FERAL BEAT is the awesome new side project of SETH from THE USELESS EATERS and MIMI of HEAVY CREAM...
fans of both of those bands will love what FERAL BEAT has to offer.... jagged catchy punk rock, more of the same KILLED BY DEATH influenced rock n roll that we all love... it's sparse, spooky CRAMPS influenced budget rock that will make even the most jaded music fan want to riot...
TIC TAC TOTALLY records released their debut 7 inch COLD LOVER at the end of last year, and cross my fingers, we'll see lots more of FERAL BEAT in 2012.....
stream the two songs off the COLD LOVER single below, plus two other new songs by the band.....
THE GUILTY PLEASURES were the legendary garage punks from the Bloomington/Normal scene...road warrior contemporaries of THE REATARDS, BRIDES, LOST SOUNDS and DIRTBOMBS..... these crazed rock n rollers went on to form a slew of bands we all know and love after the demise of their band, THE PONYS, HOT MACHINES, FRANCE HAS THE BOMB, BASEBALL FURIES, LOVER!, FOOTBALL just to name a few......
they never released more than a 7 inch in their short wild existence, but THE GUILTY PLEASURES did record one awesome lp with JIM DIAMOND (garage rock studio engineer extraordinaire) in DETROIT. it just never found a home until now. DUSTY MEDICAL RECORDS has just released their SUMMER STRANGE lp....a classic in yr face slab of loud furious garage punk that TINY GROOVES highly recommends......
in honor of their only album finally seeing release, the Guilty Pleasures reunited for two shows.....one with THE MISTREATERS (their farewell show) in Milwaukee in December ...and one this weekend in Chicago with TIMMY'S ORGANISM (members of HUMAN EYE, CLONE DEFECTS fame)...... it was as if they never broke up.....so much chaotic trashy fun........
WATCH THE GUILTY PLEASURES DESTROY THE BURLINGTON IN CHICAGO BELOW AND PRETEND YOU WERE THERE.......
fast garage fuzz punk.... what more could i want???..... THE PAINT FUMES are sure to blow up yer stereo with their upcoming 7 inch ep, EGYPTIAN RATS, brought to you by our good friends, SLOVENLY RECORDS.........
pretty much should rewind the clock in put this single out on CRYPT records in the 90s.....for fans of the OBLIVIANS, early JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, USELESS EATERS, PAGANS, REATARDS and the NEW BOMB TURKS....... these unassuming wild north carolina garage punkers are one of the best new bands i've heard in quite awhile...... this is some seriously fun trashy rock n roll.....
a long player is due later this year, and my bet is THE PAINTS FUMES are a shoe in for my best of the year list...... i listened to EGYPTIAN RATS non-stop...... i just couldn't get enough.....
STREAM THE EP BELOW and GO BUY THIS 7 INCH WHEN IT COMES OUT.......
DOW JONES AND THE INDUSTRIALS didn't stick around long, but they perhaps wrote one of the best punk rock songs of all time, Can't Stand the Midwest... which was included in one of the KILLED BY DEATH volumes and covered by some punk bands who realized the genius of DOW JONES.....
stripped down garage-inspired synth punk.... this was a lost classic, until FAMILY VINEYARD records managed to reissue the single last year...... and here's what they have to say...
Dow Jones and the Industrials' 1981 sole 7-inch EP, originally issued on the Hardly Music label, is immaculately re-mastered from the original tapes and now available on audiophile vinyl. Dow Jones and the Industrials of West Lafayette, Indiana existed from the late 1970s into the early 80s amongst a stylistically matchless state-wide scene that included The Gizmos, Zero Boys and Dancing Cigarettes. This EP -- of which original copies have swapped hands for more than $200 -- contains the often bootlegged and covered anthem "Can't Stand the Midwest," along with "Let's Go Steady" and "Indeterminism." This record was the second and final release from Dow Jones after the 1980 split LP with The Gizmos on Gulcher. The four member DJI combined jagged rock 'n' roll songwriting with emerging electronic instrumentation and smart-ass collegiate humor into a wild new wave sound that won them immediate popularity among Indiana's punks and co-eds of the day and has remained in the hearts of record collectors these past 30 years.
copies are still floating around at the local record shops and i highly suggest you add this 7 inch to yer collection,
MOONRISES are the newest addition to Chicago's vibrant psych scene..... and they take you way beyond yr average wanna-be psych band.....
call them what you will, but MOONRISES describe themselves as prog / punk / psych / free jazz.......
featuring Plastic Crimewave aka Steve Krakow of longtime CHICAGO spacepunkers Plastic Crimewave Sound, and creator of Drag City's Galactic Zoo Dossier mag on guitar; Ben Billington of free-jazz titans Tiger Hatchery and Wasteland Jazz Unit on drums; and Ms. Libby on keys.
