Shannon and the Clams on Southpaw Records

The other day when I caught that Bare Wires single on Southpaw, which is great by the way.... I got an email immediately about this Shannon and the Clams single the next day....Damn.
Still haven't gotten around to checking out their full length but I heard nothing but good things from places I trust...actually I think it's pretty much sold out from the source.
All I could think of when I saw this was Shannon's vocals. It takes this from another garage, kind of punk, laid back, west coast three piece to something weirdly timeless.
She just has an amazing voice...it's got all the '50s Spectre girl group sounds, but with a ton of punk attitude. I mean she's almost too perfect to be singing this garage Shagri La's styled song...has she changed her voice to fit the idea of this era? Did it develop in working out this style of music?...or does she just sing naturally like this? It's seriously a voice you're not going to hear in this type of music ever again. She's a complete bad ass without sounding too over the top good....because she definitely could....it's scary how perfectly she captures that 50's sound...but with more toughness...she could have never gotten away with this 50 years ago and she takes advantage of it. You can hear the kind of defiance...in kind of taking this stereotyped male role in the songs and turning them around. She's just a fucking talent, plain and simple.
It's something I have to catch live, I know this is only going to get better seeing her destory an audience while rocking out basslines.

Get it from Southpaw Distro.

Shannon and the Clams remind me of something straight out of a John Waters movie in both their fashion and sound. On this brand new 7”, the Clams pump out two superb pop ballads and throw in a 30-second surf punk jam to clock in at just under 10 minutes. A great follow up to their amazing LP from last year.

All orders will ship at the end of June.

jacuzzi Boys on Mexican Summer Records

I don't know who is running Mexican Summer, but they obviously have unlimited resources and know a lot of damn good bands. Ariel Pink, Kurt Vile, Real Estate...it's getting to the point where I hear about a Mexican Summer release and I have to check my paypal balance. I know 2 things: it's going to be kick ass color vinyl in a heavy cardstock sleeve and... it won't be around very long.
Just heard about this the other day from Weekly Tape Deck and I hope it's not too late to pick this up. Jacuzzi boys have seemed from the very beginning like they were doing things on their own terms...from the middle of Florida. (Thank god for Floridas Dying or we would have never heard of these guys by the way) They're not really influenced by any kind of underground Florida scene...they are the only garage Florida scene that I've heard of anyway. Who's to say there couldn't be a third kind of coast with their own take on surf, psyche and garage.....well here they are.
They sound like they're combining a kind of snotty, who cares punk with a little who cares surf...with a minor in the Velvet Underground...repeat the chords, that simplified electric. It's a kind of laid back single... all I know is the Island Ave single ended up getting played a lot, and I want another one.

Order from Mexican Summer.

Born of the swamp and sun in early 2007, the music of the Jacuzzi Boys roosts like a bad vulture somewhere between the hazy shade of the coconut palm and the fevered neon of the Magic City. This is raucous pop of the murkiest order—jangling guitars, caveman drums, and songs of sex and seashells, dead animals and birthday cakes. Dragging behind in their dusty wake, the Jacuzzi Boys come bearing a string of 7″ singles that did nothing if not forecast the twelve-song tornado that is their debut LP, No Seasons. If 2009 was any indication, 2010 is the year the Jacuzzi Boys come busting out of the tropics, naked as the gator and twice as toothy.

Northside Fest Day 4 - Gray Goods at Coco66

For the final day of Northside, I went to catch up with Ryan from Grey Goods who were playing two sets last night... I headed over to Coco 66 for their early set booked by Bill from Brooklyn Vegan. Even though the venue is right down the street I actually haven't seen anyone here and the space is promising. It's a pretty huge, open space with tons of stage lights and a real stage. The venue threw all of it's tricks at the trio, smoke machines, green lasers, disco balls, but it doesn't phase these guys. The sound setup was impressive and Grey Goods was taking advantage of the volume. The tracks off the singles just get better with their live energy under these conditions. Trevor's keeping up by pounding the hell out of his rattling snare. It could have been mic'd, but I think he's just about to destroy it, but you have to. Precision and economy is their foundation. It takes foresight to have this level of restraint in coming up with this percussion...to keep the tempo this simple...it's what's best for this particular song. This spirit of minimalism forces everyone in the band on a level playing field...and definitely less is more.
I guess it helps limiting yourself to a simple drum setup from the beginning as well...one tom, one crash, it's a specific choice which must have it's advantages in those multiple show situations. They're always ready to pull over and set up in a parking lot. Give them a power strip and a microphone and they're ready. There must be a total of two pedals between them...

I just have a feeling I'm going to still be listening to this 5 years from now, and for the internet music age that's an eternity. It's like dog years...something like 3 real months equals 1 internet year, so it will be classic rock pretty soon, but I'll keep coming back to it.



Ryan also hooked me up with their final installment of the GG 7" trilogy, which I put on this morning. 'Color Divide' is surprising is on Acapulco Gold Ltd records...and they literally don't exist. Recorded just 6 months ago in Brooklyn, they run just around 3 minutes each, and I have to think it's almost a little too perfect, this master plan of next to nothing art, anti-effects pop...who's really behind this?
This one continues with that minimalist sleeve art, and it looks like that business man is leaving the city of huge skyscrapers shooting money out of the roof and night clubs. Is he ever going to be happy?
Color Divide is a great A-Side, starting with a punchy Austin bassline it's immediately destined for greatness. The vocals even naturally peak out a little on this one while Ryan goes back and forth from his trademark drawn out, slowed down beginning of a verse to hyper monotone delivery, all while pulling off these lyrics:

waving colors at the other side won't do
wasting your time
wasting all of mine
cant we all find better things for us to do

'Natural Selection' actually slows the Gray Goods tempo down and gets a little surf instrumental at the beginning. Ryans vocals are clearer than usual here, it's almost a low talking kind of hushed tone. There's a lot of room in this one and Ryan works off of just a bassline at one point, and I love that kind of breakdown back and forth...the ringing electric coming in off time, that jagged post kind of a way.

You can preview these on their Facebook page where the sound is way better ...watch it myspace.

Northside Fest Day 2 - Woodsist showcase and Dinosaur Feathers

Northside Fest Day 2

The Woodsist showcase was a no brainer and the Music Hall was the perfect place to support the amazing lineup that was going to be trading the stage all night.
I've wanted to see Sic Alps since I saw grainy dark youtube videos of them playing in basements . They're a substantial force, Mike Donovan and Matthew Hartman who actually were joined by Noel von Harmonson... not quite sure when they became a 3 piece and it drove their already massive sound way over into the red. I don't think anyone was thinking that insane sound really needed another guitar, but then maybe this latest tour, and opening for Sonic Youth and Pavement inspired them to get even bigger. The over all direction felt even more psychadelic than usual. Maybe it's the result of the three of them on stage, once the wave starts rolling it's harder to stop. The momentum of the jam with the two guitars listening for each other, playing off the last phrase. There's bound to be a delay or a hesitation in reacting to the other person. I didn't mind the jam, all I could really think about was the spirit of what early sonic youth might have been like as Noel and Mike squatted next to pedals and amps digging in and coaxing feedback noise out of the 60's kind of groove they'd been previously driving into.

