Audacity EP on I hate Rock and Roll Records and Volar Records

Why does this cover remind of Snoop's Doggystyle? Ok, it's a surreal, Dali version of that brick wall cartoon, so maybe this is the reinterpretation, after the party...and it's a really bizarre first impression of these guys. But you could take it as the notebook psyche scrawlings of the alienated garage band with hardcore stars in their eyes.
Audacity is a 4 piece from Fullerton, CA, and the first track, 'Ears and Eyes' is hitting that Replacements place for me, a great way to kick off a 4 song EP. It's the rocking replacements, the part I always wanted more of...not that I wasn't into the slower stuff...they were all over the place anyway and wanted it that way. So take 'Seen your video' or 'Favorite thing' speed it up just a bit, lose the super production and you'd get Audacity. The vocals are slightly blown out, the entire studio really couldn't contain any of this, they had the levels all set during rehearsal and then god dammit if they didn't go completely balls out and now there's no dialing it down. Did they plan it they way? Maybe. They switch up rhythms with a little bit of Smith Westerns blown out glam in there (?), but he really sounds like Paul Westerberg...a little gravely 'tude in there, that working man's springsteen blues voice.
'Don't be a Menace', I was stuck on this line, 'We don't go Eco!' or it's Ego, so I'm thinking it's either a nod to the Minutemen, or they're against ego rock, which of course sounds like a nightmare. I was surprised to hear another track start and realize this was a four song EP, how these guys manage to jam all this into a 45 has to have a little to do with D. Boone creeping through the grooves. They appreciate the succinct statement, the high tempo punk haiku.
The B-Side, this whole single has this great guitar distortion sound, it's thin, mixed just off into the background, with no low end...classic. The riffs again are thrown around here next to more catchy choruses...like the Hunx or Pizza's, they have a really epic energy, but seem to be a little more serious...I haven't heard one word about rock and roll or girls. It's a combination of working almost hardcore: as fast as possible and melodic harmony pop punk, all the catchy moments strung together. A little bit of a late '90s sound that takes me back to skating in the garage to old tapes of the Guerrilla Biscuits and 7 Seconds.
It makes the completely spazz solo on 'What not to do' almost impossible to replay, but they only need to ever capture half the spirit of this effort and they should be happy.

Get this one on purple or black vinyl from Volar Records, who have a bunch of other great releases to check out, including this Under the Covers Vol2 comp which is amazing...or head over to I hate rock and roll records, and get it there.

The Anasazis on I Hate Rock and Roll records

Got an email about The Anasazis from I Hate Rock and Roll Records the other day, they previously released The Muslims (Soft Pack) single, so I wanted to hear what other directions they might be headed in.
Listened to the couple of tracks on their myspace, the A-Side 'The Talk' is their interpretation of the west coast reverb/surf low-fi 60's garage sound that is spontaneously coming from all corners over there, or it's an orchestrated invasion.
It's tambourine splash, jangly tube guitar amps. The emphasis is on the Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls echo chorus vocals with lots of harmony. It's that distant, disaffected sound, a cave full of some flashback party of the past. Lot's of ohhhh's, ahhh's...it's another time really...they are recreating what collectively has been romanticized into that sound. The Shangri-La's? Yea, this is what they must have sounded like, I don't have to listen to the original band...I'm serious. If that era lives on today reinterpreted by the Anasazi's, then that's what it was.
So what part of the era is it exactly? It's not the garage band from the 60's that was headed into psyche and dropping acid and poppers and ludes and playing guitar solos for hours, growing beards. No, this is the end of the 50's, beginning of the 60's, still in high school maybe, clean cut, playing the local church. It's pretty squaresville, content-wise, until you get to the B-Side and UFO's...now we're getting somewhere, even if it does sound harmonic and sweet. This would have been one of those novelty songs that was on the radio in Roswell right after that whole classified incident.

Not sure exactly what Pebble Punk is or if it really applies to these guys...to me that implies that it's some sort of primitive sweet pop...well on second thought, ok, that might work. I was trying to figure out if that's really some sort of weird hardcore scene like twee for hardcore that I'm too old to know about.

Order it from I Hate Rock and Roll.

IHRNR004 The Anasazis "Introducing..." is out now on I Hate Rock N Roll. Three Pebbles punks from San Diego.

The Anasazis "Introducing..."
a1 the talk
a2 grape crush
b1 ufos
b2 show me the way

The Muslims - I hate rock and roll

Another one? I didn't see it coming (literally I found out about this at Sound Bites)....not only that but two new tracks? Shit, this is essential for Muslims fans. I remember they played Parasites at Spaceland, and I couldn't wait to hear the recorded version... well here it is, with another new one, Walking with Jesus.
If there was any doubt that self titled bullet shot 12" was a genius fluke or having the right calculated sound for a debut...or just the result of years of being able to perfect 10 songs and therefore the end...this will put that to rest. This is pure simple power....exploding by the end into something different than the stuff on their self titled. It's a more complex direction, a fuller sound, not just sticking to their sound. They are instantly classic. It's perfect sogwriting, catchy, new and stays on the turntable over and over.

Walking with Jesus finds Matt with more vocal effects and a kind of stompin' almost honkey tonk stones feel, you can almost hear the upright piano poised to come in. These tracks have a bigger sound, not as minimal as something like 'Extinction' all constant guitar strum, like The Velvet Underground on speed and more energy. The repetition goes on forever devolving into a fuzzed out solo.

I still can't believe they aren't really huge but They are on their way, playing a billion shows this next week at CMJ and I tried to list them all on my new wish list 7" concert calandar, but really check out their myspace...I could have screwed it up. I'm going to try to catch these guys somewhere, but with all the CMJ insanity that may not be able to happen.

This is available for preorder on I hate rock and roll records...it's not even pressed yet, but will be sold out I'm sure, unless they are just checking how many they can get away with pressing or something...then they'll be enough for everyone...but I doubt it.