Sublime space-outs change to propulsive noise-assaults on a dime.....eastern drone, guitar affects cascading all around, slowly building into one propulsive ecstatic end of the world jam... precision drum freakouts plus hypnotic guitars and interstellar organ equals some of the best psych rock you will hear in 2012......
you have to see 'em to believe the glorious noise they make.....
the only way to triangulate what MOONRISES sound like is to list some of the awesome bands they borrow from.....so think CAN, NEU, CAVE, FAUST, ONEIDA, HARMONIA, SUICIDE, FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, HAWKWIND, KING CRIMSON, WOODEN SHJIPS, SILVER APPLES, BLUE CHEER and/ or SPACEMEN 3..... yep MOONRISE will pretty much amaze you.......
put LIQOUR STORE in a room with the GAYE BLADES or PERSONAL & THE PIZZAS, and you'll either die from having too much fun or from the non stop laughter........ all three of these bands play good early punk influenced garage rock...heavy on the trash rock aesthetic and the humor....
a little bit JAY REATARD, or the NEW YORK DOLLS.....maybe some NOBUNNY or SPACESHITS thrown in the mix...
a band on the verge of disaster, almost falling apart every show, but even better because of it... snotty fast catchy songs that i just wanna listen to over and over again..... LIQUOR STORE has written the soundtrack to yer blackout out night of partying......
they haven't released too much, but both their split 7 inch and their recently released YEAH BUDDY lp are both highly recommended.........
THE ROYAL BATHS are set to release their second lp on KANINE RECORDS on FEBRUARY 7th, entitled, BETTER LUCK NEXT LIFE. Expect more fuzzy dark garage/psych pop from these SAN FRAN rock n rollers....their first album on WOODSIST was killer, so i can't wait for this long player to drop.
The Royal Baths are highly recommended...not enough bands channel the darker corners of psych music like they do...and if you like APACHE DROPOUT, THE OH SEES or the CRYSTAL STILTS, you will need to own all the ROYAL BATHS you can get yer hands on......
stream two tracks off BETTER LUCK NEXT LIFE below......and save up some money to buy it next month.......
THE CONSUMERS were the ultimate groundbreaking American punk band....formed in Phoenix sometime in 77, gone the next year after a move to the crazy LA scene, THE CONSUMERS played snarling fast in yr face punk rock like no one else at the time.... they never released anything during their short existence and because of that few if any remember the Consumers.....
until now, IN THE RED RECORDS has just released their demo recordings as an LP entitled, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD.....
THE CONSUMERS set the stage for the Germs and Black Flag, and perhaps their only contemporaries playing such furious punk in 77 were the Sex Pistols, the Damned, Crime, Rocket from the Tombs and the Ramones.....and that's good company...... most people didn't really figure out what punk was until much much later....
so if you wanna listen to the great lost punk classic.......
FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS were one of the most chaotic thrashy and noisy punk bands to ever come up in the Chicago scene or anywhere else for that matter.....
perhaps even one of the best Chicago bands ever.......
Over a short period of time, they released two full lengths, a handful of singles, got banned from numerous clubs, played HOZAC BLACKOUT FEST and left everyone with hangovers and damaged eardrums......then broke up in 2006 to everyone's dismay.......
FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS took trashy rock n roll to the loudest most in-yer-face level and fans of lo-fi punk of any kind should own their limited discography...especially if yr into THE BASEBALL FURIES, the GUILTY PLEASURES, WHITE SAVAGE, THE TYRADES or SUPERCHARGER...
its a shame that no one outside of Chicago seems to remember these guys.... but you might know some of the bands these guys are in now......members of the FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS went on to form DAILY VOID, MAC BLACKOUT BAND, MICKEY, WOMEN IN PRISON, WORST and THE OUTER MINDS..... just to name a few bands they've been in since their breakup.......
follow these links to download some highly fuckin recommended albums by the FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS.......
