Record Labels in Greenpoint

This is why I live here people!

It's the center of the 7 Inches universe!
(*some locations based on uneducated guesses)




Eat it every other city!

The Famines on Mammoth Cave

This came in the stack of new singles from Paul at the Mammoth Cave, who is busily documenting a pretty amazing sounding scene from up North, including their latest single form The Famines.

I love this black and white aesthetic Mammoth Cave has going on these and this newspaper looking cover is great. It's actually an article from George Orwell about politics and the English language, mostly railing against the decline of grammar and how basically if you can't even use standard rules to communicate then basically whatever you're talking about starts out at a disadvantage...I think? it was pretty long, and printed really tiny after having been xeroxed so, I was filling in the dots.

The Famines, like any two piece, start out with very little to work with to make an impression of even a melody. But these self imposed restrictions often create rules to constantly fight against. Out of necessity they're making a hell of a noise, in 'Syllable' the guitar rhythm and drums are completely divorced from each other, then the vocal delivery is off on it's own clock...how Garrett is managing to keep these two separate melodies going is really his own, it isn't easy to follow.

The impressive thing about any massively blown out sound like this is the seemingly infinite amount of expression in recording imperfectly. Does is sound like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Tyvek? In ways, but not really at the same time. Is it all overdriven in the red with a steady layer of fuzz coating the whole thing? Well.....yea.
I think what probably is offending everyone when the term 'lo-fi' is even mentioned is that it applies to such a wide reaching diverse cross section of bands...does it need to be broken down further into subcategories? That seems to always be the solution. The point is that doesn't describe what's happening musically...you might as well tell me about the microphones and drum kit...all of that can be useful, but it's a tiny part of the picture...how the fuck does it come together? What are they getting at?
'Got Lies', the B-Side is not blues so much as maybe it's rooted in the Kinks, that once removed reinterpreted sound. I'm tempted to think this of this one as a sort of punk velvet underground. It's got those droning chords, especially in the second refrain, it's almost a bowed sitar sound? But maybe that comes from again connecting those dots between peaks of sound waves. Sounds have a weird way of changing at these volumes. This track is insanely complex while still being a straight up catchy melodic song. The transition between a sort of punk rockabilly down to the acapella vocals and tom solo involves numerous free form steps that can only be played by a tight two piece like this.
That moment when it's just Garrett alone singing for a minute with the hum of an amp in the background is just one of those great moments they, (and I) appreciate for just a second. they have that restraint to work at melody and structure this way. It's surprising and stays grounded in previous eras sounds but turning into something else.
It's the reason for a B-Side on a single, they get outside the box for a second.
I like the idea that they are recording so loud because of the quiet moments like that. So when it picks up again of course it's peaking and blown out, it's doing it's job of being that foil to the quiet dark verse. It's all delivered with just the right amount of echo that bounces off itself so you can only vaguely infer there's some kind of fucked up situation with a girl going on.

Get it from Mammoth Cave, the Famines sound bad ass based on the other stuff on their website, these sound like a departure from some of the tracks I heard, but I can see why you'd put this on a sweet, sweet seven inch.
And god damn it if they don't include a download card....I guess I'm going to have to look into doing that for my single, because it's freaking convenient...christ, more technology B.S. to possibly go wrong.

The Fresh and Onlys on Agitated Records

The Fresh and Onlys are back at it again, reminds me of the old days of the avalanche of Blank Dogs singles. Every label wants a piece of the F&O's for their tiny slabs of vinyl. These songs are growers for me. I wasn't a fan right away of the 'August in my Mind' 12", but now I think what an idiot, those tracks would come up on random and I'd check the playlist and damn if they weren't from that one every time.
The A-Side, 'Impending Doom' is getting me right away, their kind of catchy cold folk is spot on again, metronome tambourine, it even gets a little jammed out at the end...distortion flying, after the pop part of the song is over...this is perfect for putting down on a single. Tim Cohen is freaking prolific...and I guess if you keep coming up with tracks like this and someone is willing to put them out, then it's a no brainer. There can't be enough exposure for these guys as far as I can tell. The worlds not sick of the Fresh & Onlys.
This just means I'd love to hear the B-side.

I think you'll have to get this import directly from Fusetron, who says:

*Artist: FRESH & ONLYS
Title: Impending Doom
Format: 7"
Label: Agitated
Country: UK
Price: $9.00
"Another total winner from the Agitated stable, and two blasts of wild pop from San Franciscos finest purveyors of said genre THE FRESH & ONLYS. "Impending Doom" is the bands their first UK release, and ties in with UK shows, ATP etc. Both tracks highlight the bands abilities in creating pop music thats skewed yet perfect and both songs are also exclusive to this release." -Agitated

Here's the track from Agitated:

The Fresh & Onlys - Impending Doom by Forte Distro

Car Commercials on Soft Abuse

It's been a while since the Jar single on Leaf Leaf records, and I had to go rifling through the shelves finding that one to get some perspective on this latest from Daniel Dimaggio and Daniel Sutton. I don't think I had any idea about Home Blitz at the time I bought it, so this single has a totally different place on the shelf now. That's the good thing about singles, making those connections later...buying a single like Jar just because of the xerox cover that looked like it was made in 5 minutes and of course the name. I held onto it because I always appreciated how all over the place it was, you were going to get something different out of it every time.
Listening to it now all I can hear is the Cave Bears, a stream of consciousness rehearsal space jam session that's constantly changing...going as home recorded as possible, sounding tortured, or happy... cut together so you never know the difference. I like the ambiguity, there's a lot you can personally take away from this. It's accessible, it has that I could do that feel, while having enough melodic moments to draw you in for another spin.

This 'Prisoner of Type' single from Soft Abuse finds the two of them, years later, very serious crouched in the woods...still delivering on that homemade psyche promise. It doesn't get bogged down with a lot of rules or particular sounds, and that can sound like a cop out, not nailing down what you're trying to get across, but that's the point and it works.
It's weird to just hear Home Blitz peek out here and there in phrases, the vocals get loud and that half english accent from Perpetual Night comes out for a second. Sort of like Car Commercials is the Ducktails to Daniel's Home Blitz, it's the unhinged, free form side of the home recordings. Daniel's vocals are really deconstructed, with no obvious melody, each syllable is an unrelated note at times with lots of space.
On the flip side the both of them are on guitar blurting out vocals on S's Pawn but The Bag Saga two part track is the most successful combination of their experimentation and melody. Accordion and acoustic sparse layers capturing a real loneliness and alienation. It's another document of why Daniel is going to continue to be interesting, you just can't pin him down.

I don't know if these guys will ever tour, or exist outside these two singles and the Judy's Dust full length or Eric's Diary, it would be impossible to recreate any of this successfully, unless they just took a improv route for every performance, and that can be genius or a nightmare for an audience. I could see them taking that chance.

From Soft Abuse, black vinyl long playing 33 with a punch out adapter thingy in the center and download card.

