Red Pens on 25 Diamonds Records

Robert from Moniker records told me about this single from Red Pens, which I ordered right away... turns out this Minneapolis based label, 25 Diamonds sent me a bunch of their other releases just because they were nice...and making up for mailing it a couple days late (that's not even close to late in my book), so when I saw the pack of records, I assumed they were meant for the review and so now they ARE.

Little did I know that Howard on vocals is from the solo project, Busy Signals, not these Busy Signals, (that's a great record also). But his latest project, Red Pens... is a duo arrangement, the best kind with Laura Bennett on drums, and this sounds to be some kind of power psych garage pop. Massively blown out scuzzy layered guitar and snarl.

A-Side, "Next summer" has a massive echo on the vocal, it's loud as hell over this power dirt mix of guitar, all kinds of chorus-y distortion and phase, bleeding through into the drums, turning into this impenetrable mass.  A snotty vocal and power chords, sounding slightly Cramps style Howards vocal goes from a deadly whisper to snotty yell, all under this kind of hazy psych garage sound, exploding at the end of each verse with chorus distortion. Sometimes muting the fretboard, it's an overwhelming alien sound, hardly resembling the original tones. Cymbals have reverb.

"I Run This", on the B-Side, then shows the calmer side of Red Pens with a somewhat quieter electric but that warbling massive echo is still muddling the mix which this time is a slower ballad style sustained vocal. The drums are buried again under all treble and blown out guitar. But when you start out that clear and quiet, it's that contrast they're after. Picking up on that energy, it doesn't tale much to turn this into impenetrable layers of crisp hiss. Sort of a ninties indie sound, with some Make Up type of abandon, big vocals, that rae so effected it almost turns into a sort of alternate persona who's delivering this ramped up energy.

Go check out the Red Pens A-Side track over at 25d's soundcloud page.

This one is on a sort of grey/purple vinyl, simple crayon written center label from 25 diamonds Records.

Go White Bronco on 86'd records

Today's single is another one from the 86'd label/distro on the North shore of Long Island, this one is from Go White Bronco who look to be a sort of acoustic side project consisting of members of a few other bands...it's just the three though, with a whole lot of band names behind them.

This name must have something to do with OJ, right? His slow speed chase, and the glove made me think I was in for some hardcore speedblast. Instead, "Life as a Monument" is a surprise of intricate layered acoustic fingerpicking which gives in to some power strumming and a gruff kind of vocal. This sounds like it's going for that Dashboard Confessional super raw, emotional sound... you could probably go ahead and even call this emo. What started out as a John Fahey instrumental turned into a high register delivery about "meeting medicine" and rent checks.
The stuff of a hard rural life with no possibilities, just trying to make it through. The narrator's feeling pretty sorry for himself, with a nod to that Pedro the Lion's stripped down lonely sound. Stare off into space, and feel the pain.
It takes a particular kind of band to go after this sweet harmony and outward pouring of emotion. It's weird to think about this kind of approach to songwriting given the current climate of cutsey naif gibbard's popular style. This is coming from that kind of environment where all the promises are already broken. They don't have time to mourn the loss of childhood, that happened a long time ago.

The B-Side, "Danger is my Middle Name (Lullabye for a Bastard Child)" starts out with an equally new approach to the intricate guitar work, it's inherently intimate and complex, but with a raw, open room sound. Two voices this time, (one of them a kid) are singing in harmonies about the byproduct of one night...with a sickening smile of Sunny Day Real Estate, isn't everything great?

Extremely depressing in that all too realistic way.

Black vinyl housed in a plain paper, printed white sleeve from 86'd records.

White Laces / Arches split on Worthless Junk Records

Here's a split single from White Laces out of Richmond, VA and Philly duo Arches, both of which are messing with some layers of hazy guitar among other things, takign distinctive sounding directions on Worthless Junk Records, who are putting out the best of Virginia...along with Harding St. Assembly Labs this state better be well covered.

