the twin cities is always overflowing with awesome bands that seem to fly under the radar to most music critics and fans.....but you certainly can't ignore the scene there when a release as LOUD and VITRIOLIC as the new lp by GAY WITCH ABORTION drops in to the bins at yr local record shop..... their new album OPPORTUNISTIC SMOKESCREEN BEHAVIOR out on LEARNING CURVE RECORDS is just the kinda of SLUDGY NOISE ROCK BLAST you need in your life right now.......
GAY WITCH ABORTION mixes and matches some of the best HEAVY ROCKIN' INFLUENCES OF THE PAST THIRTY YEARS INTO ONE HELLUVA FUCKING EAR SPLITTING SPEAKER BUSTING NOISE ROCK EPIC....... imagine HAMMERHEAD, MELVINS, THE COWS and ALL THOSE OTHER AWESOME SOMEWHAT FORGOTTEN AMREP BANDS smashed into JESUS LIZARD and the other classic TOUCH & GO bands, THEN TURN UP THE VOLUME TIL EVERYTHING SOUNDS BLOWN OUT AND ABOUT TO CATCH FIRE......... gay witch abortion don't just borrow from that spurt of beloved 90s aggro rock though, they yank plenty of noise mongering moves from their LOAD RECORD contemporaries LIGHTNING BOLT and CLOCKCLEANER and predecessors such as ARAB ON RADAR and HARRY PUSSY......
OPPORTUNISTIC SMOKESCREEN BEHAVIOR is the perfect mix of GUTTER SLUDGE RIFFING, PSYCH ROCK MIND FUCKS and NOISE ROCK BOUNDARY BUSTING EXPLORATIONS...... since most of the aforementioned labels (touch and go, amrep, skin graft and load) are dead or very inactive, it's a relief that a band like GAY WITCH ABORTION is willing to take up the bloody sewage soaked irreverent flag of NOISE ROCK and WAVE IT IN THE FACES OF THE COMPLACENT ROCK KIDS.........
OPPORTUNISTIC SMOKESCREEN BEHAVIOR IS THE SLAP IN THE FACE THAT WE ALL NEED TO WAKE UP AND FUCKING GET GOING........ there's no need for bland quiet rock n roll...............
milwaukee's CATACOMBZ are back with yet another stellar WAY OUT THERE PSYCHEDELIC RIDE in the form of MOTHER TONGUE 2, available as a cassette / mp3 download......... those who picked up last years self titled affair know what you're in store for, butall the rest of you are gonna love this wild krautrock influenced drugged up spaced out rock n roll journey....
on MOTHER TOUNGE 2, CATACOMBZ manage to bend their HAWKWIND / early UFO space rock impulses into a more effects laden TANGERINE DREAM / pre-ambient ENO / CAN mind melting groovy avant rock jams..... at times heavy and explosive and at others proggy and tribal, these tracks race you through the outer edges of the universe and the normal restrictive musical genres........ imagine if NICE stumbled upon fusion era MILES DAVIS smoking a joint with NEU or SOFT MACHINE in a alleyway...... that is not to say that a strong psych/garage debt to the 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS isn't running through this whole tape too........
it's not often that one group can mash psych, krautrock, prog, fusion and rock n roll impulses into one EPIC TRIPPY SONIC EXPERIMENT......
this is not psych rock for the hippie kids, this is full on AVANT DAMAGED DRONED OUT PSYCH ROCK WITH A MESMERIZING SPACE FUNK BEAT........
fans of any of the aforementioned bands as well as CAMERA, CAVE, PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND, ONEIDA, WOODEN SHJIPS, ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, VERMA and/or TORTOISE will fucking NEED THIS TAPE......and it's not like we need many tapes these days....... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
LISTEN TO A FEW TRACKS
OFF THE MOTHER TONGUE 2 TAPE BELOW.....
AND WATCH CATACOMBZ PLAY THE BURLINGTON IN CHICAGO BELOW.....
i wish PURLING HISS had a new lp release coming out this month, but i guess a live at WFMU session will hold me over for a bit longer..... FAN DEATH records is releasing A LITTLE OFF CENTER, a live in studio appearance by PURLING HISS from 2010, on cassette at the end of the month...... for those familiar with the lo-fi psych fuzz of PURLING HISS, you know any new recordings are always an occasion for excitement...... nobody plays reverb drenched spaced out psych bent garage jams like PURLING HISS...... fans of the SPACIN, BIRDS OF MAYA, OBNOX, CAVE, LOOP, MONOSHOCK and PUFFY AREOLAS will need to pop this tape in yr favorite boombox........
listen to RUN FROM THE CITY off A LITTLE OFF CENTER here.... purling hiss releases always come with the highest recommendation......
and watch PURLING HISS live in studio @WFMU (from the same session that yielded this new cassette release.......)
VERMA just released their full length debut lp, EXU, and for those of you who dig psych rock as much as i do, this is an absolutely MUST OWN album......
chicago might be better known for its dirty raw punk garage sounds these days (and the hozac/trouble in mind/tic tac totally trio of noisy rock n roll labels) but there's quite a psych/space rock/krautrock impulse bubbling up through the art spaces and rock venues around town......perhaps lead by the motorik psych vibe of CAVE, the psychedelic set around town also includes such awesome bands as PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND, MOONRISES, DISAPPEARS, BITCHIN BAJAS, E+, DARK FOG and VERMA, who are sure to have many new fans when people get around to hearing EXU ......
after two excellent tape releases (on PLUS TAPES and PRIORITY MALE), VERMA has taken it up a notch with their self released debut...... atmospheric krautrock influenced psych rock doesn't get much better than this......there's plenty of the usual influences in EXU, like CAN, HAWKWIND and SPACEMEN 3, but you can also hear their love for the way out psych sounds of japan (from FLOWER TRAVELLIN BAND to ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE) as well as some love for chicago's post rock epic crescendo in EXU (think a bit of TORTOISE and SLINT, but way more lysergic and raw).....
