best of 2011.....

this was another great year for music..... so many good garage, punk, psych, noise and indie rock albums to choose from...... 


i usually do a top 30 of the year and i always think i could post a list of at least hundred lps you need to buy......but thirty seems to a nice number.....these lps never travelled very far from my turntable all year.......


i highly suggest you buy every album on this list...




TINY GROOVES' Best ALBUMS of xx11

1-    Night Beats - s/t (trouble in mind)
2-    Blind Shake - seriousness (learning curve)

3-    Heavy Times - jacker (hozac)
4-    Video - leather leather  (play pinball)

5-    Blasted Canyons - s/t  (castle face)
6-    GG King  - esoteric love (robs house)

7-    Mikal Cronin  - s/t (trouble in mind)

8-    Bad Sports - kings of the weekend (dirtnap)

9-    OBN IIIs - one and only (tic tac totally)

10-  Black Lips  - arabia mountain (vice)


11-  Apache Dropout - s/t (family vineyard)

12-  Cosmonauts - s/t (permanent)
13-  Xray Eyeballs - not nothing (kanine)

14-  The Oh Sees - carrion drawler / the dream (in the red)
15-  Total Control - henge beat  (iron lung)

16-  Nothing People - smells like metal (captcha)

17-  Purling Hiss - lounge lizards (mexican summer)

18-  Ty Segall - goodbye bread (drag city)

19-  Dirtbombs - party store (in the red)

20-  Royal headache - s/t (rip society)


21-  Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds - gorilla rose (in the red)

22-  Useless Eaters - daily commute (tic tac totally)

23-  Mind Spiders - s/t (dirtnap)
24-  Disappears - guider (kranky)
25-  Peoples Temple - sons of stone (hozac)
26-  Bass Drum of Death - gb city (fat possum / inflated)
27-  Moon Duo - mazes (sacred bones)

28-  Obits - moody standard and poor (sub pop)

29-  Wooden Shjips - west (thrill jockey)

30-  Cave - neverendless (drag city)




and here's some other highlights from 2011....  

best singles / b-sides collection


the oh sees - singles vol. 1-2


best cover album


ty segall - ty rex


best split ep


the oh sees/total control
 tied
puffy areolas/purling hiss


best reissue


the reatards - teenage hate


best shows of 2011 (too many fun ones to narrow it down)


black lips / night beats @ empty bottle
the oh sees / total control @ empty bottle
bad sports / wax museums @ cals
ty segall / mikal cronin / human eye / heavy times
  @ treasure town
double dagger @ treasure town
dirtbombs / white mystery @ subterranean 
   and last but not least.....
HOZAC BLACKOUT FEST @ velvet perineum 


best 7 inch


x-ray eyeballs - crystal


best cassette only release


cosmonauts - new psychic denim
 tied
purling hiss - dizzy polizzy


best chicago band


heavy times


best collaborative lp


michael yonkers and the blind shake - period


best live album


jesus lizard - club
 tied 
ty segall - live at aisle five

jesus lizard - club

CHUNKLET doesn't release many records, but when they do, you need to grab them......  


so when i heard they were releasing a live album of one of the JESUS LIZARD reunion shows i was beyond thrilled........ 


i saw JESUS LIZARD at pitchfork a couple of years ago and nearly died of excitement (and well the frantic moshing from the crowd)...... 


JESUS LIZARD are one of those bands that nobody else quite measures up to..... no band plays raw, loud, in yer face post punk noise like they do.......  


and their new lp, CLUB, is a proof of that, sounding nearly as good as a studio album.....  think of it as the Jesus LIzard best of comp that you'll never see released....cause great bands are bands that dont need greatest hit collections....every JESUS LIZARD lp is essential......  and CLUB is no different.....


permanent records has this to say of the new live lp, out this week.......

 In 2009 our lucky little lives were blessed with the second coming of the one true savior.  No not Him, the Jesus…Lizard!  That's right folks, the mighty Jesus Lizard took another swing at it after being defunct for many years with a string of shows that made believers of all who bore witness and restrengthened the faith of those who knelt at their altar in the early days.  And wouldn't you know it, our chums over at Chunklet (long time true believers) took it upon themselves to license the rights from the live DVD that was filmed and release a ONE TIME ONLY PRESSING 2xLP of the show.  This show took place at The Exit/In in Nashville, TN on July 14th of 2009 and the set list is a monster collection of 22 heavy hitters from the Jesus Lizard back catalog, including their genius Chrome medley and their Dicks cover!  The sound quality is amazing, the musical chops mind blowing and the energy pouring out of these grooves proves this was an unforgettable concert.  Don't sleep on this one cuz this is it, grab this gate fold double LP now and own a stunning document of the breath taking ability of one of the greatest bands in a live environment.  This is most certainly an essential double live album just in time for Christmas, we mean Lizmas.  Do you think you'd like that? Do ya, mouthbreather? Do we even need to say this comes with our holy-ist of recommendations?

