Kurt Vile - He's Alright 7" on Matador

Kurt Vile's first single on Matador, just picked it up at Academy the other day, 3 tracks starting with 'He's Alright' on the A-Side, you might be thinking this was on another release like I did, but I checked Constant Hitmaker and The Hunchback EP and it's not on any of those or anywhere else. These three are exclusive to this release... even if it sounds like something off CH though, slow strumming with a bit of echo. Verse after verse of that folk storyteller monotone, very Dylan, he's getting away with it, even though I know better. It's compelling, his nasal 'haaaaaaaaannndss' half hearted delivery, it's a lot of work to half mumble.
He's got a distinct strumming style which might be making this sound like an extension of a Hitmaker track, every other strum is a little louder a little faster, making it sound echoed, he's pushing the expressiveness of the standard action.
And then there's this line I kept pickign up on:

'Some people they use up all their cash / records and such they sit around but I don't care about that.'

Kurt? But I just bought your single...is this some kind of cruel joke? A song about wasting my money on records? Damn you!

The B-Side first track Farfissas in Falltime is an instrumental throwaway reverb wobbly guitar, it sounds like a distorted looped sample. On top of that Kurt is solo-ing with a tight distortion that almost is synth. It's pretty cinematic, like Vangelis or something, using elements that are a little dated, but getting away with it, even elevating those sounds to something you can actually listen to and respect.
I appreciate it's on here, but I'm not going to seek it out probably.
'Take your time' is more solo acoustic Kurt and what you're going to spend time on picking over the lyrics, deciphering. God I hope no one takes him or any other acoustic guitarist seriously as a poet. Come on, poetry is just a separate animal, don't try to publish the verses on the page. it's one thing as liner notes, but Dylan as poetry? I don't buy it. It's a song...very different. It may be thanks to all the freshman English teachers who bring in Freewheelin' or Blood on the Tracks and yell at kids 'Listen to this! It's poetry!, Someday you'll understand!' that it's been ruined. You have to separate the two. The Beats may have killed poetry. That was the peak, and it's been downhill from there (take any spoken word show with the word 'slam' in it for example). I guess I'm going off on this tangent because he's got that gift for really effective songwriting, really universal but describing a pretty specific experience I feel like I share? Let;s just not get carried away.

Get it from Matador direct, or a million other places probably. I can't tell if this is the 7" that comes with the preorder of his Childish prodigy full length or not, I have to pick that up and see where Constant Hitmaker is going next.

The Rantouls on Chocolate Covered Records

There are two ways to approach nostalgia: either you take those influences and ideas and reinterpret them through the modern tools and aesthetics of today or you work traditionally exactly in the style of the nostalgic style you love the most; you mix paint with egg tempera and do portraits with horsehair brushes of renaissance royalty. Huge gilded framed kids with scepters and crowns or a diamond encrusted skull.
The Rantouls are taking down the jars of pigment and drawing some perspective guidelines and getting on with it....only in their case it's surf guitar, 60's garage attitude, and beach harmonies. I mean, check out that cover, it's straight out of the late 50's early 60's. If they're trying to infiltrate record racks and salvation armies with this band they may or may not have existed, then they did a bang up job. I'm fooled.
I'm really considering these recordings resurfaced like a Mississippi records release and someone faked some promo shots to release this single.
The recording is even true to the songwriting style, warm, room sound. Only a band steeped in nostalgia could get a way with a chorus harmony of 'little green hat! little green hat / I never seen / little green hat!', it's that ridiculous content, songs have never made any sense. It's the goal of rock and roll to see what it can get away with. How little sense can we make? What's the most obscure/everyday thing we could sing about? Especially from that time period, it's like they wanted a crossover novelty hit, just to make everyone happy, and maybe they're fucking with everyone just a little bit?
The same goes for 'A Little Bit of This', severely catchy...I mean it's problem, not only are they singing about the beach, bikini's, but the lead singer has this nasal stuttered delivery that is making the song. They don't want to be taken seriously? What's this? Striped shirts and vests? Did someone defrost these guys with Brendon Frasier?
But the best line is 'I get a little kiss and I get a little smack.', so it's not all naive beach party?
I give up.

Chocolate Covered Records has unearthed them in a SoCal backyard with a valley girl:

Rantouls fan Rev. Nørb and his girlfriend say it best: It's STUPENDOUS! STUPENDOUS I SAY! I played the a-side, then the b-side, then the a-side, then the b-side, and it made my girlfriend yell "I DIDN'T LIKE THAT SONG VERY MUCH WHEN IT WAS CALLED 'LITTLE GREEN HAT,' AND I LIKED IT EVEN LESS THE SECOND TIME WHEN IT WAS CALLED 'A LITTLE BIT OF THAT!'" Yes, its that good.

The Saucy Jacks - Blown like a kiss on Chocolate Covered records

Chocolate Covered records clued me into this latest release, The Saucy Jacks who are from San Francisco and are working with all of those classic 60's elements, distorted peppy rhythm guitar, sunshiny harmonies and heavy footstomping drums.

The A-Side...The minute I saw the title 'Blown like a kiss' I of course take it to a bad place I realize now I don't think they are intending. There's a subtle echo on the vocals with nice call and response harmonies from the rest of the band. Lead Aaron's got a real emotive high up front vocal style that's taking the whole thing into a real contemporary place as much as the instrumentation is trying to stay grounded in that studio pop influenced sound. They're really recreating that huge classic rock sound, contained, faithfully captured with every available mic, and tracking trick.

B-Side, 'Everywhere you go' has a huge dirty guitar riff going in a 'I can't get no satisfaction' direction that leads Aaron into his own brand of wavering harmony that keeps getting higher and higher. It has a driving rhythm full of this great recorded drum quality, especially when everything drops out for a moment and it's fill time. When it drops back in it's twice a big. The high hat and cymbal is so clear and that distorted guitar texture when he goes for the solo is perfect. I think when referencing their sound this line says it best:
After all these years and words I've changed / but still the song remains the same.

I read somewhere that The Saucy Jacks name is referencing Spinal Tap and I can picture the cut to the montage of album covers from the late 60's from this now realized band. They start out with the black and white one where they're in suits standing on the side of a building smoking cigarettes with sunglasses. A little tough, but still coming out of the 50's, working within the confines of that pop song, lots of innuendos, and solos. Then they go a little hippy with the next cover in a field of flowers with paisley billowy shirts. You get the picture.
Available direct from chocolate covered records.

