Hell City Kings on Artificial Head Records

Hell City Kings are a mix of hot rod, biker punk culture from the concealed firearm state of Texas. You can bet I'm not going to fuck with these guys. Not in a million years - and they know where I live since they sent this one to me a couple weeks ago.

A-Side's "One Night Stand Ego" fades into a psych haze of television hum, delayed conversations and knob twisting echo effects. A weird fakeout for the heavy power riffs that punch in, captured perfectly right down to these finger flying solos filling up any break between gates. It's an updated Rocket from the Crypt sound or just straight up Lemmy, forget the rest of Motorhead they just work with that single members influence. It's overdriven right to the edge of those VU meters, thumping kick drums like mortar shells, wide, thick guitars carving a massive path through the middle of this. Balanced for snarling vocals which are backed by the rest of the band. Two guitars three vocals running at full speed, they don't even need those chainlink fence cages when they play because everyone knows better. You know what? Put one over the audience.
B-Side's "Two Grams All for Me" You only measure things in grams if they are illegal. Just saying - this isn't a cooking show. This time the vocals take more of a front seat, leading the guitars through squealing scraping up the fretboard the beginning of verses. They keep winding the tension between vocals and riffs pulling back and forth reminding me of Sick of it All/Cro Mags attitude and speed. He doubles up those vocals in the chorus and they play with tempo changes dropping down to a real chunky bassline. Everyone joins in at the end just to make sure you're paying attention, ending this one with more freakout delayed effects, like the spaceship that sucked them up for the show just set them back down again so they didn't miss the BBQ.

I can relate to the insert art from Jason Karns of a record hermit in a studio apartment and on the reverse is no difference thirty years later except more locks on the door and more shelves for records.

Mixed purple-ish smeared vinyl from Artificial Head Records.

Jody Seabody and the Whirls on Artificial Head Records

"What would happen if I combined prog metal with psych-hardcore? Is that even a thing?" The witch on the sleeve was asking herself while reading about the guys in Jody Seabody (maybe that's her?) and the Whirls. "I'll just sprinkle in a dash of math and post hardcore - maybe a little emo?" Oh shit this thing is getting out of control...and I really should have worn some pants in the middle of the woods at night.

A-Side's "Some Witch" comes in with that familiar click countdown to a minimal cymbal jazz solo with vocals delivered into a big reverb, the studio mic picking it all up taped to that PA. Where's the rest of the band? That thin sound off in the distance is going to swoop in any second snarling up solos to snap everything back to 2015. They only wanted to mess with expectations as this slower jangle section coasts into melodic vocals from a different guy while that hoarse and broken scream is back opening up this crunchy, gated punk. They keep this back and forth going with the introspective sounding narrator has that screaming conscience on his shoulder and the track bursts into that chorus again. You're never sure of where this thing has been as those different influences keep unexpectedly popping up.
On B-Side's "Everybody Wants To Talk About Tuesday" riffs grind down the three chord changes to pauses for a talky back and forth between the lead and the rest of the band singing that title lyric. The whole thing is about how useless that day of the week is, which must be a first. Saturday's alright to party and Tuesday? We'll give it our best shot with this "TV Party" style choir of drunken dudes. Sticking more to the punk they keep this sounding like the late '70s and probably can't wait to add it to their next Tuesday show setlist. The yelling fades away into a twinkling synth and quiet chanting that's barely audible. This has to be satanic. The voices get layered and they have to be working for that witch now. I'm not going to play this backwards. OH GOD HELP ME ITS A LOCKED GROOVE!

Get this from Artificial Head Records.

Ken South Rock / Giant Battle Monster on Artificial Head Records

Paul from the band, Art Institute is also the guy behind Artificial Head Records and who wouldn't want the guy pressing their records to understand the day to day battle from the band side of things. I also really appreciate his personal take on these guys in his one sheet, he's excited about both bands on this single and it even seems like these guys may not have known each other beforehand it's all thanks to Paul deciding to put them on this split together.

Ken South Rock is a crazy duo from Brooklyn and Tokyo that captures a massive energy that could have only been honed after years on the road, blasting away in random venue's acoustics. You better get loud. "Hold On" opens with a shitty cheap acoustic or detuned up electric and Adam's vocal (I'm guessing) is just barely coming through. Somehow it's insanely gated to oblivion with the ends of each individual word chopped right off fighting these rapid stompy chords. It's not long before this explodes and you hear why they were trying to contain themselves, this is a scary volume. The vocals from Ken (?) switch into a real metal wavering belting scream before this heavy sound drops back into the acoustic rattling strings and muted feedbacky scrapes. The mother of avalanche chords barrel down the mountain and scientists are only now barely studying their extreme dynamics. How far can they push this truly unique back and forth of No Age meets Death From Above 1979 huge fuzz and some kind of southern classic rock. "Volcano" is a plinky kind of psych with huge kicks on drums. Fingerpicked melodies with an opening that stops and deliberately waits as long as possible before coming back with that seismic crash. A power metal rocket call and response of 'Volcano'. They really picked the perfect thing to sing about. You can hear how much they probably rule a venue, converting everyone immediately.

