TV Ghost on Kind Turkey Records

I still listen to that Atomic Rain single from 2008, which is an eternity when it comes to seven inches. Five years ago, Blank Dogs was putting out impossible to get singles records left and right and Captured Tracks wasn't even a label yet for god sakes. TV Ghost's discography now reads like a who's who of underground labels, Die Stasi, Columbus Discount, Sweet Rot and In The Red. I don't know what kind of connection Bobby over at Kind Turkey has with these guys but they agreed to release the first recorded material from TV Ghost way back in 2007 on his label. The discog description for it is the best:

The earliest known recordings of TV Ghost. Recorded by the band sometime in early 2007 in Lafayette, Indiana onto 4-track cassette monaurally. The cassette was then dropped into a puddle on accident, after which it was soundsourced for this 7".

A perfect document of the era - some might say the very height of blown out, buried, overdriven, melted input levels and this single is the extreme of all examples. You can say the most important thing about any release is the year it was recorded and this is no exception. A prime early example to be studied.

With a blast of that heavy messed up fuzz "Amputee" pounds in just like that first single but with an epic dirge quality. This has even been pushed passed Times New Viking's upper limits of overloaded frequencies (thanks to that missing ingredient...a puddle). They get into a high/low teetering mess that is extremely dark thanks to this organ creeping through haunted house blasts and Tim on vocals has always been working in that basement laboratory space tinkering with bubbling beakers even in the very early days. It's a sonic end game with no where to go from here, the last straw has been chosen, needles in the red have been broken. This is as loaded as you can be and still sift some kind of melody out of this sludge. A drunken mess of extreme's, a melody rising up and down, back and forth in a crazy huddled duality. Wailing vocals off in the background of this mix ask how they got to this place and that imagery of the supernatural coming out of that static in the TV set. This track has been lurking between UHF channels for the last five years.

If there was a dark force in the teetering blasted wrath of the A-Side, "The Mold" is some kind of ancient jackhammer, only ending up psych because everything is so unclear. The rhythm and tune are pushed up against a wall and knocked to the floor. It's a blur of emotion and sound, if there was a case for modern psych, this sort of thing is it. It's attempt to mess with your senses literally with this blown out fuzz could definitely do the trick, you'll be left cleaning your ears. TV Ghost began out of that mess they specifically bring to the table. It's mysterious and creepy because they leave so much up to the imagination, the instrumentation is unclear, you struggle to pick out a single phrase or lyric because these ghosts don't even exist on the same plane of existence as we do. Luckily this recording bridged the dimensional gap but not without losing some fidelity mind you.

On Kind Turkey Records, Dark purple vinyl pressing is sold out, but recently repressed on Green.

The Pharmacy - Dig Your Grave EP on Kind Turkey Records

Before Bobby left with The Hussy to go tour for nine thousand years he sent me a few of Kind Turkeys latest releases, The Lonesome Savages and this one from The Pharmacy, a trio who are solidly crafting a organ fused pop garage at home in the multitrack studio or a concrete underground bunker.

"Dig Your Grave" is already setting expectations high with this piano riff and spazz tempo hat start, there's even full blown strings on this one, an epic orchestral feel for the kick to come stomping in. There's a slight distortion on Scott Yoder's sleepy vocal, until this chorus kicks in and they lose their minds over a punchy synth. Checking out their wiki page this morning, you start getting a sense of how this weird combination of synth/organ heavy rock evolved. Friends from high school into the Unicorns and ELO became the backing band for Kimya Dawson and ended up here....oh, definitely.
Impeccably separated and polished this has some of that Black Keys blues soul but a lot more unhinged with this warbly organ that speeds up and out at the end of this one.
"Pines" then play to their poppier, fun side, twinkly keys and more harmonies appear, leave it to anything on Kind Turkey to be an EP, even at 33 these guys come up with concise gleaming brief pop. I know there are guitars here, but all I'm hearing is synths in an un-electronic way, the hammonds and farfisa's.... there's still a great way to have this stay organic and humanized with instrumentation that shouldn't go that way.
This whole side is really precise... they've been out o the garage for a while now, beating great organ riffs into reel to reels before moving on to the rest of the song, with great results.

