Christmas on Highfives and Handshakes Records

This one is from Highfives and Handshakes records, the A-Side starts out with 'Pies'. I don't think I ever noticed the kind of super surf feel they have at times, it's stripped down garage, but the guitar carries this high surf melody and Emily really is unleashed to any kind of obvious structures. She really goes out there on her own a lot of the time, it's impressive, she's really confident and it's completely her own. Just in sheer dynamics she's got everything from a Diamanda Galas terrifying scream to a sort of early Bjork sugarcubes wavery personal language. It's not as obtrusive or front and center as either of them, there's plenty of echo and live room sound to keep it grounded with the band, it just can't help but stand out.
The B-Side El Colorado is in a 60's psyche-out place...sort of a hint of Janis...and maybe some Dirty Beaches environmental scene setting kind of sound. It could just be this particular echo, but it sounds pretty much rooted in that era for me. It's a sound that combines a sort of blues and jam out time of the late 60's. It's unexpected.

This one, the Metal 7", you can order from Highfives +Handshakes direct and they'll send it when it hits the shelves on the 27th.






The second single they have out is a clear handcut flexi from an edition of 57 as part of a gallery show they had locally here at the Rare Gallery. Art and seven inches, that's practically too perfect
The A-Side of this one, has more of their surf inspired melodies and with major reverb on Emily's vocal track. She's wailing on this one, getting a little haunted house, there's some pain in her vocal this time, as she draws out the lyrics into howls. But it's not so experimental that it's impossible to enjoy, she's just an impossible to ignore force blowing in your town.
'Punch in' gets more minimal, and the guitar juts in, jarring little bursts of that echo, this time getting all Sediment Club for the B-Side, throwing out the melody for an experimental deconstruction. This combination of surf, new wave, and Emily's, Shannon and the Clams classic delivery and just plain powerful voice is going to keep Christmas interesting for holidays yet to come.

Both still available from Highfives+Handshakes.

I heard they are headed towards Brooklyn after 8/27 including:

9/9 - SHEA STADIUM w/Total Slacker - BK, NY
9/10 - UNION POOL w/ Darlings, Mermiads - BK, NY

Christmas on Endless Latino Records

The Endless Latino label, who have a Shearing Pinx 12" that I'll have to check out, just released this single from Christmas out of Olympia, just in time for the holiday, I think.

It's sparsely live sounding, with a count-off before every track. Emily on vocals is heavily echoed in that garage aesthetic, seriously self assured and belting out, 'Winter..... never come home!' She's really pleading with the season, it's a rain dance for the Spring, she's literally trying to will Winter away one way or another. It's got both hands drenched in reverb surf, with a sort of unpretentiousness like the Jacuzzi Boys, or Wounded Lion...Or even a garage psychobilly Pocahaunted. She's got that mysterious haunting voice, that draws you in and then scares the hell out of you. A little possessed.

On the B-Side in 'Gut' Emily's really unleashed, she must love this sound as much as I do, the shrieks fading out in the echo, at this point she's pushing the rest of the band to keep up. If she isn't playing the echo, she's yelling vocals as fast as they come to her. It's a little over a minute of ghost-punk.
'Castle', this one is a little more restrained...well, quiet in a unsettling way, relying on a eerie bassline, and before you know it you're in a haunted castle. There's a little Deadbolt in here as well, with the rockabilly guitar melodies that punctuate the silences of echo with bursts of chords.

You really have to hear Pies on their myspace, along with all these tracks from the single, it's a little different, practically instrumental, but they're making this psyche-crampsy sound all their own.

Distributed on the classic K Recs who says:

Christmas is a psych-dance-punk band from Olympia, Washington. Toxic surf, reverb mirrors, sinewy grime and polish (and Polish). This single includes three songs: "Winter," "Gut" and "Castle," on the first 7" from Endless Latino.

This 45 rpm corker includes an MP3 download code. "Lydia Lunch meets Scratch Acid meets current and past San Francisco sounds" - Jon Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees, The Coachwhips)

XMAS MIX! Podcast!

A 7inches.blogspot singles mix for the holiday season:
Episode 36

White Stripes - Candy Cane Children (Christmas Single A side, 2003)
Pedro the Lion - First Noel (Suicide squeeze 2003, A -side)
Deerhoof - The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill/Little Drummer Boy (Tomlab Xmas single, 2006, A -side)
Pedro the Lion - I heard the bells on Christmas Day (Suicide Squeeze 2002, A-side)
Bunnygrunt - Seasons Freaklings/The Hannukah Scout (Blue Christmas 7" A-side, 1996)
White Stripes - Reading of the Story of the Magi/Singing of Silent Night (XL Christmas 7" B-Side, 2003)
Pedro the Lion - Long way around the sea (Christmas single B-side)
Razor Sadness and the Crumbling Beauties - Christmas is coming / Just like Christmas (Allmyvinyl.info christmas release A-Side)
Drawlings - Wolfies Christmas (A-side paw tracks 2008 xmas single)
Pedro the lion - Silent Night (Christmas single , 2005 B-Side)
BunnyGrunt - Blue Christmas (Blue Christmas 7" B-side, 1996)
Rev Green feat Antony and Kria Brekkan - Be good to the earth this season (Pawtracks 2008, Christmas single B -side)
Dave Bazan - All I want for Christmas (Suicide Squeeze 2008 B-Side)
Pedro the Lion - God rest ye merry gentlemen (Suicide Squeeze, 2005, A-side Christmas single)
Pedro the Lion - Oh Come oh Come Emmanuel (Suicide Squeeze, 2002, Christmas single B-side)
The Walkmen - Christmas party/Fly into the Mystery - Eggnog (2004, Christmas single)

(About an hour...60mb Mp3...and no talking...you're welcome.)

crom tech - Christmas 7"

I don't know anything about this guy Mick Barr or Orthrelm, so I'm going to sound stupid, but this sounds like some hardcore Lightning Bolt type load records shit. That kind of sound that takes some getting used to. It's heavily effected, like some kind of weird electronic mess, like the devils keytar... It's like finding a melody with a chainsaw.
I don't know his other band, so maybe this is a side project? Maybe this is a side project from a while ago?
I just thought it's not too late to still get that last 7" for Christmas, I think I missed this one in my holiday 7" listings.
I'm guessing these tracks are unrecognizable high speed interpretations...that's always nice to throw on and annoy someone. It's only $4.
I guess it was recorded a while back but this kind of insanity is timeless. Pretty nice colored vinyl too.


Crom Tech
Christmas
PS, US Originally released as a cassette 7 yrs ago as a special tape for friends. Brutal tech-metal Christmas adaptions by MICK BARR of ORTHRELM. LTD 750 copies on green & red vinyl!
It's available from Troubleman

Or from parasol.