Car Commercials explore the personal / loner side of DIY with their singular take on no-chord strum & mumble rock n’ roll alienation. Dave Sutton and Daniel DiMaggio have created another soundtrack of suburban boredom & terminal paranoia; the stifling, mundane source of this music (geographically and psychologically speaking) is mirrored and regurgitated in these five tunes. Where once they tread a formless, lurching path, Car Commercials now tromp along with more-cohesive abandon. Moments of spontaneity & pure attitude are delivered in restrained spurts and jabs, and their chops seem better, too. All in all, Prisoner of Type extends the duo’s unsettling missives into (slightly) less-rudimentary corners. Each side offers a different, uh, side of the band. Its a savory listen. 300 pressed, includes a free download.

Side A
01. Supper's on the Table
02. Prisoner of Type
Side B
01. S's Pawn
02. The Bag Saga, pt. 1 [mp3]
03. The Bag Saga, pt. 2

Sticks and Stones on Trouble in Mind Records

Trouble in Mind hooked me up with some digital files of their latest 4 pack offering of 7" singles. They just keep pumping these out and from bands like Sticks N Stones, who I really need to hear, obviously.

This is pure punk pop, reminding me of Cheap Time, it has an insane polish with dual guy/girl vocals from Paul and Natalie, and it takes the super macho edge off the usual kind of garage sneer. I want to party and jump around, not slice wrists.
It's recorded with a pretty harsh treble edge, even the bass is missing a real low end, it places this even more in a sort of '70s era AM classic rock. Completely at a breakneck speed, there's no place in either of these sides for any kind of pause, it's verse, verse, change key, chorus, back down, repeat at least ten times. They sound like literally pushing that envelope of speed and power changes, all staying together...thanks to having played in a bunch of prior bands I'm sure.

I love that this sound is coming out of Milwaukee too, it's sort of the last place I would think of. I picture Milwaukee as a sort of Midwest version of Pittsburgh, trying to figure out what to do with itself after the industry has all left town. Just holding on to it's colleges and warehouses...so of course a scene like this would spring out of the reinvention. Sticks N Stones are out there geographically making some damn good lemonade out of the couple of lemons left. I'm painting a bleak picture, but it would make sense to have a beacon of almost bubblegum punk rise out of the wreckage.


Just one of the latest singles from Trouble in Mind...it's far from over:

This follow up to their debut single on Dusty Medical picks up where that hot slab o' wax leaves off - hitting you square in the gut with two stabs of sharp pop perfection! A veritable Milwaukee "super-group' of sorts featuring Paul Kalfahs and Jon Heibler from Catholic Boys, & Natalie Clark from the Tears (and all three from the Tuff Bananas!), Sticks N Stones keeps it lean & mean, slicing off riffs from 70's & 80's Power Pop (and a nick or two from classic 60's bubblegum) with rapid-fire intensity calling to mind such great Midwestern bands as Cheap Trick, Shoes, & the Kind. "Is It You" is a spastic spark of self-examination & "Telling The Truth" is a pounding plea for the listener's trust - it ain't no lie!
The single comes housed in the Trouble In Mind factory sleeve, & first press comes on randomly mixed colored vinyl, & includes a download code!

Tonetta on Black Tent Press

I don't know what I was planning on writing about today, but it doesn't matter since Black Tent posted this announcement on facebook (!?) for a Tonetta 7" over the weekend.

The full length...hell, the videos are amazing, and I admit I might have not even been listening to them that closely, not that it mattered...it was too good to be true. But when I actually put the record on the turntable it was like Leonard Cohen and Ariel Pink teamed up for this weird canned backup track instrumentation and completely carnal vocals. Actually listening to the music, it's pretty amazing, it has the feel of pressing that demo button on a casio, but it's a lot more complex...the chord changes, the drum fills...he's no Wesley Willis, there's some musicianship behind the tracks. They all have kind of the same feel....sort of '80's background elevator, or mall soundtrack, they're clearly second tier to the vocal, which is full frontal sexy baritone. I was shocked at how great they are even in melody. They're hard to break down and figure out what exactly is going on in the slightly dance-inspired hit like "drugs drugs drugs", but it really will kill anyone lyrically the first time around. It can hold up to more than just the gimmick factor...
I really get the feeling this guy gets off on creating this character with these ideas that he wouldn't admit to. 'I'm gonna marry a prostitute', and 'A Really big cock'. As much as the tracks are great by themselves, it's really impossible to divorce from his imagery. It's a Tim & Eric sketch brought to life. Here's this older gentleman out there in Toronto, shooting these completely outsider spicy videos for himself and then youtube came along ...(why did he want to share them with the world again?)... I guess Tonetta really wants an audience. Everyone does...but it feels like a compulsion of some kind to have people see him sort of humiliated? Subjecting himself to the comments alone...he's got to be kind of into it.The sad bastard acoustic solo dude in his bedroom is kidding himself if he thinks he doesn't want this kind of attention. It makes perfect sense to contact this guy to release an album, but at the same time I'm surprised it actually made it to vinyl.

He literally wouldn't exist for anyone else without youtube or the internet at all for that matter. I'm sure he needs to do this, he's compelled to communicate his fetishes mostly...and that makes sense. What do you care more about then fucking? Food? That's boring to sing about. Singing and music is sex, Tonetta's taking it back to the reason why we came up with melody in the first place, to get attention for some action. I just know he's the real deal, it oozes with sincerity and idiosyncrasy. The kind that shouldn't ever be duplicated, that's better than anyone trying could ever imagine.

This will be gone along with the full length LP from Black Tent Press, as I'm writing this. I wish he would play live, but then again, maybe not.

Get it Going b/w Mmm Mama! 45

140gm 45
2 color serigraph
remastered to vinyl by Butchy Fuego
#BTP005

Cloud Nothings on Old Flame Records

Cloud Nothings is this guy, Dylan Baldi, and I've been seeing his single popping up with some great reviews, so I thought I'd add to the mess...mostly because I just ordered it from Old Flame Records who happen to be based on Henry Street! How many labels are in Brooklyn?....not to brag, but jesus...I'm going to make some kind of tagged map thing for the sidebar with all of them all mapped out. Just because I think it would be ridiculous.

The thing I like right away with Cloud Nothings is the underlying pop structure. It's like Pink Reason was when I first randomly got a single from hozac...it was in that fuzzy punk family of grungy production, but it seemed to be always trying to still come up with a catchy riff and chorus in the end. That's why I think I still appreciate Wavves. Maybe it took that kind of haze to distill down a pop song out of his head. Haven't heard the new one actually....so maybe that static was just out of a lack of confidence and now he's been built up and torn down so it's back to the basics...we'll see.