Blown Like a Kiss b/w Everywhere you Go

Classic powerpop steeped in garage goodness.
Featuring members of the Makes Nice, the Mothballs, Harold Ray: Live in Concert, The Rolling Stones, Fault Lines, This is Revenge, and the Beatles.

Arvel from Empty Cellar Records Interview part 2.

It's another Friday and finally you can hear part two of my conversation with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records. (20min, 18mb).
They have tons of great stuff planned for upcoming release, as well as their currently available Dry Spells LP.
Arvel talks about the operating philosophy of the label, making it as a self sustaining not for profit outlet for curated music. Some of his experiences dealing with pressing plants and examples of other labels that inspire Empty Cellar.
The guy is a wealth of information and passion for music....really just the best...can't wait to see what they come out with next.

GreatDividing - self released single

Andrew contacted me from GreatDividing a little while back, he's released a couple of singles with friends on their Australia based label, so unfortunately it's going to be pretty hard to actually get a hold of these other than mail order directly from down under, but the internet brought us together with some digital files for this review. Email him at the bottom of the post to work out shipping/postage with Andrew.

There's 2 singles here, around 15 minutes of completely different experiments. I also came across mention of The Great Dividing Range of Australia, and I liked the name before, but now it's taking on a different connotation. It's a huge huge expanse of mountains instead of a chasm, maybe it's the same, but a wall and a hole are two very different obstacles. For instance, I'm not going down the hole, forget it, but I'll climb over that thing if I have to.
I'm intrigued to hear what's being created on the other side of the world, it's still pretty crazy to think about musical styles reproducing themselves. I was watching this TED thing the other day from Susan Blackwell about ideas being kinds of viruses and the best ones reproducing themselves, I think music is a great example of this kind of natural idea selection, here I am as far away as possible from Andrew, but I get the references, I can speak his musical language. Insane.



arob/soottyb [greatdividing011] 7"

Cicada Gtr + birds has a rising sound that I'm going to assume is a cicada sample? Then again there's an electronic slant to this I think...if this is created by synth then that's pretty genius. It sounds almost to regular, to constant not to have been. There's an underlying drone chord/notes that remains constant through the entire piece where the birds and cicada sounds work around. There's one loud close bird sound that, if it's not electronic, then that's a pretty crazy natural sound. (Turns out it's a field recording - ed) But that's probably the point. It's that moment when the curtain rises and the orchestra is tuning up. It's a little chaotic

'They sent me into space today' is a slow muddy little dub-ish number. All kinds of tempo shifted drum hits, with ring-toned samples of some dialogue, or that's the lyrics possibly, really buried and effected to the breaking point. It's hypnotically monotonous. Sparse space synth emerges here and there, a real throwback sound, like a 70's slow motion dance party in quicksand.
GreatDividing says:

dd011 arob/soottyb b/w arob split 7"

edition of 100 hand printed black on white paper sleeves & rubber stamped labels

they sent me into space today

5 years in the making ! The basic track 'downer march' was recorded by arob in 2004 he added another track sometime in 2005 . 2006 he gave it to Soottyb on cd . In 2007 he handed it back to arob as 'they sent men into space today' . It was 're-mixed' in 2008 ... & finally in 2009 after a particularly fraught space mission here is 'they sent me into space today' .

cicadas birds + gtr

This is a field recording done at a fellow exiles house in the country combined with a home recording done in a bedroom in the city . Simple as that ... plays well on either 45 or 33 rpm ..



Exiles from clowntown 7"

The A-Side 'Fast One' starts playing with a scales up and down bassline with background tremolo guitar, this is a groovy kind of blues inspired track, that has a nice live raw sloppy feel to it, at the end it starts to breakdown a little and get more experimental when the bass goes repetitive as well, just booming drone, it's a welcome departure from the scales that start to feel like he's in another band, practicing. But somewhere in the middle and end again is where I start to really pay attention and have to start over to hear when this starts to deliberately fall apart. The bass goes one note and the guitar breaks out

'Something somewhere', this sounds like that rehearsal space jam where some interesting performance was hit on, the way he's playing the strings with this repetitive twang, kind of slint-ish. There's a weird effect on the guitar or it's one of those amps.
The vocals are room mic recorded and I like that feeling, it's kind of like an afterthought, or unconscious monologue happening. I'm thinking of a Sea and Cake groove Los Llamarada's or something. Andrew has graciously allowed me to post a copy of it, you can download/listen to that here.

Greatdividing says:

dd012 exiles from clowntown 7" 33 rpm

edition of 100 in hole punched white paper sleeves & rubber stamped labels

Not too sure what to say about the exiles ... 3 friends who grew up in the same town , all moved away & have been living [mainly] far apart . Once in a while they end up in the same location & sooner or later eventually / inevitably someone suggests playing some music together . Sometimes they are organized enough to record it . The two tracks on this 7" were recorded live & spontaneous using a single microphone & a mac in january 2009 . These two tracks were later edited down from one two hour long take no over dubs no mixing no bullshit .There was much swapping of instruments & the two tracks on this 7" have completely different 'line ups' with the gtr player on 'fast one' playing drums on 'something ... ' & so on & so forth . It's possible some more of this session may be released at some point.

Andrew does say also to shoot him an email and he can work on getting you the music, which is the most important thing after all:
greatdividing (at) gmail.com

Jeffrey Novak talks with 7Inches!

I first saw Jeff Novak from Cheap Time open for the Crystal Stilts at Less Artists More Condos and was blown away by this glam Ramones 3 piece... short explosive songs, all harmonies, but really just amazing catchy punk pop...my favorite. I went over the merch table right after and picked up the 'Handy Man' single and played it for days.
It's the one goto genre I have, it never fails. A bad day?, too much experimental drone? Just feeling tired of thinking work? Put on Cheap Time, the Busy Signals, Jay Reatard and it's not so bad, there's nothing three chords and sing along lyrics can't cure.
Jeff's solo singles are as close as I could get to his full length 'After the Ball', but the single to me seemed like the perfect format for Jeff's brand of concise 70's english inspired piano pop that I was kind of hoping they might also all end up on 7"'s eventually...but really I just want to hear them.
So I was inspired after spotting Jeff at Jay's show in Williamsburg that I got the courage up to track down an email address for Jeff and ask him a few questions. He was amazingly cool and answered them all.

His full length, and the Woodland Drive single, if you don't have them already, are available from In The Red Records. I've heard 'After the Ball' is going to be released on Jay's label on CD (boo) with bonus tracks (yay)....so I'm waiting for that.
Even better though Cheap Time is playing Silent Barn Oct 2nd and 3rd...see you there.

On to my Jeffrey Novak interview......