The White Laces track, "Dissolve into color" starts out with some incredible guitar tones, crazy warbly layers of distortions, two distinct jangly voices coming together in harmony with a pop quickness and chorus that's reminding me immediately of I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. Those similar nostalgic roots of those pop elements, tearing them up and collecting the best pieces, the real timeless sharp hooks. The vocals are almost the best part of those pieces... this tight echo with crazy energy like The Walkmen or Abe Vigoda, this powerful chant/yelling, trailing off before the layers finish each others sentences. Over enunciating in a way you have to pay close attention to have any idea what's actually being said. Swinging from an epic Mogwai-esque chorus to an Elvis Costello bouncy sheen. It gets real melodic in the chorus going super pop, all super punchy sounding. The percussion popping, switching between an indie jangle and the epic build.
How they can have this compelling of a track and still I can't make out a word? Why are they intent on being this mysterious? It's not spelled out, it's almost just another sound to mess with...what happened in that photo? A natural disaster, some kind of bomb?

Arches with "Late Last Night" on the reverse side is going after their own warped guitar sounds...that Lonesome Crowded West string bending is a pivitol element of this relaxed melody. The vocals are equally as singleminded, an almost high falsetto, coming from a sort of country sound, under bales of echo...like Wooden Wand maybe, a similar relaxed strumming and melody, but with a cartoony downstroke of bendy chords. There's so much environmental sound and tone layers, a simple piano sound is something else entirely. That striking string vibration becomes a harpischord...or panning synth. Equally as epic as the A-Side at a much slower tempo, both proving there's a lot of new guitar tones to be heavily crafted in the forges of superpop with a tremolo guitar warble back and forth across both speakers.

Arches and White Laces first met in the fall of 2010 in the cramped dining area of Foodswings in Brooklyn, NY before their show at the now-defunct Bruar Falls. After a brief courtship built on mutual admiration and the mysteries of Connecticut, the band went on the road together in the summer of 2011. On returning, Arches recorded a handful of songs in a church in Philadelphia. Among them was “Late Last Night”, the beautifully somnambulate jam featured on this split. Meanwhile, White Laces drove south to the backwoods of Roanoke, Virginia to record the nervous and chiming “Dissolve Into Color” direct to tape at the hallowed Mystic Fortress.

Empty, broken room photo on the sleeve as weirdly sad as these contents... you fill in the blanks and order this one from Worthless Junk Records.

The Johnny Ill Band on Kaboodle Records + Interview

I've been listening to the Ill Band's full length since I picked it up many weeks ago now at their Moon II show, but these early singles Johnny had at the show are equally as good, with a little bit more of a raw sound, some messing around with vocal effects...the origin story of that crisp, minimal masterpiece that is Ask all the Doctors.

On A-Side's "The Doctor" Johnny is almost poking fun at himself on this one, delivering the vocal in the exact opposite of how I'm used to him sounding on the big record...rocking out, almost screamy metal, some sort of blues style, cutting himself up. The bleating vocals, of this manic, spaz doctor, and when the guitar distortion lines up with these howls of vocal, it's pretty great, still minimal as anything and all I keep hearing is a Devo new wave sound in everything, but I think that's just me. The strumming here even is off at one point, a little slip of the pick in this take...and they left it there! Hell yes, it all gets a little out of line, and says nothing about the musicanship. These are conscious choices, like that intro to "new Years Eve" on the full length.
"Makes Them Feel Good" gets a little country with a bendy, almost slide electric, lyrically, it's JIB perfection:

Don't listen to the people that you live with

because, you need to do whatever makes you feel good... we've all got our own things, some people like to write about 7inches because it makes them feel good. Exactly.
It's everything that's great about the Dead Milkmen why I'm a little guilty of not revisiting Big Lizard in my backyard enough, what am I too cool for that album now? Hell no! They're making clever simple points that aren't too jokey, but are really specific...that's a fine line, and they nail it every time. Bitchin Camaro?
That modern art over there don't hate it, I don't get it either, but the guy that made it really cares about it, and you don't have to try to understand it. It won't make you stupider. But this is as catchy as a line dance, they've got the music part completely covered.
B-Side's "Television personality" is a spazzy track with a see/saw manic rhythm, and again, I can't hear anything but those new wave influences, like the Feelies, not going as pop as Talking Heads or anything, but it's that goofy messed up robot style. Malfunction, malfunction. Messing with the vocal more on this one, he's got a lot of range for being so deceptively straightforward.
The last one up, "Rocketship" is the most rockingest interlocking guitar melody about leaving on a rocket ship, that's it, and that's great.