'Didn't you' the A-Side is a frantically peppy combination of high pitch twee synth and just a hint of distortion guitar. This one is sounding like So Cow, that kind of unabashed glee in creating and performing another catchy three minutes. There's the oooo's and repeated god damn happy cheap synth melody. It's all captured with that shine, sure there's a lot of layers, and it's a one man project but he's been keeping it squeaky clean.

'Even if it worked out' continues to straddle that line between some kind of punk, and pop indie feel. It's catchy and dark, with those pause breaks where everything drops out for a fraction of the chorus. It's the B-Side? This one is killer..especially when he starts going balls out at the end...'I'm sorry we can't be friends'. I like Cloud Nothings to be a little pissed or I start to suspect they're smiling themselves into a twee coma...and they'll end up like Kimya Dawson, the terrible last gasp, endgame for twee.

But really check out 'Turning on' ...tell me that's going to be a single...damn it has this great weirdo staccato jangly off rhythm guitar...it's a perfect melody he must have known it immediately.

Of the 300 there might be one left, if you jump on it.

Big troubles on Olde English Spelling Bee

God damn, who doesn't love that sleeve...just a bunch of crazy bullshit from a childhood...vaguely recognizable...but they're things that could possibly cross over into present day. Those items could actually be useful musically, in the right hands. I think that's some of the best art, reusing common everyday things in new ways...in unexpected, serious ways. Like trying to seriously compose music with a guitar hero controller.
Not that Big Troubles is a gimmick band playing on kids toys or something, they just might be trying to reclaim a little of that nostalgia. It's a pretty nice time in your life, the pre-thirteen years and not because of the ninja turtles or go-bots, but more because you really don't care what a lot of the world is doing or thinking about you. You're self aware enough to be semi-independent, but you have no fashion, or music taste...you're a blank slate. It seems like if you want to be an astronaut, or play the guitar, you can.

The A-Side 'Bad People' has a snappy plate delay unrecognizable instrument sound that pings around over the murky synths. This is definitely going pop. I was always kind of missing the peppier tracks on that Gary War self titled album...it can be real meditative, not good for driving late at night long distances if you know what I mean. But this has a tapping along tempo, and the sounds are all in the family of Gary's brand of manipulations, it's just harsher, trying to get your attention...demanding it more...unlike Eno and War, who just want you to barely notice what's happening. Big Troubles is a little bit looking for attention and throwing everything into the ceiling fan.

The first track from the B-Side side: 'Drastic and Difficult' has a real harsh cheap electronic percussion track doubled on itself that set it off in a dark glitch direction...sort of like Cold Cave or something and then the layers of guitar echo pile on. A little bit No Age, the overall volume doesn't get past 8, even though the audio waveform is almost a straight horizontal bar of distortions...maybe this is a reaction against the Pixies loud quiet loud, there is a sort of constant drone of sounds that change frequency developing a melody, but that volume level as a sort of emotional signifier for the listener is gone. The aural climax is missing. The shock of a barely audible verse against the crash of all guitar distortion isn't there...did we get tired of this roller coaster of rock? Maybe it's back to an even steady ride from JAMC, or abandon guitars all together and just add layers while bouncing it back on to itself over and over, like a xeox machine feeding the last thing copied back onto the glass...

Actually this track (from the myspace) 'Modern Infancy' sounds a little like the Swirlies and their untuned guitar whammy chord bending...the off tune strumming that finds it's way back in tune by the beginning of the next verse.


Checkout the Olde English Spelling Bee blog for ordering info and a special edition Big Troubles SXSW version of this single, with a more improved collage sleeve. They'll be playing the Glasslands on July 30th...consider this my RSVP.
Big Troubles also has the best angelfire website ever.

Artist: BIG TROUBLES Title: Drastic & Difficult Format: 7" Label: Olde English Spelling Bee Country: USA Price: $6.50 "Kicking off the new OESB 7" series with a 4 track single by Big Troubles. International playboy Matt Mondanile (Real Estate, Ducktails) discovered Big Troubles and urged Olde English Spelling Bee to sign these guys on the spot for their fresh industrial shoegaze pop sound. Done and done. Features home recordings by Alex Craig and Ian Drennan who split songwriting and vocal duties down the middle. They are joined live by Luka Usmiani (No Demons Here) on bass and Sam Franklin (Fluffy Lumbers) on drums. Their debut full-length album, Worry, will be out on OESB in July." - Olde English Spelling Bee.

Modey Lemon on These are not records

These are not records has tricked the world once again and pressed a record from the Modey Lemon...not sure if that's like Mod-y, or Mode-y lemon...and then I keep reading it thinking it's actually supposed to be moldy. Then there's the title of the A-Side....Wandering Eye? Does this have anything to do with Ween's The Mollusk, or is it a dude wandering eye he's talking about.

I always appreciate a label like this that goes all out on packaging, no expense spared...the 70g vinyl is insanely thick, I don't even bother putting that center weight on the spindle for these kind of singles...they don't need it. Impossible to bend...I've never seen one with a wave in it a needle has to ride up and down. It doesn't get more serious than the heavy single..there are import 7"'s I wish were pressed....oh well, I've always wanted to try that two pieces of glass trick on the fire escape. Then there's the heavy double sided printed cardstock and parchment hand stamped inner sleeve...details.

The A-Side:, Wandering Eye has a weird heavy off beat rhythm, sort of like Talking Heads 'Once in a lifetime', it sounds like they're working at combining similar core elements here. It's a lot of work to get this percussion to come off right, there's no 4/4 to fall back on...no easy way to work a fill in. It's the heavy lifting of a drummer pushing his limits, and they captured his massive sound that's matched with super fuzz basslines. Phil Boyd on vocals is sounding like a Anthony Kiedis meets Michael Hutchence....his take on an unmelodic hip hop talky delivery.
That sentence sounds insane.
I think they're in that limbo place of heavy riff balls rock and funk...with some moody MC-ing echo'd in. The guitar and bass call and answer each other throughout and this unrelenting groove never really changes into a chorus, it's hell bent on this straight rumbly course.
The B-Side 'Cheetahs for Chariots' starts out with a disjointed synth warble and unstable rhythm that quickly pulls out a melody with the scuzzy bassline. The percussion instruments are punched in and out by the measure. I liked the minimal bass here...it starts out already so effected and fuzzy that all by itself practically it can work. So much energy was put into that particular sound they don't overdo it with solos. The high range synth swirls around unmodulated, the pitch wheel in overdrive. The vocals on this side are reminding me of the Stone Roses...a sort of cool detached approach to vocals. Not a mumble but a laid back just barely changing note style...on top of these breakbeat style sample sounding beats, I keep looking for a credit in the liner notes, but I think that's a testament to Paul Quattrone's sheer abilities to improvise and bring something more than the usual keeping time.