I ran into you at the Jay Reatard show picking up your Home Sweet Home single. I think you were in town for a big Captured Tracks show over the 4th of July... I overheard you say you weren't able to play for that? What happened?

Jeff: We were originally supposed to play a show that weekend opening for the Kids, but they ended up backing out and the whole show fell apart. So that Captured Tracks thing was going on that same weekend, which Tom Dash claimed we should be able to play as well since Mike Sniper was putting it on. I don't know what ended up happening exactly. I wasn't ever able to discuss anything with Mike about it, but I end up hearing later that it was three guys who were in charge of that thing. Two of them were up for us getting added to the bill, but one of them wasn't, so we got vetoed. It's really stupid. I was caught up with a lot of other stuff in my life around that time, so I didn't really care. Cheap Time had done a really long European tour shortly before then as well, so I was still sort of feeling burned out and not that excited about trying to get the band back together for a one off show.

It seems like you have toured a lot with Jay. I imagine you guys ran into each other a lot starting out. Are you guys friends from way back? You help each other out?

Jeff: We toured twice with him last year. On the west coast and the east. I'm five years younger than Jay so it's sort of impossible to be friends with him from way back. His friends from way back are all people in their 30's or 40's now, that he knew when he was still a teenager. I met Jay around 6 years ago when I was 18. He was playing in this band Nervous Pattern or Nervous Patterns, I can't remember. I saw them open for Oneida, and then I saw him play guitar in Jeff Evan's band the CC Riders. I was friends with Jeff, and that's how I ended up meeting Jay. I had always thought he would be some crazy intense mean person for some reason, but he was always a really out of his way nice guy to me. He's been one of the only consistently supportive people in my life when it comes to my music.

Do you think you've influenced each other's music in any way?

Jeff: When I was 17/18 years old, I really wanted to sound like him and King Louie. They were the guys I looked up to. They made the most amazing records and had such legendary stories you'd always hear about, but on top of that they were both really nice and encouraging people to me. Which always surprised me, because I was just some kid from the middle of nowhere in Tennessee who was just wanting to rip them off essentially. I did that stuff for a couple years and took as far as I could take it. Jay even told me that at the time. There's only so much you can do with that sound. By the time I turned 20 I felt like I needed to be doing something a little different, which has slowly evolved to what I'm doing now with Cheap Time and my new solo stuff. But to answer the question, Jay and I have a weird mutual respect for each other, which I've never had with anyone else. We don't bullshit each other.

Do you think that Tennessee has anything to do directly with your sound?

Jeff: In some ways, yes. It's more just growing up in the middle of nowhere than anything to do with Tennessee as a state or Memphis or Nashville as cities. It's also a very southern thing. It's hard to explain. I've lived in West Tennessee my whole life, but my parents aren't from here, so I didn't grow with the traditions of the south really. I don't have a southern accent, and I didn't grow up listening to modern country music like most kids that I grew up with. My parents hated that stuff. They just listened to oldies radio, so that's what I grew up on. That and stuff I would find out about through my older sisters. So to me it comes from having nothing around you and having to come up with your own thing.

I first heard you open for the Crystal Stilts at Less Artists More Condos and immediately picked up your single. That led me to the self titled album on In The Red Records. How did that album come about?

Jeff: I sent some demos to Larry Hardy from In The Red before Cheap Time had ever played a show, and I never heard back from him. So after we had formed into sort of a real band, I just wrote him and asked him if he wanted to do our LP, and he wrote back and said yes. Our demos really sucked, and we were even worse as a live band, so I think it surprised some people. The story I ended up hearing later was that Steve Mcdonald and Monty Buckles had both mentioned something about me to Larry, and so he wanted to do whatever new project I started. At least that's what he ended up telling me later on. I guess it was a gamble on his part, but Larry has great taste and an amazing record collection. He's a great guy to geek out over records with. He's turned me on to a lot of great stuff, and he always gives me his doubles of things. That's how I got the first two Kevin Ayers records.

Was it recorded or mastered with the vinyl in mind? Is that even a consideration?

Jeff: Totally! But we didn't really know what we were doing that well whenever we made that record. It was the same master for both though. Jay actually mastered it. I remember it taking longer than we thought it was going to. It kept getting drawn out over minor glitches with the transfer. We only spent 5 days recording and mixing it.

It looks like you were credited with writing everything on that record. How finished are the songs when you bring them to the other members of the band?

Jeff: I did demos for everyone of the songs off that first album except for "Over Again" and "Falling Down," because I didn't have time. We ended up learning those right before we recorded them. I don't think we had even tried playing them live before that because they were too complicated for us at the time. Those are the songs everyone says sound like other songs which I wasn't really thinking about at the time at all, because I hadn't done demos of either of them. I still think they're OK songs though. I still like the subject matter. They still mean something to me. I'm very picky about the drums and bass lines. I like things to be played exactly how I played them on the demos most of the time. That's why it's fun doing solo records. I love playing the drums. I wish I could play the drums on every record I make.

Actually now that I'm looking at the credits...People Talk is a cover? An Oblivian's side project did the original? I'm guessing they have been an influence.

Jeff: Yes, "People Talk," is a song by this band called The End. They were this Corinth, MS new-wave band from the mid-80's that Jack "Oblivian" Yarber was in. They only had one 7" with a sleeve with this crappy Van Halen sounding song on the A-side, and "People Talk" on the B-side. They had a huge stack of them at Goner for $2.99 about four or five years ago. I knew I had to cover it the first time I heard it, but it took me a while till I had the right band to play it.

Do you deliberately approach Cheap Talk songs knowing they are going to have to be played live?

Jeff: Yes, and maybe that's the main difference with Cheap Time and my solo stuff where I never have to think about that at all. Other than that I don't really think about the difference that much at all. I write lots of songs, and I'd like to do more records. I just hate waiting around to do everything with Cheap Time. I don't have the patience.

You mentioned you mastered your 'Home Sweet Home' solo single. Is that something you've been getting into more, the mastering process? Did you want more control over the whole sound? Has that been a problem in the past?

Jeff: No, I didn't master that single or any of the other records. Jay did. But I did record that stuff myself, which was very freeing. I really wanted to do something at home again, so I decided to move back in with my parents and build an 8-track studio in there attic. That was my main goal last year. Just to escape from everything and make a weird personal record that only my family and close friends would even be able to understand. I never expected anyone to get it. I actually expect most people to hate it for what they think it is, which some people probably do. The cover art is really over the top and the songs are very dramatic, but at the time that was the world I was living in, and it all made perfect sense. I'm still most proud of it compared to anything else I've done so far.

