Ape School on Hometapes/Needless Records

I mostly pulled this one because I saw Needless Records was involved and that Michael Johnson from Ape School is from one of my favorite bands, the Lilys and has been playing Kurt Vile and the War on Drugs....check it out....out today:

APE SCHOOL
Title: Marijuana’s on the Phone
Release date: 6/26/12
Format: LP
Catalog number: HT053lp
Label: Hometapes
Price: $6.50

‘Marijuana called me on the phone a long time ago. I hung up. It left a message.”

Began as a drunken strum into a tape recorder, ‘Marijuana’s on the Phone’ is your forged hall pass for Ape School, the moniker for Michael Johnson and his prodigious musical output. Spawned five years ago in the wake of former bands Lilys and Holopaw (and while Johnson was playing alongside fellow Philadelphians Kurt Vile and War on Drugs), Ape School is on the cusp of sonic apocalypse with Junior Violence, the new album coming this August from Hometapes. ‘Marijuana’s on the Phone’ is your first drag.

“I went to the studio with Eric Slick [Dr. Dog] and just ripped through a loose concept. Ended up using his first take drums. Went and found a couple of kids in the building to play sax and vibes. Ended up layering tons of Eventide guitars over it and jotted down a quick bit of lyrics. First take vocals all the way across. Beefheart/Barrett bastardization gone mudslide.” - Michael Johnson on ‘Marijuana’s on the Phone’

Backed with “Blame Mark Griffey,” the 7” features a full-color cover in a heavy PVC sleeve, plus two transparency masks by Freegums. The record was created in partnership with Needless Records, the Florida-based label home to Jacuzzi Boys and Woven Bones.

From SC distribution

The Wiggins on Needless Records

Got a new one in from Needless Records, this single from The Wiggins, which includes a giant color 14x14 poster of a waterworld apocolypse scene with a punk rock aquaman fighting some nasty huge carp, and if that wasn't enough, on the reverse is a crayon backyard wrestling scene being shot with camcorders. Some weird unsettling child/adult imagery going on for this scuzzy, distorted slow surf rock sound on blue vinyl.

The Wiggins is basically Jon Read, who definitely created the cartoony hell world poster inside and from what I'm picking up puts this project together solo, The A-side, "Walk" comes in with a seriously damaged drum track, buried under crackles with the bass punched up, a simple guitar line creates another layer of this faster Suicide sound. A chugging away, slow tempo machine beat with bratty vocals if you could imagine Sarim from Liquor Store going dirty surf Ty Segall. I'm getting the feeling this volume is an important part of the process...that little melody doesn't need anything else, just turn it up. It's recorded just as loud, the amps breaking the sound as much as whatever mangled effects are already running into the mix. There's no end to this dirty garage sound going around, plenty of room on the bus still for another 2 minute pickup.
The B-Side, "Sick" (the titles are as direct as the tracks, get to the business, I don't want to read, I want to rock), even gets semi-acoustic on this one, big echo trap on the vocals again, and this sludgy track somehow is catchier than the other side. Is there a post surf garage rock? There's a weird blacklight vibe to this and who doesn't want that unpolished Wavves (first album) punk sound with a little less weed references. A bluesy south of the Mason-Dixon Psychedelic Horseshit that turns into a front porch singalong at drunk speed. Normally I would think it can be a mistake to take that surf sound so slow, but it's not even an issue getting this laid back.

Swampbats did a great interview with Jon over here.

Listen to this one on their bandcamp page, sold out from Needless Records and can't find this from any of the usual distros...pressed in an edition of 100! So contact those guys and tell them to repress already.

Slavagoh on Needless Records

Needless Records sent me a nice note and package with their latest single from Slavagoh who like yesterdays project, Luftwaffe are also out of Philly, but TODD is going after a super slick, produced sound. It's unapologetic dance-pop, a sort of Neon Indian unburdened by over-nostalgia...the sounds here are so almost generic, not tied to a specific era keeping this out of the holed-up-with-obsolete-equip gimmick genre. Clearly it's an indie pop mix of mechanical sounds, weirdo guitar effects, heavy dance beats, and high translucent shimmery melodies.