These Are Not Records in the about section of their site are as enthusiastic about vinyl as obviously anyone reading this is. Anyone holding a 7" single anytime, anywhere should remember it's only because of obsessive fans of the format like these guys, who went out of their way financially to figure out the process and then encourage a band to give them a few tracks, that most of your and my shelf exists. Each one of those tiny pieces of vinyl is an insane story of process and probably struggle of some kind to have it finally make it onto your pathetic turntable!
You are not worthy!
Actually you too play an important part knowing you're practically the second...well OK, after the artist, the third most important part of the process. Without you, there would be no reason to keep creating music, let alone to keep this obsolete music format actually growing, so when you go to order the single, you can keep that smug little grin on your face...you are important after all.

These are not records cares.

Party Photographers on Ian Records

Ian from Ian records brought this to my attention a few weeks ago and the faded monochromatic faux silkscreen sleeve on top of the speaker caught my attention last night, so I threw it on with some coffee this morning. Believe it or not it's actually related to yesterday's greaser homage sleeve so it worked out.
This single from Philly's Party Photographers is actually a 4 song EP from the foursome. I'm pretty sure I was playing it at 33... it's a long one and looks to be the first release from the self titled label.

There's a slight '60s feel to this, and it's more than just that girl group sound, minus the peppy harmony of course. There's a sort of psyche feel buried in the sea of noise, that kind of JAMC(sea), full of space, really deliberately planned and then stepping back, giving up a little control to see where the haze is going. It's a huge overwhelming layered sound, the snare even is doubled with another track of overblown hiss with every hit, and I'm thinking I like the use of the lo-fi here...just a hint on the snare, to echo that gravely kind of loose hit. Otherwise it's pretty clean, there isn't the obligatory overblown mic...it's making full use of every last track, building on top of itself.
Elizabeth's vocals are faithfully capturing the buried echo of the woooo's and la la's of the Spector sound along with the grittiness of the better girl garage groups. You want and you get a little 'Leader of the pack' in the mix. The kick hits on the downbeat with tambourine? It's classic.

All the eras are represented in the Party Photographers. All the way back to the Shangri La's and the Ronettes, right up through the Lush's or Mazzy Star's and straight to the Dum Dum Girls contemporary reinterpretation of this wall of sound. They're the next step in this lineage.
Mostly the tracks are solidly melodic except for 'DAFHB', the first track on the B-Side which starts to sound chant-y, and I'm immediately thinking about the possibility of them exploring that primitive These are Powers or Liars sound. Instead of directly descending from the '60's girl group sound they might better be a mutation that survived somehow on things no one else was touching. It's a little more sinister, blatantly unhappy? Instead of wishing on the future, they're disappointed with the reality?
I might be looking for more of that dark sound after the disappointing Best Coast release...of the two tracks I got to, 'Boyfriend', and 'Crazy for you'? Over and over the cheesy sentiment of 'I wish he was my boyfriend'? Maybe it was intended more tongue in cheek? But I think I was hearing it as a kind of sincere update on that girl group sound. It's just outdated and stalkery...is that supposed to be the twist? The jury's not out yet...I'll be giving it a chance for months still.
I think the Party Photographers have more of an edge than just an update...they use that time and place as a jumping off point and then get punk...or minimal like Meghan Remy...

There's a great piece about these guys at the Girl About Town site, it made me like them even more...I hope they get in on some good shows in NYC...from the looks of their fliers they've opened up for all the right people in Philly.

This single from Ian is a great freaking start.

Mirah on Mississippi Records

I'll always remember that Mirah single I randomly ordered from K Recs. I wasn't really epecting anything, I didn't know her at other than random mentions in articles as a reference to something I liked. The A-Side 'Cold Water' didn't sound like anything else I was interested in at the time. Huge orchestration, and she has a great voice that borders on both some kind of innocent twee sound and classically trained belting it out.
Cold Water is great...I then went through C'mon Miracle, but don't remember it having that kind of impression on me. I just kept going back to that single to hear what it was I liked about it, and not having any other sort of info about her I just made up what other albums were going to sound like.
Looks like she has a full length coming out on K Recs soon and this single is maybe kicking that whole thing off. She is Portland and it makes perfect sense Mississippi Records would be putting this one out...two originals from Mirah, and it looks like she's getting into the '60s' girl group sound along with Frankie and countless others, starting with this motorcycle sleeve. I'd be interested to hear her take on a couple of Sha Na Na's covers...anything from that period. Couldn't find these on her myspace, so this Mississippi single is probably it...100 copies.
Get it from K recs themselves or Midheaven

MIRAH - Don't / The Tears That Fall - Mississippi - MR 071 - 7" - $ 6.45
***MIRAH (K Records) has graciously blessed the Mississippi label with a beautiful 45. This piece of wax contains two original Mirah songs, celebrating the classic girl group era of the '60's. Loosely following this format, and with the accompaniment of some individualistic musicians, something unique was born. Backing musicians from EVOLUTIONARY JASS BAND, PINK WIDOWER and GOLDEN BEARS. Recorded at The Pool Recording Studio in Portland, OR with ALEX YUSIMOV. Co-produced by TARA JANE ONEIL and CHRISTOPHER DOULGERIS (Hooliganship, Mirah). Old-Style Full Color Tip-On Sleeve.

The Jameses - Haunted Rider on Mayo Factory

I've been listening to The Jameses based on Captured Tracks glowing mention of getting copies of this single to sell from Mayo Factory...and it's weird. At points on 'A Haunted Rider', they sound like something between Belle and Sebastian and The Clinic...a sort of bouncy English ....(what the fuck was the period in England, like the Happy Mondays shit? It wasn't shoegaze? New Romantic? Fuck it, it was terrible) It's not reminding me of that...but it's working in a lot of different ways. Sort of dance-y even, the electronics are deliberately obscure...maybe even outdated. It's got the jangly guitars....maybe it's the vocals, the layers of harmony and the jangle of the guitar but I'm getting an electronic Shins sort of a feel.
It's a weird one to pin down.
Something like Gual Lo, has such weird electronics that it's like early...and I'm going English again....Human League....but probably how they sounded to someone back then when they were in the middle of it. but it's modern, Crystal Castles overwhelming glitchy sounding, but then with that real simple almost background vocal style...it's a good contrast to the dense dancefloor soundtrack. They literally play a scale of notes up the keyboard in a way that doesn't sound ridiculous. But then the '5th Dimension', gets all Neon Indian...and raves out.
I'm tempted to give this a chance based on the fact that Captured tracks hasn't ever steered me wrong yet...and they have a full length scheduled with these guys so I know it's true love.

Captured Tracks says:

Captured Tracks is in love with The Jameses, we were lucky enough to secure copies of their self-released debut 7". It's bright, slightly psychedelic pop that has it's own feel, a lot of things come to mind, but check their MySpace to draw your own comparisons ("To The Shores of Lake Placid" maybe?).

"Lo and behold, it, like everywhere else, has plenty of varied strains of underground digging up towards the sun simultaneously and if the ones who've shown up with their bathing suits and sun screen are a sign, then let's jump the gun and call this the summer of Florida, even though their seasonal variations are ambiguous at best. So far, we've gone out on a limb for Jacuzzi Boys and Lil Daggers and Matrix Infinity, and now we'd like to throw another branch out for the breezy garage pop of The Jameses.