Are you planning to tour with your solo material, as Jeff Novak? Or are you working with Cheap Time on another release or tour?

Jeff: I'd like to tour behind that new solo stuff soon, but Cheap Time is going to be busy touring and recording for the rest of the year. I'll just have to wait. I promised Larry I would tour behind the next solo record that he's putting out next year, and I got an offer from Jay to open for him with my solo thing next year, but he doesn't want me to bring a backing band. So I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't really want to do my old one man band thing again where I scream my head off. It would also be weird to go out and sit and play a keyboard alone while I sing. I don't really fancy myself a singer/songwriter sort of guy. I don't feel like that's what I'm going for. I don't really know what I'm going for with that stuff exactly. It's just fun to play piano and write songs and try to make interesting records that I would personally want to listen to. It could be an interesting experience going out solo with out any sort of band for a tour. It could be a great learning experience even if Jay's sort of audience doesn't really get it.

I missed out on your solo full length 'After the Ball'. Is that going to be re-released anytime soon?

Jeff: It's just come out on cassette finally, and the CD version should be out later this year. The LP seemed to sell out sort of quickly, because I only pressed 500 copies of it, but a lot of them just ended up on Ebay. I still haven't gotten my money from Matador direct for the copies I sold them, and all my money's tied up in my next self-released solo record that I want to put out next year after the one on In The Red, so I don't know when I'll get around to ever repressing it. I'd rather just focus on new stuff.

Has it been kind of a conscious choice to release a lot of 7" singles?

Jeff: I don't really feel like I've released that many. I actually consciously try to release as few as I can. I'd to release a lot more, but I don't want to flood the market with my shit like the Blank Dogs. That's what everyone's doing now, but I don't feel like I can get away with it too. I wanted to put out a new 7" with these recent songs I recorded this month, but that Sweet Rot single didn't come out that long ago, so I feel like maybe I should wait till next year.

Do you have material in mind for singles knowing it won't end up on the full length?

Jeff: Sometimes, maybe most of the time. I decided pretty early on what will be an album track or work better as a song on a single. I'd like to always make better B-sides than A-sides. I love singles like that. All of Sparks' island singles were like that. I really need to be working harder if I want to achieve that goal though. Sometimes I'm too lazy, but as long as I never do anything as bad as Kevin Ayers' mid-70's B-sides, I should be fine.

Do you have a hand in the sleeve art or anything or is that pretty much up to the label?

Jeff: I probably spend just as much time thinking about the art as I do the music. I tried to get everything perfect on the newer solo stuff. I even wanted the paper to be the right stock. To me that stuff's very important. It's worth trying to get things right. I hate when things come off half assed. My older sister Kristi usually helps me out with the graphic design though. That's what she does for a living and she's great. She's usually takes most of the photos as well. She knows how to help me capture my vision. I don't know what I would do with out her.

You have plans for any 7" singles in the future you want to talk about?

Jeff: I hope I can put out something with Hozac soon. I've been wanting to do something with Todd for a very long time. I'd like to do something with Captured Tracks or what label Mike Sniper happens to be running at the time too. I've known him for a long time and we've always talked about doing something together but it's never ended up panning out. He wanted to release After The Ball, but I was already on the ball to release it myself, and Radio Heartbeat wanted to release a Cheap Time single, but we could never get it together.

Do you have a collection of singles yourself?

Jeff: Yes. I have at least 2000, but I haven't counted them in a long time. A lot of them are just thinks I've gotten for free over the years on tour and what not, but at least a couple hundred of them I would never part with and still listen to.

Which ones?

Jeff: All the old west coast budget rock stuff like Supercharger and the Brentwoods, because it took me forever to find those. All of Memphis stuff, like the Oblivians, Reatards, and 68 Comeback. All the Ohio stuff, like the Gibson Bros, Cheater Slicks and Bassholes. Plus lots of other random things like this Redd Kross Born Innocent demos Bootleg 7". I love all my old Sparks and T. Rex 7"s with the killer B-sides that I had mentioned before. And I can't forget the Clone Defect's singles and EP's. Those records are perfect.

The Anasazis on I Hate Rock and Roll records

Got an email about The Anasazis from I Hate Rock and Roll Records the other day, they previously released The Muslims (Soft Pack) single, so I wanted to hear what other directions they might be headed in.
Listened to the couple of tracks on their myspace, the A-Side 'The Talk' is their interpretation of the west coast reverb/surf low-fi 60's garage sound that is spontaneously coming from all corners over there, or it's an orchestrated invasion.
It's tambourine splash, jangly tube guitar amps. The emphasis is on the Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls echo chorus vocals with lots of harmony. It's that distant, disaffected sound, a cave full of some flashback party of the past. Lot's of ohhhh's, ahhh's...it's another time really...they are recreating what collectively has been romanticized into that sound. The Shangri-La's? Yea, this is what they must have sounded like, I don't have to listen to the original band...I'm serious. If that era lives on today reinterpreted by the Anasazi's, then that's what it was.
So what part of the era is it exactly? It's not the garage band from the 60's that was headed into psyche and dropping acid and poppers and ludes and playing guitar solos for hours, growing beards. No, this is the end of the 50's, beginning of the 60's, still in high school maybe, clean cut, playing the local church. It's pretty squaresville, content-wise, until you get to the B-Side and UFO's...now we're getting somewhere, even if it does sound harmonic and sweet. This would have been one of those novelty songs that was on the radio in Roswell right after that whole classified incident.

Not sure exactly what Pebble Punk is or if it really applies to these guys...to me that implies that it's some sort of primitive sweet pop...well on second thought, ok, that might work. I was trying to figure out if that's really some sort of weird hardcore scene like twee for hardcore that I'm too old to know about.

Order it from I Hate Rock and Roll.

IHRNR004 The Anasazis "Introducing..." is out now on I Hate Rock N Roll. Three Pebbles punks from San Diego.

The Anasazis "Introducing..."
a1 the talk
a2 grape crush
b1 ufos
b2 show me the way

Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk at the Cakeshop 9-19-09

Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk played the Cakeshop this Saturday, the middle show that night and ended up going on around 9:30. I only heard the one song off the split single and I wanted to go into it expecting nothing and be surprised. I was.

Suitcases of pedals were daisy chained together and sampler boxes blinked as they started with slow building notes of tremolo guitar of almost feedback, fading in and out. The falsetto vocals by the drummer (don't ask me names, I looked everywhere), have all kind of effects on them. I love that they are able to keep this all together, playing this kind of improvised ever changing live guitar meddling is never easy, you can't find the tone you usually use...it forces a lot of weird accidents, and Baby Birds were rolling with the punches...you couldn't see it.