B-Side's "Lazy Bones" was recorded at Goveners Island, NY, and that back sleeve note caught my eye, aside from sounding completely different than the A-Side, in the best way. I'm into this raw, huge empty room sound, the inside of an abandoned concrete structure, the reverb, slow dance guitar, bouncing off the corners, fading in and out the imperfections of the tape winding through the capstans. Still rocking that great bass organ sound, (by he way I keep remembering there's only three members, so where is this organ coming from ...or this blown out xylophone?), the instrumental imperfections and over-modulation are making this track, it's even split between channels, but the warble you get from these frequencies at super high volume is just perfect.
"Burn your bridges" then is a fingerpicking electric track with a Beatles complex harmony sound, possibly joined by an unnamed lady friend in this acapella number about literally bridges being burnt and seagulls shitting on them. Super raw tremolo, great warm tones, this one recorded somewhere in New Orleans...I love that you're getting a taste of the road on this side as opposed to the high glam studio. Solid, with a great cover photo.

Get this one direct from Kind Turkey who says:

Seattle’s THE PHARMACY have spent the majority of the last decade touring the US and Europe relentlessly on their infectious brand of pop garage. In between tours they’ve released a slew of singles and three critically acclaimed LPs, cementing them as the current purveyors of the pop garage genre. Frontman SCOTT YODER concocts epic pop gems that aren’t obscured by mountains of fuzz or clched lyrics—all while staying true to their lo-fi perspective on sound. Four songs in all. 2/3rds of THE PHARMACY play in the bedroom pop band FUZZY CLOAKS!

Two Tears on Kind Turkey Records

Didn't want to forget about this Kind Turkey release from Two Tears, which is Kerry Davis of the Red Aunts, who are taking the seat-of-the-pants, who-needs-to-learn-chords attitude and applying it to a bluesy garage aesthetic. Taking that initial gut reaction to rock, which has proven over and over again you can will a band into existence simply with the right bad attitutude. Take all those years of relying on your stage presence for a show, and then get some tight, rocking craft involved....and you've got this Two Tears incarnation.

The A-Side, 'Eat People' has a bragging bad ass blues ethic: I'm a cannibal / I like to crunch / right through the bone with a foot tapping forward beat, raw and gritty guitar, a sort of JSBX over the top Cramps style blues. Kerry's using this layered, snide, snarling vocal that's letting you know she's in control... in fact most live reviews mention kicking and stomping boots...she's a bad ass cannibal singing, "Eat People, Baby!" Ok, let's do this. (?)

Heisse Hex, is praying to god above, but with a Ouija board and animal blood, not the cute letterman jacket, daddy's little girl way....so right away I'm on board. Take that nuclear family '50s scene and give it some balls. She's almost a completely different singer than the "Eat..." track, no effects...it's almost sweet, actually trying to be a tender ballad from the homecoming Queen, but again....this is coming from a cannibal.
It also helps to add another level to this delivery in exotic foreign languages....because Heisse Hex sounds way better than Sexy Witch...you just couldn't get away with that in any song, but there it is, and you know it's dirty before you even google translate it.

"Senso-Unico" features some long reverb, slow guitar tempo vibratting into silence. Just a couple of chords and the title vocal repeated over the sludgy riff, taking it's sweet time you let you really try to figure out if you're all in with this Unico, or maybe not tonight. Anyone singing "I hate my life!" is either going to have a good time or too much trouble to deal with....this "One-Way" isn't made any clearer by the explanation at the end of the track in Italian. (?)