If this is the sound of West Palm Beach, I'm ready to retire." -Impose

Or the Jameses themsleves say:

The Jameses debut 7 inch on mayo factory. $6ppd. Send payment to threeheadedlion(at)gmail.com as a personal payment.

Radians on Mammoth Cave Records

The Mammoth Cave has been steadily pumping out the talent on single after single from up north recently...north and very far west.
Paul, who I think is a part of this project, as he is most everything on Mammoth Cave in addition to starting up the label also writes for Weird Canada. I've been reading Paul's stuff since the 7,10,12 days and he's got damn good taste in all kinds of stuff I agree and disagree with, so I was excited to hear he was actually putting some of those concepts into practice, but I didn't realize it was with so many different projects. And this isn't even the half of them....no wonder I haven't been able to get him on the phone for an interview...
Paul is as always playing bass on this single, and their myspace page is down or nonexistent as well as any other info about this Radians incarnation.

The A-Side 'Iran' ...why do I keep thinking of that flock of seagulls song...The minute I look at that title I'm singing that song, and the worst part is, it has nothing to do with that part of the world....but neither does their song either...I think it's about running. Can't say I wasn't a little disappointed. I want someone to tackle that shit in an intelligent way, there is a way to combine politics and music. Maybe it shouldn't be, but that doesn't mean we have to stop trying. Oh but these guys are from Canada...well fuck, no wonder, they didn't start any of this mess to begin with....my apologies.
'Bad People', the B track is the strongest one for me, super Isaac Brock sounding vocals which I don't have a problem with. It's about time in fact someone took that sound back since it's been practically been completely ruined after the fact. This one starts off as the obligatory slow breakdown B-Side and then floors it into the layered thin vocals sitting right on top of the whole mix. There's a pretty slick guitar solo that breaks up the freight train, and the whole package is well taken care of separated sounds for such a bouncy pit of riffs.

First 7" in a series of 5 planned limited singles with artwork by Seattle's C.M. Ruiz, Radians features members of Myelin Sheaths (HoZac/Bachelor) and Fist City (LP on Deadbeat soon). Weird Canada calls it 'granular, anthemic pop' which is probably pretty much exactly what this single sounds like. Take a chance.
1st (and only) pressing of 200 Black (Only 95 left after Wyrd Alberta Travelling Fest)

One and only pressing of 200!!??? I don't know if I really deserved it, but thanks guys. Put an order together from Mammoth Cave already.


-P.S.-
I really missed the lyrics on this one...The Radians just freaking let everyone know myspace is dead!
In the vocals on the track and their deleted myspace page - go check these guys out instead at Muxtape. Then they even go on lyrically to get crazy political and go after the evil Americans. What am I deaf???

Myspace is dead (one lyric in Iran - "you are just a Myspace loser") but radians.muxtape.com

Also - Iran is totally political, the refrain "you're wrong you're wrong you're wrong" is directed at Glenn Beck of all ppl, and the whole song is about the increasingly illiterate American (ha!) populace whose politics are skin deep, ruled by fear and consumption.

You want Hussein hiding? / we got Hussein hanging!

Useless Eaters on Jeth Row Records

I search for everything Useless Eaters on google because whenever I think about the Agoraphobic single I have to make sure I've heard everything he's possibly put out. Malfunction is one of the best songs....the Goner single is maybe better then the Agoraphobic one? It's a hard choice.
That somehow led me to this Useless Eaters auction via ebutt on a label I've never heard of: Jeth Row. I'm sure I would have remembered that awesome name if I came across before.
When I saw J Reatard play bass for Seth on the Shattered tour and it was completely unexpected and amazing...when you get blown away live like that it's going to get you tracking down every last release...even if that means tracking down loose leads like this one:

OUT NOW!!!!! Useless Eaters "panic attack b/w death view" 7" jeth-row records 013 paypal $6.50 to jethrowrecords(at)yahoo.com distros/stores get in touch for wholesale rates

Not a day goes by the paypal button goes unmolested.

'Panic Attack' is seriously buried in a sea of blown out punk instrumentation. He must record the vocals after the fact on these because they're so clear considering the condition of the rest of the sound. But then again if that's the case, it doesn't sound like it's separated out either. There's a great live sound to his work, you know it's not far from the live show, I think you really can hear the manic energy...it comes out in nearly every song as a stuttered chord change and brief complicated melody...with all kinds of effects scuzz layering everything. He liberally uses the phaser pedal which is an awesome direction for the punk...plate echo and phaser. It's so cold sounding it could be sort of a new wave punk, except the track steamrolls you the entire time. Seth is really in love with a lot of weird afflictions...a lot of psychological issues, agoraphobia, panic attacks...reminds me of the Sebadoh dramamine track.

'Death View' is the B-Side...like Ty Segall, the texture and sound quality is a big part of the song but for me it's more making something out of nothing. There's hardly a chord change here...it's like the early days of punk, make the song about the rhythm, the structure of the song is paramount. The change of tempo, time signature, get these to be the focus, not the technical skill of playing notes...you can't compete...don't even try.

Go paypal Jeth...apparently there are some of these with R.I.P. Jay Reatard sleeves like the one pictured above? But you'll have to bid heavy on those.

Sore Eros on Blackburn recordings

Sore Eros (why does that sound dirty?) is a recent addition to the Blackburn Recordings label who just put out this single from Robert Robinson, the driving force behind this psyche-folk project.
The thing is... these tracks should be soothing - even comforting, the layers of subtle washes of plucked melodies on acoustic guitar are calm, the slow tempo kind of lulls you into a brief hypnosis, but the vocals are completely unsettling. Maybe it's that they're a little too delicate...they sound like they're about to break at any moment... just cracking slightly off key. Robert's breathy, daydream delivery is mic'd super close and he's straining to push out a lyric, but the whole track is sitting on top of him. It manages to be a bit of a children's song, its managing to keep a structure while it's slowly falling apart.

The A-Side 'Taal Compass', keeps a monolithic haze going without a repeatable direction.
The weird part is how interesting this way of thinking is, I mean literally you are directly listening to someone who does not conventionally put melodies together. Exactly like Gary and Ariel...I wouldn't have thought this kind of unique songwriting was happening in so many places...it's just unrecognizable.
Right towards the end of 'Taal Compass' there's a simple electric guitar line that for a second actually sounds like a moment on an old pavement single. I'm thinking about how much this is kind of related...a different time and place they might be on the same bill...as a laid back more psychedelic strain of the goofy indie rock.

