Slovenly Records continues to bring the fire from foreign shores. As if this year's release of that Acid Baby Jesus record wasn't enough, they've also unleashed this unbridled stomper from Magnetix. The band hails from Tula, an industrial center south of Moscow famous for gingerbread and accordions but there's no sweetness and even less accordion to be found on their latest, Drogue Electrique . Rooted in the nihilistic garage of The Mummies and The Gories and shot through with a sinister rockabilly sneer, the album is full of rough edges and jagged punches. Perfect for the coming onslaught and [...]
Another great bit of cinder and smoke from Stephen R. Smith's Ulaan Khol. La Catacomb acts as a proper follow-up to the impressive Ceremony trilogy that saw release over the past few years. Like those releases, this too is entrenched in strata of guitar noise and ambient flake. The release unfolds with the behemoth pacing of lumbering doom, or perhaps the sooty calm of its wake. Tenterhooks seem to be a favorite of Smith's as the album leaves the listener hanging on them, constantly waiting for the explosive fury to drop. But the genius of Ulaan [...]
The Toms - The Toms I've been on an unabashed power pop kick lately and with those grey clouds swirling, little else can scare away the early winter blues like the sunniest of genres. The Toms (or rather just one Tom, Tom Marolda) have secured a place in most Power Pop collectors hearts from an inclusion on the heralded Yellow Pills compilations but long before those days, The Toms self-titled LP fetched high prices due to its solid wall to wall pop hooks. The album has seen a couple of CD [...]
Caught up with Lee Noble a few times in the past but always just on the tail end of tape runs that were about to extinguish. His hushed specter pop is on full display on his vinyl debut. Swirling through ethereal planes, memories and the low frequency murmur of electronic voice phenomena; Noble harnesses the creeping darkness into his own shadowy world. While tethered to pop in the leanest sense, Noble wanders off the recognizable grid often, burying his mournful croon in puddles of static, click and amplifier foam. Unfortunately copies of these are becoming scarce as well but the [...]
After a video teaser last week we finally got our hands on the full Wounded Lion album and its as wonderfully weird and intense as we could hope. Jumping off of the movement made on the band's ferocious debut, IVXLCDM adds the talents of Lars Finberg of The Intelligence/A Frames/Oh Sees fame and his bombastic drumming only winds their sound tighter. Though, at the heart of the Lion is and always will be Brad Eberhard's off-kilter vocals and intense lyrics sprikled with heart and humor and there are plenty of prime examples littered all over IVXLCDM . [...]
Late to the party on this one but damn glad to have arrived in time for the crushing aftermath. King Blood's Eyewash Silver was issued in a scant run of 100 copies in late 2010 only to disappear as quickly as it reared its fuzz addled head. Recently Chicago's Permanent Record repressed and reintroduced this guitar storm back into society, but even at a run of 300 those are going quick as well. The man behind the blood is Ryland Wharton head of the undersung labels Skulltones and Twonicorn. The LP is full of fried guitar slabs that [...]
Tubeway Army - Tubeway Army Gary Numan would become gain more footing with this album's follow-up and become a household name with The Pleasure Principle , released under his own name but this is where it all began. The band cut a previous single for Beggars Banquet called "That's Too Bad" that followed a tried and true punk palette but immediately following its release Numan fell in love with the sound of the Moog and decided to apply synthesizers to the punk aesthetic. Incorporating a fair amount of icy cool via Kraftwerk's [...]
There's something about 2011 that just seems perfectly aligned for a massive influx of garage punk with a heavy dose of power-pop glitter and plenty of glam swagger. Sitting on the shelf next to your newly purchased Bare Wires, Bad Sports and Mickey releases you'll need to clear a slot for the latest offering from The Barreracudas. The cheekily titled Nocturnal Missions sounds carved straight out of the 77-81 reign of wide-eyed power poppers, even going so far as to cover a nugget from the Cheap Trick catalog. The biggest contrarian arguments I've seen against the current crop [...]
Max Capote – Ana 7" Though the information on this single is minimal its hard to resist a good cover paired with a great record label. Spain's Munster Records is responsible for some great reissues of Spanish garage along with classics like The Cramps and The Gun Club. This time around they take aim at Uruguay's Max Capote, a current day garage/beat/lounge sensation who offers up a cover of Los Saicos' "Ana" and pairs it with an original B-side that kicks just as much as the cover. Defintely a fun little package. [...]
