Matthew Melton "Outside of Paradise" on Southpaw Records

I think it says something when the copy I ordered of Outside of Paradise on Southpaw Records comes a few days before the review copy they sent. I blindly order anything involving Matthew Melton. It's guaranteed to be good, starting back with Bare Wires there isn't anything I haven't worn out listening too. I'd go as far as to say anything that anything Matt puts out on his own label Fuzz City Records is worth picking up also. "Outside…" is a collection of his solo material from the past seven years picking up where Still Misunderstood left off. He's insanely prolific and it makes sense that the same energy of the garage, the forces of springy reverb and power chords would propel his creative momentum. The energy inherent in this style would of course translate into output and not just in his own recorded material but even in producing bands like Shannon and the Clams, Hunx and Adam Widener defining the sound of Oakland, CA.

The front cover art actually makes me think I've been taking him too seriously all along since he's resorted to cutting and pasting himself in the middle of the woods or on a raft in space. He's always been a bad ass, posing next to old bikes, exclusively wearing jeans and leather jackets never shaving that mustache but I didn't expect this obviously subversive side to spell it out. But then I think that's what sets this apart from Ty or Seth, it's that wink along with the attitude. It's not as bluesy or grimy sounding as either of those two and has always had one foot over the wall of '60s sound but it's got a sense of humor that maybe isn't so obvious.

Outside of Paradise seems to combine surf and sandy beach together with packs of motorcycles and echoes from late '60s girl groups like The Shirelles or The Angels. In 2015 the sound is full of nostalgia while being deliberately dirty and honest. Flipping ideas about love through the use of guitar tone and recorded fuzz. He's after tracks that are going to be exciting with roots in ultra familiar themes and a verse/chorus structure that's perfection like the title track. It's the tightest most concise songwriting, there isn't a note that overstays it's welcome. Every track is a unique burst of punk that's obviously in the same family but took completely different paths.

He's got an uncanny ability to turn a simple distorted melody into an amazing chorus. He's delivering the same blindingly syrupy punk as in Warm Soda, it's such a part of his DNA. It should be a joke he's so good at it, but you can't study this as intensely only to parody it. He takes the drum sounds on this record as serious as the spectrum of guitars from the brittle tin foil high hat tones and bass pounded into that pillowy cinder block. He's forever exploring distorted buzz and finding new variations his whole life, impressively changing that instrument every track. It's a garage-soul-punk record from a guy trapped in the single speaker mono am radio on the workbench out in the garage. It's a well oiled, elegant piece of circuitry that's classic and cool. It's not an expensive or rare model just a perfect solution to listening to two sides of perfection.

Get this from Southpaw Records.

Radioactivity on Secret Mission Records

Every once in a while you miss a band like Radioactivity AND their previous project, The Marked Men out of Denton, TX. For whatever reason this is your first time hearing these guys and you can't get over how good it is. It's so good you feel stupid like you can't possibly even think you're keeping up with music in any meaningful way. How did I get so fucking out of touch? The only thing keeping me going now is looking up Radioactivity's previous releases on Dirtnap and Alien Snatch Records.

On A-Side's "Danger" a click of sticks counts into a heavy jittery jangle strum and muted cymbal bursts that pop up during verses of this vibrating tune. Great slightly blown out vocals run alongside this race but are dragged along reclined not straining themselves as the rest of the tracks flies down low, the high hat in double time over the snare. The single note melody that floats in, panning across channels over this unrelenting rhythm, is the only thing that seems to take a contemplative pause. How this ends up being catchy is anyone's guess being overwhelmed with this tempo in the way tracks from Blood Visions did, there's no time to examine or pick apart. Go with this these guys know what they're doing and it's the kind of thing that continues picking up speed with layers piling up that could go on forever.
B-Side's "Why" comes on equally as strong with a springy single note and kick at first reminding me of that frantic pop of Adam Widener. They have one speed; beserk. Even the vocal here has that same urgency and the strum is enough to shake every surface, the bass and drum never getting a moments rest. Bendy psych guitar works it's way in over the stomp that comes back harder, swapping the downbeat, more committed than before to the blown out doubled up vocals. This is two sides of perfection. I've got to get that full length and join the rest of society. Forgive me.

Get it from Secret Mission Records.

Talbot Adams on Market Square Records

Talbot Adams has been in a bunch of projects over the years beginning with The Royal Pendletons who's first single was released twenty years ago. Since then he's played in The Black And Whites (their first single was on Shattered Records RIP) and Dutch Masters before heading out on his own on the "Jack and Jesse EP" from Douchemaster Records in 2010. This year he's got a full length out on Spacecase Records and this single on Paul Messis' label Market Square Records who've been consistently introducing me to new psych that's in line with a lot of Paul's own recordings. If you want to hear more of this stuff you have to go press it up yourself and figure you aren't the only one that's going to want to hear the hazy layers of this single, recorded and produced by Cole Furlow of Dead Gaze if I can drop one more name into this intro.

A-Side's "Green Girl" starts in a slow, big room stomp beat introducing an organ out of the left channel in a perfect slice of psych pop. I'm loving the layered, separate pieces of this, the isolated tambourine or that bassline, it figures that was Talbots instrument of choice in those previous projects, this one will stick with you. You have to appreciate something that this much attention has been paid to these pieces, from the shimmery metallic background acoustic to that solitary heavy cymbal hit punched in after the fact. Like a laid back Adam Widener there's an optimistic easygoing pop sound that you'll definitely want to keep coming back to, the perfect A-Side where time is slowed down just for a minute or so.
B-Side's "I Love You So" opens with a see saw tom rhythm over a shaker that expands that single beam into a prism rainbow with the heavy layering going on here. Somehow it expertly stays light and laid back with a focus more on Talbot's vocal here with plenty of backup la's and Talbot under heavy echo lining up multiple takes in this cathedral space soaring even higher than that A-Side. Falling into a dense cartoon ray of sunshine there's no way to get through this thing and still feel like things are shitty. Stop being a cynical bastard, people can be happy, even you sometimes.