It makes so much sense to think about Woodsist putting this show together, it was perfectly curated, getting these heavy hitters together who are rooted in that laid back kind of west coast psychadelia. Moon Duo is practically an exact replica of that era from what I've heard, pretty classicly true to replicating that era. Then Sic Alps bring an experimental noise to the guitar driven sound, and the Fresh and Onlys take it into catchy pop places. Woods brings it back into a experimental layered collage animal collective inspired place. How did that sound end up coming out of so many different bands on the East Coast? I wouldn't think that layered sound would come out of the historically urban straight laced east coast. Animal Collective or Black Dice's return to a primal rhythm and collage layers of vocals...but maybe that's the West Beach Boys influence making it's way back in the form of it's pinnacle Panda Bears, Person Pitch. Real Estate surprisingly takes the West coast laid back vibe and exports it to the shores of Jersey. Taking back the shore from the juice heads so you don't forget the little byways and deserted sandy shores. They want to remind you on every track, literally songs about rivers, the seagulls, and for better or worse the clear lazy suburban sprawl.



The Fresh and Onlys came on after the Alps and I had been really wanting to see them for the first time after their self titled full length had so many great tracks. They mixed those up with some new ones off their Captured Tracks EP and it's funny because I had always thought of them as dirty frantic garage rockers. Something in the spirit of that kind of hazy punk but live they seem to be a really laid back, solid, melodic band. With the backbone of Tim Cohens solo stuff they have this quiet, practically romantic base, so maybe it just had been waiting to rise out of the frantic shitstorm that has been their 7"'s up to this point. They can develop and draw out a brief psyche feel in a real full volume way. They benefited from the massive PA system and room of the Music Hall. I never even heard them filling out a space like this until now, and Tim is a character who really wins over the crowd immediately. This joking lumberjack, not the angry frustrated garage punk I might have had them pegged as early on.



After that ear ringing set I thought I'd check out the Pop Tarts Suck Toasted curated set next door at Public Assembly. I was just in time to catch Dinosaur Feathers who I've been hearing good things about and was surprised to see a trio of bass, hollow body guitar and synth - sans drummer rocking out catchy mini electronic jams. Every song launches with a hyped up messy electronic beat to be joined by indie acoustic style pop strumming and piercing harmonies from the three guys. It's like Orange Juice, anti-low-fi, no garage...unpretentious...they want catchy pop songs, and the audience was actually dancing, bouncing around the PA, yelling for them to turn up the vocals. Built out of weirdo tropical (?) sounds it stays grounded thanks to the guitar and harmonies. Plus it's hard not to root for them, they were super thankful and goofy, sincerely comfortable and knowing exactly what they were doing at the same time. Listening to an old EP on their website, they have a densely constructed, precise sound...almost pop Xiu Xiu...there's a lot to take in. Reproducing this live suits them as it gets stripped down a little bit more...a few less layers and more spontaneity.


After they finished I went next door (that's ridiculous when you think about it. I caught myself a few times last night thinking I saw Sic Alps a week ago....or the Fresh and Onlys was another life...not literally an hour ago) and made it in time for the end of Woods' set. I hugely respect what Jeremy has done for his band, the label, and then to take this secondary slot on their own showcase night? Just an all around nice, hardworking guy...they really deserve the attention they're getting for the label and hell ...people seem to like Woods on top of it. I'm not that familiar with their catalog but they seemed to be extending their tracks, teasing them out for the crowd. G. Lucas Crane looks pained, bent over the sea of electronics always in dead front, I think he was burning incense or else the faders and knobs were just in a constant state of near meltdown. It's hard to tell exactly what sounds are created but it definitely adds to the psychedelic haze that the tracks devolve into. It's would seem counter intuitive to add this to the jam pit vibe but then the vocalizations he's creating are just what the otherwise guitar driven songs need. It's done in an organic way, maybe because it's so hands on....it's that delicate high falsetto against this swirling menace that's Woods' trademark.



Real Estate was up next, with the perfect kind of lazy summer odes to New Jersey. The back and forth of guitar between Matt and Martin they both have a great high tone and melody sense that comes together in layered pop. You don't see these melodies coming or that the track chorus gets even catchier. Weirdly all the vocals reference the water, rivers, streams or reservoirs, it's something I never picked up on before, you would never pick out these 4 guys to be in the same band, but it's got to be these varied references coming together that makes it work. Matt even took lead on a new track I didn't recognize. But Etienne Duguay on drums is an insane showman, twirling the sticks between hits, with a huge reach hitting the backside of the crash cymbals flailing around with impressive control of velocity. I couldn't help but think of the wedding drummer video. Back out for the encore they somehow saved their best 7" tracks for last like Fake Blues and they're getting more comfortable every time I see them and the audiences are growing. Not bad for basically their first album.

Northside Fest - Day 1 (I'm turning into german measles and then going to Aa)

Northside Fest Day 1

It couldn't make more sense than to get right into the middle of things at the Charleston. NF has booked so many bands into so many venues, I have to, and maybe even want to hit the smaller, overlooked venues because great bands are still playing there and I won't be fighting crowds at the Wavves show. There's nothing like seeing a dirty, garage-y whatever band under a...I would even go so far as to say, historic bar. It's been in Williamsburg longer than I have, and at this point if it's not a condo or about to be then it better be landmarked.

That basement feels like a house party from high school, clip lights, the faint smell of barf, or is that the line of kegs next to the stage 'area'. And this setup was a huge improvement from the last show I saw there. I made it early enough to catch I'm turning into who curated the night and if they wanted The German Measles as a part of their set, then they were worth checking out. 3 Pretty unassuming guys, cracking jokes with everyone, rocking tank tops...as their set went on it went from heavy 70's jam to punchy Dinosaur Jr. indie pop. They switched instruments so much no one is pegged as the drummer or guitarist. I think the fact they couldn't really be pegged musically either is why they ended up being so good. It's a classic indie pop, that veers a little into the minimal post area, high feedback melodies over a speed bassline on 'I'm going' gets started with a classic indie quiet/loud foundation, but vocally they're harmonizing as loud as they can...it's great. This song could carry an entire single on it's own. If they keep messing with expectations like this, they are going to have one hell of a great full length where the momentum of the last track is literally going to force you to flip it over again.
The German Measles were up next, consisting of a couple of guys from Cause Co-Motion, I keep forgetting. I wanted to see Nick again after a show at Death by Audio a while back...his performance feels completely unhinged...he's not a drunk mess, there's just something unsettling about how into the show he gets. I can see right away why he's got to be the lead. You might occasionally end up with an uneven performance but the audience doesn't know where he's going, and that's a good thing. Combine that kind of tension with this reckless kind of garage punk and I'll be catching them again...just wish I could find that EP they put out on Captured Tracks.
Northside was having an impact and Bedford was more insane than usual I over heard a girl talking to her boyfriend as they walked by ...'It's not Saturday night people...it's Thursday!'