We had better rocket ships in the '80s.

Just like "It's The Future" track on the full length, this is another lament about technology. I don't think we can really blame scientists...the future with no diseases and free energy and holograms just never seems any closer. It feels like the future is just going to be exactly the same as it is now with different clothes and celebrities, that's basically it. Still The Johnny Ill Band makes it sound pretty fun, like 'hey lets get excited about this again'. Nasa's gone? That's all I used to dream about as a kind...what's going to happen when you take that away? The children should listen to the Ill Band...THIS is what rockets were like.

Very proper, exact timing notes on the sleeve, 4 songs pressed onto black vinyl, with an inner screened red sleeve, machine stamped with numbers from Kaboodle via X! distro.

Have a listen to this interview with Johnny and the Ill Band, the sexagon is revealed, these early singles are discussed, pete talks about his organ sound, and Detroit. 19min or click on the play button below:

The Ceiling Stares preorder on Velocity of Sound Records

Had to talk about this new single from The Ceiling Stares that my buddy Darren over at Velocity of Sound just put up for preorder today...I spent some time with it last week and came up with a couple of words for this preorder. We put out that split single a few months back now and it's great to hear Darren went on to keep working with these guys.

VOS has unleashed a bigger, epic monster of a track from Pittsburgh's own The Ceiling Stares. Last time on their side of a split with The Super Vacations they played to their psych-pop talents with “Tunnel through the air”, and now with slightly more room to breathe, these two tracks take a sweeping look at their new direction.

Side A: “The Day the Volcano Screamed Death” begins with an ominous, single note bass rhythm, a far off distortion is rumbling just under the earth’s crust along with tiny synth melodies. Just when it seems like this could be a darker, slower ride, the crisp, deep vocal from Steve Patchan comes in along with their signature jangle and sweeping style. The Ceiling Stares are known for working their intricate pop to melodic extremes, this time bringing out the female soul harmony backup like the angels in heaven. This narrator on the other hand has it in for those ungrateful humans...it’s time for the VOLCANO! Any excuse to let it the lava loose, add a little pressure, some bluesy guitar solos and step back. The Ceiling Stares are focused on their destructive side and let the big rock chords out spilling down the mountain.

Side B: is “River Narrows” which takes us from that widespread mass destruction to the rushing open road, the white center lines blurring by. The track flys along in their trademark shiny treble strum with a late ‘90s Husker Du style vocal, in a sound of post experimental country.

Winter is so cold up here / stick around Spring will be a jem.

Their lighthearted layered vocals always seems to be calling for a singalong, intent on creating a party chorus with a guitar lines from the Built to Spill days of layered distortion.
Never content to stick with one catchy rhythm for long they flip the script with a proggy breakdown of tom solos and mysterious organ if only to contrast an even bigger beat about to drop. This was just one of those quick side of the road pit stops and we’re back up to speed right away, counting in french in guy/girl harmonies, chanting out the numbers...it’s a hazy dream of that open road and the miles flying by.

Darren also told me about a big time crazy benefit auctions he's been putting together with out of print artifacts from the VOSR archives:

VOSR has listed some IMPOSSIBLY RARE items on eBay to help raise money for Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. Some of the items you will be able to bid on are an Epic Ditch "36-HOUR" test press, Flesh Vehicle "Set Free" test press and an autographed PUJOL "ANGELBABY" test press! Plus, some out of print black & white split colors and other rarities.


The auctions are in full effect right now. Just search for Velocity of Sound.

Don't bid against me, bro.

Vacant Fever - Kill Kill Kill EP - self released

This not safe for work sleeve is from the Portland duo, Vacant Fever, who are playing around with the unused, extreme settings on weirdo pedals to create idiosyncratic massive grooves over complex drum arrangements that never veer into math, but more jazz or progressive inspired rhythms.