Now here's a generalization for you, there are a few guys I would say working in this style of wall-of-psyche-folk-sound: Woods, Gary War...even the Fresh and Only's...I think it's pretty closely related to the shoegaze scene in the 90's, not in style but content...and attack. I think the elements are there, the energy, the intense layering....minus the earsplitting volume. It's a negative approach to songwriting; take everything in dense layers, actually use all 24 tracks and then start stripping away the central part of the melody to get at an entirely new unexpected direction of the song....of course leaving room for the essential part of the whole thing...that your brain fills in the blanks between that static and hiss in ways you couldn't even play...and are completely personal.

I think it says a lot that Gary War lent his synth work on the B-Side track 'Wide Open', I know it got me to track this down.
Wide Open is even more freeform than the A-Side, lots of heady electronics, and vocals that are merely a heavily echoed arrangement of sounds really...just oh's and ah's.

This single depends on what your goal is: to be challenged by something that isn't obviously gunning to kick out the party jams.

Psych-pop masters Sore Eros return with a brand new single on Blackburn! Both “Taal Compass” and b-side “Wide Open” (which features space age post-punk hero Gary War on synths) are slow burners that reveal an understated majesty, but their style and execution suggest wildly different mindsets. The title track is plaintive, with songwriter and lead man Robert Robinson’s vocals emerging organically from the analog distortion that coats the song. Flip the record over for an atmospheric epic that builds gracefully to an overwhelming crescendo that certainly earns the name “Wide Open."

Get it from Blackburn Recordings.

What kind of an angry god is paypal, that I am forced to appease him almost daily?

Just want to also let you know about another review of a 12"er by The Late Virginia Summers I posted in the forum...it's a really great full length of instrumental intellectual rock. Can't wait for the vinyl to fianally be pressed. Get in on it before the 100 copies are spoken for.

Ichi Ni San Shi on Super Secret Records

Super Secret records out of Austin recently sent this single from hometown locals Ichi Ni Sa Shi or 1,2,3,4 which I think is Japanese? (yes-ed) Inspired by the Kraftwerk song 'Numbers' that also speaks to the makeup of the group as well... there are 6 members on casio, guitars, trumpet and beats. They all add up on these three tracks to an impressive amount of crystal clear digital electronics and multi-layered instrumentation all in service of ultimately crafting shifty pop music.
It's especially reminding me of the Flaming Lips 'Yoshimi' album, (which in my defense was my only real introduction to those guys). Bill has that upper register voice like Wayne's that comes across sincere with a hint of prettiness that doesn't ever get precious. It's sort of an angelic layer over harsh clicks that they get to mesh together. I think that's the other thing I'm picking up on that they share with The Lips is that throwing themselves towards that challenging experimentation. The songs don't just lie on a single melody and then a major or minor variation for the chorus... they're really looking to go somewhere sonically, every single verse. They aren't relying on just the programming of sound effect cd's and samples, they are deliberately blending traditionally played familiar instruments with a foreign electronic percussion noise.

Then there's a tiny bit of the Magnetic Fields love of weird unrecognizable rhythms. All of the electronics are approached in that lighthearted way, it's not oppressive, it's literally a sandbox of effects...but the focus always stays on a hook. As many things are going on in the background there remains a pop core that holds the entire thing together really successfully with the seemingly minimal and slick production of Yaz.
They are in the middle of throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks...but they actually get a recognizable subject out of what's left. The amount of elements builds every track like 'everything' which starts out with their crystal electronic programming and vocals and imperceptibly gains mass all the way to the end, swapping out the too distinctive sounds every few measures to see if they can audition something else.

Nice cardstock insert with art from Bill Jeffrey with thanks and track details.

Super Secret Records Says:

Here's the debut Ichi Ni San Shi 7inch. The band describes themselves as “pop music battling it out with inventive beats” and “...if Jack Kirby and Gary Numan had a baby...”. The 7" is limited to a total of 300 copies; 200 black vinyl and 100 colored vinyl. If you want to order from me, you can send $6 via PayPal to supersecretrecords@hotmail.com.

Eohippus and Lonely Planet Boy split on Velocity of Sound

After I talked with Darren from Velocity of Sound this split we talked about about between Eohippus and Lonely Planet Boy showed up in the mailbox. I couldn't miss the magical glee of the cross eyed maniac on the sleeve and was shocked to see this was recorded over 10 years ago. Not to be topped by the genius Warhol grave video, this demented country track had it's own almost equally as disturbing video shot delving even further into 'Bobby' in his natural habitat.
The track 'Bisquick in Bakersfield' is a slice of pure weirdo idiosyncratic scuzzy Butthole Surfer Americana. Warbly, sludgy tempo guitars...metronome cowbell drum track... it's just so goddamn strange it could only come out of home recording under circumstances far away from any kind of scene... it a hermit-like devotion to the internal tunes. Alter ego Bobby has gone country, and instead of the albino artist he's dancing on Ween's grave.... Lots of cursing, hilarious slow drawl verses about a shitty pickup truck, the 'whitewalls turning black'. The chorus of 'Bisquick in Bakersfield' is a multi layered multiple personality choir in various states of gettin' fucked up.

Lonely Planet Boy on the B-Side is a quiet home recorded track with quiet whispered vocals and acoustic guitar until the full kit drums kick in and he's off belting out a chorus of despair. It's the serious side of the vinyl, this guy is in some kind of pain singing about becoming some kind of animal crawling around in bare feet...still pop catchy, but it's only because he's so committed.
A quiet glitchy mini machine beat leads out of the refrain and back into the organic pain!

Both tracks of diametrically opposed bedroom oddities are on light blue swirl vinyl from Velocity of Sound. They still have that deal...both singles for 8.50...that's ridiculous.

Check out the Bisquick video below:

The Whisper EP on Chaffinch Records

Chaffinch sent in a batch of singles and this one happens to be their very first release, a collection of Scottish experimental indie folk that I haven't seen covered too many places. Chaffinch is doing what Fort Lowell and hundreds before them; documenting an under represented scene in their own backyard. I can't say that I've encountered any of these artists before and this EP is a perfect introduction to the label's ideology and some of the contemporary talent out of Scotland. The lonely dog on the front sleeve painting with a cone collar finally has a home.
South Downs kicks it off with layers of harmonized vocals and acoustic guitar with a sunny background swell of la la's, it's an upbeat tune about heartbreak. Lucky Luke, who's also featured on this EP actually brought this home recorded project over to Chaffinch for inclusion on this single. It's firmly rooted in the classic songwriters of '60s folk pop, simple melodies and pop sentiment, but it's still modern enough to put it hesitantly into a neo-folk category.

Immigrant, aka Graeme McNab, reminds me of the intimate bedroom recordings of the Canadian 4 tracker, Hayden. Just breathy vocals against a lonesome organ, it's the simplest setup like that he uses to great effect. It's a brief moment of closeness that makes the lack of info on this artist even more mysterious. A standout minimal track that warrants further investigation if he hasn't given up the songwriting game all together.