At different times bass guy would abandon it and add to the already pounding drums with a shared tom that was passed around from one side of the stage to the other, and that's when the whole 'scape takes a drum circle turn a la Foot Village, which is a great contrast to the swirling shoegaze wall that's created. The rhythm works under the ambient haze, keeping up the pace of everything. Like Mogwai without a melody, the highs and lows are created through the range of drumming created. The frantic cymbal smashing of the track going nuts to a shower of quiet unmic'ed rim shot clicks, the drums are running the show, really dictating the range of emotion.


It was one long performance, feedback leading into the next strained melody. The guitar completely covered in duct tape was a nice touch, I get the feeling there's a little bit of Sonic Youthish instrument preparing going on... I think guitars were switched a couple times. The tunings, the way they string it. It's a commitment to make that guitar be that particular sound, it's life is pretty much over for anything else once you do that. I can't really get enough of anything bordering on instrumental, loud/quiet, noise with a touch of catchy, so this is completely perfect. One single isn't enough, tell me this is expanding to two sides of a record, no breaks?
Please?


Mushpot Records/Promo graciously caught my review of their single and offered up this MP3 'Train Fuzz (real good food)' to download and listen away.

Interview with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records

As promised here's an interview I did with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records...Part 1. Episode 60. 27min. Immediately after part one you can hear the Joseph Childress side of the 7" single.
We talked about how The Endless Nest collective started, what Empty Cellar has been up to so far, the recording process with the Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt single, and what releases they have coming up.
Arvel started out booking shows, including The Indian Summer Music Festival and working with people like Wymond Miles from The Fresh and Onlys who had a studio and another friend The American Opry who documented the festival and finally they decided to take all these elements and put them together under one roof and start a label.
This all came together around 5 months ago, with the help of all the members of the label and collective and has been quickly gaining momentum with releases like the sold out Tim Cohen of the Fresh and Onlys solo album and The Dry Spells.
Empty Cellar loves the vinyl and has collaborated with other labels in making sure these pressed. I love what they have done so far, and what they are trying to do as a self contained collective to release music they believe in.
They have an upcoming EP release from The Sandwitches, Heidi Alexander and Grace Cooper who sang on the Fresh and Onlys records, and have a repress already planned for the Tim Cohen record as well, so email the label to reserve one of the second (and last) pressings.
Amazing things are afoot in California, from the empty watertowers down to the handcrafted labels. Go pick up the single or their full length releases at their store.

Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt split 'tower' 7" on Empty Cellar records

Endless Nest is the Artist collective consisting of 4 entities, a recording studio, a field recordist, show organizing and the label called Empty Cellar records. Arvel contacted me about his latest release from Empty Cellar and I actually ended up recording an interview with him which I'll post tomorrow but in the meantime here's some thoughts on their latest seven inch release.

This split, the first 7" for the label, is with The White White Quilt and Joseph Childress, I didn't know anything about either of these two before hearing this but the opening few seconds of Joseph Childress' side are so powerful, it's all I needed to be convinced. The countdown to a beautiful echoed acoustic guitar melody immediately punctuated by this huge booming percussion sound which apparently was members of the White White Quilt hitting the inside of this metal tower. It's an amazing unique sound that has so much to do with the space and story that went into recording this single. I was hooked the second I read the story behind it. It seems Joseph Childress is that classic fast disappearing vagabond American storyteller. He can pull off this heartwrenching confessional songwriting style, like the greats of the genre. It's even more impressive this is a live recording, his performance is just amazing. Like Jason Molina and Songs:Ohia, it's hard to listen to almost, I don't necessarily want to go there tonight, but once it starts I'm in the silo not making a sound, not moving so I don't break the spell.

The White White Quilt on the other side is equally matched to Childress's intimacy. The reverb on these tracks from the water tower/silo is incredible, there's just no way to authentically replicate this soundspace...and then to put it on vinyl? It's a piece of perfection. The acoustic melody reverberates around the space, while both members of the White White Quilt harmonizing in almost a deep whisper. It's a slow, sleepy track, with a hesitating fingerpicked melody that breathes so much space around it, the noises around you become a part of the track, a jackhammer in the distance, a crow....it lends itself that Cage thing of everything becoming a part of the experience.
The bonus digital track from the White White Quilt, 'Fire Cup' is an even more epic minimal acoustic track, complete with metal creaking and even larger pauses between notes. This has to be the result of sitting down to record this at the tower...this song has to be different played live, at a bar....anywhere else. It sounds exactly like the cold empty night.

Arvel explained about the bonus track further in an email:
They actually were kicked out of the water tower for trespassing. The WWQ brought a generator to the second session to lengthen the playing time and that's what alerted the world to their presence in the tower. The bonus WWQ track on the download is from that second session.

According to Endless Nest, The White White Quilt has since disbanded but both members are off on their own solo projects. Martin Salata is working on the Like Circles and Alexander James on The Quilt. So this might be the only recording of the group committed to vinyl unfortunately, but it's a monument.

Amazingly captured by the field recording member of Endless Nest, The American Opry, he deserves all the credit for getting these intimate live moments down on tape (?)...whatever he used, whatever mics, it's an achievement. To think of these two bands in the middle of nowhere, playing these two amazing tracks to no one but themselves in the middle of the night, choreographing the percussion performance inside that space...it's the saddest thing I can think of. It's genius to record here and adds immeasurably to the ambiance of the recording.

Get your heart broken at the Endless Nest store.

Prunalogsusan Pentagram on Trigger on the Dutendoo Records

Ahhhh, The days of old Lou Barlow cassettes, where I couldn't be sure if my friend taped them over something else that was coming through the background, if that last song on the side was even Sebadoh? It's funny because recently I got Sentridoh 'losing losers' at Academy and it's the only record that sounds wrong on vinyl. The warbling, the finger on the tape rollers slowing it down, this is all wrong to me listening to it on the record.
The one nice thing about this project name is it's impossible not to find every possible mention of it in every corner of the internet. Once you spell this out and hit return, there it all is. I think this name is a little genius just for that. So what if you can't remember it on the street, or on a flyer or anywhere. It's an anti-name, but once you got it, you have everything. Including this little blurb from the label?:
Prunalogsusan = A (as in "one") Wisconsite. Veteran of various un(der)heard bands across the underground music spectrum, dating back to when dingbat46 was still shitting in three-cornered pants. 13 songs that were culled together over 10+ years' worth of recordings; I really don't know how to describe them, so I'll roll with hardcore filtered through a (possible?) Zappa listening session and rinsed in noise? I suck at descriptions, but I like his jams.

This goes for the record label name as well. Trigger on the Dutendoo? I have to consult my anatomy book, but I'm pretty sure I know where that part is and I feel bad anyone has their trigger on it. The whole release is a little mysterious though...Most of the links or mentions of PP have been deleted, the band/label myspace, blogspot references....and get this I have two copies, numbers 302 and 303 out of 300!
Same goes for the A-Side of this single, a ten year retrospective jammed into 33 1/3 rpms it's 17 tracks of home recorded weirdness. It's a sketchbook of undeveloped songs. Should some of these gone on longer? Probably not, self restraint in picking the weirdest moments from this guy in the past 10 years is a good start. But I'm a sucker for the ultra home recorded, late night, solo artist. Can any of it be really terrible? Sure. But I'm into this crazy mess, it's pretty inspiring. Have all these recording techniques been retired? Has this era of 4-track disappeared? I think there's always something to learn from it and apply it to whatever direction you're going. The cover 'Light is Faster than Sound' from big brother and the holding co. is unrecognizable. It's pulling on my Ariel heartstrings for a few moments here and there, and I have to say this kind of thing will always keep me buying that random single I know nothing about...to find a little jem like this. Get it if for nothing else than an audio Brian Eno Oblique Strategies, there's an insane amount of experimentation happening in the short bursts.

B-Side - or sighed two. Backwards vocals, xylophone, slide, distortion, turn the pitch down, which I love and completely forgot about. That big pitch dial that went unexplored on the 4-track until I heard Ween. I wish there was a crap, stripped down Tascam version of garageband...or someone would add just random unlabeled effect buttons you had to play around with to audacity.
That's what is so great about a Moog. There's no way to save that sound, every time you flip the switch you start from zero, reset the dials and start playing with the sound. Recording should be the same way. What does that do, mess with it, get something no one else can even duplicate.
A little funk, sound effects, theremin (?) blown out alien harmonies, broken guitars, a capella layers...banging on the keyboard. My favorite title this side... 'Learn how to drive fuckface'.

Get this direct from Tim at trigger.on.the.dutendoo (at) gmail.com... it's on a nice dark grey green marble...my only criticism is the sleeves are printed on really thin crappy paper, which reminds me of 80's sleeves, maybe it was printed on an ink jet and hand glued? This packaging should reflect a tiny amount of the audio inside. I don't know what exactly...stick it in a ziplock with some leaves, put a bow on it, woodcut, spraypaint, collage...I want some texture, some mess...or completely the opposite...all tinfoil, minimal.
Whatever, I'm no artist.

I have one of these to give away... comment below, and I'll pick a winner.

The Drums on Moshi Moshi records

The Drums are set to play Mercury Lounge next week and then I noticed an import single from them on the great Moshi Moshi, it's all coming together and I gave their myspace a listen.
The track they have available there 'Let's go surfing' is the A-Side on this one.
They have a similar energy to the Shout Out Louds, it's pure sincere unabashed pop, the belted out vocals are really winning me over. Combined with an ironic free melody and the best use of the whistle since Peter Bjorn and John. It's you-don't-know-any-better high school love.
I'm not going to explain what it is about this that I wanted to talk about. I can't. I won't make sense. Call me optimistic for some reason. I can use a good dose of this every once in a while. It's inexplicably catchy, it belongs on a soundtrack already, a kind of smart, funny Adventureland, when for a minute they forget about their shit lives and mess around at Coney Island...there's probably a food fight involved, and blurry polaroids.
But about surfing? It works.
They also list the Shangri-la's as an influence. Do they even realize the impact they are having on today's indie rock? Especially on 'Down by the River' the slow reverb ballad, updated with a bass synth, the harmony chorus classically working.

Here's hoping this is going to be for sale at their show, or it will just live on in the (actually I haven't bitched about this in a while....way to go with the 7" USA) I wish I lived in England for a minute. And I have to ask...how does a single from a band based in Brooklyn end up pressed already on a label in the UK? Oh Moshi Moshi...you tease.

Baby birds don't drink milk + Boo and boo too split on Lovely Sea Records

Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk / Boo and Boo Too - Split 7"

Got an email last week about this new label from Kansas: Lovely Sea Records and their debut split from two bands: Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk and Boo and Boo Too.

Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk really take their time on the track on the A-Side(?), 3, with slow chorus guitar picking and loops, all fed through huge reverb and delay gradually building the tension for at least two minutes. You start to hear things in the mix of shimmery chords, until the drums come in over the instrumental ambiance, somehow in perfect time. The vocal quality hits shoegaze in the ... way back in the mix, doubled up with plenty of space and sustain. I think it might just be the melody, but it's reminding me of Radiohead. This is all choreographed so perfectly, the changes, the just enough payoff to want to hear it again.
It all builds up to an epic climax, cymbals crashing, bent over spaz guitar but they haven't even supernova-ed yet. A brief pause of haunting a capella vocals and then in blistering even better than Mogwai fashion they come back seconds later to completely kill it. It's impressive, they're exhausted, I'm exhausted.

They have a bunch of dates in NY here soon and I'm going to try to catch them at the Cakeshop on the 19th. I love that place. They also hit Shea Stadium on the 18th and DBA on the 20th.

Boo and Boo Too have the flip side and these two really have a lot of the same qualities. On this track 'I am the Lorax', it's more bass and drum driven, and I really get this ominous halloween quality on this one. There's pipe organ and b-movie samples through effects and the vocals have this dry monotone reverb delivery, like my old favorites Deadbolt, except Boo actually shocks you a bit when they let loose with the emotion in the chorus. They have a hyper Crystal Stilts feel, (maybe it's the dissaffected vocal?) that major wave of sound that would make any of those 90's shoegaze punks proud.

I'm glad I was clued into both these bands, really great offering from both of them, this split is smartly curated, both bands are working with the same elements and compliment each other perfectly. Really great stuff. I've been purposely waiting to check out their myspace offerings, focusing on these two tracks this weekend, but I'm so curious where both of these bands could be going and have been.

Get it from Lovely Sea Records or Chomp Womp who has something to do with this release as well I think... it's on their blog.

Cat Power / Guv'ner split on ?

It's friday so it's time for an MP3 of some sort.
I got a request in the message boards for this split from Cat Power and Guv'ner, each covering each other. It's long out of print, so I don't have a problem posting it. I mean if it's available, get it from the label, if it's an unobtainable ebay fetish piece, then make it available.

