Velvet Davenport on SHDWPLY Records

Shdwply recently released this single from The Velvet Davenport. The sleeve is great, reminiscent of the NNF demented cut and paste collage, so right away I have to go check out their myspace. At first all I saw was the words Ariel Pink and Gary War and jumped to the conclusion this was a Roman Soldiers sort of situation...man, that Gary collaborates all over town...which makes me think I have to listen to his full length again. It's such a great collection of sounds, it's one giant entity to me that I sit down with and evolves over two sides...I get caught up in it...maybe it's just kind of mysterious to begin with? It definitely helped Blank Dogs...I mean you kind of make up a better story than the press release anyway...nobody knows where this guy is from, what gear he's using. It's like there's some kind of time machine effect? It is pretty cool to hear a crackly reverb sounding plug in on garageband...just for a second it's believable, but still insanely produced....to think that could be reduced down to a single plug in is just ridiculous...but that didn't stop me.

I'll start with the B-Side 'Run' since it's VD by themselves, this has all the sensibilities of AP, it's got that nostalgic aesthetic, but very grounded in 70's psyche, like MV+EE, laid back hippies time traveled to the SHDWPLY studios, like Bill and Ted. Too high to notice they were in 2010, they wrote some jams, laid down the flute tracks, lit some candles, tie dyed some stuff...I'd be completely against this direction if there wasn't that modern dark edge to this...starting with that disembodied mask-face.

The A-Side 'Get Out', the one with Ariel & Gary (that's got the sound of a side project right there), has all of the patina you'd expect of the three of these entities coming together. It sounds like all those era's they reference at once, the static from 70's, the earnest disillusionment of the 80's, a little indie guitar thrown in for good measure....or maybe that's just me attaching all my own memories to the nostalgic sound they've always been creating... it sort of lends itself to that, by listening to it through wax paper, you make up the parts you aren't actually hearing?

They have a free download of their cassette release 'Happy Endings' here. This single is a pretty great start for these guys and it's immediately going to be filed in the unfile-able weirdo section of the vinyl shelf.

While you're at it, Shdwply is releasing a new Ducktails single, so get on both immediately. I'm shocked this is still available with this Ariel & Gary contribution.

“Our previously loved psychedelic friends, Velvet Davenport have just sent over their newest slice of 60’s infused pop. On their recent LA vacay they met up with like minded nostalgists Ariel Pink and Gary War, the resulting “Get Out” is an acid flashback into a more liberal state of mind. This will be the a-side b/w of “Run” which is set for release as a 7″ on, the appropriate, Shdwply Records. Also, check out the free downloads that Velvet Davenport has available at their myspace…”
-Weeklytapedeck.com

The Super Vacations 'Henry' on Shdwply Records

Been checking out The Super Vacations this morning, they have a single on Shdwply Records that isn't released yet exactly...the preorder red vinyl was (damn) but now it's just the regular old copy, which hasn't actually gone up yet, but should be any day now. Was really into the Florida single they just put out and then all of a sudden there's 10 more records from this label...just saw that the SV's self titled was Shdwply's first release...I swear I need a research intern.

So the Super Vacations are fuzzy garage with 90's indie rock influences. But every time I look at how I've just described them, the next track starts and it's completely different.
They use really nice high vocal harmonies against the distortion, the haze of an old tape machine, singing in a giant warehouse...the weirdo melodies...that's the thing that has to come naturally and can make or break this style. You have to be able to instinctively know where the melody is going...like Gary War, Ariel Pink...it's an internal melody that has to exist the way you're singing it, but it has no reference to what the guitar...what everything else is playing. That's what I want to hear.

'Henry' has this scary pop melody, like a demented old sitcom is up next...this is the theme song. But it was added 10 years after they shot it...it's hastily written, but would be better than any composed average mess. I think this is the A-Side track. It's interesting to have these psyche feeling trippy dreams clock in at under 2 minutes. They could really put out a mini EP on the 45. Before you know it that drugged out trip is over. Like smoking salvia.

According to Myspc the Void looks like it's the B-Side, this one is really going dark,depressing bassline, faraway guitar echo tone, and harmonized distorted vocals are reminding me of (I'm lazy) Joy Division, it's slow, taking it's time to build this rhythm like an old goth demo tape.

Found it for (pre) sale? on Midheaven distro...could be the red vinyl copies? Might not be. They have a new site, which is a huge upgrade from the black and white text thingy they had for the past 20 years...it worked, but searching was impossible...now it's good.