Kerry Davis takes all of this rock experience from her beginnings which made something out of nothing... the feeling of rock, without any actual skill. Two Tears then takes simple progressions and repeating melodies of garage riffs that are also held together by this sheer will of Kerry's vocals. This is the damn song, pay attention.

Or I'll kick you.

Trent Fox and the Tenants on Kind Turkey Records

Bobby was nice enough to send me another couple singles off his label, Kind Turkey Records including this one from Trent Fox and the Tenants. Trent & the boys are Milwaukee natives and Trent even runs a local venue, the Vault, and I like this idea that this band formed around playing together, maybe even meeting at the shows Trent was putting on, and they were the guys that were always there...and the tenants stopped paying rent.

The entire single is recorded extra clean sounding, not even necessarily garage to me in the end. Jangly '50s rhythm guitar, jukebox era jams. Trent is definitely driving this disc from the very first track with a maniac laugh in 'Mess Around' over the backup harmonies and his offbeat lyric choices, that definitely bring this forward into today, but essentially this is working in that early garage period that Hunx or Shannon and the Clams are recreating with a contemporary angle.

Take A-Sides, 'Otta My Mind'... it has a clean reverb based guitar style, I almost get a Dead Milkmen overall feel from the vocals to that deceptively simple guitar, they all turn into familiar sing-a-long choruses, and Trent has a knack for lyrically turning the track in a ridiculous direction, that makes it a little punk, a little bit funny. No one but friends could get into this material...like Natural Child, or Liquor Store, just in content...it's not material anyone would put together with producers, at a piano with 3 songwriters...it comes from hours in the rehearsal space fucking around or drunk at home one night with your shitty guitar. Granted Trent and the Tenants have craft on their side, these guys can work in this sound faithfully, as much as it isn't taking itself too seriously, they execute the tracks with skill, like a really elaborate prank. They care.
Trent's vocals are always bordering Frank Black-esque, he has that theatrical energy with a story talking delivery especially on 'Jokes!'. The band sets him up with a catchy simple verse melody for Trent to go through a bunch of examples of his girlfriend not being able to take a joke...but obviously in a clever way. When you just sit down to describe this, it's not going to translate....same goes for this musically. They keep it simple with lots of harmonies, chuck berry solos packing in 5 tracks to a lowly single. It's an accomplishment to get this variety and range of joke jams into the single format. You're going to get your money's worth.

The B-side, 'Sounds fine to me' is essentially an ode to listening to records, and then going next door to the liquor store...am I getting punk'd? It's like some kind of twilight zone episode where the record is playing exactly what I'm about to do? Freaky. Of course any band that sings about listening to records is alright by me, it's almost too easy guys...you're impossible to hate.

Get this single from the Kind Turkey who says:

Trent Fox & The Tenants are Milwaukee's latest and greatest Up-N-Comers. Taking note from their peers (Midwest Beat, Goodnight Loving, Jaill, etc.), Trent Fox honed their skills in the seedy basement scene of Riverwest. Shit, Trent Fox even runs one of the longest-standing and most beloved basement venue of the neighborhood, The Vault. Kind Turkey favorites like Black Time, Bare Wires, Nobunny, Wax Museums, and plenty more have bashed brains in at the Vault. Trent Fox's brand of garage-punk-twang is definitely a fresh breath of air in a constantly evolving scene. This new EP features 5 tracks of instantly catchy garage/punk/rock n roll anthems. Songs about drinking, fights, girls, tomfoolery, drinking, Mario 3, old ladies and working class life in Milwaukee. Required listening for anyone who spends their summers drinking beer and soaking up the sun on their porch right after the Winter frost has thawed. This will make you bump 'n boogie.

500 copies - First 100 on color vinyl - All copies hand-numbered. Screen printed art by Zabby of Big Action Records. Art concept by Mikey, designed by Bobby.

Side A:
1. Mess Around
2. Outta My Mind
3. Jokes!

