wooden shjips/ the head tour split

This split tour seven inch is not going to be available anywhere domestically until the shjips get back from their european tour, and by then, these will probably be long gone.
It's an interesting pairing of the relatively new kids on the shjips doors psyche-out, and the decade old The Head who've been messing with this classic sound way before anyone cared.
I'm giving the head a listen and it's kind of like more cock rocky than the psyche shjips. Their sound is dirtier, more 70's garage then hippy. Or even metal at times, there's a lot of effects on the bass, giving it this huge distorted sound. In another track I'm hearing a super fuzz pedal, that kind of ring toned, metallic sounding. There's a lot of echo on the vocals...kind of like the Cramps but without the goof. It's dark and screamy, in a classic rock way.

The shjips, well, are they still holding up? I guess. I listened to them again the other day, and it's interesting still, but really do I want to listen to classic rock anything? I go back and forth between wanting to be in dazed and confused and kill all of them.

Good luck with this one...

Norman records review:

Wooden Shjips/ The Head- Split tour 7" (500 only)

We're ultra lucky to have secured some copies of The Wooden Shjips / The Heads tour split 7". Ltd to 500 copies this will disappear fast so pay attention... I present the 7" vinyl to the turntable bowed on one knee like its some sacred offering... The needle hits the wax and my vision turns into trails of psychedelic colours, Phil has transformed into a hedgehog and brett has breasts. This live recording of 'Handlar Med Jonesie ' is some trippy psyche rock.... OOOOOOOOooooohhh and then it kicks in with an amp blowing scorcher of a riff and blistering guitar noise devastating everything in its path, an incredibly powerful sound. A swirling metallic force has lifted me into the air and I'm floating above my body. Oh fuck not another bald spot...Man this is fantastic... I'm gonna have to change my pants and I haven't even played the Wooden Shjips side yet.... Here we go, everyone's favourite rockers with a live tune . I read once that they'd not been influenced or heard much by The Doors which is amazing as they really have that 70's sound going. 'Death's Not Your Friend ' appears here in the form of a live version recorded April 23rd 2008. You can imagine all the stoners and acid freaks that attended that show. I bet there were naked flower eating people and all sorts... So this is very classic rock sounding and actually a catchy little number. They have two sides to them sometimes they can be weird but this is their more accessible side albeit still all trippy and analogue sounding. Both sides are top notch but the Heads just pip it for me. - Ant

No Age - Liars Tour Split

Originally I was going to mention the Abe Vigoda repress from PPM because I liked it a lot, I know they are a little bit of a mess live, according to my friend who saw them open for No Age at South Street Seaport....their live reinterpretation of their new full length (on PPM By the way) didn't translate live.
Apparently they went on with Telepathe sometime between 7 and 8....No Age didn't start until 8:45? Weird and annoying. I love seeing shows outside in the summer, especially free. It kind of works out nice to see Seaport shows Friday and then Sunday shows at Mccareen Pool. The seaport isn't that crowded and if you want to have shit Uno's pizza you could sit way up on this balcony....so I'm all for this space, but the show was over by 9:15 and no encore no nothing....I'm sure they have some kind of agreement with the space to be over by dark or something.
The sound can be shitty there too, I understand they are working in a really bad space, but they should have been doing this enough by now to figure it out.
No Age was still suffering from trying to make that jump to playing huge venues. They were fumbling a little working the crowd and the sound was shit. Not that have to have perfect sound or anything, it might even work for them to play with the differences in sound quality, or the sound guy was trying to overcompensate for the intended mess.

But I digress...this tour 7" was at PPM.... I overlooked it somehow, so I thought I'd throw it out there as I didn't see it mentioned anywhere...No Age and Liars split, kind of like when Jack Black makes fun of John Cusack for slipping in a new band with some classics in his mix tape. This 7" is like passing the torch to the new guard. We like you, you are bad ass, join the club...and it's on PPM so the Liars get back in touch with their underground side.
I wish I could find out if these are album tracks or completely unique to the 7". A crazy split that I didn't know existed....can't wait to hear this one.



8$ post paid from Post Present Medium records
PPM12 - NO AGE / LIARS SPLIT 7" 1ST PRESSING OF 1200. 1ST 200 WITH TOUR COVERS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL CITY. 1000 WITH HAND LETTER-PRESSED COVERS. INK COLOR ON COVER AND VINYL IS DIFFERENT ON EACH RECORD.

Wolf people - storm cloud 7"

This is true real psychedelic, straight out of the late 60's. It's a lost recording, a lost band. There is no updating, messing with this sound, reinterpreting, they make Dead Meadow sound like weird al. There's flutes, weird sitar sounding instruments, even scratchy sounding vinyl, either that or they recorded the 7" track right off the record for their myspace. It's a completely faithful reproduction of this sound, to a really amazing degree. It's completely authentic.

I wish someone would find master tapes to some unknown band, or master tapes from a project someone was in back in the 60's and they're son gets a hold of it and releases it contemporarily, and it's hailed as a throwback masterpiece, influenced by that sound...or even better if it's reviewed as not being authentic enough.
They would be this mystery band that never toured, didn't even have pics, myspaces, nothing.