On the A-Side track "Restless and Young" kicks off what's going to be their signature back and forth between their digital distortion sound from one of those octave pedals where the harmonics work in sync across scales of sound and a percussion section that's equally as experimental. I almost can't hear anything but this funky George Clinton sounding groove, a sort of Parliment space sound with a breathy delivery on lead vocals that can sound reminiscent of Wolfmother at times without the high metal sustain. These guys have a lot in common with The Ax, take that super heavy groove that almost writes itself.
With, "Kill Kill Kill" they go for a huge repeating, echo chorus strum that jabs in and take a while fading off, like the beginning of Detachable Penis, I love that that song has 12" dance remixes. The vocals are super emotional and strained here, a tortured and pained delivery. There's bursts of drum fills, muted crashes...the attention to every tiny detail of hit is clearly of the highest importance along with these video game destroying sounds. The almost a capella vocal between the strums and thick drums is a unique choice, The balance between the close, up front vocal and sweeping strum of cathedral room reverb is weird to be in the same chorus... mashed between these two worlds.

B-Side's, "Yeah Yeah" has a far off drum track with the handclap on the downbeat, distorted vocals this time and a little punchy Jesus and Mary Chain meets the Replacements sound, going that fuzzy neo-west coast direction, with slow "yeeeaaaa yea's".
"Like it or Not", is on with the big bass digital mental sounds again, the vocals from track to track are completely different textures, like the Kills, with a drawn out guitar feedback that turns into a sort of chorus in this one... they've been pushing these sounds in a really clean pop context, and this is no exception.
"Don't Look Down" features more of that octave shifter, and 0 bit sampling but they're doing a great job of making this work in that The Edge super produced way. Vibey reverb surf guitar, this one starts to get into dirty beaches territory for a second, like they have that dirty Elvis new Bladerunner country kind of sound, then it picks up into a massive chorus again. Like the beginning of a Pixies track in it's minimal drums, strong bass rhythm and his weird phrased vocal, it has more of an industrial punch when it gets going, but that similar quiet loud quiet feel.

Recorded and Mixed by none other than Tape Op's own Larry Crane on black vinyl, with download card, available direct from Vacant Fever.

Blues Patrol on Hot and Ready Records

Rob over at Hot and Ready Records sent this one over, and up until now, they look to be primarily a cassette label from the looks of things...but they put out this single of two tracks from the Blues Patrol. I love that the word "Blues' is loosely applied to everything these days, just like punk, it describes everything and nothing...mostly here it could apply to that root idea of blues describing a kind of sadness. Everything on this single is so minimal and bare bones, like Mattress or Prinzhorn Dance School, there's something strange about how little is here to even ascribe emotion to...and that in and of itself might be kind of sad...or punk. Both.

Listening to A-Side's "...But I gotta" consists of nothing but a massive silence and minimal drum machine, overdriven all up in the red, slowly busting cones. Crackly and muffled, the tight kick was mic'd live? Maybe right next to a tiny speaker. There's a mellow, buried blues organ barely rising out of the background, with lead vocals, no effects, right into a cheap mic:

I don't wanna / but I gotta go to school

It's all a little loose, even with the weird precision of the drum machine, they might have the blues themselves, and it's a lot of effort to do another take.

B-Side's, "Phantom Curl" features a piercing, line in synth... a cheap sound with what might be live drums this time. It would be impossible to have a machine sound this loose. The synth pounds right into your head... Jesus, some kind of analog moog sound driling into your eardrums with thin pounding on buckets or cardboard boxes. Little rhythm or reason to the melody here, like they just found their fingers....or this setting when they plugged the synth thing in. The layers of pure sine waves making up this sound are hyptnotizing. The best part is, if you pick up the record and look at it under direct light, you can see the crazy groove squiggles cut into this single...hugely spaced out. This track has to be under a minute and all synth practically, you don't even need a microscope to inspect this one off the lathe cutter. The giant waves don't come anywhere close to touching each other..so needless to say this instrumental is loud as hell.

Nice two color hand printing right onto the inner white paper sleeve.

Get this one from Hot and Ready who says:

The latest we have heard from Blues Patrol since they released their ‘ROCK’ cassette with us. Back with some cool sounds, we like to think. Two new songs on the same plate, both recorded in the later months of 2011, released January 2012. Plop this down and flip till you get your fix. Each side as catchy, and dancey, as the other. And together, such a pleasure!! The first side is all about doing things you don’t want to...And the second is as spooky as a full moon on hallows eve. We are so glad that everyone can now finally here these two enjoyable songs, and in full three-hundred-sixty degree stereo! Wow, what else can top that? Not much we think.