Next up, is 'Please Bomb Slough' from Lucky Luke, this B-Side track takes a bossanova rhythm and applies a psyche folk feel with this eclectic 6 piece, though not a song to inspire bombing exactly...you might second guess the whole thing if you were listening to this mellow saxophone, flute and bouzouki (I wiki'd is sort of a Greek sitar) number. They somehow manage to tame this massive arrangement into catchy pop with guy/girl vocals from Simon Shaw and Morag Wilson. They actually recently released a full length on the prolific Mexican Summer label and I could see them getting along nicely with MV + EE.

King Creosote rounds out the EP with another track exclusive to this release with an acoustic/ electric slide guitar melody over a brushed snare rhythm...it's chugging right along as a sort of extended intro or chorus part with a repeated vocal melody that just slowly fades out on this slice of indie folk happening in Scotland.

Get it from Chaffinch Records. No US distro as far as I can tell, so you'll have to special order this import from somewhere local or contact them directly.
A shame really.

Haggis.

...Music Video? on Fort Lowell Records

This second release from the barely conceived Fort Lowell is this completely out of nowhere single from ...music video? Forget any preconceived ideas you might have about Tuscon, AZ or where Fort Lowell Records is going, because this second single is blazing it's own path of high concept electronics in the world of sludgy home recorded blown out garage-fuzz. This couldn't be further from any of those prevailing go-to sounds. Start with perfectly zeroed out silence and carefully place heavily produced complex programming under high register Ben Gibbard style vocals from lead Paul Jenkins and you actually end up with something close to that follow up Postal Service record that isn't ever going to happen.
They even went as far as to carry the similarity into their name '...Music Video?', is about as easy to google as Postal Service and you really have to dig to find this trio's previous releases. It helps if you add 'Tuscon' to the search, and again that's thanks to Fort Lowell who is seriously redefining this part of the country for me. I've been to the Grand Canyon, the petrified forest. I've sat in the backseat of a million miles in the car through dirt and flat dusty deserts...none of this has anything to do with ...Music Video? or Fort Lowell I'm beginning to realize. Tuscon's got a pretty diverse music scene apparently and I'm glad Fort Lowell is out there documenting it all.

The A-Side 'I'm afraid of everything' has a kind of smooth '70s feel. It's the classic beginnings of electro R & B. Maybe it's those dreamy vibraphone sounds coming from the guitar that's taking me into some kind of dreamy candles k-tel video. But I think you can hear right away the effort they put into creating this particular unrecognizable direction. These aren't instrument sounds you're familiar with. The huge possibility of having complete control over a sound file can be crippling, you have to be constantly willing to play around and make huge mistakes, or replace entire sections of a song...what you may have been working on the last few weeks needs to be replaced since you re-sequenced something. I'm getting annoyed just thinking about all the possible problems when you rely on this technology. I have trouble with blogger spell check, let alone dragging all this equipment around to play live.

They're definitely not playing it safe using heavy pans and massive vocal echoes that ends the verse and rattles around to abruptly cut off. Huge ominous sounding deep synth parts offset the airy vocalizations over background distortions of a guitar. It's a sort of Spiritualized filtered through that Postal Service gated precise aesthetic. True to the track title, Paul is singing through all kinds of fears in a classically trained voice, he could be easily playing with layered harmonies, but it's never overdone, it's that same Gibbard school of this-is-just-enough. You can unintentionally read more into the reserved delivery that way.

'feelgooddesparation' on the B-Side (wonder if that's a website) has a basic piano foundation and then all kinds of glitchy synth waves and mechanical whirrs fade in and out. Paul has that hugely emotive voice that I could see crushing the tiny soul of a loner in the backseat on the bus to homeroom. I'm a little surprised they chose these two somewhat uncharacteristic slower more introspective tracks for the breakout single of the album... something like 'The day we exploded' could hold it's own against anything from 'Give Up', so they're going the slow jams single direction...couples only on the dancefloor.

The locked loop at the end is always a nice touch...it's been a while since I came across one of those and it makes sense keeping with the technology heavy theme of this release...and with Fort Lowell's impressive overall vision for the label.

This preorder is on thick clear vinyl from Fort Lowell Records.

4-way split Vol. 2 on Kraak Records

Kraak is back at it again on the one year anniversary of their philly elite split with another awesome 4-way with Geordie (sp?) getting you into the mood.
It's amazing to see this government sponsored music festival organization also getting into the 7" game. Seriously, the US needs some government funding for the arts again where people don't examine too closely all the fucked up things they are funding. Maybe there could be an intermediate organization that would get funded and then they would distro the money off the books.
I'm sure there are people in Belgium who think 'Why am I paying a 65% tax to fund a 4 -way split with Ducktails?' Then that crotchety old guy who just had a free heart transplant a few months ago and just woke up from his afternoon nap in the middle of his 10 weeks paid vacation says to himself...'Oh well, those fringes of society need some kind of outlet or they'd be over here throwing dead animals into my pool.'
And he's right, not only would that keep a lot of weirdos in line but everyone on some kind of unemployment insurance could go work for these agencies... then again if Captured Tracks and Woodsist and NNF can exist without that hassle then good for them. I just think how many more could be out there.
Does America just count on the creative numbers game? With so many possibilities happening within both coasts, if it's funded or not we're going to have 10 kraaks hopefully, so there's no reason to fund this stuff. It's going to happen without anyone's help.

Well Kraak has a pretty good model over there, throwing huge festivals with great bands who just happened to end up on that 4 way Philly split...which then spawned their latest 4 way split that includes Ducktails, that's what caught my immediate attention and then I had to check out his side-mate Peaking Lights, based on the myspace stuff it's lots of layered subtle samples. Those hazy loops just wandering all over the place all the way over to a harsh electronic rhumba beat. It's sort of a soundtrack to a 70's horror movie, or long lost electronica speaker testing discs. The dawn of computer music compilations. Alien Radio is pretty self explanatory, lots of glitchy, slow tempo ultra manipulated electronics...sort of Tron on ludes. Kohn, (on Kraak's myspace) keeps with the whole slightly foreign sounding electronics. These aren't state of the art components or recording techniques...they all are a little unearthed and weathered. Appreciating those sounds...and they deserve another chance...at the time they were too new, it was all a novelty...now that no one gives a shit they can be taken seriously by these composers.

P. S.
I was thinking the other day, did Matt of Ducktails decide on that name because it would be a pretty good indication of the bands success? If they ever receive a cease and desist letter then they've gotten big enough. I mean the project is named after a Disney cartoon! He's asking for it! You google Ducktails, and this project comes up!
I'm waiting until he's forced to change his name and the Ducktails ebay stock goes through the roof.

Get it direct from Kraak, or the usual ungovernment funded distros near you.

Kohn/Peaking Lights/Alien Radio/Ducktails - Lune Atroce / Soleil Amer (4 way split 7" on Kraak)

One year after the ‘Meet the Philly elite’ 7” we finally release a fresh 4-way split. This time Köhn and Alien Radio are trancing deep into the history of synthesizer classics while Peaking Lights and Ducktails have a take on their own pop music.