So if I've talked about it, and it's long gone, then chances are I'll post it. Leave requests on the boards.

Here it is Cat Power/Guv'ner split.
On the A-Side of the label it says:
Clear the Room recorded at East Side NYC by Andy Hong + Jim Sorenson September 13, 1996
Great Expectations recorded at rare book room, nyc by nic-olas vernhes September 5, 1996

Enjoy. zipped 7mb

The Splinters on Double Negative Records

I don't know if I just got dissillusioned with the Coathangers from the slightly letdown sound of their self titled, or if they were they like the Vivian Girls, they blew up before I could get the hang of them? They start to feel a little too contrived?
I don't know, I'm not ready to give up on the Coathangers yet, I think their Self Titled didn't capture what I liked about how sloppy and fun they were live. It's more contained on the record, all the instruments sound separated, the vocals sound restrained....trust me I've been listening to it a bunch to try to like it again. I just remember why it isn't doing it for me....the recording. I loved them live. The personality is kind of missing a little, the attitude, the keyboard sounds...well...actually good. I guess I wanted it to sound a little more raw, garagey.

Anyway I ran across this single from the Splinters which made me want to revisit the Coathangers because I have the same feeling with these guys especially based on that youtube video for the A-Side 'Splintered Bridges', their having such an unpretentious good time. That performance is everything that I love about playing in the backyard when it comes together and create something out of the simplest things...the whole time making it sound completely new. It's one of those little videos that's inspiring and I remember why I spend time tracking down these singles and why they are so important...breaking bands like this.
The track on the myspace feels like they capture most of this energy, especially in the vocals. It's a harmonized layered chorus mixed perfectly. Right in the middle of the room sound, you're there. It's killing me trying to figure out what else this is reminding me of...the Yips! The raw pure songwriting that comes out of a random day fucking around, having a few too many drinks...the stuff that isn't too dramatic, but is a perfect glimpse of the everyday.
Ok I'm building this up too much now, it's just hitting the right tone for today or something.

If that wasn't enough I like the B-Side 'Sorry' even more. Just when you think it's going all out 60's throwback girl harmony shangri-la's (another reference I keep seeing lately) they go and pull out this lyric driven almost bedroom Softies sound. It's not twee or anything, there's a grrrrl attitude, but it's homemade, with a restrained catchy guitar melody under this intimate layered vocal. Great. Completely sincere anti-love letter where they aren't sorry dad doesn't like you and they aren't quitting smoking. So there.

I'm waiting to hear what's next.

Get it from Double Negative records on the west coast.

Soft Shoulder on Gilgongo Records

As promised, here's the Soft Shoulder single for preorderers of the Wounded Lion single. Now this is a way to apologise...with another 7". Apology accepted. That's all I ever wanted.
DITG losses and Gilgongo wins.
Seriously, I know that must have seriously cost them and really for no reason. They didn't have to do it. I am impressed.
On to Soft Shoulder and this two song 'Hit Single' 7" Mary Ann and Temperary'. Turns out Soft Shoulder is James Fella, Ashlea Hohm and John Ryan Nelson. I recognize James Fella from reading a lot of experimental tape reviews and CD-R stuff, so I was looking forward to hearing what a band situation might sound like.
The A-Side Mary Ann didn't disappoint. Free form drum solo, piercing feedback, messed up electronics, and some distorted vocals sounding like wind. Surprisingly this ends after about 30 seconds and the rock starts. Crunchy distorted guitar with maybe Ashlea on vocals... she's half singing quick verses which are mini conversations with Mary Ann 'Your hair looks nice / that dress looks great on you' and the whole thing completely weirdly changes time into a guitar riff echoed chorus. A violin melody takes it out. It feels a little like something Kim inspired from Sonic Youth, I think based on the opening on this track and the middle of the next one they want to bring in James' experimental leanings, trying to fuse the two with huge splits in personality. A huge break in tempo and style to bring the pieces together? What I think I mean doesn't make much sense, but they're determined to try.
On the B-Side 'Temperary' starts out with the punk rock, quick chord emphasized down beats with Ashlea on stuttered vocals. Right away it devolves into an improv horn melody, with distorted guitar riding scales for a bit then takes it down to a quiet jazz interlude which slowly picks up with a high pitch guitar chime. Like hitting that part of the string right below the bridge, the alien mechanical 'twing'. Count it off and the beginning punk starts again. A little like Deerhoof, genre-bending. It's a crazy combination, completely unexpected.
100 copies.

It's a Bonus single, so that should teach you to preorder...and wait a year...nevermind.

Wounded Lion on DITG and Gilgongo records.

Finally this single showed up in my mailbox...after almost a year after it was prepaid. Without going into details...well, I really don't know anything other than the bitching on Termbo, and random emails to and from Down in the Ground and Gilgongo, it's been a wild ride. So it finally showed up but at this point I think it's pretty safe to say Down in the Ground has blown whatever cred they might have gained by releasing singles from Blank Dogs, Cold Cave and Wounded Lion...Now that I think about it that's a hell of a start, the art on that triple split was great, the single itself, cold cave being on it, then Blank Dogs! I just assumed whoever was running this label was entrenched in promoting venues or something...and who knows maybe there were just insane pressing problems, I also think it's important bands stand behind their singles like this. This is probably one of those situations that's never going to happen again, but any band should do their homework a little bit on a new label bent on putting out your stuff. It's complicated but it reflects badly on you at the end of the day. DITG can pack up and just leave everyone screwed, and just a tiny bit I'm looking towards you to make it better, or just blame.

Hey I'm glad Gilgongo stepped up, contacted everyone and made this happen, along with a nice surprise which I'll cover tomorrow.

Wounded Lion take these bizarre concepts in what sometimes must be a dare, or drunken scrawl and write sincere songs about them. This time it's creatures in a cave - a ballad. Sensitive piano intro and when it changes to chords a hint of drums starts up. Huge echo on the vocals, (he's in a cave after all) with Devo delivery it's deadpan serious, with a David Byrne kind of inflection. Ultimately that's what keeps this all on the right side of the tracks taking it beyond the kind of lounge comedy you might at first listen mistake it for.
He's into all the animal friends he's met in the cave and is going to stay with them. It reads like a suicide note, he's made up his mind, he's leaving, goodbye cruel world, I belong in the cave. I'm not even trying to convince you, I'm just putting it out there, you want me to be happy....well, it's in this cave thank you very much.
For Wounded Lion the pressure in creating is a little different, there aren't groundbreaking, challenging things happening musically, it's up to Brad to carry this band with his particular vocal style, delivery and subjects...so far.