From there Aa was still on at Union Pool, and as much as I love the drunken mess of bare bones drunk punk I was into catching their Battles, Black Dice brand of soundscape especially live...it gets looser, the kind of synth samples get better on the fly, and two drummers live...well that you can't really capture on their recordings. It's violent up there, with the yelling into effects and strobe lights. And I think they're underestimated...they've been (not so) quietly gong places the Liars and These are Powers abandoned for their own idiosyncratic directions...it's a more chaotic sort of math leaning percussion experiment. The vocals turn into just another sound, the electronics keep up with the sets of live drums to get a maximum range of expression through a simple hit. They've been headlining for years, and should be right up there in credibility with Lightning Bolt and Japanther. On this cabaret red curtain stage is ridiculous...they're made for the warehouse basement, but that's again that's what Northside is doing...putting more bands in different spaces, just so when you step back and the dust settles, it's gong to be impressive, even for Brooklyn, you're going to take notice.

The Minks - Funeral Song on Captured Tracks

Now, looking at that Minks cover you'd expect this might be going a Blessure Grave sort of direction, a little dark, coming from those days of pure youth depression. There's something romantic about taking that road in high school. To be a little bit of a weirdo.
I would have had a huge crush on that girl. Especially since she looks like she doesn't care. That's what can be mean about movies, you get a sense that those awesome loners actually exist and every single second they're alive is the fucking coolest, and your life is ridiculous. If there's one thing I could tell jerk, 16 year old me, it's that they aren't...no one is, you don't have to try to live up to that impossible and stupid expectation. Those are fake stories, live your life doing whatever the hell you want.
I care a lot less now that there is some distance between myself and 17 seconds....and maybe there is this whole new group of artists turning back on that Cure era and reexamining how it could not be so dramatic....maybe get a little more relevant? I could use more music like that.

The A-Side, Funeral song captures that sort of turning point for New Order when they lose Ian and start sounding almost dance-able, super airy synths, and ultra clean...he keeps singing about summertime...and the title is funeral song? Am I just hearing this wrong? Great use of that pitch wheel portamento (the casio taught me that word). This vocal effect is crazy...kind of a phaser and then jamming a finger on the tape wheel? It's crazy.
I would be staring out the bus window for an hour riding to school. No one understands me. I would probably have a hard time with the young version of 7inches....he was probably annoying. It's not so bad, listen to this kind of happy song from the Minks, and think about a funeral. School's almost over and you can be depressed at home for months.
The B-Side 'Drunk Punks' has all of these era's sounds perfectly, thank god people still remember how to dial in that chorusy bass, really high pitch jangle electric...almost harp sounding.A lot of other swirling distortions flying around, layers of delay. I think they keep the tempo up and it keeps it from getting bogged down the way some of the early Cure does for me, but then that sets an immediate tone of oppression. Minks are trying to break out of it in a Psychedelic Furs way. It has such a New Order heavy main bassline with that guitar dropping in for a chord here and there, Blue Monday...like an early demo...I like this a lot, they're really in the early nineties alternative zone.

Get this one on Captured Tracks.

MINKS - Funeral Song - Captured Tracks
"As generous a kiss-off to Summer as we could hope for, MINKS' 'Funeral Song' came virtually out of nowhere. Like if Robert Smith gave birth to a baby, and the baby was actually a cassette of Cure demos that had a lot more staying power than actual Cure demos. Ostensibly we could say this song is reactionary: abandoning the good vibes and surf jams of the warm months of '09 in favor of something colder. Rigid bass lines over icy, high-register synth whine. But the song has a lot more heart than that, so long summer time repeated endlessly until it not only makes sense, but makes frigid cold seem welcoming."--Fader

Gray Goods - Francis - on 1928 recordings

I caught Gray Goods at Glasslands a little while back and picked this up from Ryan directly after the show. It's the third in a series of singles they've been working on over at 1928 Recordings.
I've liked Gray Goods from the beginning of that cigar box set, they're what a classic post rock pop band should be. Minimal, catchy...laser focused on simplistic melodies...the vocals are anti-passionate, it's a bizarro-world emo...Ryan can hardly say them out fast enough on 'Francis' in a sort of get-it-over-with style, because 'Who wants to hear this anyway?', but I think he even convinces himself by the end and is won over by the melody. It's not that they lack confidence performing, it's a stand off-ish stance towards the music...knock it down a few pegs. We don't need any keytar's or headbands.
Right down to the name even they're trying everything possible not to call attention to themselves...it's this anti promotional approach, I guess they really don't have anything to prove. I understand a bands need to take their performance to another level to really go over the top with props for the crowd and costume changes. But in the end I think it distracts from the music and feels unnatural. I can relate more to these guys immediately. It's the kind of band I grew up knowing and even was a part of here and there. It's that moment when the 90's went from hair metal to long underwear under shorts and plaid flannel was the beginning of that rejection. Fuck the image. Look at the sleeve cover for example. It's like Gray goods is making a point to say 'Art school? We didn't meet at art school...we can't draw for shit....we've been too busy playing music.' Is that a problem?
No it's not.

Ryan isn't just in the Gray Goods he's curating a whole bunch of acts with the same sensibilities from Ye old ex-Muslims to Air Waves, it's a label with a direction and it's becoming easy to not need an excuse to paypal for whatever is next.
These 3 singles are going right next to that soft pack box set and the Sundelles latest...it's urban rock without the garage, or the lack of 'fi', or leather jackets or mohawks...you take all that stuff away and what's left? Well, the music better be damn good because you're relying on nothing else.
I'll take it.

Both of these tracks are also on their Facebook...(I can't help but wonder who's going to die out first Facebook or Myspace? Myspace is still hanging on because of music, and Facebook just might have pissed one too many people off.)

After you're done go pick up the vinyl from their myspace, or 1928 recordings, or get it from Ryan yourself this weekend as part of the Northside Fest this Sunday night at 8-ish at Coco66, right next to Paulie Gee's, and then later that night around 11 at Bruar Falls...Speaking of the Northside Fest, they are offering 20% off tickets at brownpapertickets if you use the code "LMAG" until midnight tonight.

Ouija -Tropical Depression on Clan Destine Records

This single came into 7inches HQ via Carl from Clan Destine Records out of the UK.
I imagine that photo of a barn/attic lit by Christmas lights is something of the studio for these solo recordings from Florida's Ray Cruz's project Ouija.

The A Side 'Tropical Depression' is definitely home grown, hints of distortion throughout with the vocals mixed under everything. It's a sort of platform for Ray's trailing off, whine at the end of every verse. It's a kind of desperation, he's trying to keep his head above the fuzz. I keep coming back to Nirvana...and it's not an overpowering reference, you can't quite point to anything in particular...maybe it's just the vocal delivery, I literally hear 'Sappy', that kind of reluctant tone, it's all futile...these are the things you have to do, here's the instructions... but then just saying them out loud, it's not going to happen.
The second track 'Invisible Sex' then takes a few decade steps back into a tinny 60's garage sound, it's a different kind of space on this one, the low end is absent, and we're in a little bit more pop territory but the lyrics that you can catch still have that disassociated stamp to them, it's a scattered story, just a line from a situation mixed in with cliche's.

Don't they smoke alone / yea
Don't they talk a lot / yea
Don't they something

It just sounds like giving up, there's no fight left. This is the reality you're left with.

'Sarah Tonin' ... I just got that writing this. It starts out with a whisper until you lean in real close and Ray kicks on all the distortion pedals. The vocals even disintegrate by the end, I get the feeling he's trying to repeat his line 'History will never repeat' to see if it still carries any meaning as it fades into unintelligible sound. Is he trying to convince himself there's still something there? Repeating it to break it down.... but it seems to become another useless phrase. It will repeat itself, even in the song....it always does. This track is on Clan Destine's facebook page.

'Go' might be related to Ty Segal's dirty distorted blues lines, Ray's using the simplest repeated scale to blow out the melody. It's made out of next to nothing and when you hit on a riff like this, you just stick with it. The vocals have an even west coast surf reverb and stylistically it even reminds me of NMH's 'Holland 1945', but it's brief, better to keep you wanting more. Any of these could easily be teased out, but he's got a lot to say but not a lot of time to do it at 45rpm.

It's a solid EP to keep spinning, totally consistent throughout, there's no throw away tracks nothing taking up space. Carl mastered the single himself for the label and it sounds great, there's nothing overdone about the grainy texture, it's enough to retain that immediate feel, the frantic tracking of instruments over and over. But the focus remains on these solid pop songs essentially...they're catchy without being....well let's say...happy.

You can check out more from the Clan Destine here on their blog...turns out they've got a split cassette with Cole from Dead Gaze...nice, glad someone decided to put more of his work out there... and on cassette even. Carl's got tons of posts about zines he's picked up and nods to a ton of other great labels releases and the occasional mix to download, as well as a ton more Clan releases I have to check out. It's great to see this NNF sensibility coming from across the pond, and I wonder how Carl found Ouija, but I'm glad he did.

Thankfully, the Clan (maybe I shouldn't shorten that) has stateside distro through 80/81 records, and I would definitely go pick this up.

Alicja Pop - Shining Apple on Certified PR Records

I just have been exploring all the offshoots of Jay Reatards career ever since it ended, including the Lost Sounds era that Alicja was a part of. Lost Sounds included a lot of electronics, and seemed to be both Jay's and Alicja's Metal Machine Music / Trans period, where you try to apply where you've been going as an artist to a completely different genre. Its exciting as an artist I'm sure, just to push those boundaries and not know what you're doing anymore. To be able to push through that period where you start to get disappointed as songs don't come as easy anymore. But that was the thing about Jay, he wasn't 19, and nothing he was about to do was a fluke...he had been playing around with all these styles and ended up where he was, and it was perfect. I couldn't wait to hear album after album. But these side projects and the Reatards are getting me to work backwards and hear what kinds of things led to Watch me Fall....Ah Fuck! Did you have to use that title!

The two of them, Alicja and Jay split guitar/vocals and synth and made real electronic-punk...I get all excited about SIDS and Black Bug and the Units, but here was this collaboration in my own backyard with the stuff I've been listening to practically and it took me this long to get there. There should be a rerelease of this....maybe Matador can put something together now.

This one sounded like it started out as a contribution to a children's album compilation and then there was a Daniel Johnston cover done for something else...and Certified PR would be damned if this never saw the light of day. It's a no brainer.

There's about 25 left!

ALICJA POP-Shining Apple 7” (Certified PR) $7.99
Everyone should already know about MS. ALICJA TROUT. She is highly regarded as one of the best songwriter/performers out there! Her previous output includes the Legendary Lost Sounds, River City, Tanlines, Mouserocket and many others. The Memphis, TN based Alicja is one of the most prolific artists of the past 10 years putting out a great record seemingly every other month. For her Certified PR Records debut, she changes things up a little. Originally intended to be children's record, this release features the amazing original, "Shining Apple," and her stunning interpretation of the Daniel Johnston classic, "Walking The Cow."

Interview with Darren from Velocity of Sound Records

Darren and Todd have been collaborating together as Eohippus for well over 13 years. Somewhere along they way they started Velocity of Sound Records to press some of those songs into the sweet grooves of a 7" record.
One of them was mailed to 7Inches last week and and I called up Darren after checking out his 'Living life on Opium' 7" and the genius video that went with it. We talked about the mysterious 'Bobby' from the video and the 2 EP's available on their website as well as nerding out big time about records in general and how the kids today don't realize how good they got it. Like, how they can just listen to an interview with Velocity of Sound anytime they want, and paypal Darren for singles from anywhere in the world.

Download it here (30min 28mb).

Trash Humpers 7" Soundtrack on Drag City

I saw that Drag City was releasing this single from the Trash Humpers, which would have been a great name of a band, and who I searched for online for a while before realizing, 'Yes this single actually the soundtrack from that movie 'Trash Humpers' by Harmony Korine.' I'm a genius.
Couldn't find samples of this anywhere, he's got a myspace and collaborates with one of the guys from Gang Gang Dance as some side project, but there's no audio up at all.
This guy is a piece of work, you hate him or...probably just think he's ok, and of course he's fine with that. He tries to be controversial, or probably he can't help but be his druggo/weirdo self...but parts of it seem like kind of an act.
I buy that he makes movies that are for better or worse completely his own, that you are in for a specific experience as a viewer, maybe a little frustrating at times but it's a fuck hell of a lot better than the A-Team. Who needs a linear narrative story?

