A 2nd Opinion with Travis Kostell

Recently my friend Travis from high school and I found each other online. He inspired me with the most amazing mix tapes and films in the tiny upstate town I grew up in. He moved sometime around freshman year and just had a whole world of music I had never heard of. In the days without the internet, it's hard to believe I know, but we had to make mixes for each other and borrow cassettes of anything that wasn't on the radio. I don't think I even knew who Frank Zappa was until I met Travis, from there it went into the Church of the Subgenius and a cult scare fiasco banning 'Bob' in the hallways to watching Eraserhead at his house. On top of it, he was an amazing musician who pretty much inspired me to get a 4-track and start a new band every weekend.
Everyone has a friend like Travis, so I sent him some singles I've been thinking about recently and we talked on the phone about them.

This week we got to the GGreen single from Out of Order Records, then Cave bears on Feeding Tube Records and finally Fuck Montreal on Stumparumper.

Download it here

Travis has a bunch of his own music up on his blog: Choice Grinds, I think they should be seven inches.....check it out.

Interview with Fuck Montreal

I talked with Alex and Jenna from Fuck Montreal this week about their latest single on Stumparumper, or should I say they interviewed me in a weird way. I was asking the questions, but Alex was kind enough to record it from his end off a speakerphone and reedit. Let's just say it's almost an unreleased track.

For some reason my trusty system went all crazy in the middle of a snowstorm (what does that have to do with the internet, I'll never know) but anyway, it worked out, hopefully I an catch up with these guys in person someday and reassure them I'm not completely inept.

So with that stunning endorsement here's 7inches limited edition speakerphone-fi interview with Fuck Montreal. Download here.

In listening to one of their cassettes 'lo fi', I was pulling songs out for the podcast, and I think the thing that keeps getting me about these guys is that I can hear how excited they are to sing, I can hear this kind of optimism, the sheer energy they put out there, it's all here. Their personalities in (sort of) person were exactly what I expected.

To get all things Fuck Montreal, it's best to either contact pat at Stumparumper, The Radiator Family or hit up Alex directly for the cassette awesomeness at alextheidiot (at) gmail.com

Holiday 4-Way on Stumparumper Records

Finally getting to this 4-way split from Pat at Stumparumper. It's not so far after the holidays is it? I still have to throw out the tree, take down the stockings...who cares. I have a life! (i.e. I have to think about singles. - ed)
I have a Banned Books full length from Stump I have to get reviewing already so I was curious to get a taste of those guys and then I spotted a new Fuck Montreal track? I'm in. And what do you know? Snow is back!

There is a special place in the 7" boxes for holiday singles, it's a staple 7" browsing table of the WFMU record fair...but I'm tempted to avoid it completely, because there is some terrible shit out there with a holiday theme. I would be forced to buy and listen to tiny tim, or other ridiculous celebrities covering royalty free barf. So I'll stick to bands I know I like already who have just happened to have recorded something for that special time of the year. Or in the case of this split, it's esssential...all originals to this release, even written for this 7"...

Banned Books 'XXXMas' uses church bells in such a crazy way, at first you think of course, this is exactly where I would go, but the entire composition is so wacky, and classically pop it's an immediate gem. Like all the Pixies or that Lonesome Crowded West album from a band that will go unnamed...it's unexpectedly melodic, completely surprising, there is a distinct voice here and it's incredible. The fact this is written specifically for this single is amazing. This is where I think Stumparumper is really doing an incredible public service...really....providing a unique artifact of these 4 bands, curating these 4 together that just wouldn't have ever existed.

Granny Frost, is another perfect example out of Chicago has a stream of consciousness vocals, use every instrument experimental pop mentality that I really appreciate, like Why? or The Unicorns...A Faulty Chromosome...you can hear the hours of layers and cutting and pasting into 2 minutes of saturation. It's Times Square, an insane jawdropping spectacle of word play. I forget for a minute this has anything to do with Christmas, and I keep catching new connections every time I hear it.

And it's far from over the 'Eh' side starts with Hoop Dreams, who are part of the Radiator Collective with Scribbler and Fuck Montreal. Their track, 'Under a Christmas Star', is an impassioned late 80's story of the baby in a manger. It's pretty hilarious in it's sincerity, the falsetto chorus part with the giant headphones held up to one ear, eyes closed.... 'Frankincense and Myrrh...', it's a gravelly, country rock Ween-ish take on a Christmas cover. They even work 'Little drummer boy' into it, this could unexpectedly slide into that channel playing The Boss' 'Santa Claus is coming to town', and not feel out of place.