The AX - Fossils of Our Kind on Whoa Boat Records

I've always been a fan of the rock duo, the back photo on this 10" of The AX is just a couple of dudes in the spotlights, with some serious ear protection. The thing about just two bandmates making this pummeling racket is the kind of precision it allows, with just the two of them having to sync up in these deep riffs, stopping on a the edge of that precipice... a lot of times youre amazed that it can feel as complete as it does. It can also be a little scarier though being just the two of them, so there's a nice live tension of being a little naked...but when you get into the blasting volume like this it's probably a pretty nice shield.

A-Sides, "Bent the Wires" has, like the rest of this album, captured some really incredible drums, a huge range of hits mic'd for power, booming room toms...always at least two cymbals smashing continuously, this is mandatory. Lower end rhythms work best with this raw, right in the kick drum capture. This arrangement is working for me the way Death From Above 1979 did (does), a slight synth wave in the guitar tone, repeated melody but unlike DFA, Chris is delivering this understated vocal that reminds me in a lot of ways of the grunge offerings of Mudhoney or Tad, roughneck, no frills vocals. Dirty, southern skids influenced, that logging west and the southern swamps have a lot in common. "The Flood" sounds like playing Helmet's Meantime cassette for days driving around in high school, here's that deep, distorted groove. A '70s big hard rock sound filtered through a real hard work ethic, there isn't a hint of indecision, or god forbid jam time. Engineered to make use of every possible slow headbanging time in this beefy fuzz distortion.

The B-Side's, "In The Shadows" has one of those massive layered speed kick beats, these guys aren't going full metal, it's more like an homage to that Sabbath sound of riffs, louder industrial vocals, the driving straight rhtyhm slows at one point for the guitar to start off solo on a new dirge melody, the huge drums booming in even bigger. I don't ever get an ominous feel from this, just that kind of driving theme soundtrack that's like the Turning Machine records.
This one runs right into "Down the stream", which is just pummeling drums, do they have a double kick? Heavy starts and stops, they keep pulling that trick where this all gets to a certain volume and energy and then they manage another plateau of production. Taking most of it's cues from that unapologetic classic metal sound, but having skipped a generation it's ends up in this tight, imploded star of itself.

There are dark theme's present from the first track, but it's never overindulgent, maybe because of the absence of too many layers... they do have to play this live after all.

Check out the bandcamp page for these guys and get the heavy purple vinyl 10" spinning at 45 in a hand numbered edition of 400 from Whoa Boat! Records.

Metal Ghost / Porcupine split on Big Action Records

Got this split in from Big Action Records out of Minnesota, another label that's been quietly chugging away since the late nineties, putting out bands they like from their neck of the woods...another real inspiration of DIYGD. That's with an extra 'god damn' at the end because a lot of people have great ideas or talk about putting records out, "Man, I could have put out a record with whatever band, but it didn't work out". These guys are doing it, year after year, spending their money on making records..and breaking even! Which I am kind of shocked about, only because it seems to be damn hard from everything I've heard...but probably it's because they know what's happening in their neighborhood intimately, they know what's good, who they want to behind. But enough about all of that, let's get to this split from Metal Ghost and Porcupine.

Metal Ghost is a duo from Copenhagen and Berlin, ex-members of 18th dye and playing heavy hitting drums and all varieties of scuzzy bass. This particular track, "Did You Know That" is labeled the (kindi frost winter mix) and normally the idea of remixes would put me off right away...the band filtered through someone with dance intentions? That never works out well, but in this case I honestly didn't even realize until checking out the label later. It has a pretty nice shine to the whole track, it's sounds huge and produced, but nicely there's nothing that sounds totally out of place or for the sake of putting your fingerprints all over everything. The best remix DJ just might be the one you don't even know is there. This is feeling a lot like Deerhoof's weirdo rhythms and anti-hooks, strange repetitions of odd timings plus a Death From Above blown out bass sound and groove. Heike's delicate layered vocal plays against the gritty metal edges and electronic percussion, it's packing the most possible contrast into the duo. Decidedely head banging, she packs short bursts of lyrics in between huge solid groove phrases. There's a brief moment of all handclaps and distorted bass... who doesn't love those kinds of breakdowns? Then even getting Blonde Redhead post rocky...super solid and structured.

The B-Side from Porcupine, "Rooftops", starts out with a echo-y layer of half-sad picking that bursts into a funky bass groove fashioning a tiny equation with intricate picking and downward strums. The slightly distorted vocals working on their own path, completely separate from the main melodies...really thought out, and pushing those little details to their limits. Porcupine is also playing around with a similar huge pop sound, straining into the mics during the chorus over an equally mathy foundation, and even those center stage basslines. A lot like Pinback with a dose of something like The Walkmen, building that epic height of layered unnatural vocal for a brief moment of not-enough. High falsetto math rock indie emotion. They aren't just pencil pushers.

Fold out 3 color matte ink on cardstock on spicy mustard color vinyl, band stickers and download card on Big Action Records.

Dronaement - Wassermond rerelease on Drone Records

Marcus, from Dying For Bad Music Records was nice enough to send in this single from his own project which came out on Drone Records. I didn't even realize this was on Drone, but it reminded me of The Great Pop Supplements releases, heavy vinyl sleeve, this handmade print sleeve and inserts, and when I read the notes in the gutter that said, "water sample I & II" I ended up putting on his release before even checking out his label.

A-Side's track, "Wassermond", mentions in the liner notes how this was based on a sample by Jim de Jong, and that this single was first recorded and mixed in 1999, but this is a second pressing of 300. I've always heard of Drone Records, they seemed to be like the Important Records or the Touch of Germany, going all out with the weirdo sound projects and modern composer/experimental sounds. This single is working along those lines....a water sample has been manipulated to an insane degree, stretched out forever at 45rpm across this thin cloudy green vinyl, I don't know what kind of vinyl mix they have overseas but this feels like soft candy, it bends way too easily. it got me thinking if this might work on another conceptual level, like they made this out of seaweed or some kind of biodegradable vinyl substitute. (Trademark-7inches)...If we want to keep listening to records in about two or three hundred years form now we're going to have to manufacture these things out of anything but oil. The sounds here are resembling crickets and their sounding chattery noises, like the bouncing of rattling stones... falling in and out of sync, slightly changing speeds. There's another heavy sound of spinning metal, like a high pitch aluminum bowl on a glass table, ringing away. A rushing bubbling sound of the water deconstructed and pieced back together...I wouldn't be surprised if this was even trying to emulate the water sample itself, if they stripped out the water negating the creek frequencies all together. A Chiming of bells, like a grandfather clock before the whole thing kind of dies away. It's a long piece relatively, taking it's time to work out these facets of a brook. Not a big sounding stream.
The B-Side, "Wassertank", starts a far off pumping rhythm, and this one is more of an ocean rolling in kind of source material, sounding more ominous. I guess we're dealing with a huge body of this element now, it's dark, a much bigger force to be reckoned with. You aren't dealing with a tiny fountain in the middle of a restaurant, you're standing on the edge of a massive destructive power, and it's not so nice in the middle of the night. The quieter crashing mixes with this analog moog sounding electronics, pulsating. It's a much quieter side, and there's some kind of storm brewing far off in the distance.

Get this one on Marcus' label shop, Dying for Bad Music, I am dying for it and have more of his singles to talk about in the coming weeks.

Also just got word about this Dum Dum Girls solo single from Katie on ART FAG records:

Former Dum Dum Girl, Katie Serbian Brouillette is releasing her new project Cheap Curls' debut 7" on Art Fag Recordings this spring. You can listen to the track, "Jackie Oh" here and preorder the record below. The debut 3 song 7" is pressed in an edition of 500 copies.

Andy Shernoff on the Yazoo Squelch Audio Society

Got this email in about a new single from one of The Dictator's founders Andy Shernoff on Yazoo Squelch Audio Society Records. He's been playing music since before I was freaking born, and not just in a local garage band either dummy, all kinds of big time projects, even getting into producing. For all the Last Days Here stories out there, you never hear about the guys like Andy who have turned this punk rock fad into a serious career. Plus Andy started out as a rock journalist with his own Teenage Wasteland Gazette, printed on real paper, and even knew Lester Bangs. Basically it's intimidating to be covering a guy like this on my silly blog about tiny records. But everybody's got to start somewhere, and like Last Laugh or Sing Sing proves time and time again, there's always a reason to revist the past, you have to be checking out the scenes that came before...or you'll sound like a dumbass.

A-Sides, "Are you Ready To Rapture" starts out with a quiet contemplative acoustic guitar line, and the choir of angels quietly ah-ing in the background. Wait...I think he's calling Jesus a zombie jew? Yes he is.
Jesus is pretty pissed that people keep doing bad stuff, here's this book with all the rules laid out and still it's too hard I guess.
Yikes, the Twin Towers are a sign of this crazy rapture? I'm going to assume this is all from the crazy right winger point of view...and it's not pulling any punches. The unbelievers must burn?
Witty rhymes about the antichrist, this wouldn't be complete without a horn section. Huge production on this one, but that's what you would expect, this is the last party, you have to lay it all out, take the grandiose approach with as many tracks and tricks as humanly possible. That sun is shining and it's pretty peaceful before all this shit goes down.
"Butthole invaders" is probably also groundbreaking lyric-wise. Lots of descriptions of judgement day through the eyes of religious nuts, probably pissing them and the zombie jew off even more.
Preaching to the choir, Andy.

B-Side's, "Make me Tremble" is another light acoustic number featuring Joey Ramone on vocals, talking about sitting on a mushroom, just like this psych back cover, the minimal acoustic really highlighting his vocal, nobody could say "baby" like Joey. As awkward as that scene is in Rock and Roll High School, he was pulling it off as always vocally. I mean that's just more evidence how freaking good he was, to be that camera awkward, and still be as huge as they were...determination. I only caught them once in college and like everyone else assumed they would be touring forever. They couldn't write a bad song really, and that goes for this one. This is his Johnathan Richman impression, lots of la, la's and deep vibrato from the grandfather of punk. God damn good to hear. Video over here.

Two tracks from the Yazoo squelch audio society, and they are out of these over at dusty groove. Try checking out Andy's site and shooting him an email.

Crimson Scarlet on Cool Summer Records

Cool Summer sent in a dancey new wave single from the guys in Gardens &Villa a while back and this one from Santa Barbara, CA's Crimson Scarlet is winding up in a dance sound from an entirely different starting point.

Crimson Scarlett is a five piece, (does the drum machine count then? - ed) self described death rock band who up the tempo's of dread and go for a slick produced pop sound on this A-Side track, "Sanctuary". There's hint of speed metal scales and a Sister's of Mercy or Siouxsie dark slant and Joan Jett snarly vocals. The guitar and percussion is so crafted they come off as mechanical, (that's a drum machine named the General - ed) hard panning a ssss-y crash cymbal left and right. A punky echo'd vocal from Chelsey is all knowing and deep, or high pitch and scared out of her mind on the chorus: "Sanctu - ary". Arty, abstract poetics unravel behind these Ministry sampled guitar lines. But again, these guys aren't wallowing in the gloom, they punch up the BPM's right away and write from there, making for an unholy alliance of pentagrams on the dancefloor.

The B-Side's, "Two kinds of Red" sounds like it's pulling out that classic chorus effect on the guitar and this one is surprisingly closer to Ms. Sioux, getting really eerie, Ms. Crowley has pinned down that style vocal here...these drums are programmed pretty nice too, surprising human, weirdly enough. Dual layers of distortion grind away on top of this quick beat, all restrained and gated, doesn't even sound liek they're mic'd in a live room. Maybe there was so much compression on the kick and snare back in the '80s that here it sounds perfectly natural to hear the real thing duplicated like this. The speed and uptempo of this almost works against this natural dread of the sound, but then again why can't you combine these aesthetics? Remember Skinny Puppy? Death Dance.

Check out their bandcamp.... this one is appropriately on crimson vinyl, with glossy printed mini poster insert. The sleeve has apocryphal symbols of dread in terrible circles with the typeface of witches and illuminated manuscripts...from Cool Summer Records. Who seem to agree with the Dead Milkmen that You'll Dance to Anything.