I think he's maybe fucking with interviewers when he said:

"I was staying in the Shibuya District. I had really gotten into eating a special kind of blowfish. I think at some point I had a reaction to the blowfish. I was staying in the hotel room for days on end. I was smoking this kind of amphetamine that was getting me excited about life. I was hanging out with these transvestite karaoke performers. We would just stay inside the hotel. I would take pictures off of these monitors that I had. At that point in my life, I had read all of these books on Pentecostal preachers and people who were building up tolerances to strychnine. I guess in that state, I had thought that I should start building up a tolerance to Clorox bleach."

Either that or he is that much of a douche. I mean that quote comes from someone who would be such an annoying fucking pretentious dick...But he wants to be an asshole and generally piss people off, he's made a career of it. I want to think there's more to it than just that, and that kind of media whore is obvious. But I kind of imagine he was the character from Lost in Translation, but I guess that was Spike Jonze? They must be buddies...
If this single is solo Harmony then good on him, it's going to definitely be weirdo, let's hope in a good way. It just might be the first entire movie soundtrack on a single I know of and then he'll smear it with his fake shit and signature...so if the sounds suck, there's always DNA.

The track listing is very important as it's the only thing providing some clues as to where this is going:

Trash Torch Song Lullaby 1:21
Rumble :22
Night Time 1:16
Three Little Devils :50
Chitshit :49
Kitchen Strangulation 2:07
You Girls Juss Suck Large Fat Penis 5:06
Sweet Night :51
Sleep My Darlin 2:11

Handmade (and hand-filthed!) sleeves! Original soundtrack to the Major Motion Picture.
Limited copies signed (vandalized?) by director Harmony Korine.

Blessure Grave preorder on Mishka records?

If we're going purely on sound, I'm really into Blessure Grave, they have got a handle on just enough goth paired with a super low-fi aesthetic to throw it off in a Blank Dogs kind of way. Maybe that recording style evokes even more dread...like some kind of fog over the whole thing...it's murky, you don't know exactly what your hearing even and you fill in the blanks. Unlike Cold Cave who is leaning lately more towards some kind of electronic dance probably just do to the slickness of that latest one from Matador.

I was just about to catch a show of theirs in the neighborhood But I watched the video for 'Open or Shut' that afternoon and it just threw the whole image I had of them. I wanted the Hoods from the black and white Learn to Love the Rope sleeve, I thought they were a little bad ass. Black metal with a 4-track? The two of them? That's gold...maybe I'm still thinking of that Portal show. I wanted it that hardcore. Not playing with silly string, crying in the corner.



No matter what though 'I will reduce you to black smoke' on the split DiTG single will always be amazing, I just wish they didn't ham it up like it was goth 1989. They're just too stylized and into their image in a little bit of a cheesy way. There's just no defending that video. Why are you even in it? There was such an opportunity there.
Then they're collaborating with some kind of Urban Outfitters fashion label?
I'm totally confused.

This is available with or without t-shirt from insound.

Bare Wires single on South Paw Records

I have been pining over a Review of the Bare Wires 'Artificial Clouds' for probably a month. I try to take my time and examine all aspects of the release, to really give it it's due. I love this thing. So I planned an expose: what other projects each member was in, live shows, especially Matt's solo stuff, in a sprawling Lester Bangs knock off review and then I smack myself and say 'That asshole was getting paid by the word!', who has time for this mess? Make your point!
Ok, so here it is.

Maybe with ADD, singles will be the full length albums of the future?

If that's true then look at this fucking number one hit! From the Bare Wires! That bad ass above isn't your dad, it's Matthew Melton, and that's the cover of his single! His solo album sleeve is even more bad ass, parked on the side of the freeway, the back window busted out and he looks half fucked up/half pissed, and he sits around like the next Jay Reatard penning punk pop hit after hit. I cannot get enough.

Get this and Matt's solo LP on colored vinyl. (Are there some left? Don't worry about it!...you're lucky to even hear this. Don't put your dicks to the bricks.)

Bare Wires are freaking fantastic. All I want to hear is anything Matt writes. It's genius.

Ramon Speed - Effulgence and Alacrity EP on Unread Records

Ramon Speed grew up in Omaha around the same time as neighbors Simon Joyner and Conor Oberst. They must have crossed paths, the three of them, and I found a random few references here and there online, but it wasn't easy. I think it was a weird time for Omaha, let's face it.
But don't let the somber angel statue silkscreen on the cover throw you. Flip it over and there's a couple of skaters, laughing, carrying their boards to another warehouse skate spot. This EP carries the feeling and that connection between the classic universal statement indie and personal anti-production contemporary sound. It's got the best things about home recording from John Davis, Sebadoh, the rest of the unsung indie outsiders that reintroduced me to music on K Recs, Kill Rock Stars in 7" doses.
This single brought it all back, I'm excited about the whole scene, it's all worthy of consideration, it's the first thing I ever listened to, it took a huge amount of effort to finally make it to the turntable.
This sound is the indescribable thing that was Omaha, hell Saddle Creek then. Maybe it's a complete outsiders perspective of classic 90's indie Americana. The way music was being delivered was just changing and all these new voices sprang up...they were always there, but now they could finally get a real shot, on their own terms. Maybe being in middle America all of the pop culture got filtered down into an area separated by geography, with it's own inner narrative happening to come up with a completely new direction of indie. So it all gets more honest, more sincere. Or that's the only thing that still carries any currency after the 80's was this movement...music from your experience. Sort of along the lines of grunge even...reject the image....that was happening everywhere. If that had something to do with the alienation of suburbia then that was what's honest. I don't know if it was even recognized at the time, or if it took a few years to see the bare honesty of their musical statements.
It also sounds like the 13 years in between the good old days and this single haven't changed a thing, for me this could be Lync or Cap'n Jazz, the raw melodic impassioned indie that has to start off with a great rhythm. 'Amputee' has the odd time signature percussion, all flat sounding...It sounds like Ramon recorded all of this live, but there's a restraint that comes from keeping it down all those years at 2 AM upstairs, blankets on the walls. There's a definitive construction, it's been completely thought out, there's no room for free improv. For better or worse I know what I'm doing. the vocals have a little bit of phaser...he's not trying to be a vocalist, he has to be.
Then on '36,000 feet'....the combination of just off in the distance piano with those smacking drums....distorted guitar just on the surface, it's perfect. The drums have to be that way, you couldn't capture the immediacy of this if you wanted, it's one of those sincere happy accidents.
That's just the A-Side, which I listened to over and over this weekend, thinking about this one. Never even flipped it over.
This is a great single all around, 4 tracks at 33 1/3 that recaptured all of the beginnings of indie rock in a personal way.
It's great, I'll be tracking down earlier stuff.