Denton TX's Video contains a few names familiar around these parts, chalking up another great release from members of the Wax Museums/Bad Sports/Silver Shampoo axis. Leather Leather is a tougher and weirder offering than many of the other projects its members inhabit, though. There's an element of Chrome run through the punk gutters of '84, though not quite to the degree of some recent punk outposts like Total Control or Nothing People. Though mostly there's just ball out, ripped kneed, massive headwound punk that's got not use for pop pretentions or pretty perfections. Adding to the fun, the [...]
Seems like we were just talking about this one and now its on the speakers. Thee Oh Sees kick out their second long player of the year and its a true burner. Originally intended to be released as two EPs (hence the split title) the album is surprisingly cohesive and definitely a little less sprawlingly ambitious than its predecessor. Carrion Crawler/The Dream is a true to form, full-steam Oh Sees album. Fans of Dwyer and co.'s red-lined, yelp strewn thunder-punk will no doubt find refuge amongst the tracks here. Castlemania proved they can push the boundaries [...]
Sic Alps have captured a fair amount of our attention this year with an undeniable album and two equally captivating follow-up singles. Napa Asylum has seen its fair share of video accompaniment so far but now the band tackles the track "1/2 Rabbit Sandwich with Fries" from the Breadhead 7" and the clip flies by in a flurry of blinking, bedraggled imagery that seems to sum up the track's shambolic qualities quite nicely. If you're on the West Coast the band has shows coming up in Pomona and LA, the latter of which [...]
The FRKWYS series has facilitated quite a few unlikely but brilliantly inspired pairings in its short run and its always a treat to see what they'll come up with next. Volume 8 sees RSTB favorites Blues Control go into the studio with Laraaji, master of amplified zither and a collaborator of Eno's, whose name may be a bit more unfamiliar around these parts. The collaboration yields a languid soundworld filled with delicate spaces, bubbling synths and ripples of zither. The session yielded almost four hours of improvisations, deftly cut down into an album by the artists and as RVNG points [...]
Wooden Shjips have a new video for the quiet cool burner "Crossing" from their latest album West . The vid shows the band in their element live, but with a nice psych twist on the visuals. The band's on tour now so catch them if they come through your town. They're not to be missed!
Can it be true that The Spits have really been going strong for fifteen years!? Indeed it is and these punk juggernauts have cranked out their fifth self-titled album, another potent concoction of Ramones inspired burners and twisted sci-fi squalor. They may not be completely rewriting the book but sometimes innovation isn't so bold faced. The band is the stuff of live legend and each new release secures their place further and further into the punk history books. Unabashedly weird and unapologetically spastic, The Spits' 5th is a shredded and frayed affair that sweats blood out of your speakers before [...]
It's a good day for videos around here, with RSTB favorites The Soft Moon unleashing a new vid for the title track from their upcoming EP Total Decay . A natural extension of the dark vibes coursing through their self-titled LP, the new 12" is essential listening for 2011. Check out the hypnotic FX that accompany the track, styled in a way that will fell very familiar if you've ever caught the band live. Pre-Order Total Decay HERE
Thee Oh Sees / Total Control – Split 12" Well if anything can be counted on, its for Thee Oh Sees to deliver, and deliver they do on this split with RSTB faves Total Control. As if there weren't enough excitement with one album already out and one on the way, this ought to tide over anyone with Oh Sees withdrawal in the interim. For their side, Dwyer and crew bring the spastic energy that's usually synonymous with their live shows, even retooling an older number from Dog Poison into [...]
The first video from Wounded Lion's upcoming In The Red release IVXLCDM has landed and it sounds like the West Coast crew have tightened and darkened their usually irreverent garage antics. Not sure what the occult disclaimer and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar montage have to do with each other but who cares when the song behind it is this strong. Here's to hoping the whole album has moved in this strong new dirction. Pre-Order IVXLCDM HERE
True Widow reach for length in more than just album titles on their new EP. At 14+ minutes, the title track of their new EP I.N.O. is one of the most expansive statements in their catalog, but aside from indulging in a doomscraping jam of epic proportions, the band also brings a few of their most unencumbered and dare we say, accessible tracks to date. Aside from the shoegaze romp of Night Witches their previous album seemed to stick to the shadows and mists, but three tracks here elevate the band to a plateau of clarity [...]
L.A. punks Pangea had a limited but totally ravaged cassette out on Burger Records this year and for most (RSTB included) this meant that it came and went without being able to snag a copy. Thankfully Burger, in conjunction with OlFactory Records, have taken pity on the suckers and reissued this raucous chunk of fun on vinyl. Threatening to tear itself apart at every corner, Living Dummy is short on fidelity but heavy on scrappy, catchy garage punk that befits their upcomming opening dates for the likes of Mikal Cronin whose sense of kitchen sink stylistic approach the [...]
Raven Sings The Blues
Bison - Quill
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
