Sing Sing Records - Their Latest

You know Sing Sing has been doing this for a while now and I have yet to pick one up. I have enough trouble keeping up with singles from bands that are around now releasing stuff, and then Sing Sing throws these essential documents from the birth of punk at me. They seem to have a lazer focus on this era of rocks evolution and making this stuff available again for a completely affordable price. They want it to be heard...so to go to all this trouble of reproducing the sleeves exactly how they were released...well I have to get on their curated train and stop sounding like such a clueless bastard sometimes.
I swear, there is too much to talk about these days...you should see the masses of drafts I never get too and have ended up orphaned somewhere on the internet. Do I need to start posting a few times a day? Do I need to have some kind of life outside 7Inches? I can't answer these hard hitting questions.
But I do need to look into all of these Sing Sing Releases, like this one from the Locals. Sing Sing has a great interview with these guys on their blog with tons of tracks from the era of this single, and I'm completely into it. It's just in the middle of punk and new wave, just doing their own thing...maybe a little Feelies style? Lots of jangle, little less polish maybe
Straightshooters...a little too produced, bubblegum for me, too much harmony, they actually can sing. I like my early 80's more raw, and maybe...the guitar tone is great though.
The Tunnelrunners are real bad ass, grungy guitar, it's fast, the vocals are a little loud, little more fucked up. But I'm hearing Cheap Time, Busy Signals, Unbunny, Hunx...it's all there.
It just goes to show there's always good music being made, just go find it...you don't have to take the fucking whatever 100's word for it. That's what makes me so mad, there were a shitload of great bands that all sounded like the stones or beach boys rip offs....where was CBS - FM's show about those bands? All my dad ever listened to was the same top ten songs from 1950-1965....there are other bands out there! Fuck them.

Don't worry Sing Sing, you'll get my money.

And I will get something priceless...bad ass 7"'s!

Sing 017 :: THE LOCALS - You Never Have Fun b/w Yes Or No
An underrated punk-tinged pop band comprised and founded by four Pratt students, among them Bill Rohlfing, former bass player from the unruly punk n roll band Public Problems. The band gigged regularly around the New York from '79 to '83 and soon built a reputation as an amazing live act (check out the live songs on our blog from Max?s Kansas City)!! This, their one and only vinyl release, was recorded at Backstreet Studios and released in 1980 on the private Griffy label. It was distributed locally and sold primarily at gigs. Both sides are extremely well written and masterfully played punky-pop songs with intricate vocal harmonies and monumental guitar lines. Guaranteed to get in your head and stay there. A totally essential record from a criminally overlooked band.

Release Country: USA
Release Year: 1980 / Reissue Date: 04.10
Original Label: Griffy Records.

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Sing 018 :: STRAIGHTSHOOTER- Straightshooter b/w She's So Fine
A four-piece group formed in 1976 and active in the Southampton area with a line-up of Don O'Riley (gtr), Pete Luck (v), Tony Ecclestone (b) and Mike O'Riley (d). In 1977 Straightshooter joined the local heat of the Melody Maker-sponsored 'Rock & Folk Contest', but their Punk/Powerpop set witht he occasional Hard Rock overtones failed to impress the jury. Recorded at Airport Studios on April 20, 1979, the combo's one and only vinyl output was co-produced by sound engineer G Dewhurst and privately issued in an edition of 500 copies through the SRT pressing service in the second half of July. The two self-penned songs are remarkable efforts and justify the collector's status reached by the 7", with the B-side, a melodic but energetic Powerpopper entitled SHE'S SO FINE, as the stand out cut.

**The original release was issued without artwork. The reissue comes housed in a Sing Sing Records company sleeve.

Release Country: UK
Release Year: 1979 / Reissue Date: 04.10
Original Label: Strolling Bones.

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Sing 019 :: THE TUNNELRUNNERS - Plastic Land EP
Main-man Madoc was never a real feature of the local scene, and only every now and again would he be spotted, with his long shaggy non-punk locks and mostly sporting some kind of brightly coloured miltary tunic, fronting The Tunnelrunners in some God-forsaken you-take-your-life-in-your-hands gig like the Admiral Benbow pub out on Fabian Way. You couldn't just go and see The Tunnelrunners: you had to be lucky, to be in the right place at the right time. With the legend of the Tunnelrunners' glories grown to almost mythic proportions, the group was eventually nailed down in one place long enough to record a ten-song everything-live session for the local radio station, and in January 1981 five tracks from the session were released as the "Plastic Land" EP. The group played one final Swansea gig, to show willing, and then disappeared back to the up-England-way college-lives that had effectively finished the group that past autumn. (Low Down Kids)

Release Country: UK
Release Year: 1981 / Reissue Date: 04.10
Original Label: Sonic International Records.

Brilliant colors on Slumberland Records

There are just things created out of seemingly nothing that sound so great, I know I could listen to them forever right away. Brilliant Colors is that band that won't fit easily into any reference. Like the Fresh and Onlys I keep forgetting all the singles they've put out, they don't fit easily together...not because the sound isn't there, but it's that great understated sound that's timeless. Dammit that sounds pretentious, maybe it's that I can't believe it's contemporary? It isn't so rooted in no-fi that's it's going to sound dated soon. There's such layers of texture and echo in the vocals it sort of sounds a little sad. But maybe that's me imagining I just tuned into a long lost station I'm not going to be able to find again. I have to sit in the car until it plays out. Struggling to remember it, as it's playing...Say the name of the goddam band, I'm ready to write it down! But the memory already fading and it's killing you. The fact they are playing this now, that I can actually see them, and they weren't like Chin Chin, just an amazing lost artifact from a time when I didn't know any better. I'm grateful. I think Grass Widow and Brilliant Colors would get played back to back over and over....and I still am going to sit there getting caught up in it all over again.