Unread Records says:

ramon returns to form on four new cuts, after a lucky thirteen year hiatus. between 1994 and 1996 ramon speed released aproximately 60 songs from the not-always-so-safe confines of the home taping milieu, now nearly a vestige...these efforts were primarily memorialized by chris deden and simon joyners sing, eunuchs! as well as rob carmicheals catsup plate labels. there were also a smattering of compilation appearances along side such genre giants as : the mountain goats, lambchop, the bruces, etc. etc. these four songs dont necessarily pick up where ramon left off, but glow with the same bright light that made him so adored among so few...limited to 300 copies, in multi-colored screenprinted sleeves.

Black Pus on Skulltones Records

Black Pus is Brian from Lightning Bolt's solo project. Speaking of Lightning Bolt whose recent album I haven't spent enough time with...I just plain respect those guys, there's the whole art school origin, they've been around forever...I think I even heard of them when I was in art school. And I would say there's still no one putting on a complete live show like them. It's still legendary, when I hear Lightning Bolt is playing in the city, it's going to be an event. I'll want to take someone who's never seen them before because it's not like any other show.
Their documentary captures the whole thing pretty well, and that's an accomplishment because it's such a sad way to see them, but it should definitely inspire you to make the drive.
So Brian's got this drum heavy side project, with similar super effected guitar melodies, but this is getting more primitive. Maybe it's the tribal mask, but even the rhythms themselves sound more raw...it's a minimal kit, maybe it's true what they say about a sort of universal rhythm that's instilled in us from your mothers heartbeat? Listening to your own? It brings up these questions....basically, it's similar to Lightning Bolt in the same raw, pummeling attack and weirdo string sound. Super awesome.

Brian's trying to buy a house, and isn't that just the excuse you needed? This isn't some kickstarter project...he's giving back in the form of this awesome 7" they already pressed! Even if you don't have a record player, that is a 9 color silkscreen! Do you know how long it takes to do that? Weeks! and there's 500 of these! Brian slaved over a press for 4500 passes for gods sake!
Get a freaking frame already. The guy is a serious artist. Better than any of these crazy messes.

Skulltones says:

$8.00 ppd usa
$11.00 ppd world

Brian Chippendale replaces the riffs of Lightning Bolt with fried electronics, reeds, and gleeful vocals in the rhythmic pounding pop of the summer on this solo single. This is a split release with the Corleone Record Group of Rhode Island, and strays from the normal Skulltones aesthetic featuring 9 color silkscreen blooming toilet artwork done by the artist himself.

Thrones on Conspiracy Records

Thrones is the solo project of Joe Preston from Earth, Harvey Milk, Sunn O)))...the list goes on. It's impossible to gauge the influence he's had across the spectrum of music period. All of these projects have elevated and just plain reinvented the post-rock, metal, drone worlds. Then he was in Witchypoo? There's an Unwound connection? Insane.
I literally have no idea based on the myspace tracks what the two sides of this are going to sound like...there's some Mr Roboto vocal effects, it's a metal Clockwork Orange soundtrack, it's ambient quiet synth sounding guitar to thundering 40 bpm drone basslines. I appreciate he's writing everything around that dirty low crunchy bass, nothing can sound as evil or ominous as bass vibrations at insane volume.
He's a one man Battles, I wonder if any of this was ever played live? Is this side project over? He obviously is never going to be satisfied already having been a part of a roster of bands that would make anyone put down the damn guitar and go get a job already. You're no Joe Preston.

Get it from Conspiracy Records, don't be pissed that it's in euros...I haven't checked but I bet one of the usual locals disto's has it.

THRONES - LATE FOR DINNER 7" (CONSPIRACY)
In the early 90s, Joe Preston was a member of drone metal pioneers Earth, a band he left to join the Melvins. In more recent times he's recorded with Sunn 0))), collaborated with ex-members of Karp in the Whip, and toured with High on Fire. After being on the road with High on Fire for almost two years he joined Harvey Milk. Thrones is his solo project in the truest sense of the term: For most recordings, Preston is the only performer. Live, Thrones are a towering inferno of doom-metal, with Preston usually helming a double neck bass, a triggered drum machine and a shelf of pedals by which synths, vocal effects, and multi tracked guitar/bass line emit. This seven inch was initialy sheduled for release a few years ago, but it never materialized, until now. Joe is getting ready to leave on tour throughout Europe with Nadja, so he got his mobile studio set up in front of his trailer and recorded the vocals. This is the first Thrones record in 5 years! Previous bands/projects: C Average, Earth, Harvey Milk, High on Fire, Last Empire, Loud Machine 0.5, Melvins, Men's Recovery Project, The Whip, Witchy Poo.

Also the great Greenpoint Northside fest is back June 24th-27th with every possible venue and band participating.... way too many shows to even possibly see, Wavves at Knitting Fact, The Sundelles at Spike Hill (!?), a Woodsist Showcase at The Music Hall...it's completely nuts. Seriously, the start of a Greenpoint SXSW. It's so freaking local you're probably going to one of the shows anyway and not even realize it's part of this massive endeavor by The L Magazine. It's not just music....there's tons of film and artsy fartsy gallery events too...they are really trying hard to get you out of the damn house already.
Now, I know you want one of those all access Northside Fest passes, and you can enter to win one here, along with a sweet ipad so you can read the NY Times while watching the Liars at Newton Barge Park!
Where the hell is that!?
It's a good thing you have a new ipad.

Wet Illustrated on Corvette City Records

This single from newbies, Wet Illustrated involved Tim Cohen so I had to check it out for today's post.
I listened to Tim's solo album on Empty Cellar over and over a while back, which was really different from the Fresh & Onlys dreamy pop sound and I appreciated that solo he was getting really intimate quiet recordings with unusual instrumentation. He's a hell of a musician for sure, to be working on the F&O's albums and then just going experimental on that solo full length.
That being said, there's no signature Tim sound stamped on the Wet Illustrated. They're going for the powerful jangle from a bassless electric. There's a sort of warble to the strings, it's ramshackle...strung over a metal box with a hole cut out of it and a contact mic dropped in. Well...that's an exaggeration, they aren't getting to the extreme of TNV or something...it's just a sort of carefree sound from the strings...you can hear it as a strummed instrument, it's not buried under a lot of it's own feedbacking all over itself. A tiny practice amp and a lot of heart.
Like 'Born Stoked', the A-Side, there's a little bit of country, maybe its just sincerity, like Wounded Lion, it's a nice pastiche-y throwback hint of psyche sound. Lots of layers of echo vocals and a catchy background melody. I could see this working alongside a lot of the Fresh and Onlys work...it's simply bringing around the good time for a visit.

Get it on your turntable from Corvette City Records.

The Debut single by Wet Illustrated, self released on the newly minted Corvette City Records. Recorded by Tim Cohen in March 2010 and mastered by J. Golden.