Check out this great interview with Talbot that Ryan Leach did at Bored Out.

Pick this up from Paul and Market Square direct or locally from distros like Goner Records.

Ausmuteants "Stale White Boys Playing Stale Black Music" on Easter Bilby Records

I give up Australia. You win. When is everyone going to have to move there to hear all this great stuff live? Ausmuteants seem like a couple of jokesters who started out as a duo of drums and synth that expanded into guitar and bass not long after singing about ridiculous things in that punk spirit of wanting to rock. More an excuse to hang out with friends than making this their profession and that's exactly how the best stuff I've ever heard started out.

A-Side's "Who's the Narc" has a conga feeling beat with a booming slow bass line and naif vocals reminding me of Ben Lee's juvenile sincerity. He's reaching into that higher register almost losing it before the guitar opens this up right into a more garage feel strum building on that conga danceparty. The synth kicks open the door sounding like Chk Chk Chk meets Love Is All. The synth melody following the vocal line and somehow unassuming, for as big as this sounds I don't get the sense they were intending to create this boheimeth it just sort of gets away from them in an understandable way. As goofy as they inherently are (and should be), they let the music get serious in this long instrumental lead out. They can't let go of this groove, it wants to go just one more measure and of course they give in. It's not entirely about the satisfaction though, more that they wear everything on their sleeve, this is it, no tricks. Half Lisa Simpson sax and Eric Clapton licks.
B-Sides "Dying From the Inside Out" gets more guitar serious and riffs are flying, just a single chord breaking strings in crazy speed, but you know if this is all that song needs why get overly complicated? Don't mistake their simplicity for lack of ingenuity, it just comes out in the overall feel of the piece. There's that fake string casio sound from the synth because you don't need to get crazy with the sounds either. It's like they said all the effects and sine waves in the world aren't going to help a song. Brutish, huge strokes will do we aren't going to give you this detailed little christmas village, we just spraypaint "Merry x-mas" right on the mall wall. Just when it might get too serious, landing in a strict punk camp there's the goofy, unpunk string sound to drag this back into the fun. "Stomach Contents" gets even more punk rock but they have a lightness about them no matter how chunky or garage it gets. I just caught Adam Widener last night at the cakshop and I can hear that same enthusiasm here. It just leaves me with a dumb grin and there's a lot worse ways to end. I get a little bit of devo, the jock-homo stuff, no subtlety, offensive and raw with clown noses.

Making the US seem real boring - it's Ausmuteants. Get it locally from Easter Bilby of course.

Mrs Magician on Windian Records

In Eric's note about his latest singles on Windian he mentioned that Mrs. Magician had recently broken up. I was already writing about Soccer Mom's self titled full length when I heard they also just called it quits. It's a sad reminder of how fleeting bands are or can be when you imagine four people playing together for longer than even five years let alone the pressures of touring and your album being responsible for peoples livelyhoods. On any scale it's tough to collaborate creatively and that's what makes singles special, for any one of these bands I've talked about in the last year this could be the last one.

"Friday Night" has a big kick countoff into the Magicians favorite form of harmony garage. I remember thinking their last few had surf inspired sounds and this moves in from the beach a bit with a deep back beat while those harmonies are getting even higher like Kurt Heasley's Kinks stylings. So much closer to psych their next one would inevitably be on Trouble In Mind. It's Friday night and she's with another guy delivered so upbeat in Adam Widener punk phrasing that to their detriment you think 'Yea, well it must not be a big deal buddy.' The whole thing slows down to molasses still sounding as good with a female backup section coming out with a new chorus changing the direction of the track. He's lost his mind a bit and is listening to this single and talking to her - I mean himself. An extremely long fade out on this last piece of pop psych, bittersweet is it's potentially their last.

B-Side's "Crosses" has a nervous dark jangle with synth backing with heavy weird barrages of reverb. The big strums with delay that goes on a full measure. Jacob is right away getting religious on a road trip across the USA, naming names. Heavy on the toms this changes too quickly to keep up with except it's rooted in that '60s american surf garage as much as it is the English Kinks raw or The Zombies unsettling optimism that comes off kind of manic like they could snap singing with a forced grin. Darker forces are at work in this narrative, hinting at vampires and zombies next to xylophone clinks and a slide down the garage scale. R.I.P.

Get this from Windian Records who just announced this Grave Walks record which is a side project of Dan Sartain and Jacob Turnbloom from the Mrs.



Wait - STOP THE PRESSES THEY ARE BACK TOGETHER? I am really behind the times.

The Rockers on Cheap Rewards Records

I love when a band is really going for it. When they completely commit to a highly produced, labored over version of their style it can result in everything from Keep it Like a Secret to Before Today. This reissue from The Rockers was originally released in 1977 and were clearly looking to nail this to charts next to Foreigner and Boston in the Top 40 of the late ‘70s.

A-Side’s “I Want To Tell You" comes off like a weird Fleetwood mac punk sound, lots of harmony, but REALLY produced. They get a little jump in this chord change and the bassline is crazily off on its own in the way where he knows what he's doing a little too much, looking for ways to free jazz a near solo between verses. All around crazy skill level. Bass lines flying up the fretboard in it’s insanely exhausting way. Like Dwight Twilley but really aware of where they want to end up. Poppy as hell, a sugar bomb that is even better since no one has ever heard this. "Comeback" has a warbly electric start that introduces a bunch of sitar sounding guitars. The lead vocal is really enthusiastic about getting this person to come back and he knows he's good trying to sound super sexy with shades of Mike Rep. It turns into a sunday '70s summer jam, the next verse bringing in chunky muted distortion. It's over the top in a glam way but aiming for the very top of the pops. Like Donnie and Joe Emerson covered in sincerity. A CCR or Fogerty sound straight from the era, a real lost gem that will leave you wondering how these guys got this sound, a studio mystery lost to the ages.

A-Side (another one, well they weren’t wrong, how do you decide on the better side?) "Don't leave me tonight" has a faster Cars doubled up guitar sound. A hyper tempo with those random changes with such a clean sound in pure bubblegum pop, no part of the garage here, they go straight for the arena. You can't imagine a band with one single starting out would go right to this place. Reminding me of the Resonars or Adam Widener, I hope those guys check this out, it gets almost psych in how blindingly gleaming and sparkly it is. How they crafted this stuff informed by the radio of the '70s and then luck or environment never managed to get more than a few hundred of these out there.
"Understanding" goes right for the typical themes, nothing new there, baby, losing or getting someone back, its all in this instrumentation. More of that Cars slightly manic power pop sound. John Rock on vocals really nails this over the top chorus. You can almost see them choreographing their stage show and getting pyrotechnics involved from the beginning. Like this Zig Zags video.

Out of stock from Cheap Rewards, check the usual distro's.

Hollywood / Mean Jeans on Big Neck Records

I am old. I'm not just getting old, I'm already there and as I start on the long, slow decline, the best years behind me, I rely more on bands like these guys, Hollywood and Mean Jeans to remind me of the good old days when your liver was brand new and you didn't wake up until noon. You didn't care about living with six other dudes and crates of records doubled as furniture.

Hollywood says "(I Prefer) Drugs" these guys are ready to party, just like that Love Child of a full length, they're rowdy guys living the dream, beating their heads and yelling together in a classic rock blown out garage pirate chanty that could easily be a Natural Child sentiment. There's a John Spencer Blues Explosion sound to this that same ballsy, raisin' hell country blues sound. Yell that chorus, no treat it like a chant as you prowl the streets in a shitty car looking to score. It's distorted with huge thumping kicks and bratty drawn out melodies, pounding away in double time that vocal gets snottier as the chorus approaches. They literally won't stop saying "I prefer drugs" the whole track. Quiet breakdown, just spell it out. I know where these guys are coming from and when I agree I'll know exactly where to go. How you sustain this idea for a tour is another story. You can lose years that way. Where the hell am I? The track has stopped spinning. This isn't even the same single?

Mean Jeans do "(Let's Go b4 I Blow My) Brains Out". Lots of punctuation on this single, as much as it clarifies the statement, it's making my brain hurt with word math. These guys that frantic Nobunny garage sound. Tight concise guitars and harmony meets the faded denim Matthew Melton inspired sound. It's a Ramones brief, bashing energy - the tambourine is the solo. It's hardly even time enough to call it that. Fast, not loose, pure summer, I really can't wait for it. Slick greaser sound of Adam Widener and Warm Soda, immediately catchy and enough to fill 6 song EP's of 2 minute blast after 2 minute blast of punk. They have traded the boozy swagger of the A-Side for surefootedness and singular vision. They want to party but give them speed. Hollywood is stumbling down the street passed out by the curb and Mean Jeans want to clean the bathroom all night. Find room for both kinds of party please.

Get this one is on dark clear blue vinyl from Big Neck Records.

The Hussy on Certified PR Records

Honestly I can't remember going to a better live show than the few I've attended from The Hussy. Bobby and Heather, from Madison, WI are also the nicest damn people I've had the chance to talk to a hundred years ago and have watched them go from split singles to massive colored vinyl full lengths on Southpaw and Tic Tac Totally Records. I'll admit it, I'm completely biased and going to love the hell out of this one before it even hits the turntable.

A-Side's "Turn it Three" has the duo taking it down to a see saw teetering rhythm. Who knows how they keep coming up with these caveman stomp beats that can stay this fresh. There's no formula to their impressive output; as much as they are consistently driving towards this garage punchy brief track, I couldn't see them pulling a fast one and getting the London philharmonic for their next record. The punky trash sound has been there from the beginning and the story of this band is as much about plowing through every possible permutation of guitar and drums as it is about how these two remain friends for this amount of time through the incessant touring and the crazy highs and lows that come with the intensity of being that close with these huge stakes. Not only have they managed to come up with these catchy power punk tunes for years but they show no signs of letting up anytime soon. I predict every label you know and love will someday put out a Hussy release. Bobby and Heather make friends wherever they go and don't seem to ever have a drought of material. This one is a sing song number with Bobby's patented snarl that seems to end in a question. They really compliment each other in sass and like any good duo, attempting to overwhelm the audience (like the one in question on the back of this sleeve) before the smell blood. These two will blow you jaded bastards away.

The B-Side "Firelung" reminds me of Adam Widener's punk pop stuff just dripping with reverb, they can stretch those jangly electric sounds into heights of hiss. This one has Heather being the snotty protagonist like all of the ladies of Midnight Snaxxx at once, in leather jackets and switchblades, a nightmare coven from the Outsiders. Plenty of backup harmonies that remind me of why these two have to sing together, they can go full Hunx at points caramelizing sweet layers of sugar just before barfing in your mouth. So quick and you won't find either of these on anything else.

Pick it up on dark purpley vinyl from Certified PR Records, recorded and mixed by Bobby himself. Just yesterday in fact I got a single from Fire Reatarded, also out of Madsion and lo and behold it was also recorded and mixed by Bobby Hussy - a real triple threat.

The Official Seven Inches Podcast

Darren from Velocity of Sound Records and I have been talking every week about tiny records for about a half hour or so.

We talk about records we bought, records we missed out on and records we can't stop listening to along with other stuff.

So far we've done four episodes and mentioned Ty Segall's Gemini record, White Fence, The Vacation Club, The Dismemberment Plan, Jay Reatard, Infinity Cat, Adam Widener, the Third Man Subscription Club, Flying Nun and Dick Diver among other things.

You can check out the itunes page link here or search for 7inches on itunes and subscribe there.
Email us with tips at jason@sweatersandpearls.com or call the podcast hotline and leave a message at (347) 770-1469.

The Ar-Kaics on Speakertree Records

There was a time that seven inches were hardly worth the trouble for labels to even bother coming up with any kind of art for a sleeve. If some music crazed hooligans were going down to their local record store because they just had to have the latest cut from their favorite band ... well they were going to buy it anyways so why even take the time? The artless 45. Just a paper sleeve ma'am. A lot of times it's a good indicator to move on when faced with a thousand 45 boxes...just skip the paper sleeve ones, way before an era I'm interested in today. But wait - The Ar-Kaics, a three piece from Richmond, Virginia, are taking it that far back to release a jukebox style big hole single with just a center label to go on. Keeping things simple with equal parts fuzz and distortion in a way something from that era couldn't have even drempt of.

On A-Side's "She Does Those Things To Me" heavy jangle chords open this track up for a wave of distortion to jam in on the left channel and sit there in it's hazy fog from the other side of the room. Distorted, reverb tinged vocals blasted into the mic against their loose, fuzzy sound that slides ocassionally out of time. The ahh's rising to the ceiling with those lead vocals screaming away in a blues explosion sound that came together in an afternoon gin a stroke of genius not overthinking a meaty riff like this with a powerful reverb filling in the cracks with a solid cavestomp beat. Repeated straight through to the end, that title lyric over and over, a shaker elevating the chorus to an extra epic garage level. Straight through the roof these guys can combine all that blues and garage with the sonic texture of an Edison telephone - nothing better.

"Don't Need Your Love" harkens back to Wounded Lion with their snotty, in-your-face party vocal, The Ar-Kaics guys came to have a good time with their juxtaposition of sunny vocals and who gives a shit attitude. They might not fight you in that punk rock battle of the bands, but they aren't going to get off stage either and just might knock a few things over in the process. Full of deceptively simple chords and berevity this one gets a tinny metallic solo from the left channel again. Reminds me of The Zombies tracks, they were really in love with the huge stereo separation. The Ar-Kaics get in on the faders and come to think of it, ride in that same doo whopper garage style with a lot less sweetness. This could have been in the rotation with the Fresh & Only's debut as well. Pure mellow fuzz sound with a careless punk attitude.

Get this from Speakertree Records, who I also just noticed released a full length from our pal Adam Widener. I bet he fit 35 tracks of PUNKOP on that long player.

Unwed Teenage Mothers on Hiss Lab Recordings

John Barret from Bass Drum of Death found an incredible touring drummer when he teamed up with Colin Sneed the time I caught them at Piano's a few years back. It's really been no surprise that he would go on to record his own stuff as Unwed Teenage Mothers. Reminds me of another drummer from a little band, The Traditional Fools. Maybe there's something to Ty and Colin both having that rhythmic foundation as a starting place. Lay down the booming thud and the rest will follow.

"Forever Until You Are Bones" lays down an impressive scuzzy bassline and stomp kick beat, going to the next level when an electric roars in, dirty like that first Wavves album. Unwed Teenage Mothers have a frantic, catchy, blown away surf punk with oooooo's from the choir while that blast beat stomps away. Colin's got a monolith metronome backing this static haze in a rising tide of surf. Shares a similar spazz as the Famines or minimal punk bathed in sunshine, some kind of optimism - even if he's singing about getting the fuck out of the party. This echo is crossing oceans at supersonic speed to hit that beach matching the high velocity beat. Hardly a note played on that guitar until the chorus kicks in again, not to mention this bass line that cruises. "Blood" has the best slippery haze vocal over an acoustic this time with precision drums all blown up and hissy like an 808 high hat. This is Bare Wires, Warm soda stuff, Unwed is concise and to the point chock full of dense melody, more than a mouthful. Quick bursts of songs that has my number, making them shine under this amber of texture, tambourines and all, Thee Oh Sees, Adam Widener, these guys would all be friends, OBN III's, I'm drooling already and I haven't even gotten to the B-Side.

B-Side's "Wish you were Older" has a bashing perfection again playing with these garage tones. They get away with this being so bubblegum at the same time, to the point of Hunx, but keeping this tempo in a god damn sling, they won't let loose. It's a firm, tight track about underage girls? Yikes, they have that Matthew Mcconaughey way about his stuff, they casually get away with putting it out there. The way Matthew Melton stands by the back of his car, window broken out but doesn't seem to be having a bad day. "Are You Tired of Waking up Alone?" pushes this tempo they've been flirting with to the limits, the melody is almost getting lost in the rapid snare bursts and chord changes furiously drowning out that disarming pop charm. The solo's scream in, how could they keep up this pace for an entire show. It's the most damaged dance '50s pop that would have made any parent insane. They've done it again with another fantastic single, get to work on a full length already. I don't say this often but ENOUGH WITH THE SINGLES!

Get this from Hiss Lab Recordings.

The Moorbeats / The Snookys split on Bedo Records

In 2013 garage punk is defined by tracks no more than 3 minutes, some kind of distortion on all the instruments and / or vocals thanks to cranked inputs or shoddy production with a heavy focus on catchy melodies that can punch through the static and fuzz. Just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here with this split single from two Italian garage punk bands on the Bedo Record label. Italy is also home to Goodbye Boozy Records who were putting out Mikal Cronin /Ty Segall splits before either was a household name, or maybe a little band called Useless Eaters?! I know it’s a big place, but the garage punk has been known to take hold now and then, especially with these two, The Morbeats and Snooky’s.

The Morbeats track, "My girl dresses D&G" has the cavemen on this screened sleeve wearing fur coats, which takes a special kind of guy to even pull that off, (Joe Namath for example). That attitude led to these gritty confident layers of junk and scratchy sandpaper vocals, but it’s not the sound quality that you’ll get off on. It’s the energy they plow ahead with that drives this right into oblivion. Mitan’s got great vocals that force the rest of the band to yell long with him, come along for the party, they scream every verse. The rest of the band will follow. I love the way they blow right into these fizzing guitars and the title chorus “My girl is D&G!” I think they’re talking about Dolce and Gabbana, the designer or something, only dudes who pull off fur would even know about. They force speed into their pop structure with a ripping solo for a fun party rock that makes a concerted effort at this. They’ve obviously taken the time to perfect the craft side of a good time. Dropping out for a tom fill, everyone rocks that chorus again with spits and starts of distortion. They have a hell of a time drowning each other out and probably, if given another track, launching right into that too. When you build up this kind of energy, the single fails you in diminutive size because you need another track right away to keep this high instead of walking over and picking up the needle for another go around.

The Snookys side, "Don't Wanna Work" has a thicker sound with a snottier punk style (or lack of) but with higher production and sounding more pissed off than their buddies on the A-Side. They are too busy plying their pop instead of being out of control drunks who are going to trash the place. Everyone is singing along in the band, no call and response, just a solid choir wall of punk. The guitars take a measured line in various complex patterns of jittery rhythms. The ‘ba ba's’ of the chorus are some kind of Adam Widener manic, thick sound, coming from the four piece. It’s an abrupt ending about not wanting to work and they’ve already you've lost some credibility there, as this is a well crafted, worked to death track that doesn’t sound like a bunch of lazy bastards.

Hand stamped inner labels with crazy detailed multiple color screened cards glued to a paper bag sleeve, real nicely done, a piece that says as much as they can sound like out of control hyper pop messes, they keep it together where it counts.

Pick this up on Bedo Records bigcartel or Stencil Trash . It's going to be an import baby, ask your local distro to get it.

Adam Widener "Gimmee Gimmee Scientific Stuff" EP on Sexy Baby Records

If there was an awards show for overall garage pop rock MVP, a real one man show from beginning to end I would open the nominations with Adam Widener. Adam not only plays every instrument on all of his singles and has toured with Bare Wires but designs some really impressive packaging including this 3D single. You know those old school 3D glasses? Well, what if you pressed the record with those exact split colors so the record was the glasses to look through at the 3D sleeve! Such a great idea and I think we talked about the early inceptions of the idea back about a year ago. Amazing to see this actually happened and couldn’t wait to throw this one on the turntable.

A-Side "Death Kontrol" marks Adam’s return with another round of fiery power pop, crisp as hell, the jerky chords bobbing and weaving. Heavy hitting rapid fire machine gun snare and kick all in perfect time with his power pop Elvis Costello, Jeff Novak vocal that hints at snotty glam punk roots. Completely precise in perfectly square cut blocks that somehow feel a little bit out of control in speed and this flavor of sour berry bubblegum. A super surf sound, reverb and riding up the chord scales on the guitar, a nervous energy that feels like the tape or studio time is about to run out any second. You got one shot kid, make it count. "Lets Talk About Punk" has a crazy tight delay on the vocals; lots of psych sounding harmonies on this one delivered at hyper speed. The loose, raw psych feel is almost lost in favor of a tight, glam sound. Restless surf with high hat and kick off beat, talking to himself as two sides of a telephone call about punk records! I love that Adam just picks that kind of throwaway sentiment and runs with it. The kind of things the most memorable tracks are made of. We like punk records. Lets talk!

B-Side's “Gimmee Gimmee Scientific Stuff" has bursts of reverse delay guitar?! Adam has such great guitar tones on this record as usual with even a hint of synth or glitch electronics happening here. He’s a real complex player, which is reflected vocally in this speedy delivery riding the crest of this two-step punk. The guitar is angular to the point of new wave especially when talking about “science stuff / the elements”. It’s a perfect downed electric wire, dangerous, punchy and changing direction on a dime. Adam included a nice note about this single being more produced than his last record, which came together in a hotel room, but honestly this is as impressive as the last. Don't try to temper expectations! We all knew this was going to be great and we've been waiting months to hear this thing! The final track, "Oxygen Tank Oil Drum" lays distortion on thick over the vocal with staccato guitar in a jumpy, Devo sound for the final cut on this schizophrenic punk dance party.

The split colors on this genius idea are a little too opaque to quite work, but I tried some damn powerful lighting and you get the idea. Has to be the first time I’ve ever heard of anyone even attempting this, and it’s the kind of genius that comes through in all of these tracks as well.

Pick this up from Sexy Baby Records. Full length from Adam in the works!

Buffalo Tooth on Archers Guild Records

Greg contacted me a while back about his band, Buffalo Tooth out of San Francisco, who happened to have recorded with Matthew Melton. I think that's what originally caught my eye when going through the singles I wanted to make sure to get to this week. After the Adam Widener single from last year and Matt's own Bare Wires stuff.... of course and Warm Soda? (I missed that splatter edition-have to go catch them live) Everything he's involved with has been amazing in one way or another and it goes without saying that this single is joining the gang. Not that he wasn't starting out working with exceptionally sludgy homage material from Buffalo Tooth who sound hell bent on a thunderous classic rock sound.

A-side's "Only Son" has that garage hot peak of hissy cymbal crashes with vocals taking you way back to the late '60s. Feel the warm burning tube amps your sitting on, the flared pants, these three dudes HAVE to be from the west coast (Good guess - ed) and are thriving in that southern skids, heavy ass stoner sound. Still, they can pack this into two minutes? Completey nuts, pushing all this beef into such a tiny bun. That heavy cavern echo on the mellow sound is a perfect mix. Man I wonder how much of this texture is a matter of turning the right dials... this has all the classic reworking feeling of Hot lunch or The Enthusiaststs. This list of heavy stoner rock sound ranks keeps growing. Weaving the licks around one another this thing changes from chugging muscle car speed right down the that slow doobie burn. L.I.V.I.N. Clear purveyors and afficianados of this metal biker blazing CA sound and they are killing it for 2013....what year?! That's still crazy.

"Head Trip" comes out with a ringing electric piled with huge reverb twang... all alone in that concrete room until bursting out a little bit Seattle, the heavier semi-soundgarden sound but thats just because I have no idea where these actual historical references are rooted, I don't go back to digging through the crates of '60s fuzz very often. All sideburns, huge moustaches and long hair, these guys arent going to hold it against me. This freaking sounds massive, three dudes cobble together a huge racket of thick sludge a-la Hawkwind. This one more loose and with some gaps, but you can hear that spring reverb in there keeping this on the garage side of things. Super groovey...sounding exactly like Matthew looked standing next to that old school yamaha bike in a leather jacket....so bad ass.

Also I'm just wondering who has to practically their pants completely off to piss against a wall? Just whip it out!

Black vinyl from Archers Guild..pick it up at the bandcamp page...not too many left...

Top Ten singles for 2012

The Top Ten 7Inches List

I called up my buddy Darren over at Velocity of Sound Records to do our annual top ten podcast and we decided to only allow singles that had exclusive tracks to the format.
Songs that weren't available any other way.
Why the 7" single is still great.
The clinking you hear occasionally is some holiday egg nog.
Thank you labels and artists for sending your singles my way.

Darren's Top Ten list:

10. Zig Zags “Monster Wizard” b/w “Turbo Hit” on Tubesteak Tuesday Records

09. Neighbours “Real Talk” b/w “Without You” on Get Hip Recordings

08. Total Control “Scene From A Marriage” b/w “Contact” on Sub Pop

07. Shannon and The Clams - “Gremlins Crawl” b/w “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane) on Volar Records

06. Single Mothers “Single Mothers” EP on Secret Voice Records

05. Slug Guts - “Stranglin’ You Too EP on HoZac Hookup Klub

04. Ranch Ghost “New News” b/w “The Water” on Jeffery Drag Records

03. Nones “Shake Your Brain” EP on HoZac Hookup Klub

02. Natural Child - “Mother Nature’s Child” b/w “Bodyswtchers Part II” on Jeffery Drag Records

01. Stephen Malkmus/L.A. Guns on Matador Records Singles Going Home series.

Jay's Top 10:

10. Ceiling Stares on Darren's own Velocity of Sound Records

9. Lizard Kisses / My Friend Wallis - self released

8. The Wheelers "Bubix" EP (oops just realized this came out in 2011 - ed) Thanks interns.
Blood on the Vinyl Records

7. Hot Lunch on Who Can You Trust Records

6. Adam Widener on Fuzz City Records

5. Love Handles - on West Palm Beotch Records

4. Cheap Time on Sweet Rot Records

3. The Lilys / Big Troubles on Speakertree Records

2. Spider Bags / The Love Language on Tangible Format Records

1. Ariel Pink / R. Stevie Moore on PIAPTK records

Download the MP3 here, a massive HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES!

Friends of Caesar Romero on Snappy Little Numbers Records

Snappy Little Numbers are extending their reach from Denver to Friends of Caesar Romero who started out when Joseph Kerr of relocated to Phoenix, AZ withand borrowed an 8 track cassette recorder. I love those giant unweildy machines, there's just something about hitting record and the wheels turning. I'm betting these couple of tracks were from some of those very sessions. Like Adam Widener, Joseph is whittling down huge barren chunks of gleaming pop punk into these under two minute bursts.

"Red Headed Strangler" on the A-Side kicks off with a heavy metallic strum, keeping things all up in that treble side of the EQ. Joseph's vocals have this manic, high register layered quality that's just due to the bursting energy of this thing. I'm also kind of hearing that Matthew Melton layered harmony rising above the ham fisted power chords. It's all warm reverb and mad punching of these strings. Could have been a distant Hot Snakes cousin or going further back to that Rocket From the Crypt shiny chrome plated feel.
The B-Side, "Tammys of Tomorrow" fades in some backmasked melody, is this the devil poking his head on that 8track cassette? This time FOCR is slowing things down a bit and getting into that way back garage sound...not in texture, though things are slightly peaking out, more in that chorus harmony. Still jabbing at chords, violently bobbing, but this high harmony stuff keeping it way away from anything sinister, or biker movie related. Throbbing kick and snare caveman style huge pounding, I can almost even hear a Kurt Heasley vocal thing going on here, but he's on my mind lately. That melancholy of unrequited garage love, surf guitar solo panned across the stereo field. I know how you feel.

Snappy's signature factory sleeve on sort of a blue grey vinyl...that United Records mud color with messages in the gutter from Snappy Little Numbers Records.

The Unwed Teenage Mothers on Speakertree Records

I've been emailing back and forth with Blair from Speakertree Records the past few weeks, he put out that great Cloud Nothings full length a while ago, on sky blue marbly vinyl I might add...the one that started it all. The second I heard a track somewhere on someone's blog...or maybe it was a single, I had to track down the label and hear more of the bedroom multilayered recordings of Dylan Baldi. I love Turning On, I like his recent stuff as well, but for me it's always amazing to hear the very first effort of someone like this, what can be done with next to nothing, no audience yet even...I guess it's about that perfect moment when no one else is even involved...it's completely pure in some inexplicable way.
The reason I'm even talking about Dylan is that this single from The Unwed Teenage Mothers sounds a lot like those collaged, cut and paste pop songs on that album, with a glam/garage focused twists and turns. Colin Sneed is the bass drum (and snare, etc) in the Bass Drum of Death along with three other gentlemen and this sounds a lot like Colin endlessly messing around, Adam Widener style at all hours.

"If You Think Your Lonely Now" hit me with all the home craftiness that Turning On did, because this is obviously a label completely after my heart and every last spareable dollar. The track is completely optimistic, with a far off, under a matress vocal and insane attention to these hooks, they're completely deliberated, hours of spontaneous chord contemplations. It's all here...the choppy boosted low end and the room tone of all kinds of spaces, direct line in guitars, and empty concrete rooms...the layers all lining up in support of this heartbreaking pop song. Sad because it sounds like there's so much of the band invested in this, how they're trying to make it sound like it's not a big deal. Like those moments when Sebadoh would almost go too far, but somehow still got away with it. They make an upbeat pop sound while the content goes exactly the opposite, overcompensating almost for not meaning to blast you with so much raw sunshine. "FFI" the second one, did I mention this is a four song EP? What else would come out of this home pop? There's a real muted and echo'd vocal under the instrumentation, and again...that's what I love about this sound, it's got a sense of space, the tiny bedroom, a cavernous basement, it gives the track a weird sense of time also. You inherently feel it must have all been completed at different times, pieced together during different moods... An acoustic slowly works it's calm way out of the haze by the end and I love the callback to the foundation of this one. It was always there, you get that sense of where it came from...that bluesy beginning, and end up going glam. Sugary fun, pop tracks, intimately fawned over. Like Jeff Novak demo tracks, a huge amount of pure talent... all unfiltered, unpolished....the best kind, perfect for a seven inch.
"Why does it have to be tonight?" on the B-Side crafts a heavy phaser, wet guitar track... all these pieces are so heavily thought out, they carry that frantic, pop energy but are really skillfully thought out. There's a careful attention to detail in all the punches...like this backup singing and spazzy drums. The vocals are still super buried, giving him room to really belt this out, but weirdly it's taking me back to something like Sebadoh rather than straight garage rock. I guess I'm hearing the seriousness... it isn't a jokey, drunken mess. It feels like a huge elephant carefull stepping around the furniture, massive and incredible.
"Rain" takes the fuzz and just pounds away in this steady beat, a few layers of strum, all jammed together, getting a capella almost, a sort of JAMC with multiple thin, english layers...into Happy Monday bouncing dance places. Heavy fuzz comes back with a classic, beefy rock style, all the the pieces carefully placed into this intricate mosaic. Some english glam and so much harmony under this distortion sound. Not an strangling wall...a warm blanket.
Lot's of experimentation from guys who know their way around an instrument or two, and a hell of a catalog to draw from in their head. From Speakertree Records...who have a physical store by the way...run by the guys from Harding St Assembly Labs.

The Resonars on Trouble in Mind Records

The Resonars is the solo project of Arizona's Matt Rendon, playing and recording everything himself on this single from Trouble in Mind's Solo Series. It's a huge, dense pop psyche sound that the likes of Jeffrey Novak and White Fence have been pursuing with equally unique contemporary twists and results. Reaching way back into those '60s garage sounds and gleaming songwriting to recreate the spirit of that complex layered sound all by himself, which like Adam Widener's single, takes this into an entirely new level of genius. A really unbelievable EP of four tracks of catchy super pop that is more than just a taste of what Matt is capable of.