'Should I tell you' from the Make a mess single is such a great song, they have that jangly plain electric, subtle little changes in melody, but it sounds so effortless. The structure is so original and vocally it never gets too hyper...why do I keep talking about what they aren't doing...because what they are doing isn't easy to explain?

'Never Mine' on their myspace, the A-Side on this one has a new huge kick drum sound, and a few more layers of tracked (!) guitar. They're expanding the raw just-learned-this-one sound. They keep the spontaneity and slightly off tune moments that keep this honest. Maybe that's the Ty Segall influence coming through, but it's not oppressive...I just don't want them to change a thing.

I have to pickup their full length. Who's ordering from slumberland again?

Get it from Slumberland who says:

San Francisco’s Brilliant Colors have staked-out a unique spot in the indie music landscape. Inspired in equal parts by post-punk DIY fervor and the spiky pop of C86 and early Flying Nun/Creation label output, they hearken back to a time when the best tunes came out on 7" singles and weekends were spent digging through the stacks at your favorite local record shop. Their 2009 album, Introducing, is one of the finest debuts in recent memory, combining guitar buzz with dreamy melodies and rushing rhythms into some dream combination of The Dils and Shop Assistants.

Now the band is back with their first new recordings since that great album, and boy are they winners. “Never Mine” is simply 1:49 of punk-pop perfection, singer/guitarist Jess Scott’s spare riff underpinned by Diane Anastasio’s steady thump and Michelle Hill’s busy, melodic bassline. It’s Brilliant Colors in a nutshell: crunchy garage punk played with total purposefulness, leavened by an instinctive pop sense. On the flip side the pace picks up for “Kissing’s Easy”: all rolling snares and frantic guitar strum and Jess’ echoey vocal sass. Like all the best classic punk tunes it’s over just a little too soon, leaving you no option but to turn the record over and play it all over again.

Recorded with DIY simplicity by Ty Segall, who knows a bit about garage pop himself, the minimal sound fits the bands tune like a glove. This great single hones Brilliant Colors’ spiky, angular crash-pop and points to a very interesting 2010 for the band.

The World's Lousy with Ideas Vol 6

I just found out about the World's Lousy with ideas guys through their massive Vol. 8 full length LP which was jammed packed with exclusive tracks from Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, Tyvek, Sic Alps, Thee Oh Sees, Times New Viking, The Intelligence...basically everyone...it's ridiculous how many people are on that I didn't even mention.
But it's Volume 8? That's right, turns out they've been doing this for a while and all the previous volumes are equally as impressive and way ahead of the curve. Where's their subscription series? My finger is hovering over the paypal button now.
Curating doesn't really do justice to the massive undertaking going on behind the scenes here, ...contacting all these people and relating them together in this package...they are contemporaries after all, informed by each other...I think if you could ask for just one shipment on a desert island (of course I already have a record player and my singles) it might be Almost Ready's entire catalog and you'd be pretty up to date.
Normally I don't even pay attention to compilations, but these force a second look. Normally I want to spend time with one artist if I'm sitting down to listen to something, there's always that one track I'm not into that's going to throw the whole thing off. But then again Almost Ready is making that point, I should be open to anyone paired with the artists they're putting together.
But to take the kind of a compilation to a 7"? Genius.
This one, Vol. 6 with Eat Skull, Little Claw and Psychedelic Horseshit is a second pressing I think...isn't available direct from Almost Ready but I tracked it down at SS distro who says:

The World is Lousy with Ideas V6 7"
(Almost Ready) $5.50
Little Claw goes weird, distant pop. Eat Skull strum one in from some distant lo-fi galaxy. And The Psychedelic Horseshit stumble out of the bushes after a night of weird sex and alcohol, at least that's what sounds like is going on here. Drug references are always lame, but, man: Drugs.

...Drugs.

Ariel Pink 'Round and Round' on 4AD

Ariel Pink recently signed on with 4AD, kind of crazy he made it on this historic English indie label, but then again these kind of sound like lost tapes from the late 70's they found in the basement.
Sometime's I wonder if Ariel even really exists or if a couple of guys bought a box of 4-track tapes at a garage sale and have been releasing them ever since.

'Round and Round' is so fucking great...I haven't been disappointed by a single track from Ariel ever. How he keeps up this genius is a mystery. Not only reworking the particular sounds from that kind of ambiguous 70's 80's era, but the feel too. Even vocally...as long as he never pushes it into some kind of disco....I don't think anyone can successfully update that sound. When it hits this chorus part it's pure earnest 70's sort of electronic free love. In a weird way it's like Girl Talk without the direct references. I keep thinking I'm about to hear some song my Dad would play pop up. I looked at the billboard charts for the 70's....I don't recognize 95% of the hits...what a weird decade. Really....a mess.
I like that you have to just give in to even listen to this. You have to be in on the joke a little bit, but I wonder...so much of the sincerity comes through, it's not as over the top parody. It's a fine line...but Ariel I think is more interested in homage.

I hope to hell I can catch him at Mercury next week. I'm a little worried about seeing this live after being so into the last few albums. I don't think it would blow it completely, but really it's going to change everything. I've built him up way too much and my version of this guy just can't exist.

And the sleeve....Jesus, every time I think he might just be weird al-ing this era of music, he throws in imagery like this and that lipstick nightmare album cover and it takes it somewhere else completely.

Norman records loves it, and it's the only place I could find carrying it...hopefully with 4AD behind it, I'll actually see it down the street sooner or later.