Next up Fuck Montreal, who are doing a pretty traditional version of 'Do you hear what I hear?', with with all sorts of electronic weirdness happening just underneath the acoustic guitar, and toy drums. It's featuring Jenna and Alex's vocal talents, harmonizing on this classic, they have a sensitive side after all, they are playing it straight, and it comes off as a real effort to bring some sort of life into an overplayed classic. That's the least you hope to do with a Christmas cover...and it's not easy...

This vinyl comes on a swirly red clear variety for the first 100...if you get it quick. Sleeves are appropriately printed red or green and handnumbered... go support Pat already for the love of Christmas.

Fuck Montreal - Winter Mange on Stumparumper

Massive EP from these Canadian Halifaxers up today from Stumparumper.
You know, googling Fuck Montreal isn't easy, there's a lot of anger towards the place I thought was doing pretty well, music-wise...I'm assuming it has something to do with some sports bullshit, but maybe for this band it's a purely sexual thing towards the city. Or there is a huge feud with Halifax and Montreal...maybe Montreal is Canada's Seattle...Yea, fuck Seattle. Nice.

'Alarm Clock' the first track on the A-Side: I remember going to their myspace a year back when Pat announced he might be pressing a single from these guys and liking them immediately. It had a little bit of the synth-punk sound I've been missing since '06, but then there was a kind of Blood on the Wall, indie 90's filter of anything goes. This EP only takes their influences even crazier places, and baffles expectation.

France 1954: I'm getting it now, these guys are like the Swirlies...taking weirdo chances on crazy sounds. Fuck Montreal has more of an edge though, not so twee, but that could just be history looking unfavorably on the Swirlies, I still love them. The drum machine rhythm track is great, her echo vocals here are calling up a little YYY's feel, but with their old experimental wacko sounds they used to embrace more. My favorite, but nothing like anything else on the single.
'Winter mange' then goes, believe it or not... 90's grunge. Heavy Harvey Milk-style sustained guitars, but they never had vocals like this bratty punk. It's even Mudhoney...that superfuzz bigmuff era. Trying to be heavier than anything else. Fuck Montreal have no fear, and no definitive sound. I love a band like this taking huge chances, alienating an audience. Like this video for 'Bucket of Blood'...they certainly aren't vegetarian...but it's always in a way that makes sense. Chickens are delicious...just raise them responsibly, and kill them humanely. It's really not so crazy....but as a video...well, they have view and it might not end up being so popular...but maybe that's the set up with a band name like 'Fuck Montreal'... They're good.
This could be a B-Side on an old Sonic Youth single, with Kim Gordon loosing her shit, FM's lady is a mix of an angry KG and Karen O on this one, they're freaking chameleons.

Pluto changes gears yet again to a sludgy psyche experiment...even though they are everywhere stylistically on this EP, and it's all intelligently done. Huge gong and tambourine...the whole thing is just hanging from a plodding beat, and again, Jenn or Blair (not sure, I think it's the same vocalist throughout) took this tiny bit of a groove and worked it into a creepy melancholy melody. This one my favorite, forget what I said before.

The B-Side then says 'Oh you thought that first side was interesting?... Well that was our pop side.'
'The Rabbits' actually gets all sad, the acoustic tone, and bare minimal percussion, thin organ...I think she's actually singing about a garden? Jesus...it's like the second coming of the Unicorns! I've made far too many comparisons to other bands, but you can't pick just one...there's so many great things going on here.
Then 'Beachglass' is one of the guy members goes a capella with a slow solo piano, and a few triangle hits are all it takes to bring everyone down.
'I pour Bees on myself', has crazy acoustics, there's a wind instrument played a couple notes back and forth while Jenna or Blair sings in a bathroom. The tracks get layered from the oboe someone had in the closet. It dies in the end.

I had no choice but to mention every track, otherwise you wouldn't believe me.

This is that band I always wanted to be in, where everyone brings a bunch of weird shit to the table, no judgements, no predetermined direction...but everyone has a great kind of songwriting sensibility to combine into something, not groundbreaking in little pieces, but as a whole band it would never have happened any other way.

I got one of the swirly red ones...not sure if any of these are left, but head over to Stumparumper and pick this up (for just 3.50$!), or better yet go pledge on his kickstarter page, it's going to be the same with shipping so support this label putting out gems like this. It's an insanely mature and varied release for essentially a band playing with rock archetypes, but honestly one of these will get you. I can't imagine a full length. Deerhoof is consistent compared to these guys.

"Winter Mange" is Fuck Montreal's debut vinyl release after countless previous releases on just about every other kind of media available (tape, cdr, vhs, who knows what else?), and it's a stunner. Over 14 minutes of music is crammed onto this small platter, taking full advantage of a format that is too often relegated to carrying 4 minutes of music...TOTAL. This is rare music - it comes from a space that you or I can't know...it has always been here, and will still be around for download after everyone's gone. There is nothing in the way except the sound.