A/Born Stoked
B/Flying

Pressing of 300

TONSTARTSSBANDHT - Midnite Cobras on Psychic Handshake Records

Psychic Handshake first caught my attention with that dreamy Ethan Hawke 7" sleeve from 'Dead Wife' the one with that a bull ring in his pretty face....is that photoshopped or did he really do that? Probably...it looks like it's from the Reality Bites days....haven't heard Dead Wife yet but looking through my drafts folder how could I pass up looking into a band with a name like Tonstartsbandht on the same label. The A-Side Midnite Cobras is a god damn blasting fuzzed mass of heavily textured, overblown out peaking distortion but mostly I'm surprised they sound like they've concentrated on the vocals, here they have massive echo, it's slightly reminding me of that No Age wall, but they separate what's happening melodically in the layers, it's not just another unintelligible texture. Then it stops completely and shifts gears into a little ambient guitar, the chorus about midnite cobras is just barely there in the distance...it's sort of a drum circle animal collective vocal experimentation punk. It's pretty amazing where this goes by the end of the 4 1/2 minutes. Completely surprising.

Electric Dragon Sword on the B-Side is seriously tape warbled blown out classic guitar riffs with more massively echoed vocals, this one is a sabbath reel to reel tape that has been lost at sea and painstakingly reconstructed with some CSI shit laboratory, and you can hear it.

What really won me over is some of the other near acapella folk battles insanity like Andy Summers...it doesn't have the catchy mass of Midnite Cobras but it's just a completely new direction to take the blown out sound.

Here's another case of Montreal, Canada harboring some amazing talent..it never ends.

TONSTARTSSBANDHT - Midnite Cobras - Psychic Handshake - PSY 005 - 7" - $ 9.25 ***"Listening to impossibly-named Canadian rockers TONSTARTSSBANDHT is a bit like having your mom snatch the blanket off the bed at seven AM. You will wake up, you will be startled, and there will be nothing you can do but move. Below, the band with no picture and no pronounceable name makes an anti-sound with lo-fi alchemy, and if we could discern a single phrase other than "Midnite Cobras" we'd sing along beyond the refrain."--RCRD LBL

Here's the single from Midheaven, I'm into their new site, it looks great and is super easy to put a bunch of stuff together for labels I'd be having ship stuff separately anyway...so it's always convenient.

Psychic Handshake says:
Other distros that carry our records include the following: FLORIDA'S DYING ALL DAY RECORDS ACADEMY RECORDS PUKE 'N VOMIT KILL SHAMAN FAN DEATH NOMINAL RECORDS TIC TAC TOTALLY P. TRASH (Europe)

so there's no excuse.

Julian Lynch on Underwater Peoples Records

I first was exposed to Julian on a split he did with Ducktails Matt Mondanile for Underwater Peoples. The tracks on that single, if I remember correctly, were similar to Matt's working style, layers of loops, a little dark, hypnotic. I separate their work from the typical ambient field recording because it tends not to have any kind of electronics involved on the recording itself...it's only used to manipulate all kinds of weird source material, but not in a DJ way...I guess this is sort of a neo-folk method of sound appropriation? Like 'Entroducing' for the Woodsist set.

This single gets more songwriter-y. I'm hearing Grandaddy a little bit, maybe it's the keyboard sound on 'Droplet on a Hot Stone'. It has a sort of warm tone, probably mic'd an amp after the fact. That's a great idea, it's that kind of thing that keeps this interesting, the sounds all have layers of patina from process driven recording. There's all kind of textures going on here...I still can't get over that while recording devices have gotten cheaper and smaller and digital, the final released sounds from bands across the spectrum of stuff I've been into lately appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
Just like Sebadoh reintroducing home recording to the indie world, reacting against commercial music, maybe this is a reaction against the technology itself as it becomes less and less personal, people start circuit bending or buying 7"'s...to regain a little of the humanity in the recording process.
'Nen Vole' could almost be a Real Estate lost track...Julian finds a strummed guitar groove and sticks with this very classic melody, sort of a waltz, back and forth, up and down...waves rolling in on the Jersey Shore...Oh God, not that TV show, a different part of the Jersey Shore....there's a dock somewhere on an inlet in Jersey, there's cattails and dragonflies, there's a few waves just hardly rolling in, disturbing the mirror of water...it's that sort of Jersey. The garage next door is open, Julian is rehearsing with himself on every instrument, and recorded a couple of tracks for Underwater Peoples....go get it.

Underwater Peoples says:

Julian Lynch is from Ridgewood, New Jersey. The songs featured on this 7” single were originally created for the 2008 album, Born2Run. The recordings contain both acoustic and electric guitar, a drum kit, a keyboard and Julian’s voice. Everything was recorded on a TASCAM Portastudio 424. While the initial taping began in Julian’s family basement (birthplace of the Alex Bleeker and The Freaks debut), the brunt of the work took place in an empty apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. In a new town with no furniture, Julian recorded the album.

The Better Letters on 4:3 Records.

The Better Letters from down the way Brooklyn have been playing out and around the neighborhood lately and just recently let me know about their single out on 4:3 records.

This is a great sleeve, that ultra designed band logo and minimalist photo in an artists studio of high school chairs with speakers built into the backrest. The reverse side has a hint of chairs legs and splattered paint floor with the track names. Could this band have roots in art school? Well, there's at least 5 art schools in NYC, probably 20-30,000 art students...that's a lot of bands. I'm only bringing that up because of the strong Talking Heads connection which started in...well, art school of course. Art Schools should capitalize on this already...start having studios with mixers and PA systems and have bands play at openings...it's happening already...just charge the parents or state for another credit in 'art band 101'.
The A-Side 'That's not all' has an overall nervous energy... the post punk kind with stuttered guitar strumming. Super quick bursts of chords match Joe Palumbo's vocal delivery, his staccato high register syllables that inflect off the end of the sentence...resulting in an un-singalong-able verse. They're little aural punches, the weird oversize suit kind, psycho killer punches. The jerky chicken movement....it's frantic, a little unnerving, not even necessarily lining itself up to be danceable, like !!!, it's got that energy, but not going in for the easy hooks...I like the fighting metaphor...they jab around waiting, not to knock you out ever, just poke around until you go down...
Just hearing this arty new wave melody and the word 'television' in a song really takes m back to the 80's when TV was just starting to be drug of the nation. MTV was just starting to play videos, but maybe it was the threat of all of cable TV that just seemed to be too much for suburban society. The pure sound of music was threatened by the increasingly more important image that bands had started to exploit and parents just couldn't compete with this always entertaining 24 hour force. Hey isn't 4:3 the aspect ratio of TV?