The Sundelles - Dead Youth

The Sundelles are amazing live, they got me one time opening for the Soft Pack at Union pool for a 1928 showcase, even back then, they had amazing energy of all stripped own garage dirty sound. Guitar, drums, bass, that's all you ever need, bands like this prove that over and over. Even the crap-fi sound...it's not perfected, it's not an integral pedal or process they've painstakingly worked out. It just sounds as immediate as the day they layed it down. Sam Sundos felt like what it might have been like to see Frank Black back in the day, possessed by his own off kilter completely unique style. Letting loose, so about the live performance, without any sort of pretense. He doesn't look the part, the sleeve pic is more like it, he's a Monday Night Football dad from '84. Let's go see Star Wars, I have to mow the lawn. That is an old ass Coke can, I'm half thinking they photoshopped his head on an old washed out polaroid now that I look at it. It's that maybe continued search for nostalgia...if something is good, it's going to stay good if it's created in the spirit of catchy rock and roll. As solid and punchy of a garage sound as anyone.

I picked this up at Academy this weekend and 'Dirty Youth' is a perfect A-Side, it captures their live energy and sound perfectly. Tons of fuzz texture, jangly guitar over big room pounding beats, the whole thing almost starts to just get ahead of itself. Just sloppy enough to keep it honest. I love these guys.

Get it direct from their blog.

Dashpi on Feeding Tube Records

This latest from Feeding Tube Records, purveyors of the fine Cave Bears single is at it again with this piece of amazing weirdness. The packaging is incredible, fold out 3 color screenprinting for the sleeve with a huge black and white ink drawing poster jammed into the depths of this bursting mylar sleeve. It doesn't help things the vinyl is one of those heavy 60 gram frisbee's. The cover is a Japanese inspired print of boats sinking, children on a beach, coconut trees and mountains, all in a slight caligraphy sort of style.
Right away when something is packaged this amazingly I have to take notice, I'm going to pay a little more attention to the sound inside, in a different way, I mean there's something to be said for crappy xerox to add another equal layer of hands on. But the work that went into the printing here is truly impressive, someone cared a hell of a lot and I have no idea what to expect.

The A-Side first song 'Don't give up da ship' has a simple casio reggae beat...it's absurdly minimal, just one note ever comes in between canned fills with pitch shifted vocals mostly repeating 'don't give up da ship'. There's the obligatory marijuana reference and obscure themes of the sea. It's mostly a test of endurance, this phrase repeated over and over is maddening until they sort of lose all meaning and you have to give into the repetition.

Dashpi is deliberately taking on these genres that are ridiculous. Reggae?....what's compelling about a band hell bent on destruction like this? It's seeing if they can possibly do something new. I don't know if they succeed. That depends on if you enjoy Ween's irony or Ariel Pink's devotion to lost sounds. I, for one, do.
But I could use a little mythology, who are these guys? How was it recorded? Did they attempt this live? The elaborate packaging is silent except for offering a crazy iconography and doodle sketches the size of a door.
The fact that they're named Dashpi, I have to think that's 'Da Ship' rearranged after coming up with the title track.
They get a little hardcore on the B-Side, heavy beats, high pitch background vocals and deep pitch shifted main lyric. This is from 2001? What the hell was even going on then? Arcade Fire? Clap your hands? Obviously these guys were having none of it.
Casio demo chord changes makes up 'Shot doesn't wanna', pure 4-track bedroom weirdness with harsh electronics in the vein of a Ween concept rap album.
It's truly bizarre.
Travis and I will definitely be talking about this one on a future podcast.

Get it from Feeding Tube Records.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah. Don't give up the ship". These are some
seriously weird bedroom reggae jams, made on a dare nearly
a decade ago. Pitch-shifted vocals, primitive music and surreal
lyrics regarding "the aqua hole" and "the flaming room". The artist,
who prefers to remain anonymous, has made a number of amazing
archival recordings since this one was laid to tape in the early part
of the century, but none of them are as focused as this one here.
Beautiful silk screened art on thick paper, folded in four, full color
labels and one of the thickest 7"s you've ever held await you.

A New Dawn Fades and The Late Virginia Summers split on Cherub Records

This single arrived in the mail a little while back with a nice note from P.J. whose label Cherub Records put out this split from A new Dawn Fades and The Late Virginia Summers. Nathan from Harding Street Assembly Lab, who I talked to in a podcast a while back is in both bands, and this TLVS track was their first committed to vinyl and is completely different from the live rock slow building direction they've been up to lately. From the sound of both tracks these are early incarnations of an instrumental direction that's since turned towards the use of string instruments and basic live setups to pull of their own directions of that post-punk Chicago sound, Virginia style.

A New Dawn Fades on the A-Side does 'When Lights are Flashing' which is an instrumental that runs the entire soundscape from free form freakout dead set at the beginning, deconstructing the opening riff into chaos to dropping out into quiet Lync type movements. Minimal restrained barely strummed sections of sad electric that carry all of that implied burst of chords about to come. The jump back to the opening riff and the song doesn't even have the time to build, it seems to be testing how abruptly they can change tempo and emotion. An aggressive electric jam ends on that opening structure to quit. There's actually an impressive string version of this track on their myspace, which brings an entirely different southern flavor to the piece, or a kind of Alarm Will Sound reinterpretation of this one.

'NY 104, headed West' from TLVS, is a huge departure from what I've heard. Lots of electronics start it out, static snares and low res kick making up an off kilter quick rhythm. Just a hint of xylophone sounding repeated melody take me back to a hint of Tortoise TNT reference point. PJ warned me it was very different from their current sound, and it's great to hear this early direction, playing around with a forgotten home demo that has since turned into a full fledged side project.
I actually grew up in a tiny town near RT 104 and I have to think that's what he's referencing which is completely crazy. I drove on 104 every single day of my life, to school, to any kind of larger town, and I have to ask him what the hell he was doing up there.

There's only a few of these left on mostly white swirled red 7"'s. The only disappointment was I thought the sleeve on both sides was actually spraypainted, but instead it's nicely offset printed...I think a missed opportunity here to add another layer to the homemade quality I love about singles, but then again maybe they love the ozone.

Get it from Cherub Records.

Crocodiles on Hell Yes! Records

Crocodiles - Neon Jesus (7" on Hell Yes!)

