Ego on Maximum Pelt Records

Hell, I had no idea Magick Ian from Maximum Pelt was in Ego. Damn makes sense, should have read this Midwest action interview sooner. Of course he started the label years ago xeroxing cassette covers of his own stuff for friends and now has a freaking empire of vinyl releases. I want to believe you can still make a meager living off releasing great music like this and keeping things simple.
The thing I'm into about Ego is this hybrid scuzzy garage and psych sound, both of my favorite things. They dive in deep to both ends of that pool and (DANIEL RICO - ed) is (also) great on vocals, real out of control with a touch of the Make Up, perfectly weird for this sort of thing.

A-Side's "Can't Shut It Off" opens on crazy little shuffle beat with a telephone ring or something else I can't put my finger on. It's a live, in the room sound open to those little mistakes, not that there's any on that great jangle muzzled guitar and a fantastic blown out yelling-into-the-void vocals that bounce with a reverb twist ending the verse in a swirly psych phaser spiral. The vocals are half yelping and not worried about sounding conventional, instead it's almost that creepy Angus Andrew from the Liars sound, but he's just having way too good of a time and taking you with him. They hammer this solid quirky little melody and it blooms toward the end of this opening up with layers and climbing an epic plateau just to moon the rest of the canyon. Ripping off the rest of their clothes they dance around this '70s riff watching the trails, smashing beer bottles and starting way too big of a bonfire. The forest service is called. They hide in the woods. Hope they didn't leave any ID in their pants.
B-Side's "Sunlight" is that morning after and the sun is just starting to burn away the wet from the grass, but the haze from fog or that bonfire is still smoking away blowing in their direction, the guitars starting to shake off sleep. The toms build speed and tempo settling into a bobbing groove with some fancy finger-work before attempting that epic climb again with dueling guitars. They pause to break for the night on a cave ledge and Magik is more subdued, singing from the back of that cave he's turned into his carpeted airbrushed van. Like some kind of hermit man on the mountain Jim Morrison he bellows away, scaring off the wildlife.

Get this from Maximum Pelt Records on brown/orange marble vinyl.

Lil Tits / Foul Tip split on Maximum Pelt Records

Maximum Pelt has managed to put together a scary split. And for entirely different reasons. The duo Foul Tip had me reconsidering the places that Death from Above 1979 never got to. Just when they had started to mark the end game for fuzzy bass, these guys come along to shatter those ideas, pushing that low end in a new math direction. Then Lil Tits go and conjure a truly creepy sounding hardcore punk that feels like it has something in common with extreme subgenre's of metal.

A-Side's Foul Tip starts with "Madness" locking down the most straight forward metronome single bass note rhythm and high hat drum and kick punch. It's all landing on the same down beat in perfect time for a verse or so until they break out into a groove both of the guys yelling background vocals in this chorus that evolves layering lyrics rounding over each other in off set harmony. This thick thundery distorted bass sound has got all the mathy precision of Don Cab with the low end grooves of Death from Above 1979. There's really nothing like that rat pedal bass sound mixed to the very peak center of a track like this. It's as in your face as you can get without that middle range guitar and further proof how the duo has to inherently step up harder than the lazy three piece. There's some kind of swooping keys in the chorus so I don't get the sense they're militant about sticking to that bass and drum formula. Get another arm or something.
B-Side's Lil Tits "New Digs" opens on a three chord crunchy bass line coincidentally enough and it's also the center of this scuzzy evil punk. The guitar is banished off to the high end, smothered in metallic tin, its grating it's way through the upper reaches of the track with feedback and aluminum. They seem to have smashed parts together from completely separated rhythms with a real tortured background vocal that snarls and spits an ungodly amount of lyrics. "Five Finger Grind" is a real minor key carnival satanic sound, a dark choir sound performing that final see saw ritual. The lyrics are chanted together in unnatural rhythms that keep shifting chosen from the leftover chopped up pieces from the A-Side. This is a deafening hardcore Grass Widow cabal at the most frantic pace, the three vocal tracks hailing a punk darkness over an unpredictable and stilted foundation. Frightening.

On dark red vinyl from Maximum Pelt.

Unmanned Ship on Maximum Pelt Records

The three guys from Unmanned Ship out of Chicago have hit upon a unique combination. You would think every last sound has been wrung out over magnetized tape or burned into shiny plastic but then something like this comes along that reminds me of the discipline and technique of instrumental post stuff like Don Cab and the bonkers melted digital junkpile of Black Dice AT THE SAME TIME. It should have been done years ago but those two take special sets of skills on their own so of course any attempt to combine them would be madness. Incredible madness.

