THE MANTLES on mt st mtn - preorder

Not sure if this is the sleeve image, but I like it....The Mantles are San Francisco's answer to the Crystal Stilts....I know.... you could argue that these guys were around before the Stilts, that this sound maybe even originated in San Francisco, but I don't know if any of that is true. It's just my point of entrance to this.
I know that I'm happy to buy anything from Mt St Mtn, they are in the middle of a great scene going on...they aren't pushing out quantity but instead take their time to press the best....do I have to remind anyone of the Mayyors? No.
Or then there's the fact The Mantles full length is scheduled to be pressed by Siltbreeze? Forget it, this is going to be everywhere.
So why am I thinking of the Crystal Stilts? Well it's 60's psychedelic, fuzzy, a little druggy echo reverb all over, but there's an air of optimism. If Crystal Stilts are Joy Division, then the Mantles are New Order. Not quite as dark sounding to me as Dead Meadow, or Wooden Shjips, who are almost experimental.... more of a party with Austin Powers here...a velvet paisley freakout. A little groovy baby. Really faithful to this era's sound in an eerie way. The could crossover all kinds of noise jam/lo-fi/psyche shows...fit onto a bunch of different bills. It's building on that sound without becoming stereotypical garage or junky. Like the vocals...it's not as theatrical and lifeless as the Stilts...more feeling. It manages to be just as catchy...really great.

Neither of these tracks are on their myspace...

THE MANTLES "Trust" b/w "Secret Heart" 7 inch {MTN-O5}
limited to 300 copies, 45rpm, black vinyl
1 color silk-screened outer cover
$6.50 ppd (overseas orders, $5 + shipping cost, contact first), paypal to mtstmtn-at-hotmail.com

THIS RECORD WILL SHIP IN ABOUT 2-3 WEEKS With the deceptively determined surge of a sleepy glacier, The Mantles have been quietly and slowly perfecting their trademarked dark n' dirge pop sound over the past few years. Starting as a trio, the band recorded their Dulc-i-Tone single with the mysterious & unreliable Cram-Ro production team. The band then dug themselves out of the Cram-Ro shit-morass for a batch of sunnier sounds courtesy Papercuts' Jason Quever, two songs of which make up their forthcoming Mt. St. Mtn single. Soon after this session, the band lost a bass player but simultaneously absorbed both halves of the Cram-Ro team (including the half that sometimes gets "Personal" wink-wink), and it's this current four-piece incarnation that recorded the upcoming Siltbreeze full-length album with Gris Gris' Greg Ashley. Reviewers & showgoers alike regularly struggle without success to pin down the Mantles sound, though the Paisley Underground scene somehow seems to come up alot, and though reviewers have an affinity for the words 'New' and 'Zealand' when describing the Mantles, band members insist that Mantles songwriting mainman and Graeme Downes-lookalike Michael O. has no idea what Flying Nun is other than a goofy TV show, nor is he familiar with that "Slitbree" label people keep talking about.
release show: MAY 30th @ Amnesia, San Francisco The Mantles, Brilliant Colors, Aerosols

They also have a single from Dulc-i-tone, their first...don't know if it's possible any are still left, might be hard to get a hold of the guy at that label to see....the Eat Skull / Ganglians split was worth it though.