God Damn you Hell Yes!
It's bad enough you only use 1 side of a seven inch! I could go on about how it literally takes nothing for the pressing plant to throw a metal master on the other side and press some grooves into that vinyl! Then you ask me to covert dollars to euros and pay for overseas shipping...oh but you say I don't have to get these singles, no one is twisting my arm. Actually yes you are, no one forced you to press Gary War, The Fresh and Onlys or the Crocodiles! That's definitely your fault.

The only things I've randomly caught from the Crocodiles have been on that Art Fag 4 way or the DiTG 3 way, so I could use a proper EP or at least double sided release from these guys....ok I'll leave it alone...it's hard to get over. That doesn't mean I don't have the Gary War one already...I just think, 'Oh there could have been another song there.' I bet Gary wrote more songs, I bet Gary would be happy to lend another one to hell yes.

Oh well, the Crocodiles at times sound like Jesus and Mary Chain, really cheap thin beats, tons of reverb, the sort of massive over the top poseur vocals, they're really overdoing it on tracks like 'Neon Jesus', I think this is some kind of a put on side project..sometimes I'm in on the joke, and I can see the black and white grainy video with sunglasses and leather jackets in the desert, sometimes I wonder if they know it's 2010. 'Refuse Angels' from the DiTG single was out of place, they feel like an indie movie band based from the early 90's. Of course I'm into the myspace track, 'I wanna Kill' with it's weirdo phasered guitar, the vocals seem more melodic and not so spoken word affected tough guy...the jury's still out on these guys for me, it might be too poppy at times but they keep popping up in good company and I'll give them a chance.

After all that I'm still saying get it from Hell Yes...and did I mention there's a Fresh and Only's one sided in the store too? Of course there is. You wouldn't want the post office to just lose one single would you?

Repress of their 1st 7" that came out in 2008 on Zoo Music in only 500 copies.
300 on green wax, white silkscreened cover on thick paper in a resealable polypropylene bag.
Chuck Rowell's face on the cover.

Did I mention how much I hate those resealable bags? Like I have time to be pulling things stuck apart and ripping the side out, I just want to play a record. I'm ADD enough as it is to be getting this glue crap stuck to the sleeve under it, Die resealable bags...I hate you!
I'm all worked up.

Jack Skuller on Bar None Records

Jack Skuller, pretty crazy little story attached to this one, seems like Jack entered a song competition in NJ, someone from indie label pioneers, Bar-None Records heard him and this single was on the books. Pretty impressive for someone definitely not even old enough to get into some of the clubs he's playing.

The A-Side ' Love is a drum', is ultra-cleanly recorded by Daniel Rey, who's produced Ramones and The Misfits to name a few and it fits his punchy pop rock sound. It's a callback to 50's rockabilly, that simpler musical time of innuendo and metaphor, I don't know what Jack's been listening to, but I'd bet he's drawing on some experienced influence. Ira Elliot from Nada Surf takes this drum centric theme to heart with a bouncy tom rhythm.
The B-Side 'Magical Girl' gets a little slow rock ballad-y, it's jarring to hear these vocals going for such a serious relationship narrative. It just begs the question of how connected he is to the content. The chorus is impressive produced pop, I can't deny he's a one of a kind songwriter at his age already. It's just going to be hard to follow up in the coming years.

I think the difficult thing here is going to be keeping up with Jack, I mean he's young, his vocals are going to change...like Ben Lee, how do you rise above a novelty? It could be a tough sell to be listening to him after this phase of his life changes him vocally. If you're into it you have to catch him while he's young and still performing this kind of super produced simple pop.

This is out on Bar None this very day.

Teen rocker JACK SKULLER is equally passionate about the melodies of the Beatles and the energy of the Ramones. A song Jack wrote, the irresistibly catchy "Love Is A Drum" propelled him to first place in a 101.5 FM sponsored statewide talent show. Jack soon caught the ear of Bar/None Records owner Glenn Morrow while performing at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival. "Love Is A Drum," a timeless rockabilly anthem was produced by Daniel Rey (Ramones, Ronnie Spector) and features Nada Surf's Ira Elliot on drums. Insistent and forceful, rock and roll begins again with rock's new young heart.

Seamonster on Gold Robot Records

This Seamonster single was promised to be amazing by Hunter from Gold Robot and it completely delivers. A white 5 track 33 1/3 mini EP of Adrian Todd Webb' Seamonster project, he looks to be an amazing illustrator as well as musician, which just adds to this layered carnival of sideshow melody.

A-Side, New England combines slightly distorted acoustic guitar with a simple accordion melody and a whirling sounding theremin whistle, I keep almost hearing 'Oh Comely' about to break in.
'Oh Appalachia', takes that Neutral Milk Hotel raw melodic simplicity and adds a Magnetic Fields feel electronic pop complete with canned percussion and layers of melody as pure texture. Layers of emotive vocals, recorded in all kinds of environments plays against this mechanical pop structure and is immediately my favorite. It's swirling catchiness, the sometimes buried vocals are secondary to the hooks of melody they create. Neither of which evoke the Northern East coast necessarily in sound, but in spirit of idiosyncratic folk, the sheer volume of stunningly quiet sounds add up to an impressive cohesive whole.
Bearsuit, the last track features a phasered acoustic and a reverse string melody. It hits it's stride when it goes epic layered fuzz and pounding kick drum, keeping that vocal intimacy and home recorded greatness in the middle of the storm. All I can think of is that documentary about that guy who built the bear proof suit...'Never a man / he was never a man' his single mindedness to create this unconventional way of being protected. The challenge to be safe in the face of all of nature, in a unique kind of science that shouldn't be repeated. Seamonster is quietly piecing all kinds of modern sound into a cozy patchwork quilt of greatness.