X-RAY EYEBALLS are set to release their second lp later this winter via KANINE RECORDS...... their debut NOT NOTHING made my best of list last year, in addition to releasing two killer singles...one on HARDLY ART and one on HOZAC......
despite a few member changes, the new lp, SPLENDID SQUALOR, will be more of the same new wave inspired garage pop fuzz that we've come to expect from X-RAY EYEBALLS.........
i can't wait for this album to come out....... listen to the first single, SCORPIO, off SPLENDID SQUALOR below.......
BAD INDIANS are a noisy psychedelic garage rock band from Michigan.... and these up-and-comers are one of my favorite newly discovered bands....
with only handful of singles, tapes and records out, i hope someone offers to put out a new long player from them soon (hozac perhaps?)......their new 7 inch, THE PATH HOME, is just too short to satisfy me....three very catchy fun songs is just not enough from BAD INDIANS....
they remind me of the NIGHT BEATS, the BLACK LIPS, WRONG WORDS and the 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS.......so it's just the kind of great dirty lo-fi psych garage that i love..... i already want to hear more from them......
which if you live near chicago, you can...... BAD INDIANS are playing on Saturday Feb. 4th with HEAVY TIMES and MOONRISES at a secret loft show....(1542 n milwaukee)....
everyone needs to check out this single... it's very highly recommended......
already i have quite the list of lps i wanna buy this year..... so many good bands putting out so many rock n rolling new albums.......
i thought i'd give you a list of three of the records i'm especially excited about..... all of these releases are set to drop in the next month or so.....
so make sure you visit yer local record store when they hit the shelves....you won't been disappointed.....
DISAPPEARS are set to release their third full length, PRE LANGUAGE, on KRANKY.....and its even more rockin then their previous efforts.....featuring Steve Shelley from SONIC YOUTH on drums, PRE LANGUAGE brings the more of the same great propulsive kraut influenced garage psych that the Chicago scene knows and loves. this is the lp that will finally make the rest of the indie world pay attention....
MIND SPIDERS seemed like a one off side project of THE MARKED MEN, slightly less punk and a bit more garage wall-of-sound...but the approach worked so well, MIND SPIDERS went back into the studio to record a second full length, MELTDOWN, out soon on DIRTNAP. last year's release made my year end best of, and i think this one will too.....
after a couple of awesome singles on SLUMBERLAND, TERRY MALTS is about to release a debut full length, KILLING TIME. reverb heavy chainsaw pop that on one hand is fuzzed up garage rock, and the other early 80s power pop punch...and a bit of that 70s punk vibe coating the whole thing.... some of the best songwriting you might come across all year..... and i definitely can't wait to get my hands of this album.....
An elusive gang of misanthropic, beer-swilling noise mongering garage punks, The True Sons of Thunder are one of Memphis’s best-kept secrets.
Equal parts supergroup and secret society, the band is made up of guys who've been in quite a few other bands... Joe Simpson (Rat Traps, Sharp Balloons), Eric Friedl (Oblivians, Goner Records), Abe White (Oscars, Manatees), Richard Martin (Four Johns), and Sambeaux (Mangina).
Not since the BAD TIMES or 68 COMEBACK has there been such a meeting of the garage rock minds....
TRUE SONS OF THUNDER are an anarchic mess of heavy garage slop and deep-fried sludge that just may destroy rock n roll altogether, but in such an infectious way, none of us will care.....
and after gigging here and there for awhile, somebody finally shoved them in a studio with some alcohol, so we could all experience the mayhem that Memphis has kept to itself.......
THE WOOLLEN KITS are a head on musical collision between FLYING NUN and K RECORDS, or more specifically THE CLEAN meeting BEAT HAPPENING.......
much better than some of the amateurish indie pop that gets overly hyped in this fast fast interweb world we live in....