click here to grab CLUB..... 
the vinyl is limited to 500 copies,
so this might be the only way 
to get ahold of this awesome live album...........


watch below...

flying nun records - heavenly pop documentary

check out this awesome documentary of NEW ZEALAND's most important record label,
FLYING NUN.......
featuring the CLEAN, THE CHILLS, THE VERLAINES and others that brought the jangle of kiwi pop to the world and changed indie rock forever.........

missing monuments - painted white

THE MISSING MONUMENTS is the new project from KING LOUIE...... you might not know his name, but he's been in some awesome garage, punk and power pop bands over the years......  


he started out in THE PERSUADERS....was a founding member of THE EXPLODING HEARTS..... played in BAD TIMES with JAY REATARD and ERIC OBLIVIAN.......recently he's played as KING LOUIE'S ONE MAN BAND....... 


and now KING LOUIE has his band THE MISSING MONUMENTS........jangly, power pop influenced garage punk.......  this is some fun rock n roll that'll make you bounce around and sing the lyrics.....  the missing monuments have a new record out....PAINTED WHITE, and you ought to get yer hands on it now........very recommended.......


click here to grab PAINTED WHITE....out now on DOUCHEMASTER RECORDS........

and watch the MISSING MONUMENTS set 
from the empty bottle in chicago last weekend........

young governor - where it's quiet

ben cook has his hands in many awesome bands, fucked up, the bitters, the marvelous darlings, but its his project YOUNG GOVERNOR that i like the most.......catchy power pop influenced punk rock........

and YOUNG GOVERNOR just released a new 10 inch ep, WHERE ITS QUIET, on 12xU RECORDS....... just in time for christmas......

very recommended........  especially since ben cook now has a full backing band with the help of THE SCUZZ..... YOUNG GUV could be the next REPLACEMENTS........

listen/watch below.......




  Young Governor - Where It's Quiet by 12XUAustin

drunk pixels - rocket from the tombs

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS was THE punk band from OHIO in the mid seventies.......members of the band went on to form THE DEAD BOYS and PERE UBU, which in their own right are classic punk bands.......

the band decided to reform more than 25 years after their demise, with the addition of richard lloyd from television to do a couple of tours......and to re-record their demos that never got a proper release during the bands first incarnation.......released as ROCKET REDUX in 2004...

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS gigs occasionally and if you have the chance you gotta see them live..... this is no old fart reunion show....  RFTT is just as loud and raw as i imagine they sounded in the 70s......

part stooges and maybe the sonics and shit well they might just have invented what early american punk sounded like, so there's no point in comparing them to bands that were influenced by them........

ROCKET just played the empty bottle this week in chicago, and in case you missed it, you can watch below.......  and if you don't have their ROCKET REDUX lp, click here to grab it.....  pretty much essential.........

pretend you were there.......

THE DIRTBOMBS play chicago and nyc FOR FREE

this is the best xmas gift a garage punk rocker like me could ask for.........


THE DIRTBOMBS are playing two shows this month for free...one right here in chicago... and the other in nyc for the east coast kids.....


and both with chicago's very own brother/sister garage rock duo, WHITE MYSTERY......


all you gotta do is RSVP via this link........


and i'll see you december 16th at the subterranean for probably my favorite show of the year..........

if you don't know how awesome the dirtbombs are.......watch below.......

eddy current suppression ring - so many things

out of all the australian bands that've been mentioned in tiny grooves, eddy current suppression ring has to be one of my favorites.......

and there's quite the stiff competition for that title....

all their albums are worth picking up.......if you like yer garage punk, ramshackle loud and angular....

and they've just released a new b-sides collection, SO MANY THINGS, for us to listen to under that punk rock xmas tree of ours.......

here's what revolver had to say.......

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESION RING have drawn comparisons to Wire, Can, The Fall, Fugazi and The Stooges. They have a singer who wears black gloves to overcome stage fright. They won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize for their 2008 album Primary Colours-then recorded the next one themselves in a few hours in their practice space and spent the dough on a photo shoot for the album cover. They do not care about you and your expectations. You could call them "fiercely independent" but they don't seem fierce at all. Quietly, and definitely on their own terms, EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING has become a force in underground music. Now, after three albums, it's time for a compilation of singles tracks, demos and other stuff they had lying round. Turns out there was lots to choose from-and even after trimming, they ended up with a double album. Goner Records is happy to provide So Many Things......  