The B-Side, 'The Philosophy of Andy Warhol' has more delicate electronics and reverse acoustic, the vocals are more direct on this one, more folk sounding and still somehow optimistic thanks to brief electronic phrases popping up, working with each other in unexpected ways that keep this and the entire EP, surprising in multiple listens.
'Annalee creates an unrecognizable percussion rhythm for all kinds of eclectic instrumentation, harpsichord, xylophone, soprano marching band toms, building into a psyche kind of pop, all recorded perfectly clear, but blending into inseparable haze. Sort of a 'The Charm of the Highway Strip' neo-folk narrative storytelling to keep on repeat.

Complete with a digital download of the EP and 6 bonus tracks! You're going to want to live with this in more than just the record room.

Format: 7-inch colored vinyl (opaque white)
Run: 600
Cover Design: Todd Webb
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Labels: Gold Robot Records (USA), Royal Rhino Flying Records (USA), and Martyrs of Pop (France)

Description:

This mini-album collects songs written and recorded by Adrian Todd Webb and friends in various tucked-away locales across Virginia over the course of three years. “Oh Appalachia,” is a fuzzed out surrealist poem against a backdrop of carnival noise and radio static echoing from the mountains, while “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol” is a gentle electro-pop call to calm based on journal entries of iconic artist Andy Warhol. Instrumental opener “New England” was recorded in a friend’s upstairs sewing room, “Bearsuit” when Webb lived in a laundry room in the slums, while “Annalee,” in which Webb’s vocals glide across churning beds of electro-folk psychedelia, was tracked in a haunted suburban bedroom not far from a giant trampoline.

A Second Opinion with Travis Kostell - part 2

Here's the second part of A 2nd Opinion with Travis Kostell, which is going to be a regular series. In this one we talk about the Mess Folk single on Hozac, and the Urthquake single on Spooky Tree Records.


Travis records constantly and you should check out his latest release, 'Whore's Eggs' on his blog, Choice Grinds.

Download it here

Shake Shake Bolino on Les Disques Steak Records

This latest single from Les Disques Steak showed up on my doorstep last week or so and it's from Shake Shake Bolino. I'm a fan of their packaging, really nice heavy glossy sleeves with the half fold on the other side. The art is great as usual, that tin foil They've got a whole cohesive style to the label, and I have to say after hearing everything so far it continues to get me excited about the garage blues scene in France, I think I say this every time, but who knew?
This happens to be a side project with Cheveu guitarist Etienne and Marie Bolino, they have a great sound the two of them screaming along together, out of their heads.
The A-Side 'Don't lose your friends' is all treble peaking out jangly picked guitar, layered, just a little bit distorted vocals from Etienne, it's a slow lazy toe tapper. A laid back Ty Segall sort of guitar centric sound, stripped down, all kinds of texture and imperfections add up to a catchy chorus that goes dark 'Tie them to a bathroom chair / don't lose your friends!', that goes off at the end...when the friends are inevitably gone.
'Please Pony Please' on the B-Side repeats a bluesy country twang riff and then quickly drops off into a harder 70's metal area to rock. These awkward changes are totally their own, and I'm hearing where certain parts of Cheveu come through, but working with just one hell of a garage guitar and drums. This would be one of those raw bluesy sweaty shows where they just win everyone over completely. Another solid release from LDS, the french Goner.

Just 300 heavy vinyls....Write to LDS direct disquessteak(at)gmail.com, or get it locally at this distro I've never heard of Kill shaman.

Golden Triangle - Fresh and Onlys split on Hardly Art

Just heard about this split on Golden Triangle's blog that came out a few days ago with my favs The Fresh and Onlys. The Triangle, from Brooklyn, I haven't come across before, but that's the genius thing about splits with someone you're already into. Chances are these two are related in some way already sonically, and now that they inhabit the same single, it's official. I'll definitely get this and chances are I'm going to be into GT as well.
Couldn't find any samples of the F&O tracks anywhere, but it's really not necessary. Damn 'Peacock and Wing' is so great. The duo of vocals over a huge room of reverb, they can write a great pop leaning song with enough layers of noise to keep me interested. It's garage and raw, rooted in all kinds of 60's influence...the back and forth guy girl vocals that show up here and there set them apart. The sad part in the life of 7Inches is that I'm so busy tracking down these splits that I just realized they have a couple of full lengths out already. I end up getting a weird impression from the 4 or 5 singles on the shelf, they feel like a different band every time, 'this song is these guys too?'. The sound doesn't get old, with a one trick pony effect.
I have no idea what a back to back package would sound like. That's gotta change this weekend.
So I went right to Golden Triangle and this track, Cold Bones. It's cleanly produced with layers of vocals, harmonizing, that occasionally break off on their own melody. They're still a part of this garage scene though in spirit, not recording style, with that familiar shangri la's base with faster tempo punk feeling chorus bursts. This can stand up without some kind of stereotyped sound that can only work for one album. They're both in their own distinct worlds and I'm getting it from Hardly Art..

Golden Triangle made a split single with the Fresh & Onlys, their
brothers from the west coast. It's 2 new songs , "Cold Bones" and
"Jungle Jim" that don't appear on the Double Jointer album. Fresh &
Onlys' 2 songs are "Head of Steam" and "I'm Not Myself Today". Only
1000 pressed, 300 on fly green vinyl! Better get it fast!

