The Marble Vanity on Slow Fizz Records

Not to be confused with Fuzz City, (maybe that's just me?) Slow Fizz Records out of Chicago released this single from The Marble Vanity sometime in the beginning of last year. The label site appears to have been hacked by an online gambling presence or it’s part of their elaborate ruse to make this difficult to track down as Bill and Lisa eluded to in this interview at Philthy Mag. You might recognize those names as members of Cococoma and tastemakers at Trouble in Mind Records. Along with Andrew Anderson from The Hipshakes (who happened to be staying with Bill and Lisa at the time) and Emma Hospelhorn from the Hollows they put together The Marble Vanity’s tracks with garageband in a small home office, not that it even seems possible with the impressive production on this clear vinyl. Influenced by the very fringes of psych pop bands that were part of the second wave of bubblegum freakout, names I’ve never heard mentioned before like the The Index, The Yellow Balloon or The Bachs, they’ve managed to emulate that second generation of glam psych in an effort to further evolve paisley pop way past its domesticated roots.

"You Can't Step on a Rainbow" opens with an elaborate harpsichord twinkle and a rolling tom fill. The handclaps take over a shiny rhythm bopping along and I don't remember Bill ever sounding as smooth on Cococoma as with this layered doubled harmony. Definitely not ever getting as high as the epic transcendent moment towards the end of the second chorus when an entire horn arrangement blows in. The lyrics are killer, perfectly nailing that hazy goof style You can’t step on my heart / Like you can’t step on a rainbow . Delivered completely sincere and raising the stakes on the laid back psych era in starting to throw catchy pop punches. It's rolling with attitude and when he sings Girl you can’t put me under your spell / You / You know I was born to raise hell in his marshmellowy delivery it’s almost flipping this overblown orchestral production into a parody of itself in the best way.

B-Side’s, “My Love Has Gone” is a cover of another artist I’ll be checking out shortly, Del Shannon. Written by Ross Watson, the track here has Bill’s take on Del’s ultra falsetto, which always seemed so crazy to me that was ever a thing in ‘50s pop. They follow the dense orchestration of the original with all sorts of baroque elements, layers of xylophone and flute. The way Bill just misses the heights of Del's vocal is endearing, and another tip that as much as it’s a sincere homage it's also playing around with those ideas. If they’re having fun with the vocals, the rest of this production is dead serious in piling on the ornate decoration. From tambourine/snare hits and muffled toy piano The Marble Vanity is capable of just about anything, and it’s a powerful tribute to Del.

Get it at the moment from Goner or Permanent Records along with their self titled full length they managed to ‘throw’ together while hanging out in the front office, between packing up T.I.M. orders…and touring…and having a baby.

Trouble in Mind 4 way! Ty Segall

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

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

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

cococoma

The more I see them mentioned everywhere, or pass them by in a 7" bin at academy, the more they start to seem like old friends and I need to pick this latest one up from Shit Sandwich.
I love that they are a married duo! This one will have to go on my list of greatest duos ever. I'm working on a little essay about this special rock collaboration, and married ones? Well that's a separate category all together, and occupied by a few contenders surprisingly.
This is honest garage rock and roll, that is captured on what I've heard so far, really well, this is the sound of a great live band, making a lot of god dam racket. This feels like where punk shoud be at this point in history, it's circled back to the beginning, a band having a good time and forcing the audience away from thinking about their day jobs or they should really go home and get some rest, ad not drink as much.
Fuck that.
Cococoma, come to NYC.

SS-12 COCOCOMA - "All I Give" +2 7"

Shit Sandwich Records is proud to present the debut of Chicago's newest hit-makers, Cococoma. This guitar-drums-organ combo plays rough and tough Nuggets-style garage rock that's both brutal and graceful. Or is it?

Cococoma - All I Give 7" on Shit Sandwich Records
"I read that there were two Headache City members in this band, so I wanted to check them out. While I see some similar points with Headache City, this band is very different. In a similar garage style (they also have keyboards) but not in a pop vein, this band is on the devastating punk side. Fuck, "All I Give" is a pure garage punk song that nearly destroys my ears. That is a feeling that I have every day (read my reviews... all are of bands that just want to make as much noise as they can), so I will be near deaf at 50." (Review By Raul Reaction of geocities.com/nowwave)

cococoma 7 inches.

I said this name outloud and I had to laugh.
I was watching this documentary about punk on sundance, and about halfway through I realized I had seen it before, it's funny how half of the bands I didn't pay attention to the first time around. That's why I used to keep piles of old record reviews or tape bands on the local college radio station, because I might listen to it later and it would all make sense. I knew it would take time just to absorb it, eventually I would understand.

This band cococoma and the kinks made perfect sense today, I never understood the kinks, I think I just knew that lola song, I hated it, it was fucking annoying, but they really had a great sound, listening to the recordings themselves, they way they chose to record some of those albums was great, thats what made it punk to me, that sound. I guess that's what I can't even say I definitely like the kinks. But I like cococoma, they have recorded kick ass, like a punk rock doorag, there's the anthem rock out sections, the audience call and response, there's some organ, I guess thats what I associate with the kinks.
Anyway it has a rock and roll raw garage sound, I am into it.

This is available from Shit Sandwich records.

Shit Sandwich Records is proud to present the debut of Chicago's newest hit-makers, Cococoma. This guitar-drums-organ combo plays rough and tough Nuggets-style garage rock that's both brutal and graceful. Or is it?

You can also get it from midheaven mailorder:

COCOCOMA "Take My Time" (Goner - 24 GONE) 7" $4.20
***BACK IN STOCK!!! COCOCOMA began as a husband and wife team, with LISA shredding her fingers on the strings and BILL pounding the drums and howling. The addition of MIKE FITZPATRICK (HEADACHE CITY and THE LATEST) on organ added thickness to the Cococoma stew. The results are staggering-drop the needle and stand back. Cococoma's songs mix '60s garage sensibilities with a brutal punk rock attack, and hooks that will stay in your head for days. Previous release on Shit Sandwich and Covert Pop Records. The group is also featured on the Gonerfest 2 DVD and CD.

Their second seven inch is from Covert pop records, a split with mans, who sound even more raw and stripped down. If Cococoma sounds like the kinks, then mans are their younger brothers with all the hand me down equipment, recording with a broken tape deck. It's impossible to get this awesome of a crap garage sound. I wouldn't even know where to start.

Records are here!!! The CoCoComa/Mans split 7" just came in!!! Message me on here, or at covertpop@hotmail.com if you want a copy. The artwork and record won't be put together until Wednesday, May 24th, but I'll take preorders now. If you email the address above I'll send you the paypal link and get the records shipped to you as soon as I get back from the Blackout next week. US $4.50 ppd Canada $5.50 Europe and the rest of the world $6.50 ppd. Order 5 or more and you'll get a special wholesale price. Only 300, all on trash vinyl, so hit me up fast!!!