B-Side's Giant Battle Monster - are an equally insane duo from Houston who want you to 'go nuts at our shows and please wear a costume.' There's no subtlety to "Hippopatamus" and their Lightning Bolt delivery and tight snare smacks. But that reference might be the most recognizable thing you're going to get from these guys who are paving their own road. A crazy road with buttresses, giant sections missing, and turning ninety degrees straight up to launch over an entire city block and then shoot into an underground tunnel. This highway would never be planned by anyone who knew better, let alone driven. Watery chorus sounds wrestled into a screamy hardcore. Instruments are played with brut force, there's no light touch here. Metal, hardcore and math have been inbred together, on a Dr. Moreau island where science, not love, has forced made them mate. THIS is that DFA 1979 sound like an explosion bass riddled with distortions. The vocal is even pushing rhythmic boundaries. It's the two of them yelling back and forth in the tightest perfect configuration. There's a real discipline in getting this extreme, almost a fascist devotion to this sound. How can it be anything but heavily practiced and drilled into these two except maybe they get off on making this as difficult as humanly possible. A nightmare of changing tempos and metal, a prog carnival. Reminding me of Zs or Aa but their name suits them. Almost forgot, "Prison Legs". Not sure where the last one ends but I heard a lighter picked electric that peeked in behind chopped up sections of tape with a huge crunch, randomly punched in from track two as this weird underwater dream psych fades out.

Cool matchbook style cardboard sleeve, pressed on glow in the dark or coke bottle green vinyl - get it from Artificial Head Records.

The Escatones on Artificial Head Records

Paul from The Escatones contacted me recently about a new single these guys just put out on Artificial Head Records. Their second on the label, this three piece from Galveston, TX is back at their dirty surf sound with special guest Paul Leary from the Butthole Surfers. Surfing buttholes with the springy tiki reverb from The Escatones...it's all making sense.

A-Side "Out of Sight" comes out slow with the warmer guitar tones some slow cymbal crashes lead into a slightly faster tempo of their laid back surf sound from the first single. Connor's vocals in a surfy Dead Milkmen style, long sustained strums getting way more into a jangle indie style here. Leaning into the three chord melody their slacker sound mellows out even more into a catatonic surf. A dread influenced creepy tiki sound, played by Zombies... arms falling off, barely holding it together for this ballad sound. They hit that chorus about also being "...Out of Mind and the rest of the guys come in with a beachy harmony. Whoops and yells into the dripping reverb and they've got a repetitive kind of psych-y velvets influence as well... nodding off, until a huge phaser solo goes bouncing around, which must be Paul from the Surfers. The drums start bashing as the thing takes a nosedive into chaos...picking up the pieces they try to get back on the horse, but the beach bonfire is already gotten out of hand. The best thing to do at this point is just leave before things get ugly (er). Pretty epic heights in guitar screwery, one take insanity. As you might expect adding one especially eccentric degenerate to the mix.
B-Side "East Beach Stomp" has a crystal indie reverb sound, this one goes for the heavy melody, drawing on those single note melodies around the link wray scale, even going for the instrumnetal. The guitars almost swapping melodies back and forth, passing the dueling echo sound, a weird homage combination of pop and the updated surf...this one almost works in a experimental indie way...like a reissue on Captured Tracks or something, it might even (gasp) get new wavey for a second? Shows just how much this west coast chorus reverb sound has evolved into DIIV, The Minks and Blouse, this is a more optimistic version of that sullen sound, but a pretty close cousin actually, nothing wrong with an instrumental...and a b-side at that, makes sense.
Get this one from the band direct on their bandcamp page.

The Escatones on Artificial Head Records

Artificial Head the label (without a web site) that put out the Art Institute single is also responsible for this Escatones single that came in the other day. The Escatones are a three piece out of Galveston, TX who are working in a classic surf-psych style...and I know...what does TX know about surf? Well these guys actually have boards and go hit the waves in the gulf...so there.

"In Hiding" on the A-Side gets started with a definite swirling surf combo sound...played with amps made after 1967 they would have you know, a phaser-y chorus guitar and clear electric picking. Connor Purcell has a nasal style almost Michael Stipe vocal that plays right alongside this melody. They don't get total surf, it' more like they're acknowledging this style but updating it into a leaner country rock composite. Definitely sounding a lot like the west, cactus country in a kind of laid back cowboy sound? It's recorded clear as anything, they may be leaning into garage surf, but they certainly got it down to reel to reel with some professionals. They mention on the reverse of the sleeve that there's a version of this track with Greg Ginn soloing all over it? And it was too long for the 7"???!!! I think they're pulling my leg... but it's just plausible enough to hope they actually put that on their full length.

"Down the Drain" on the B-Side was actually written by bassist JT's dad, and passed around to a bunch of different bands before ending up 40 years later on this single, pretty nuts. This time their getting that wet reverb sound on the guitar for the main melody almost sounding a bit like Deadbolt, the greatest Tiki-surf band ever, and The Escatones keeps veering through surf sounds and getting a swirly psych and then back through garage again. Sludging it's way through a dark country sound this time, again I'm just hearing the desert here instead of the ocean. It even goes slightly Painted Black at one point, so tack on 'rock' into this varied mix of '60s sounds (that by now is a 2010's sound let's face it). They keep teasing this hyptnotic melody around and solo it out at the end, real nice.

I appreciate all these liner notes on the back and the insert listing as many drummers as Spinal Tap. I guess that really is a thing. I know they can be hard to find in NY, but everywhere?

This Ed Roth style tiki, hot rod cover in black and white is really the perfect match for this country-surf from Doug MacDonald, who is desinging the new dokken cover!!!
On pristine white heavy vinyl, 300 copies, get it from Art Institute. Message in the gutter.

Check out their tracks via bandcamp: