens up...
The Party Girls/The Mack – split 7” (Louisville Is...
One of these bands has dissolved since this split’s release last year. I know which one (because I do my research!!) but my refusal to include that info has little to do with games and everything to do with a lack of importance regarding the matter. Primarily due to a similarity demographic girth when it comes to music-scene properties, Louisville shares some negative aspects with my town...
The Polyps – Ants on the Golden Cone LP (Hello...
Remember seeing this name around towards the end of the big tape/CD-R boom of 2008. Might’ve been a 7” too, but I don’t recall it sounding much like this longform slice of pastoral noise. Gentle field recordings get blissed out and bent with effects pedals and the occasional melodic narrative, accumulating in presence, then just as easily drifting apart. Good if you absolutely need background...
Puncture – “Mucky Pup” b/w “You Can’t Rock & Roll...
RECOMMENDED
And now, an explosive cocktail of snot-nosed angst and avant-absurdity that surely weirded out the pub-rock/proto-peace punk set of its day. With 1977’s “Mucky Pup,” Puncture took what was then a tried-and-true formula and tweaked it to an extremity not heard until a few years later among no-wavers across the pond. Barely diminished after 30+ years is the puerile energy of lyrics...
Stare Case – s/t LP (Destijl)
This is a Wolf Eyes side project and it sounds like those guys are dialing down the attack to the kind of levels that would be more apropos of a coffeehouse or small community jazz venue and performance space. I might be the only person who listens to these noise hippies and hears the Violent Femmes, but the upright acoustic bass and the “GNYAHHH!” style vocals are too in line with the...
Teenage Moods – Mood Ring LP (25 Diamonds)
Extremely formulaic pop on the twee/garbage axis. Not very charming, with simple-minded lyrics and obvious rhyming schemes, but a lot of bands start this way – they usually don’t press up wacky splatter vinyl and do a big booklet and silkscreened sleeve like this is important somehow. Definitely ahead of themselves. Baby steps, get on Bandcamp. Baby steps, get better. Doctor! Leo! Marvin!...
Watery Love – “Die With Dignity” b/w “Leave Me...
RECOMMENDED
Local rock that Aquarius Records would have shit twice as hard over if only they realized who is in the band. Four rowdy blue collar ones for when the dockworkers mix it up with the Thirsty Thursday set, headlined by the unforgettable “Die With Dignity.” Featuring songs by the Cramps (“New Kind of Kick”) and Lou Reed (“Leave Me Alone”) that fulfill their contracts with the local...
Basketball – Maw 12” EP (The Broadway to Boundary)...
It’s often said that it’s not who got there first, it’s who gets their second that makes the biggest splash. But what if you’re coming in ninth? Or seventeenth? What then? These are good questions to ask of Basketball, a multicult electro-pop-dance outfit from Vancouver or someplace near there. They get the samplers running, they reappropriate all manner of Asian and Saharan music, add beats,...
Sir Richard Bishop – Graviton Polarity Detector LP...
Sir Rick presents a full-length for Mike McGonigal’s Social Music series, which goes way off the spectrum of his more recent material for Drag City. Given the heavy sci-fi notions of the title, the music sets off on a similarly doomed tangent, half thick, Xenakis-style guitar/organ drone orgies of discordant, hellish demeanor, and the other half all over the place. Very little folk guitar is on...
James Blackshaw – Holly 12” EP (Important)
James Blackshaw’s efforts to grow beyond his early ascendance to the throne of boy king of the tremolo twelve-string guitar fantasia have yielded decidedly mixed results. For every moment of panoramic beauty, there are a couple others that plod under the burden of not-yet-unpacked influence. He takes a step back on Holly’s two tracks, and it might be just the thing he needs to do to find his way...
Charlie Slick – A Farout Indian LP (self-released)...
I keep thinking about that latest Louis C.K. special whenever this one comes up (“Wait, you’re not Indians? AHHHHH, you’re Indians!”) and it really ruins whatever spirit this record can dredge up. The loose concept here – a literal Native American caricature, lost in Michigan – is represented through flashy, artificial electro-funk, ready for the frat houses of Ann Arbor, that’ll make your...
John Henry West – Door Bolted Shut LP/CD...
RECOMMENDED
Out of nowhere, and beating the race to 20 years since the band was active, Ebullition re-emerges as a label to release a discography of Bay Area ‘90s hardcore band John Henry West. This was Mike Kirsch’s project after Fuel and before Navio Forge, and featured Cory Lindstrum from End of the Line on vocals; they released one 7” on Gravity (one of the only releases on the label not to...
Jovontaes – Things Are Different Here LP (Hello...
Kentucky outsider/avant/expansive rock-based mentality here, impaled on Popol Vuh’s formidable axis. You get Teutonic expansion, drone, synth burble, and brooding rock bubblings up, all of which is performed with a semblance of identity and tact. With a few spins it’ll grow on you. (http://woodsist.blogspot.com/p/hello-sunshine.html) (Doug Mosurock)
Manymental Mistakes – Trois 12” EP (self-released)...
This record came in from up north with a bunch of full-color party fliers proclaiming “Montreal’s Biggest Postpunk Party” or some bullshit like that, with members of this band modeling on them. I cannot imagine what hell that would be like, if it were anything similar to the music on this record. They are a band attempting to find their own voice – here being slow, dirge-like, guttural songs...
Reports – Dinamo Cambridge LP (Ride the Snake)
RECOMMENDED
Back from a prolonged absence, the collection of professional certificates, lineup changes and general shifts in attitude, the new (or at least more recent) Reports sound is noisier and more compact, with a pleasant melody-to-static density streaking through an updated, stronger sound. There’s a bit more garage influence, cemented down with stern drumming and manic focus,...
Secret Secrets – Chromagica LP (Ehse)
Seems I touched a nerve with coverage of that Angels in America album on this label. Muffy and Buffy and their friends were none too pleased! Secret Secrets, a duo of women on drums and guitar, bass and synths, mix up tribal percussion patterns against drone elements, chanting and moaning. On the slower tracks, the disadvantages of that approach start to take hold – it’s just a lot of space for...
Terror Visions – World of Shit LP (FDH)
No need to review this one again – did it here, still holds – but there is a lot to be said (and a lot that shouldn’t have to be said, at all) about the presentation of this reissue. World of Shit was originally a picture disk, the B-side of which depicted some massive (and probably real) lines of cocaine. This edition comes in a much more tasteful gatefold sleeve, with a simple, discofied...
Wet Illustrated – 1x1x1 LP (True Panther Sounds)
Agreeable indie pop-rock from the Bay Area, responsible for a decent 7” not too long ago. I had them pegged for some level of success, but the response to this album has been a bit quiet. It seems like Wet Illustrated have come a bit late to the game, more accomplished in sound and production than some contemporaries (Nodzzz springs to mind), maybe a bit more traditional or old-fashioned in...
Gary Wilson – Forgotten Lovers LP (Feeding Tube)
Gary Wilson is a fixed frequency on the spectrum of life, and tuning to that channel provides a constant and unswerving presence: shag carpet, sandalwood incense, leisure suits, and in the midst of it all a dressed-up man in the throes of romantic failure. The distance between his late ‘70s real people classic You Think You Really Know Me and the new Forgotten Lovers is negligible: his backing...