....these guys play with the same melodic zeal that THE MODERN LOVERS or THE TELEVISION PERSONALITIES did.....yet with a bit more garage rock vibe.......
the woollen kits are yet another awesome australian band you need to watch out for.......
and they're touring the US very very soon........
check the dates below and listen to some WOOLLEN KITS even further below that......
LOS ANGELES: Thurs 26th Jan at Permanent Records (afternoon) FRESNO: Fri 27th Jan at Audie's Olympic OAKLAND: Sat 28th Jan at ?? SAN FRANCISCO: Sun 29th Jan at Knockout w/ BLASTED CANYONS SACRAMENTO: Tues 31st Jan at Bows And Arrows PORTLAND: Thurs 2nd Feb at ?? SEATTLE: Fri 3rd Feb at Josephine MINNEAPOLIS: Mon 6th Feb at Memory Lanes w/ REAL NUMBERS MILWAUKEE: Tues 7th Feb at Quarters Rock N Roll Palace CHICAGO:
Wed 8th Feb at Permanent (afternoon)
Wed 8th Feb at Crown Tap Room w/ SLUSHY DETROIT: Thurs 9th Feb at PJs Lager House CLEVELAND: Fri 10th Feb at Now That's Class Basement w/ PUFFY AREOLAS BALTIMORE: Sat 11th Feb at Copy Cat Building w/ PINK EYES PHILADELPHIA: Sun 12th Feb at Little Bar BROOKLYN: Thurs 16th Feb at Death By Audio w/ HOME BLITZ NEW HAVEN: Fri 17th Feb at Cafe Nine w/ MEDICATION BOSTON: Sat 18th Feb at Plough N Stars w/CUFFS, HEADBAND
listen and/or download their MATHS / OUT OF TOWN 7 inch below.......
stream some WOOLLEN KITS via RIP SOCIETY RECORDS.....
USELESS EATERS are back with another lp in time for the new year.......
SOUTHPAW RECORDS is about to release C'EST BON!.....
this is one of TINY GROOVES' most anticipated releases of the xx12... (their lp DAILY COMMUTE made the best of list for last year).....it was due out a couple of months ago, but production problems got in the way....... and now the wait is over.....
FRANTIC ANGULAR EARLY PUNK INFLUENCED JAMS TO ROCK AND ROLL YOU ALL NIGHT LONG........ very few bands play such a refreshing take on the KILLED BY DEATH vein of DIY GARAGE PUNK.......
YOU NEED TO BUY THIS WHEN IT HITS THE SHELVES OF YER LOCAL RECORD STORE. HIGHLY FUCKIN' RECOMMENED!!!
listen to two tracks off C'EST BON! below.......
watch the USELESS EATERS live @ THIRD MAN RECORDS.......
SLUG GUTS made some music blog year end lists, but they somehow evaded me during the spring when their lp HOWLIN GANG came out.....i normally listen to every album that SACRED BONES puts out, many of which i love......but i guess i'm just late to the party on this one......
SLUG GUTS play swampy gothic post punk..... which is a little different from the normal garage rock that TINY GROOVES seems to center around.......
but these guys remind me of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, early CHRISTIAN DEATH, BAUHAUS and THE CHROME CRANKS........ which are all bands i have much respect for.......
and through the dark moody rock, SLUG GUTS grab you with their ear for chugging melody.....i wouldn't say they're catchy, but i almost wanna sing along in my best monotone JOY DIVISION impression........
i can't believe it but one of my favorite garage punk bands of all time is back in action and is set to release their first new lp in over 15 years.......
THE CHROME CRANKS aren't as well know as the GORIES or the OBLIVIANS..... but they certainly should be......
their propulsive noisy blues punk is one of a kind...... think GUN CLUB, PUSSY GALORE, JOHN LEE HOOKER, THE CRAMPS, THE SCIENTISTS and SONIC YOUTH all put into a blender and cranked up all the way until everything catches on fire............
the new lp AINT NO LIES IN BLOOD is coming out this month on bang! / thick syrup records....... and it just might surpass their classic albums, LOVE IN EXILE or DEAD COOL......
i can't wait to hear the whole thing........
here's what people are saying about AINT NO LIES.....