SUPER VACATIONS - Henry - Shdwply - SHDWPLY 012 - 7" - $ 5.25
***"Definitely one of the more ambitious and mysterioso bands of this run-down, SUPER VACATIONS provide a perfect example of a group turning the limitations of home-recording to their advantage, assembling a beguiling psych rock sound from the palette of slightly warped rock n' pop elements at their disposal. Their debut album burns through sixteen songs in about twenty-five minutes, each of them a swirling wonder of crisply recorded hi-hat n' snare grooves, twangin', FX heavy surf guitar, hazy layers of psychedelic jangle, occasional bursts of chaotic space-fuzz washout and ultra-compressed vocal tracks that range from pristine, chanted harmonies to distorted answering machine skree. Recalling the spirit of classic-era Guided By Voices records, these one-to-two minutes cuts are veritable bonsai trees of weird beauty that make their point and then disappear into the void, providing tantalizing glimpses into what we assume to be a whole universe of unguessed at four-track wonderment. Inevitably, Super Vacations' songwriting is sketchy and indistinct in comparison to the heights scaled on a daily basis by Ohio's finest in the mid-'90s, but nonetheless, they've got a good handle on the kind of sound they're going for, and the material at hand is up to the task, allowing them to stand proud alongside the very best of the '90s neo-psych-pop mob (Lilies, The Swirlies, pre-ego meltdown Brain Jonestown Massacre etc.) without ever having to venture beyond their basement. (I'd like to think this band's stuff was recorded in a basement. It... has that kinda feel to it. I'd be disillusioned to discover actual sunlight was involved at any stage.)"--Shdwply - midheaven

Florida on shdwply records

Just found out about this release from a Volcanic Tongue email. As soon as they mentioned Gary War I had to put on his full length and track down Shdwply records. Turns out Shdwply is based in VA and Florida is right in my backyard! That sentence doesn't make sense. In fact they are playing Sept 18th at Zebulon.
I have been searching all morning to see if Gary War had anything to do with this other than being on the same label, someone correct me but, he had nothing to do with this release as far as I can tell. He has played with them on at least one song on their myspace, but I don't think it's on this single. Oh well.
From what I'm hearing on their myspace it's coming off like a somber bedroom 4 track project. Like Kurt Vile, I wonder how this is going to be reinterpreted live. They can be two separate things, but at the same time like with Blank Dogs, you aren't going to hear the record. Can that be good? Sure. It's very different. If you have to hear everything by someone, and I do at least once, then by all means, check it out. The vibe is going to be very different when this goes on tour. It has to be.
Sometimes it's acoustic guitar with warbly phasered vocals, a little stream of consciousness beck, or like real estate, huge sounding, a little bit stoner 70's psyche. Lots of slurring layers of chorus vocals. They stay pretty clean, it's thankfully not attempting to join the no-fi club of impenetrable songwriting. It is however a part of the weird punk whatever which is getting bigger by the day also.
It's taking it's time to deliver, and I'm into that, like Gary War Raytheonport, it grew on me and puts me in a good mood, just by quietly convincing me in the background.

I found a video for Icarus one of the tracks on this single. This verse makes me think of some of the weirdo later Jason Lowenstein experiments I was never really into. Vocal heavy, the chorus is a nice change of melody against the opening. It really picks up in an epic way towards the end with a touch of creepy. It's a weird combination of an almost uplifting satanic hymn.

I'm in it for the 3D glasses...email Matt, he's got a few left.

Shdwply says:

Out on August 1st 2009

3D cover with glasses.
Limited to only 300 hand numbered copies.

Pre-order is available:
Paypal: $6.00
FREE SHIPPING IN U.S.A.
Contact: mattdbeck (at) gmail

Volcanic Tongue said:
Fantastic all-analog recording with Gary War at the helm from this new Florida-based Shdwply signing. The A side has a heavy massed-vocal west coast 60s psych feel, with a track that might have turned up on the first Quicksilver Messenger Service LP rendered in the perfect underwater production style of Gary War. The flip might be even better, a dark downer folk ballad that combines the kinda haunted chorale style of Jakob Olausson with a doomier biker/eschatological private press feel that peaks in martial drumming and sad arcs of wailing twin guitar that you kinda wish would go on forever. Shdwply have the most authentic modern umbilical to the heart of 60s psych and this might well be one of their most plugged in blats yet. Could really do with an album from these guys but this hand-numbered edition of 300 7” complete with classy 3D glasses more than plugs the gap. Can’t stop spinning it. Highly recommended.