Side B:
4. Old Lady
5. Sounds Fine To Me

Interview with Bobby at Kind Turkey Records

I talked to Bobby from Kind Turkey Records a few weeks back about starting up his label this past year and a new single they're working on from Madison, WI's own Dead Luke. Sean Reed himself is working on the design and screening the sleeves as you read this probably. Dead Luke is back with a live band, dark as ever, and ready to tour.
In addition to the label, Bobby and friends have a music blog called Kind Turkey, with tons of reviews; 7" and full length.

We talked about balancing the label with his own band, The Hussy who is coming to NYC in June in support of their full length(!) on Slow Fizz Records, any day now.
We also get into the spontaneous community that surrounds punk and garage, including singles, and the importance of small labels....you know....how 7"'s rule, and here's why...like you didn't know, but listen already, Bobby is awesome and this will make you really want to check out his label and releases. These things exist because of you.
Kind Turkey thanks you.
He's a nice guy.

Download it here.

Wheels on Fire on Kind Turkey Records

Bobby from Hussy, who I interviewed a while back has started a label recently with a buddy called Kind Turkey Records. He emailed me a few weeks ago to let me know about their first release...this single from Wheels on Fire out of Athens, OH.

There's nothing better than packing a 7" single with an EP length 4 tracks, and when they're punchy pop punk like this...that's pretty much what the format was made for in my opinion.

Wheels on Fire sound like they're stepping back a little further in the jangly beach surf canon that seems to be unstoppable these days. They're going all the way back to that 50's garage reverb mic in a can sound...the whole thing recorded a hollow box. Classic effects, solid

Lyrics about a...baby, baby, baby. There's a lot of cars around probably, and not shitty new ones with stupid rims. It's a reinterpretation definitely inspired by that tipping point in the 50's when the atom bomb started to feel wrong, and no one was getting happier in their identical tract houses.

I grew to love the title track, "Cherry Bomb" once I started realizing they were actually celebrating the classic explosive with lyrics like:

we would have so much fun / I know you're no toy

see that trashcan we just drove by / I will blow it to the sky

It's a slightly more agressive Fresh and Onlys sound, there's not a hint of psyche, they have that greaser attitude, which isn't really dangerous, but they aren't interested in any messing around. The track is written and they're going to get it done with a hint of blues peeking through the beer fridge in the garage, next to the motorcycles, painted black.

"Broken up" is that typical story of a dude wronged by that girl who just doesn't care, he's a bad ass, and now I guess he got what he deserved. Throw in a Johnny Be Good solo for good measure, just to show at least we can rock about it. You can be a sad bastard, loner without turning to wussy goth! Just recreating this now is a nod to the idea that the simplest sentiment, a classic rhodes organ, and reverb guitar, can still be the best.

Like Shannon and the Clams or Nobunny, Wheels on Fire owe a lot to the 50's harmony garage rock, it's a straightforward homage to that stripped down rock sound which is probably going to stick around in some form or another forever.

I was even reading that Merge Records book and supposedly Superchunk recorded a Ronettes track for the B-Side of their first single? (Ah shit it was the Shangri-La's - ed) I didn't expect to see it going on back as far as the indie rock nineties let alone the Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls recent revival of that sound...but there it is. All that nostalgia rolled up into a 45, which of course is really the only format this could exist on.

They've got another one from Trouble in Mind actually I'll have to look into. I can't keep up with those guys.

Bobby's writing reviews on the Kind Turkey Blog as well...lots of 7" reviews there as well, since I know you're looking for more.

Plus they're putting out Dead Luke? Look out for this label.

Turk 002 - Wheels on Fire - "Cherry Bomb" EP 7-inch - $7.50 postage paid to US (International orders please e-mail kindturkeyrecords(at)gmail.com)

First 100 copies are on purple colored vinyl! Features a slick screen printed cover by Big Action Records! Act fast to ensure getting a colored one! Rest of the copies are hand-numbered with black vinyl. All copies include an insert!