PETER from THE CHROME CRANKS.......The new album is called Ain’t No Lies in Blood, and it blows away everything else we’ve done. I AM NOT LYING: It’s louder, bigger, harder, noisier, and nastier than any of other our other records—by far. Seriously. The front cover was hand drawn especially for us by Michael Gira (Swans, Angels of Light). The record definitely has a lot of the dark, bluesy stuff people will expect from the Cranks, but, oddly, to me much of it is the closest to straight-up punk that we’ve ever come (but not too close, of course!). Some of it makes me think of Black Flag or early hardcore (my roots are showing, perhaps). So that might be surprising to some. There are also some surprise covers on the album—but I won’t ruin the surprise by telling you! But most of all I think we all surprised ourselves, maybe, by making our best, most brutal album when we’re a bunch of old men, haha!
Michael Gira of THE SWANS...[The Chrome Cranks] had me screaming with joy [at their renunion show]...I almost threw my beer at them, I was so happy.
Blue Collar Distro.......Since the 2009 reactivation of the classic 1990s lineup of the Chrome Cranks fans have been grinding their teeth for a new album of the influential New York band’s volatile, high-octane blasts. In these chokingly bleak, post-ironic times there simply aren’t any other acts out there like the Cranks, who play unapologetically confrontational, utterly incendiary rock ’n’ roll like they mean it with every poisoned pore. Like few bands before or since, the foursome simultaneously embraces and destroys rock’s very traditions. But finally this soft, pain-deserving world has something new to choke on: Ain’t No Lies in Blood, the first album of new Chrome Cranks material since 1997. In keeping with the band’s earlier oeuvre, it’s another swirling hell of dark, raw, distorted blues-based squalls; hypnotic, labyrinthine detours through primordial swampland; and searing flashes of deep, torchy drama. This release, however, strips the outfit’s minimal, no-bullshit M.O. even farther down, to its most savage and primal essence. There’s the locomotive, open-wounded wail of “I’m Trash,” which flattens all in its path and hints at early ’80s hardcore angst, and “Rubber Rat,” a screaming, stomping mess of bony, cartilage-cracking fists. Three radically remade covers include an epic trawl through the Byrds’ “Lover of the Bayou,” and of course the Cranks’ trademark murky ’n’ moody side is present in all its black, jagged glory: Check the swaggering decadence of “Let it Ring” and “Star to Star.”
listen to two tracks off the new album below....... and go buy this lp..... its gonna be on my turntable the whole month.........
the australian noise pop / trash rocker up-and-comers, CIRCLE PIT, may not have released a new longer player in xx11, but they certainly didn't sit still all year.....
Circle Pit released two stellar new singles last year, which i'm only now getting the chance to listen to...... both are well worth searching out at yr local record store....... and i can't wait til they put out a new lp this year.......
SEWERCIDE is more of the scum / glam rock fuzz that got me infatuated with these guys in the first place.....i know Circle Pit hates to be compared to the ROYAL TRUX, but hey not many bands can actually earn that comparison.....but then again maybe their SEWERCIDE 7 inch sounds more like PUSSY GALORE or THE HONEYMOON KILLERS...... anyway this single is one of my favs from last year...... listen to SEWERCIDE here
their other 7 inch, SLAVE / HONEY is less abrasive then SEWERCIDE or their previous lp, BRUISE CONSTELLATION (siltbreeze)......the 7 inch showcases the other direction they can take, Circle Pit playing some awesome shoegaze pop that i wanna listen to over and over again.....SLAVE / HONEY is such a melodic woozy affair that it merits some JESUS AND MARY CHAIN / MY BLOODY VALENTINE comparisons.....but i love bands that like the same records as i do, so keep it up, Circle Pit....... listen to SLAVE / HONEY below.....
not content to slow down after his awesome s/t lp, MIKAL CRONIN is back with two new songs of fuzz pop / garage rock goodness......
GONER RECORDS recently released Mikal's TIDE 7 inch......and its a must have.......
all the indie labels must be fighting over who gets to release his next album, which will probably drop later this year, if MIKAL CRONIN keeps up this pace.....although i think he should stay with TROUBLE IN MIND....
and who knows maybe he'll team up with the MOONHEARTS or TY SEGALL again.......
but this single will quench my thirst for now.......