"Crystal Pepsi" drops directly into a slowly building mess of bizarre tones and sine waves floating by like jellyfish in a future undersea neon jungle, the sort of thing that you wouldn't even be able to explain how they ended up here, and I'm talking about the music. The guitar and cardboard thin percussion with a tight snare works its way out of the digital murk and busts out of it's repetition in a spazz of mathy greatness. It doesn't happen very often but there's nothing like having no idea where this could be headed. The jewels of synth sparkle and Don Cab loops repeat, the drums burst into inhuman clusters of snare rolls like a really concise but subtle Lightning Bolt. (sure - ed) This has the same pent up energy and I'm waiting for the whole thing to implode with in the red overmodulation because they've just been waiting to pounce. Instead they stop exactly all together and the hum of all of those pedals and amps just groans.
B-Side's "Pad Thai Fighter" in addition to being an early contender for song title of the year is now nominated for the instrumentation as well. What was a peek at their process on the A-Side is now a fully developed power equation. They find a cycling bass line to hang the scrolling loops of electronics and higher chorus touched melodies on. I also can't help but think of Tortoise or Pullman if they never had access to live instruments. Don't get me wrong they also don't reference any of these heavy hitters directly either, it's the broad brushstroke of that brutish glitch from the decrepit future and the attention to detail with melody. All those same abstract things that made them all great on their own. The bandcamp is more of the same. Sweet. Jesus.

On forest green vinyl from Maximum Pelt Records

Mines / Hunt Hunt Camp split single on Maximum Pelt Records

This split from Mines and Hunt Hunt Camp is an amazing sample of fuzzy, messed up electronics from two Chicago based bands on Maximum Pelt Records. I haven't heard sounds like these coming off a single in a while. Mines feels like they take a down and dirty approach, working with less is more and inferior equipment will only make me stronger while the Hunt Hunt Camp side is a Xiu Xiu meets Casiotone for the Painfully Alone feel, the mellow vocals against these harsh, choppy oscillated waveforms.

On the Mines track "Addict" the last time I heard far off clanging muddy no fi tones like this was from These Are Powers, the slow grandfather clock ringtones quickly turn into a no-fi dirty dance sound like Digital Leather or A Faulty Chromosome and the best use of the human voice from the Casio SK-1. I didn't think you could ever get away with using that sound but Mines does it effortlessly with a million unrecognizable others. The same way multiple melodies, especially this guitar section, just get piled on all seemingly working against each other. Lots of 4-track insanity happening here and in a high energy circuit bent rave. Something about recording to tape inspires that sloppy genius feel and is impossible to duplicate with a million digital tracks at your disposal...or maybe it was and he's even more of a genius. I have to hear an entire record of this, the possibilities he's barely presented feel endless and there's a full length from Lake Paradise Records. You bet I just ordered one.

Hunt Hunt Camp does "HVYMTLKDZ" a heavily ominous track with lots of scuzzy moog textures in chunky synth waves with panning metallic clicks from the keyboard stand when male vocals come in breathy and rising above these hard edge electronics turning into a sharp dancey Owen Ashworth side project in that same melancholic delivery. A vocal melody attempts to break out of it's trench with the help from female harmonies but the weird perfectly captured melted circuits is what really makes this great. The vocals are a perfect distraction but the instrumentation is so foreign and bizarre it's all I can hear. It's subtle and jabbing you in the ribs at the same time. There should be a full length in the works from these guys as well. Incredible.

Pick this up from Maximum Pelt Records who make me want to get a cassette player if they keep releasing stuff like this in that tape catalog of theirs.



Almost forgot William Satek from Mines was on Judge Mathis. Hilarious.

The Funs on Maximum Pelt Records

The Funs are a duo from Chicago who have their own label, design their own fliers and even recently started a recording/crash space a few hours outside the windy city in the vein of Daytrotter. They've been making it happen for themselves long before I found out about them thanks to Maximum Pelt. I have to remember when I'm home sitting on the couch, listening to their single that they've endured countless days of van trouble only to spend their last few bucks to play in your town and you should count yourself lucky. But they obviously can't help themselves, this is that important to them they they don't want to do anything else. That should be all you need to know.

A-Side's "Concrete" has one hell of a muddy rehearsal space thick sounding riff with all sorts of effects on this growling little riff with drums and a reverb echo filled vocal from Jessee that comes in like an ominous feeling Grass Widow. This track plows ahead with no sense of clarity, wallowing in this uppity buzzsaw grind and the effortless, backwards vocal. Something like Blanche Blanche Blanche she's messing with this melody cracking and rising through the registers into falsetto. Not worried about any sort of perfection. Its pleasantly stress free, not like that beachy weed smoking alien stuff but like a crack swat team has just finished clearing this house. They kicked the door down, made a huge mess, scared the shit out of everyone and then cleared the hell out. In slow motion.

B-Sides "Its strange I'm Here" has another heavy riffs striking in not wasting a second of seven inch time. The drums can barely stand up to Philip's vocal and it's reverb. It's something of a stoner psych sound, everything bleeding into each other like a watercolor painting of a slaughterhouse getting rained on. Two chords back and forth to force the expression to make this compelling. It doesn't feel minimal it's just an oppressive HHHHAAAAAZZZZEEEEE that makes the biggest impression here, A Jesus and Mary Chain record at the wrong speed that overwhelms leaving room for nothing else, You can't think of anything but the fog. I think i'm just getting the band name now. Jokes on me.

Get this from Maximum Pelt on baby blueish vinyl, nice color...and vintage inner labels.

Great interview with these guys from Psychedelic Baby blog made me appreciate these guys even more.