But the B-side wyld parrots is closer to their pony people single, which might just haunt them into the next incarnation of these members projects. There's synth for once, and there's a lot of space sound in this one. The drumming here is soprano toms hard and soft, and I think I like them the most when they aren't as literal in their songs...leave a little to be deciphered, a little ambiguous...like pony people. It's nonsense that almost makes sense.

I'm into these guys brand of loose weirdo art rock that isn't taking itself too seriously. They are walking that punchline, John S Hall, listenable one time rope, but not falling in those same traps...except maybe the muppet babies and the star wars degobah song...but I give them credit for trying.

DITG must be out, Gilgongo might have this available? Or try contacting the band directly? Midheaven is their distributor but I didn't see any on their mailorder...good luck.

More Podcast with Ryan Ep 59

Friday's podcast - Episode 59 features more Ryan... we play the Real Estate single 'Suburban beverage', I love it, even when I hear two idiots talking over it while editing. It's still good. Just imagine if you could listen to it by yourself...
Then the Gary War one sided single...hopefully at the right speed. Ryan thinks Gary War has something to do with Mars Volta, Can and Cory Archangel's 666 piece. Which makes Ryan talk about 3rd Ward and their handmade music night. That led me to put on that Mexican Summer Ariel Pink single which finishes it off.

The Perverts on HBSP records

Another Ty post today from a label I haven't come across yet, the mysterious HBSP. They also released the 'Horn the Unicorn' Ty collection of singles and B-side material, then came this Perverts double 7". What's this got to do with Ty you ask?
He's in The Perverts. But what do they sound like?
Well if you imagine a slightly more surf distorto slant than Ty's solo stuff...I actually can't tell if this is him singing due to all the reverb and that it's slightly more buried than his solo stuff, so I'm going to say it's not?
I think I say surf because of the massive reverb and the tempo. Fast, choppy chords, with that tube Fender (maybe?) amp sound. His influence is definitely all over it though. It sounds a little more raw, lively, with everyone in the room, this is maybe take 2.
Remember when I said I imagine him writing 4 songs on a tuesday night while you're sleeping? Well here's at least 4 more across two singles...and for $8? It's an easy paypal.

There's a lot of questions and hardly any answers. Is Ty Segall solo finished? Are the Perverts playing anywhere soon? Ty's playing Mercury Lounge solo this month, will the perverts be the live band? Will I be able to get a copy of this?

Answer on of them with Hbsp, who says they are runing low or got to Aquarius and search for Perverts....not with google, that's a mistake.

PERVERTS- Perverts 7" (Hbsp-2x) $7.99
Six songs from TY SEGALL’s PERVERTS. This 7-inch is loud as fuck, will melt your face off and do a line of blow off your skull. prepare to die.

Why doesn't blogger spellcheck understand reverb? If it's on an amp or pedal it's a fucking word already!

Ty Segall - Thee Oh Sees split on Castle Face

This one I picked up in Portland, home of a ton of mom and pop record stores, at least 10, for a city that size? I was impressed...at every turn I had to go look for singles. I don't even remember where I picked this up, but it was some punkish place downtown with a million t-shirts naging all over the place, decent vinyl, but mostly nothing I was into. After going through the single section I recognized this Thee sleeve right away and picked this up. I don't even know if I realized it was a split with Ty. I think I mentioned it before but I never came across it locally. And when you're on vacation you can spend money on dumb shit like singles. I know that doesn't make sense, but I couldn't walk down the street to Academy because I shouldn't be spending another $5 on a 7". It's come to that.

These two are covering each other on this CastleFace Records, home of Ty's full length and The Fresh and Only's...
Don't know enough about Thee Oh Sees to really get a sense of where this fits in their catalog, but putting these two together was obviously a no-brainer. Now that I found Ty's version, Thee Oh Sees have really dirtied this up. It's probably recorded more live, you can hear the interaction, a different kind of energy when it's the band in a room together, driving everything a little harder. There's a real distorted high end that's half deliberate style and half things getting out of control. They feel more in the Blues school to me, living somewhere in the neighborhood of the Black Lips...that southern garage blues? Hmmmmm.
On the Ty Side I can really hear that contrast, it's tighter, more home recorded, intimate. Almost no echo on the guitar, a little reverb on the drums...or percussion, I'm not sure what he's hitting...damn now that I hear this it makes me want to revisit Doo Rag, they were really out on their own...ahead of their time? Maybe, who knows, things come back around and get cool again. I think Ty is trying a Thee Oh Sees scream here near the end, that's not normally his style. These are so similar I'm realizing I need to find more Thee albums and check these guys out.

Academy in Brooklyn still has it as well as the mighty Insound.

Ty Segall - Cents on Goner records

I happened to pick this up in SF at Amoeba, long after it was gone from Goner.
How can you make just a distorted guitar sound so good. So energetic, clean...there's no hiss to any of this, the quiet breaks are silent, just the vocals and guitar are distorted...with that hint of reverb that wavers on when he abruptly pauses. It's got everything mystical from that garage era wrapped up in the two minutes. The natural flat sounding drums, minimal arrangement...no cymbals always on the beat, 4/4, snare kick snare kick. Like Doo Rag, it's all deep thump of hitting mic'ed cardboard boxes. Everything just shines on this, the blown out vocals, it's all maxed out, crunch guitar is turned up. It's pop informed by this overall low-fi approach.

'Cents' even starts and ends with a thud of setting the guitar down or getting ready to strum. I'm trying to think why I keep thinking about the White Stripes. It's hard to imagine them now without all the nonsense of the past few years rearing up but their self titled full length was so great at the time, so simplified, just focused on classic songwriting and reinterpreting the blues...or going back to that formula and reenacting it in a pure way...all of this Ty Segall has by the junkyard-full.

He's the kind of guy who probably throws this down on the 4-track on a Wednesday night and calls it another single.
This is such complete energy that I wasn't getting from the Traditional Fools, I didn't get this sound from them at all.
The B-Side is even more frantic, with 'No, No' but it never goes all off the tracks, it's concise, gated effects, that punch, it has to be a few guitars in layers. There's a great little moments of solo-ing with two guitar tracks distorted and running into each other, harmonized. On 'Standing at the Station' it just reminds me the guitar melodies are always so simple... it's all about rhythm, very much that memphis/reatard/novak sound. The focus on the strummed chord and it's jagged arrangements.

Scratched in the gutter is 'Can't stop No!', I get it Ty, there's going to be a lot more singles on the way. I'm going to scratch on my wallet, 'Please give me a break already.'