It's all hearkening back to that Reagan nuke cold war era...which was the jumpy almost apocalyptic new wave or the other way around...I don't know which was the chicken or the egg in that case.
But in 2010 it's an era of 'Hope' © after all and how does this challenging pop influenced sound translate now? It's a descendant of that Clap Your Hands lineage, (in retrospect they might have just happened upon that combination of new wave nerves and indie guitar that worked by accident, and there was no follow up. I'm not sure). But this sounds a little more unemotional...dare I say they get into Devo territory even...or the Units? It's hard not to come up with David Byrne in this case, and they are pulling that mid 80's Talking Heads sound off perfectly, and it'd coming from that cold place...or maybe just objective place. We don't have any feelings because we're those girls in the back of the Addicted to love video. Making money like American Psycho...pure paranoia. No wonder there is that hoarding show on Bravo.

'Container' raises the post-everything bar adding plinky keys to the epileptic changing jangly thin electric thin, barley amplified sound. I would even bring up the Futureheads self titled. It's that same feeling, layered unusual phrasing...pure art school...appropriate weird stuff, the influences mash together, but a willingness to experiment in that genre and take it to a further place. Put down that sculpture degree and pick up a guitar...

Another clue to the art school background is the nice website, they obviously took a web design class somewhere, and you can preview both of the tracks from the single there and purchase the vinyl, or better yet pick up a copy your own bad self watching them live this Sunday at the Bell House in Brooklyn.

The Better Letters are a fitting name for a band that considers each note, each phrase, and each chorus as carefully as its five members. The perfect antidote to the run-on sentence, the band’s short, sweet, never self-indulgent reinvention of jittery, late 70’s punk will make you want to get up and dance. On the Brooklyn, five-piece’s first 7-inch (4:3 Records), songwriter/guitarist/vocalist, Joe Palumbo’s nervous, wailing vocals (reminiscent of David Byrne or Mark Mothersbaugh) ground angular guitars, traveling bass lines, and organ-like synth sounds. While The Better Letters most immediately evoke bands like Devo or the Talking Heads, the less overt garage and soul influences make them sound more like The Make-Up on a meth bender. The band came together about a year ago (early 2009), when Abe Something and former sh-sh-sh-Shark Attack! guitarist Joe Palumbo teamed up to play Palumbo’s songs. Shortly afterwards, they were joined by Ben Brunnemer (former sh-sh-sh-Shark Attack!) on guitar, Sunset Jones on bass guitar, and Steve Goldberg (former Organized Sports) on drums. The band’s 7” inch was recorded by Jason LaFarge of Seizures Palace Recording (Devandra Banhart, Angels of Light, Khanate, Akron/Family) and can be purchased at www.thebetterletters.com.

by Jennifer Bassett

Eohippus Live Life on Opium EP on Velocity of Sound Records

Eohippus is a guy freaking out on the grave of Andy Warhol. I'm not talking figuratively or using some kind of clever metaphor about the sound coming off of this single...I mean it literally. There's a handnumbered still photo of a video piece of Bobby (I'm guessing based on the 'Love, Bobby' in silver sharpie) in just underwear with white pantyhose over his face dancing on the grave of Andy Warhol.
That in and of itself would be amazing enough just as a conceptual video...really that's my kind of art, to the point, insane and funny as hell. I don't need desperate people crying in a chair at Moma. It's not my bag baby...but going to the grave of Andy Warhol and pouring tomato soup on your head? Perfect. He would love it. I love it.
Even more appropriately is the title of the track for spinning on top of Warhol's grave: 'Live life on opium', basically it consists of the same formula for all three tracks on this single, weird tempo drum machine, direct recorded clear electric and massively loud echo/distorted vocals...I swear he ends this track with '....no survivors', but maybe that's an unconscious pavement reference on my part. It's half freakout, all bedroom insanity... it definitely has that solo kind of mental breakdown that just wouldn't take place with more than one person in the room.
The vocals are pitch shifted higher for that demented helium effect at times, or constant homage to Ween. Who else uses the woodblock/cowbell drum kit?
The really puzzling part of these tracks, especially 'Burn to Burn (who am I even to be you)' is the amount of groove/soul going into the guitar. It's a breakdown of that genre, but I don't think Eohippus can help but have those traditional moments breakthrough when the weirdness isn't trying so hard to take over. Those things that have invaded everyone's brains growing up. If you ever heard music period in the formative years, you're going to have to spend some time getting rid of those influences. You could say Eohippus is involved in a systematic step by step attempt to reject all that popular culture and rebuild it back up in a personal way.
But it keeps coming back to this video...it sums up this project for me: completely ridiculous and a little scary how far it can go, but I'm so glad it exists. We could use more of this tiny bit of smart anarchy.
But for now I'll just be satisfied with 7" of it from Velocity of Sound.

And now, 7" video of the year:

The Chickens on Siltbreeze Records

Barely even heard these guys, didn't get my hands on that 10", so I headed over to the myspace, the track from the Skulls comp is pretty catchy and insane, the guitar tone is completely weird. In general, they're really pushing the limits of the echo. There's a knob that needs to go to 11. Don't know the FNU Ronnies, but the drum machine is a nice frantic metronome addition I'm sure. It keeps this whole mess moving at top speed. Organ chords, static, stutters of vocals, half talking...it's the kind of thing that would drive you insane if you weren't the one blasting it already on the stereo. It's a little like that track 'I'm in jail dad!' from Was (not was) ??? They did that? What? The track from Pump up the Volume? I respect them????

Anyone in the hall within earshot is thinking, 'How the fuck is this music?' because you take something this far off the radar and throw a few layers of sheet rock between your ears and this and it's going to seem like you're the one that needs to be institutionalized.
This single is perfect for young adults who want to piss off parents or nearing middle age adults who think they still got it...and better yet have no one to answer to. Oh yea! Your music is shit! Go call the cops! It's fighting music.

If you're going to live under my roof then you'll listen to the Chickens!

I don't care if Idol is on!

"Debut vinyl outing from Kyle & Mike (2/3rds FNU Ronnies + drum machine) following a cassette on Fan Death as well as a track contrib on last years Skulls Without Borders 10" comp. Cant say for certain where Chickens mine the toxic ore to forge their urk, but they uncannily tap into similar staub once snuffed by prime Euro movers such as early Dieter Meier & Geisterfahrer not to mention channeling the nascent vibe of Amphetamine Reptile (think Halo Of Of Flies Insecticide Stomp in particular). 4 tracks, 1 time edition of 400, no repress." - Roland Woode, Professional writer

I can't say I'm sure there are even any left of these...Siltbreeze followers are a rabid bunch, (myself included, but I'm late telling you guys....on purpose?) and it's been almost 2 weeks now (what a dick!), but you can try at: Paypal - sltrx (at) pil.net