GONER might not be releasing many new album this year, but they're doing a stellar job in the reissue department......... you need to pick up this comp, as well as the reatards reissue and the ty segall singles collection now...........


so click here to download the new double lp compilation...SO MANY THINGS..... and go buy it on vinyl now.......


watch below........

apache dropout - radiation 7 inch

APACHE DROPOUT might win the BEST NEW ARTIST award, if TINY GROOVES was the GRAMMYS......

APACHE DROPOUT is one of my favorite bands of the year......i can't get enough of their s/t debut or their seven inch on TROUBLE IN MIND....... so i was stoked to hear that APACHE DROPOUT was going to give us two new garage/psych jams before the year was out........

their new single RADIATION may never leave my turntable......its that good.......  if you love garage rock, you need to check APACHE DROPOUT now....

MEXICAN SUMMER RECORDS, who just released their new single, had this to say about them.......

2011 was the year that Apache Dropout cracked your dome. Remember it – now you can move buildings and wreak havoc like Richard Burton in The Medusa Touch. But will you? Nah, use your powers for good. Lift the tonearm in your mind and drop the needle on the new single by Indiana’s finest rock & roll trio, and quite possibly one of the best active garage bands in America right now. Born from the wreckage of the bands Lord Fyre and John Wilkes Booze, the ‘Drop rattles the chains of acid’s hallowed hallways (Roky and the Elevators are a certain clue to their approach) once more with three new offerings. “Radiation” bemoans the state of isotopes in our own bodies to the groovin’ garage dance party of our own demise. “School Girl” keeps tabs on our nation’s youth in similar fashion, and the EP closes out with “Born to Die,” a sensitive, forlorn ballad that’s the first song of its kind from said outfit. Follows previous releases on Family Vineyard, Trouble in Mind, and their own Magnetic South imprint, and stands toe-to-toe with each of them, as well as just about any other “new” “music” you could throw at ‘em.

so click here to grab their RADIATION 7 inch.......  and look out, the rumor has it that they have another amazing album headed our way in 2012...........

watch APACHE DROPOUT play the EMPTY BOTTLE in CHICAGO below......

cop warmth - die slow 7 inch

i will always buy a record that IN THE RED puts out.......and so i was curious when i heard that they putting out a new seven inch by a little known texas band, COP WARMTH......

cop warmth is noise punk to the extreme.....or garage punk gone totally awry....

with quite heavy debt to no wave and hardcore, cop warmth skronks their way though short fast songs you wanna hear over and over again......if their new single DIE SLOW doesn't destroy yer speakers first......

reminiscent of ARAB ON RADAR,  TV GHOST,  SCRATCH ACID, HUMAN EYE, HOMOSTUPIDS and/or PUFFY AREOLAS........  COP WARMTH is recommended to anyone who likes their music crazy and loud........ they might be my new favorite noise mongers....... 

listen below via bandcamp...... and order the DIE SLOW single from IN THE RED here......




and watch COP WARMTH live below.......

flesh lights - muscle pop

THE FLESH LIGHTS are another great band from the texas punk rawk scene that brought us the bad sports and the marked men.......  their new lp MUSCLE POP is a garage stomp / scuzz punk thrasher that'll make you wanna turn up the volume, pogo around and kill a six pack........

the flesh lights follow in that great tradition of fuzzed out fast riotous punk propagated by bands like the RIP OFFS and OBLIVIANS........  and if i can compare the FLESH LIGHTS to those two bands, that means i like them quite a bit......  their lp is a dark horse contender for one of the best of the year.........

read what permanent records has to say about the new FLESH LIGHTS lp.......

Pop INDEED! This Austin, TX trio crank out the garage-punk in a MAJOR way! We picked up a few of these LPs from the band when they came thru town on tour and were sure glad we did - this is some serious ear candy for the auditory sweet tooth! On their debut LP (after a couple of singles & an inclusion on Matador's Casual Victim Pile comp), The Flesh Lights grind out hi-energy rock that's kinda garage-y & kinda punky, but laced with some serious pop-hooks - imagine the Oblivians jamming with the Exploding Hearts and you'll start to get the idea – muscle pop is an apropos title, for sure. Many of the tunes are R&B based, with swaggering bass lines running all over your face, with a penchant for smarmy lyrical wordplay that probably wouldn't fly if these guys weren't so young, enthusiastic, and full of piss & vinegar. There are some seriously irresistible hooks in these grooves & these youngsters knack for a catchy tune is what elevates this album above the ever-growing stack of garagepunk or garage/punk releases coming out these days. We caught 'em at SXSW in 2011 and they were super tight! Great record - snag it & bag it! RECOMMENDED!

so if yr convinced you need it, 
click here for the FLESH LIGHTS lp MUSCLE POP

AND GO BUY THE LP 
FROM TWISTWORTHY RECORD HERE......

and watch below.......