Also Golden Triangle + Fresh and Onlys + Babies (Vivian Girls+Woods) @
Monster Island on May 14th

Sandy City - Nice Hat on Lost Sound Tapes

This Sandy City single mysteriously showed up in my inbox a while back and this watercolor sleeve caught my eye. I think you can tell a lot from a first impression like this, just a straight up good time, it's a sunny day and you capture that smiling moment with a new hat. It's friendly. Rehearsed just barely enough to come up with a strummed melody, the first track 'Graces' written only moments before, the minimal drums quiet for a moment and vocals haphazardly spoken and cracking apart. Lots of fun whoa chorus parts. Just a touch of reverb. Like Nodzzz, they've got good times rock dreams, sincerity, and just enough talent to know what parts are working. But mostly it's a collection of friends putting it out there on a tiny seven inch. Two sides of unpretentious glee.
What is it with this surf fetish everyone is into lately? All I hear is some raw, backyard jam about the beach, and if this isn't summer I don't know what is. Surfing doesn't mean much to me, but it seems to inspire this kind of, not hippie, or burnout sloppiness, but just pop joy. It seems like a lot of work to get up early and swim all day, waiting forever for something to happen out of your control, but maybe this comes out of that a little. Don't force it, you'll get a shot, it won't be perfect but maybe just for yourself it's going to be right.

Really, it doesn't have to be all about the depression, or glitchy creepiness of electronics, there's room in your life for something randomly catchy, out of tune, and full of desperate fun. It feels homemade in it's nonchalance. It doesn't have to be about winning, it's the seven inches along the way.

Sandy City debut 7" out now or whatever.

3 songs of loud surf punx, indie pop, or something.

It's on Prty Ngg Records. They released a City Center 7", it's got a good song.

Sandy City is from Westport, Washington or maybe we're not.

Listen to all of our songs on Muxtape: http://sandycity.muxtape.com

Get it from Lost Sound Tapes: http://lostsoundtapes.com

Playing 3 shows in Seattle in April, that's more than we've probably ever played previously.

Our tape is called Surfin' WA. It's out of print. It will be on vinyl this summer. Okay?

Next album is called New Dog Rising. Goodbye.

Yr special.

Cerebral Ballzy on Article Records

Besides having the best name I've heard in a long time Cerebral Ballzy is taking it back to 89 in the best way. Who knew there was a demand to recapture the days sk8ing in the garage, trying to ollie for hours in the driveway, building a ramp with a string arc on a nail out of plywood behind the garage and trying to land a 180 on that condemnable piece of architecture. I can't think of anything better that would make you try dropping in one more time even if it was late and you keep falling at the bottom on the halfpipe. Wavves was the first griptape single I've seen, but Ballzy makes the most sense.
I should be listening to them on the soundtrack to the new H-Street video with a bunch of jerks from high school sitting around the VCR. You know how fucking hard it was to find skate videos then?
It's straight up punk/hardcore Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Brains, Guerrilla Biscuits, 7 Seconds style. I'm in jail dad! I don't know if these guys are my age and waxing nostalgic on this sweet bygone era or just some punk skaters trying to piss off everyone, but it doesn't matter, they're doing it as authentically as possible. Of course they would open for Japanther. I'm not going to lie, I gave my boards away after falling one too many times in NYC and feeling old and hurt, maybe thanks to universal healthcare I'll go hit the freaking skateshop! Thanks Obama!

Go gleam the freaking cube already! What did that have to do with skating a ramp? Did that ever catch on anywhere? What genius writer came up with that phrase? I wanted a bomb shelter skate lab in my backyard and Cerebral Ballzy on the ghetto blaster. Or a hoverboard from back to the future.

A 2nd Opinion with Travis Kostell

Recently my friend Travis from high school and I found each other online. He inspired me with the most amazing mix tapes and films in the tiny upstate town I grew up in. He moved sometime around freshman year and just had a whole world of music I had never heard of. In the days without the internet, it's hard to believe I know, but we had to make mixes for each other and borrow cassettes of anything that wasn't on the radio. I don't think I even knew who Frank Zappa was until I met Travis, from there it went into the Church of the Subgenius and a cult scare fiasco banning 'Bob' in the hallways to watching Eraserhead at his house. On top of it, he was an amazing musician who pretty much inspired me to get a 4-track and start a new band every weekend.
Everyone has a friend like Travis, so I sent him some singles I've been thinking about recently and we talked on the phone about them.

This week we got to the GGreen single from Out of Order Records, then Cave bears on Feeding Tube Records and finally Fuck Montreal on Stumparumper.

Download it here

Travis has a bunch of his own music up on his blog: Choice Grinds, I think they should be seven inches.....check it out.

Trouble in Mind 4 way! Ty Segall

Just heard about this amazing 4way split of covers from Trouble in Mind records. They've been putting out a ton of stuff this year from the Fresh & Onlys and Ty Segall, and this is the 12th release already! Damn. That's the way to kick off a label.
I can't get enough of Ty Segall, he's got such a great fuzz guitar sound on every single I've ever heard, and his reverb vocals...how he can pull this off with just guitar is impressive, there's a whole new sound there, it's more than just a rehash of the whole garage genre. It's great simple songwriting that doesn't show any sign of letting up anytime soon.
He killed it at DBA and Mercury Lounge, I overheard him talking with someone after the ML show saying he blew it, but I don't know what the fuck he was talking about. Seriously, don't be so hard on yourself.
Cococoma have been rocking their straight ahead dirty rock forever, all chorus with occasional organ, classic garage style. They've been doing it since the early days, and starting this label is just icing on the cake. White Wires have the whole, hanging out let's jam and get some pizza, oh and rock some jams thing down. I'd maybe want to hear this a little more raw, it's recorded a little too nice, but then again, it might get lost in the sea of we want to sound like shit. But then I check out Charlie and the Moonhearts and those frantic layers of delay and reverb sound so freaking good... to have everyone covering these classics is pretty amazing.
I have to hear this.