The A-Side, Rollerskate Shake, is definitely going for romantic synth sound, from an era when Europe was putting the synth front and center in what I thought was a metal band. That was confusing.
I can't help but think of Prince, at least that Smog song where he's singing about Prince in the studio. The respect that comes from across the musical landscape, the art and commercial combined. It's not that Slavagoh is pretentious in any way, there's no attitude, just the opposite, it's an optimistic combination like early New Order; they took the foundation of classic rock instrumentation and added new technologies always in benefit of the melody. That's why they continued doing something successful, long after Joy Division, the foundation was always there. Were they a 'dance' band? Not exactly.
And why does this sound so cinematic? It's part of that left of center pop sound that would show up as 'alternative' touchstone's; a psychedelic furs track in the Hughes teen noir films, the moments when you just for a second you weren't so marginalized. So what does that mean for a track sounding like that in 2011? It's got the classic signs of being both underground, and completely appealing. Not something you'd attempt these days, not with this level of sincerity and craft.

The B-Side, "Alms", has a massive tom beat with hints of electronics and minor guitar melodies. A heavily effected acoustic strums in just like those Replacements songs, the vocals come in understated, almost spoken with warbly phaser effects working off this heavy underbeat driving the whole thing away from ever getting melancholy.
I like that Slavagoh is going after this sound, with all the sequencing and tech of what could have been a dance sound, and then really going after the melody. Both of these tracks are so repeatable, and This Heart Electric would get their references and relate to this impulse...or Coyote Slingshot,...music video?. It sounds optimistic, which I think is the hardest thing for something that's riding the line between heavy electronics and serving the melody. It's too easy to layer the unlimited tracks, and muddle the overall view.
Somehow there's plenty of variety to latch onto, the experimentation has all happened behind the scenes for months in demos and finely honed into the individual tracks on this single.
I even think about the language we use for the lo-fi rock 45's, fuzzy or underwater, and how much hype is about nuying into that mythology...a band starts with inferior equip, playing those tiny crappy underground venues where that scuzzy pop, garage, whatever-fi makes sense....but Slavagoh doesn't fit into that easy stereotype, he's already playing for that massive club with lasers and fog machines. There's no gradual climb out of somewhere an audience can relate to, instantly this is a shining, untouchable electro-pop single with hard to pin down references.

Adam from Needless is half the reason for it's existence and is exactly the sort of label I'm taking notes from. A clear idiosyncratic view...endorsed by the Jacuzzi Boys.
Get this Ghostbusters villan, or English town titled band single from Needless Records.

Needless?....how dare you sir.

Jacuzzi boys / Woven Bones split on Needless records

Jacuzzi Boys have a new split with Woven Bones on Needless records just announced on Termbo yesterday.
The Jacuzzi boys have been making the rounds of 7 inch friendly labels...Rob's House, then Hozac...this is the very first release for Florida based Needless and they are aligning themselves with a good batch of vinyl single heavyweight labels.

Jacuzzi boys are back with their characteristic mellow, almost quiet delivery...with an acoustic foundation this time. It's almost surprising to hear all the space here in the recording and instrumentation. They leave a lot of space to breath. The more I hear this, the more I'm getting like a Velvet Underground feeling...that far away echo vocals that are barely keeping up with the slide guitar. Maybe it's the tom based low tempo rhythm, or they just really have really nailed this slightly 60's drug pop with a dash of pysch sound.

Woven Bones on the flip are a heavier version of this time warp...the guitar is harder, a real high screechy clipped distortion, almost Ty Segall sounding. There's a lot more effects on the vocals, almost shoegaze in the chorus reverb that has a really sloping decay. Great use of a wah-wah solo...haven't heard that sound used in a while. The bass is somewhere inside all this harsh overdriven treble sound and kind of works complimenting the guitar with this warm rumbly distortion underneath.
It's a great pairing for anyone who is into JB's sound already and looking for more...speaking of more it looks like individual singles by both are in the works in Needless' future.

Both tracks are available to preview at Needless so you can get an idea if the flip side is going to be just as worth it as the Jacuzzi side...or the myspace.

Get it from Needless Records...there may be some clear vinyl 'gold' editions available: (Sorry looks like they are all gone - ed)

Split 7" between Miami Florida's Jacuzzi Boys and Austin Texas' Woven Bones.

Tracks: Jacuzzi Boys' "The Countess" b/w Woven Bones' "Grown Crazy"