"Long Long Thoughts" launches right into a heavy vocal harmony, doubling up the la la la's in spectacular fashion over the quick bopper tempo of high hat and bass. The big start runs into a pure british invasion rock blown out sound, picked rhythm guitar and handclaps, building those chord changes quick up the scale. It's a combination of that sweet harmony and bubblegum garage pop melody with a harder intense edge that is rooted completely in The Moody Blues, Troggs and of course, as Matt would attest, The Who. It's so completely dead on in tone and style that comes from absorbing an insane amount of this era. So unapologetically bubbly and optimistic, he's building on those epic formula's while paying sincere homage to them at the same time. Shooting up the charts and playing top of the pops.
"Sit Right Down" breaks out that acoustic as the foundation for more big time vocal harmonies which this era was just as much known for as the rock, slightly psych but grabbing right on to this see saw rhythm. It's just the intro for the classic rock to start, jumping a few years forward in evolution, picking up that shaker and getting right down with that dirtier warm guitar tones, sliding this into T Rex territory. He's belting out these sugary lyrics in a high register, impossibly hitting those sweet spots in any harmony and switching into this heavier ricked out section. It's scary.
B-Side's "Paint My Window Green" starts off with Matt's signature doubled up harmonies right over the lyric on this one. Leading to a great back and forth, singing with himself as lead and the rest of the band taking the alternate verses. It's a dizzying display of technical psych pop, punchy chords, ever reaching bass meanderings, with a real handle on this inherently dark slant of the whole genre with this title chorus. There's even time for a bluesy solo in between the dense harmonies.
Finally "Stumbling on Stones" takes that kind of honkeytonk ramshackle blues approach to this one for a brief intro before the sweeping harmonies take over, bopping around as heavily as everything across this single. An impressive pace to keep up, with a few false stops that don't even feel like he's shortchanging this piece, but he can't possibly keep this tempo up? Mindblowing take on an entire era, faithfully reinterpreted and executed. I would half believe you if this turned out to be an elaborate hoax of lost recordings.

On dark olive green vinyl in the signature Trouble in Mind sleeve,
get it from TIM who says:

Is it possible that the energy and genius created by the entire membership of The Hollies, The Move and The Who could be embodied in one guy living in Arizona? You just might start to believe it after giving this 7-inch a spin. Matt Rendon is the one man hit machine behind the Resonars, writing & recording every instrument & singing every note all by his lonesome. This 4-song EP (and the third installment in our "Solo Series") represents his first collection of new material in almost three years, after releases on Get Hip, Star Time & Burger Records, focusing his paisley-tinted vision with one ear in the past & his eyes on the future.

These tracks hit the sweet-spot between the bittersweet harmonies you love about "Evolution" era Allan Clarke and Graham Nash with the triumphant guitar and off-the-chain drum fills of a "Who Sell Out"-era Pete Townshend and Keith Moon. You’ll be hooked from the first La’s of "Long Long Thoughts" till the last faded notes of "Stumbling On Stones." HOO BOY, you’re going to need a new needle after you get through with this one - sorry ‘bout that.

Here's that first track from the single:

Adam Widener - Make Out EP on Fuzz City

Finally got around to writing up Adam's latest single, Make Out!, recorded by Matthew Melton and out on his own Fuzz City label, this is the one we talked about him recording back on my interview with Adam and it's been on heavy rotation for a while now. It's easy to hear why when Matthew was recording this he snapped these up for Fuzz City. When you see a track listing like this on a single, everything running under two minutes, it's a solid guarantee that it's going to be quick pop burst and what you're left with is that gleaming scattered pop trash on that cover. It's fast and dirty, plug in that broken tascam, tape a broken mic to the front of that amp and climb on top of that trash pile...it's time to rock!
A-Side's "Groovy Intuition" kicks out a gritty, thin distortion riff that counts right into a heavy pop verse, Adam has this great garage vocal that ranges from a snarling all attitude delivery to utterly sweet harmonic chorus. The stomp beat drums and twangy guitar in yes, a groovy garage vein. I swear I'm hearing a '60s organ keeping up with this main melody, but don't see it listed on the back. A great moment of beating the strings right into the pickups for clicky rhythm. An equally hyper underground sound as Ty Segall, but minus that big blues squealing influence. Adam's mining the ancient bubblegum pop punk sounds and playing everything on this record entirely himself. A completely amazing feat, able to keep these changes as tight and breakneck as they are.
"Make Out!" has another great cycling harsh guitar tone that explodes right into a Reatard style english punk heavy on the snooty vocal reverb, tightly wound, all those pieces in place. The drop out to nothing slowly piles up the instrumentation back into the punk with metallic reverb hooting and howling.
B-Side starts with "Enemy Dreams", a more punk referencing number at first with it's driving muted string locomotive sound, eventually making way for this jittery as always punchy chorus. You can hear why he would be the perfect choice to tour with Bare Wires, the bundled up energy and punch is all captured here, and it's a shame there's no where to catch this live yet. Same goes for "Slime Walker" and his great high tension guitar tone, he's got that reverb on the whoo!'s in between the fast and loose verses. There's no such thing as a fade out on these tracks, there isn't time, and he's got to move on.
"Make Believe Emergencies" could even be traced back to that Kinks garage sound, Adam's got a natural talent at unique catchy choruses and editing an impulse to keep them repeating. Less is more here and it's a whirlwind of pop punk refined down to the essential elements. Like a brand new batch of moonshine, you don't even give it time to age, it's burning all the way down and man are you going to be messed up when it's over.

Get it on Fuzz City who says:
With an enduring pop sensibility and gripping urgency, Oakland’s Adam Widener has crafted an arresting 5-song collection that was honed in the garage, but conceived in the cosmos. Formerly of The Zygoteens and Bare Wires, these latest recordings portray a seasoned player settling in to his most fully realized work yet.

Podcast interview with Adam Widener

I got a chance to talk to Adam Widener after he sent me his single on Big Action Records, we got to emailing back and forth about his zine, Plastique Pop. He sent me his latest on Fuzz City (will post about that soon) and told me he toured with Bare Wires, one of my all time favorite bands, so I had to hear about touring with those guys and the recording of his latest.

Adam sent me a couple of unreleased tracks to include "One Foot in Front of the Other" plays first and later when he talks about how it came into being as well as "Babe, Don't Feel Blue" around the 22 minute mark.

We get into how he got hooked up with Big Action Records, his crazy awesome insert and the Zygoteens split with the hussy and the video shoot ay Coney island for "Groovy Intuitions" embedded below.

Right click to download here, 27mb.