The Coathangers on Suicide Squeeze

I've been dreading writing about this every time I saw this draft.
This single is god awful.

And I appreciate Suicide Squeeze. How they decided recently to release a bunch of singles in the coming year, from Iron & Wine, these guys... The Coathangers. They even made a statement on the site saying how much singles have meant to them over the years... and they've released some amazing ones, the holiday Pedro the Lion ones..Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse...I used to look to them constantly to see what I didn't have, they stayed pretty much in print so if you wanted that Elliott Smith single you could find it anywhere.

So why isn't this particular one working? I can't speculate too much on The Coathangers new album except to say it's missing a lot of what made that self titled one great in the first place. The sloppy, crap garage recording...I could hear them having fun over everything else...coherency, skill, recording technique. It was just the energy they got across on that full length. I couldn't help but like it. The songs were about ridiculous shit without being campy...they traded vocals, instruments. It was like a rehearsal space tape of some awesome drunkeness.
The couple tracks I've heard of their latest don't sound like they're excited about anything, there's a lot of focus on production, the vocals are flat, they must have been recorded in separate rooms....are they sick of each other? Was it a lot of attention too fast?....The final product suffers.
Then there's the fact that these are remixes. I'm biased against the remix to begin with, it never should be the b-side, that's what the 12" dance bullshit is for, don't confuse me!....but these two are just lifeless, not that the fault lies with Dan Deacon or Judi Chicago completely...the thing they are remixing is sort of a punk-ish guitar based song...so where was that really going to go anyway? A new backbeat and then rearrange the vocals? Terrible.
The Dan Deacon one is slightly more interesting because it sounds even less like the source material than Judi, the vocals are cut up and repeated (that's not annoying) but at the end of the day your forcing a dance remix on songs that already are veering far off their original course.

I was thinking about what Mishka said about what you want a band to be...maybe it's my own...well it's definitely my own fault for having high expectations of any band. I get excited about that first single...I make up a backstory for them before there's even any info. But they won't be able to live up to it, I'm going to inevitably be disappointed...but I don't think that's exactly what's going on here. They used to be better, even after I got to know them and spent time with the full length. They promised more and I have the right to be disappointed...especially with this single...which I have to try to forget...for The Coathangers and Suicide Squeeze's sake.

I'll be looking forward to the Iron and Wine one, although I'm not really into what he's been up to recently either.

Enough....It's time for some meat and beer and fireworks until Tuesday.

The Coathangers and JEFF The Brotherhood are up first, both with 7-inch EPs due on July 20th: Atlanta's favorite ladies hand two of their beloved tracks (143 and Arthritis Sux from their Suicide Squeeze debut, "Scramble") to Dan Deacon and Judi Chicago for the specialist treatment... What emerges is pure, ringing joy; from JC's bounce-down dub to the pulsing ‘closing-credits' anthem Deacon somehow Frankenstein's from the band's original tracks. Meanwhile JEFF The Brotherhood, aka Nashville's real-bros, Jake and Jamin Orrall, bring more of their - now legendary - tune shredding to Suicide Squeeze. Two sweet and ripping tracks, highlighted with laser-light solos and melodic guitar hooks that phase thru space on this limited edition 7".

Terror Bird on La Station Radar and Atelier Ciseaux Records

I got an email from Nikki in Terror Bird a while back about their release slated to come out this month through Atelier Ciseaux and La Station Radar. Nikki actually sent me one of the tracks for 7Inches to preview and gave permission to post it here.
Now normally I'm against this kind of giving-the-milk-away-for-free kind of preview but the single actually ended up being a massive 4 track EP, so really, it's just enough to get on over to paypal...even though it is going to be an import...check if Fusetron or Midheaven's going to end up getting this...but there's only 300, and I didn't see that U.S. Girls release ending up over here anywhere....yet.
Terror Bird is just Nikki and her husband Jeremiah, like Handsome Furs (also from Canada!?), this is a duo rarity, but one that really has the potential to work amazingly...to be able to tour like they are right now in Europe? Playing every night, putting out 7 inches? Writing songs all the time?

They are living the dream, people.

Speaking of U.S. Girls, this goes right along with the minimal electronics kind of no wave sound from her and Zola Jesus. In 'We Were Monsters', Nikki has an uncanny ability to zero in on those haunting chord changes that are catchy and a little sad at the same time. Her vocals are wavering a little bit, she's on the verge of breaking down maybe...I could hear an early Siouxsie in an echo chamber here. Her vocals are definitely the star, and the rest of the mix is perfect...mic'd tinny speakers, someone just bumped the stereo, I can practically feel the bedroom. I wouldn't mess with this voice too much...it's got just enough of a dark feel that isn't overdone. There's definitely pop elements...like that party for the depressed gang...they want to rock, but just a little bit, let's not get carried away.
She's got a lot of Megan Remy's kind of soul filled vocals, she really could take this voice anywhere...maybe that's why this and US Girls works so well is that contradiction in the minimal string synth sounds that aren't trying to be anything but a casio and her vocals that are coming out of some almost religious place. Even singing against nearly nothing, like on 'Shadows in the halls', she creates these layered melodies out of nowhere. There's no cues to except the 808 claps and kick and a chime to lead this along. I have to give Jeremiah some credit here and stop going on about her vocals already...it's even a more minimal choice to keep the effects on these sounds to a minimum, he's not trying to bury the cheap sounds under anything, they are terrible and he's determined to actually take them seriously. It's a lot of work to be sure.
The whole thing rounds out with a Twin Crystals cover 'Lament', and it's really some kind of alchemy to have one super basic synth sound and delayed reverb vocals come together like this, it's stripped bare and vulnerable.
It's a great creepy catchy introduction to these guys who I hope can make it down to NYC sometime...

Terror Bird says:

We are Nikki Never and Jeremiah Haywood. We live in Vancouver, BC

The track, We Were Monsters is from our upcoming 7" being put out by La Station Radar and Les Atelier Ciseaux based in France and Montreal.

Nikki Never's heros are no other than Morrissey, David Bowie and Marc Bolan.

This is available direct from Atelier Ciseaux, and La Station Radar who also add:

skulls on a silk shirt. Dark dark dark. Again. A little hope crossed out with a tipp-ex on a denim jacket. Keyboard worn out by the 80s, pop romance, the future combined with the past, Gloomy dances for phantom mirrors. Terror Bird is still Nikki Never. Sometimes, Jeremiah Haywood too. Vancouver behind rainbow-coloured sunglasses. A forthcoming album on Night People / Adagio 830 and above all a 7″, ‘Shadows in the halls’, on La station radar and Atelier ciseaux. Atelier ciseaux and la Station Radar. Atelier radar, Station ciseaux. A collaboration between two labels. The beginning of a friendship, something like that. Good.