The biggest question is why another wolf name? I mean, that's a tough break, it's really hard to justify at this point.


A. Storm Cloud - Listen
AA. Cotton Strands - Listen

Artwork by Luke Insect
On Battled Ornament records
Limited edition hand numbered 7" 500 only
Also be on the look out for this LIMITED EDITION TOUR 7"

Featuring exlcusive tracks from WOLF PEOPLE and THE LIFTMEN, plus a vintage Hungarian cut from KATI KOVACS, taken from the forthcoming FINDERS KEEPERS' release 'WELL HUNG'. Avaialble on the nights and soon from the Finders Keepers on-line store.

Not yet, but soon.

tyvek/cheveu west coast tour split 7"

Tyvek is more low-fi garage pure rock greatness, it has the same feel as Be Kind Rewind, the way Michel Gondry uses almost nothing to create a huge effect but still so different you aren't even comparing it to the thing it might be influenced by. It's something like that.
I think if you took some babies and put them on a planet where there was no rock and gave them a guitar and drums and a bass, it would start with something like sonic youth noise, just making crazy sounds but eventually after years you would have this raw tyvek sound...it's almost inevitable, it's in the DNA of the instruments. We keep coming back to it.
I could listen to this all day. I don't even think there's a full length yet just 4 or 5 7"'s which have not gone unnoticed. Nodzzz, Tyvek, Cococoma, Times New Viking, Jay Reatard, Rob's House, Coathangers....these are the year 2000 garages. This didn't even have to try, it just leaked out into the street and pressed itself on vinyl.
Cheveu takes this sound in a more electronic, junky direction, but always pulling weird effects and things into the same garage. Maybe their dad worked on computers and Tyvek's dad had like some rusted musclecars. You work with what you have. They both did the same conceptual thing and ended up on this split west coast tour 7 inch.
I just ordered the Cheveu LP from S-S records, but now I have to go find something else to add to this split 7". Oh well. I know it's hard.
That sleeve looks great too.
Go get a taste of both.


TYVEK/CHEVEU-split 7” (S-S/SS027) $4
“Two months after Tyvek & Cheveu's fantastic West Coast tour, the "tour" 7" comes out! Right on. Ahhhh but many of you would have missed them anyway, so all you had was a wait on your hands. Right on. Tyvek is from Detroit. Like the first, with ‘Future Junk’, Tyvek continue to explore the melodic fringe of DIY, stealing bits & pieces from the classics but pulling it off...Cheveu, on the other hand, continue to spiral into new directions. On ‘El Tortuga’, it sounds like our dirty French men have been sucking on Another Man's Sac. Of course, it is a sideways suck. What else would you expect from the one band to define the cheap phrase "weird punk" better than anyone on the planet. No fancy pressing info on this: Just two good songs.
Only a few in stock, label has less than 100 left of their 1000 pressing.

On S-S records.
They also have copies of the Mayyors 7", so now you have no excuse.

The Great Manchester Orchestra / Annuals Split 7" Giveaway Contest

A few days ago I talked about the amazing split 7 inch, between The Annuals and Manchester Orchestra.

Manchester Orchestra covers the Annuals 'Brother' and The Annuals cover the Manchester Orchestra's 'Where have you been?'.

It sounds complicated.

They even reinterpret each others album covers from the looks of the sleeve above.

This is such a labor of love, you can only get a copy if you go see them live. There is no other way to get it.... except here.
That's right, Manchester Orchestra is giving away a copy of this to one lucky winner appropriately enough on yours truly, 7inches.blogspot.

Manchester's cover of 'Brother' is as great as the original, the energy and explosion is still there, they change the rhythms of the original and do some interesting stuff percussion-wise and just when the vocals seem to be fading away, when it's quieted down to just a muted acoustic, it blows up into all out chorus again. I've been listening to their latest 'I'm like a virgin losing a child' on Myspace and they seem to have a real epic, slightly prog feel, like a classic rock Annuals if you will. The same intensity, but more organic.

The pairing of these two on the road makes musical sense and this 7" is the perfect extension of their live show, both bands swapping members to sing backup and support each others covers on tour. There's a few dates left this month and that will be the last place to get this 7":

November 10 Seattle, WA Crocodile Cafe
November 11 Vancouver, BC Plaza Club
November 12 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
November 14 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
November 15 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
November 16 San Diego, CA Epicentre
November 17 Phoenix, AZ Clubhouse
November 19 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
November 20 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck


But now to what you came here for: the chance to win this super limited tour only 7".

Just a few days ago I was crying into my keyboard about how I may never have the chance to hear this after missing them come through NYC recently... now the Manchester Orchestra is going to make your exact same dream come true.

Just email the address in the above right, under 'about me' and include in the subject 'CONTEST' or 'I want that 7", and you will be entered to win a copy of this really cool 7" your great-grandchildren will be fighting over.

The deadline for entries is midnight November 18th. You have 9 days.