It doesn't show up yet on T.I.M.'s site but Midheaven's got it:

Various
4-Way Covers Split (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 6TH)
PS, US San Francisco savant TY SEGALL tackles the Bob Seger System's fiery political number "2+2=?", Chicago's COCOCOMA rip thru the Wipers' "Messenger", Ottawa punks the WHITE WIRES cover "That's the Way A Woman Is" (popularized by the Ohio Express), & San Fran/LA garage surfers CHARLIE & THE MOONHEARTS close it out with a banging version of Love's classic "Seven & Seven Is"!!! ONE TIME PRESSING ON WHITE VINYL LIMITED TO 1000, INCL. DOWNLOAD CODE
TroubleInMind-012
45
$8.25

Charlie McAlister 5" lathe cut on Tick Tick Records

This single sided lathe cut that was in the same package from Tick Tock Records is from the infamous Charlie McAlister...an outsider artist for sure, I don't know how much of the stuff I'm finding online is created or endorsed by him and how much must be fans and friends that are just trying to help out. I can't help but think of Daniel Johnston or Jandek.
I don't know Charlie, but in especially Daniel's case and I've experienced this personally, I don't know how much the person being helped actually realizes how lucky they are...how much trouble it is to take care of that side of things. I want to think they appreciate it, that they can't promote themselves etc. But are they entirely oblivious? Or just not care either way? If Daniel or Charlie write a song...do they need anyone there to hear it? I don't think so.
Like outsider visual artists...do they even care about what anyone thinks of their work? It's amazing because it ignores everything anyone knows to be good painting, but that's like child actors, they imitate, they don't know what they're doing. If you aren't conscious, with an intention behind it, then I have to label it an accident. A great accident that I can recognize as great, but still just an accident. It's not reproducible. Not that any of this could even apply to Charlie McAlister. I've barely scratched the surface of his mythology in my research...but that recorded quality is there, he's being marketed in that way...as a crazed backwoods genius. Which is as much about the recording as the sound coming from this awesome misshapen circle. If I ever thought records were magic, this piece of round plastic/vinyl makes the case. Fidelity be damned, the songs get another layer of hiss to paw through in the imprecise groove duplication. But it's definitely magic every time I put the needle back at the beginning. Listening to something that's barely there.
I have a whole lot of questions and no answers.
The sealed envelope sleeve is even more mysterious, it's screened in weird colors, I can't tell if the grooves were pressed down and left this circular grooved print, like a rubbing, or it's part of the graphic. The back is scrawled text over a pic of someone barfing in a pool? Not sure, the whole thing just adds to this mystique, a long lost relic of a recording summoned out of a plain red circle.
Between what I'm imagining I actually stopped looking up info, because I like the story in my head so much. I' just going to leave it at that and not watch the youtube videos.

Nauseus Waves is my favorite track on this, there's extra layers of recorded hiss, but overall it's a more full sound. I love to hear what Charlie does when he pulls it together enough to layer his own playing on top of itself, like the Carolina bi-product single, it benefits for me when it starts to turn Doo-Rag. It's own foreign throwback blues, that are still melodic and rock, but maybe just have the blues because they just sound sad. All of the sounds that are still there...the sadness of not having great equipment. The sadness of the sound...is that just because it makes me think he's already dead? Like old movies and Robert Johnson...they are long gone, but here is this sound. It's like a ghost...even mores so with this crackly indecipherable medium.

The whole thing is really like listening to an AM station that is just out of reach, or on old reel to reel that's about to fall apart. It's just a damn cool object that's so homemade it almost prevents it from getting out there to anyone. As unique and original as Charlie McAlister, it makes perfect sense.

This record is being released through Tick Tock, Don Weagus, and Rah Rah records. They will all come in a special envelope screenprinted by our good friends at Pundt Printing.

Unbunny - Record Store Day single on Parasol

Speaking of record store day, I just saw from Parasol distro in their email that they have a few releases in the works for presale for record store day. I don't know if these are going to actually make it into any stores physically or if it's just a thing they are doing? Anyway this one from Unbunny caught my eye, it's someone I've been meaning to check out.
I think I expected this to be more homemade, 4 track home stuff, but it's reminding me, probably because of the layered vocals, of Built to Spill their later stuff, or even straight up Neil Young. High vocals and that same clever, sad, storytelling, he's definitely a great lyricist. It borders on too specific sometimes, but I'm smiling, that's a good thing. Like 'REM Drummer' it's literally about being the drummer in REM, and how they weren't there for him when he needed them? Maybe he was at one point?
I'm clueless.
It's great these aren't available on anything else, that's a single for ya. I would pick this up if I saw it April 17th. He's playing at Death by Audio the day after.

Unbunny
Cellphone b/w Winning Streak *RSD* (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 17TH)
PS, US Parasol Records is celebrating Record Store Day (Saturday, April 17th) with a slew of limited singles. Unbunny offer up a two alt-version exclusives, the full band version of "Cellphone" and a slower, moodier version of "Winning Streak" (both songs will appear in different form on Unbunny's upcoming album Moon Food, available June 1st). Black wax in gold sleeves, limited to 300. Looks for more PLG/RSD singles by Common Loon, Cameron McGill & What Army, Mazes, Elsinore and New Ruins, all w/exclusive, non-album tracks.
ParasolRSD2010-003
45
$4.00

Kevin Earl Taylor on Tick Tock records

Tobias from Tick Tock Records contacted me about a Charlie McAlister review I did of their co-release with Unread Records a while back saying they had a bunch of other singles out. He ended up sending this amazing package with this single from Kevin Earl Taylor. I had to go for it first....It's a massive screenprinted book with a red and white marble single in the inside cover of this heavy weight paper 7" square, great binding, the images are black ink sketches on thick handmade looking cardstock that has all kind of little flecks of pulp smashed into the pure off white. It's matte ink and you can see the image pressed almost through the back where they were pressed and had something reddish in between the page and the metal press...sort of a reverse rubbing on the reverse side. That immediately made me think about Kevin standing at this press in Charleston, inking up the plates and hanging each page up to dry on the line...here they were pages all bound together, complete with a seven inch. This is a solid year of work in a mylar sleeve. If you could only release one seven inch in your life, if you only had the time or money for one...you would be satisfied with this.
I love that singles get taken as seriously as this, that they attempt to be taken seriously as high art. I'm already there of course, but to have it point directly to art in this way is great. Between the two you get a pretty complete picture, and I think it goes even further than what Nathan at HSAL was saying about liner notes. It's a portrait. Ask anyone to write a song, sketch the sleeve and shoot a video for it and you would get a pretty clear picture of what this person's all about.
So what is Kevin about? Definitely a pretty healthy uncensored combination of cheap electronic sounds, simple melodies, happy accidents. Like the drawings, they want to keep that handmade aesthetic, but see what new things can be accomplished with just a pen.
The first track on the first side (can't find the titles listed anywhere, which is kind of interesting...maybe the images from the book are meant to be the titles) has casio drum presets working under a free form out of tune toy guitar. It stays with you.
The next track gets front porch jam with banjo, recorder and bass drum, which is closest to the feel of the sketches for me. Like Coyote Slingshot, it's taking all these symbols around you without the baggage and making new use of them. The sketches have natural elements, lots of animals, plant shapes, but there's something off, and maybe a little unsettling. A sexualized polar bear standing in the water with a shawl. Humanizing the animal kingdom more than we do already. Case in point...my cats have a better life than a lot of humans on the planet. But give then a human body and I get uncomfortable.
The B-Side of 'Earthling' takes a minimal electronic 'Suicide' direction, distant echo vocals with manic emotion. He's falling apart with the hint of a dance party. It's a little bit contradictory to the very sensitive intricate nature line drawings. But then maybe it's some sort of hybrid future where bestiality has taken a weird turn into actually coming up with entirely new creatures. (I know it's not meant to be taken so literally, but the cold electronics of the second side are taking me there, it's not just a fantasy sketchbook in the wilderness anymore...sitting on a log in the woods...it's a future of some kind.) This is exactly what the conservative right is worried about, a world of sexy deer headed people. What foresight.
Amazing packaging, diverse tunes. Something for everyone in a weird way. Don't ask me to choose. Tick Tock set the bar high on this one, but I still have to open the sealed envelope lathe cut Charlie McAlister....

TT012 Kevin Earl Taylor 7" and Book - "earthling" Vinyl colors - 220 purple, 35 lt pink, 35 dk pink, and 20 blue
There are 2 versions on this release.
100 are packaged with a signed and numbered 10 page hand screened bound book of kevin earl taylor's art work. These sell for 25 bux ppd.
200 are packaged with 2-3 screenprinted loose sheets from the book. These sell for 8 bux ppd.

Get it from Tick Tock Records. It's more than your average 7", but this is no ordinary single.

Record Store Day singles

Didn't want to post these listings yesterday unless you thought it was some april fools internet bs. Here's what I saw coming out on Record Store Day, April 17th I'll be looking out for, at least I'm not spending a ton...it's a little thin this year, but that crazy Stephen Merritt Peter Gabriel split is interesting, not sure I would ever think those two would be on a split together, and definitely going to pick up that Dum Dum Girls single as well.
No podcast this week, but me and a friend from High School, Travis have been listening to singles on skype, and I'll be putting that together in the coming weeks.
Happy Friday.

Bon Iver/Peter Gabriel "Come Talk To Me"/"Flume" Bon Iver and Peter Gabriel cover each other. Bon Iver track is EXCLUSIVE to this release 7" vinyl
Built To Spill "Water Sleepers/Linus & Lucy (Live)" new tracks 7" single
Dum Dum Girls/Male Bonding Pay For Me/Before It's Gone 2 new tracks from LA's Dum Dum Girls and London's Male Bonding 7" vinyl
Elvis Costello and the Attractions Live at Hollywood High EP individually numbered 7" of three previously unreleased tracks 7" vinyl
Fucked Up Daytrotter Sessions Label version is released with 10 different covers, ADA has regular cover 7" vinyl
Julian Casablancas 11th Dimension (WXRP live recording) b/w "Long Island Blues" (previously unreleased) Strokes founder's exclusive RSD 7" 7" vinyl
Peter Gabriel/Stephen Merritt Split 7" single The Book of Love b/w Not One of Us 7" vinyl
Various Artists Fragments from a Work in Progress Unreleased tracks by Blonde Redhead, The Big Pink, Gang Gang Dance, Ariel Pink, Tune Yards 12" vinyl Various Artists (Entrance Band, Damien Jurado, Lou Barlow, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and more It Happened Here Musicians who came through Bloomington, IN featuring live performances, recordings fom Bloomington, etc. 12" vinyl bundled with 7" bonus Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Skeletons" Studio Version Side A; Exclusive Live version Side B 7" vinyl

Broken Water - Boyfriend Hole on Krecs

I first read about their full length through Doug who mentioned Unwound and that was enough to pull up their myspace and come across this embossed single from Krecs. It looks like they were mentioned in a demo of the week segment K was doing for a while and I'm assuming based on the strength of that they pressed this single.
I haven't been that interested in Krecs releases sadly for a while now, but the A-side of this is amazing...nothing low-fi, just massive drenched reverb guitar. They can get droney long distorted bass shaking chords, but it's Kanako's vocals that get MBV. It's dangerously slow, but insanely loud. 'SWOYM' is pure Thursten and MBV, delicate delayed melodies with crunchy refrains. A 90's version of The Big Sleep, a huge sound that borders on the goth side of the Cure somehow, really really great. I know exactly what they've been listening to and it's exactly the same things that make me keep buying unwound singles I already have 5 copies of.

Of course they were just here last week down the street at Bruar Falls and Death by Audio. I apologise. I'm going to start camping out in front. Jobs are overrated. Singles are the new currency and this one is easily worth giving up two slices of pizza. Rent is around 200 7"'s so I should be ok for a while.

Get a screen printed Shawn Reed full length from Night People Records.