EXU is an eerie reverbed psychedelic trip to the center of your soul..... and one you'll wanna take more than once.....
super recommended for fans of WOODEN SHJIPS, ONEIDA, CATACOMBZ, CAMERA, CARLTON MELTON and KINSKI..... pscyh / space rock fans take note.....VERMA is a band to keep an eye on......
listen to all of EXU below......
and watch the video for FROM THUNDER off EXU below....
HAWKWIND is one of the most influential and creative bands from the 70s...... their blend of psych , proto metal, space rock and noisy prog was like nothing anyone had ever heard back then, and it still is some of the most astounding and unique rock n roll you can throw on your turntable today....... quite a few of the bands reviewed here on TINY GROOVES would not exist if not for the ground HAWKWIND broke with their genre defying lps in the 70s........ and if you don't know anything about HAWKWIND, that needs to change right now......
watch the excellent BBC documentary DO NOT PANIC about HAWKWIND below.......it's super HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.......!!!!!! and after yer done watching, go buy yerself some HAWKWIND lps......
the psychedelic noise fireworks of SPACEMEN 3 are legendary and mind blowing....... and their albums SOUND OF CONFUSION and PLAYING WITH FIRE are absolutely CLASSIC FUCKING LPS........ so if you're not HIP TO SPACEMEN 3, you definitely should be........ check out this live concert from 1989 right after the release of PLAYING WITH FIRE.....just beware, this is some intense drugged out rock n roll..........!!!!!!!!!
After the OBLIVIANS split ways to focus on their various projects (GONER RECORDS, REIGNING SOUND, JACK-O AND THE TENNESSEE TEARJERKERS to name a few of the many), ERIC FRIEDL was keeping his eyes out for his next raucous rock n roll
adventure. Luckily for him (and us), JAMES ARTHUR of FIREWORKS and NECESSARY EVILS fame decided to move to Eric's homewtown of Memphis, the
erstwhile capital city of rock n roll, blues and southern soul. Then looking to round out the new band, Eric
and James probably found FORREST HEWES (of the recently disbanded NECKBONES) at a some local dive bar and the rest is history as they
say.
THE LEGS gigged around town, gained a legendary status in an
already notoriously rambunctious Memphis scene, recorded a few drunken
demos, and then sadly vanished. Probably the hangovers were too much to
handle. Or that bands this explosive can not last very long....But
after all these years, Eric Oblivian decided to dig the tapes out of his
closet and finally give AAAA THE NEW MEMPHIS LEGS a proper release (as well
as reuniting The Legs one last time for Goner Fest this year)......I wasn't in Memphis to see the Legs in full force during their heyday, so you'll have to get the back story from GONER -
"Blood and beer-encrusted recordings from the epochal
year 2000: Once mammoth Texas guitar noisemaker James Arthur moved from
Los Angeles to Memphis and began hanging out with local roustabout Eric
“Oblivian” Friedl, The Legs were inevitable. The two filled their days
drinking whiskey and beer, searching for pinball machines, riding
mountain bikes through broken glass and rabid-dog-filled uncharted
alleys, and enjoying spontaneous dance parties which mostly consisted of
wearing out copies of the “Quick Joey Small” 45. When they could be
bothered to actually play music, they jammed away on a chord or three.
They thought they might be onto something, but couldn’t really tell what
it was. Bassists were not consulted. All this time, drummer Forrest
Hewes of Oxford, Mississippi’s Neckbones was quietly living a few blocks
away from Friedl; once his massive drums were planted behind their wall
of scuzz, The Legs knew they had truly arrived. With a setlist of
Australian garage thudders from the Ugly Things compilation, a mutant
two-chord Doug Sahm song and simple, intense originals, The Legs were a
short-lived, yet highly entertaining Memphis club favorite, playing
alongside Reatards, Jeffrey Evans and other Memphis talents of the time.
There were two recording sessions—one captured by Jeffrey Evans with
Jay Reatard on organ that yielded the track “I’ve Been Raped (By the
Pinball Machine)” for a Pinball song compilation, and the other done in
Jody Hill’s living room, which is issued here in its entirety."
Fans of sweaty drunk garage damaged punk will ABSOLUTELY
NEED "AAAA THE NEW MEMPHIS LEGS." No LP this year has sounded so dirty
loud and raw as this freshly pressed slab of rock n roll from Goner (a
record label btw that's always worth keeping tabs on)....
Those in need of an
Oblivians, Reatards or 68 Comeback fix, this is gonna stay on your
turntable for quite some time. Even better than that BAD TIMES lp and just
as wild as those classic GORIES records, The New Memphis Legs is the
high octane blast of rock n roll you need RIGHT NOW.
HIGHLY AND LOUDLY
RECOMMENDED.
Records this fun don't come out every week.
LISTEN TO THE FIRST TWO TRACKS OFF THE NEW LP BELOW.....
AND WATCH THE REUNITED LEGS PLAY GONER FEST THIS YEAR......
get ready for your ears to explode!!!!OBNOX just released his much anticipated follow up to last year's demonic noisy killer LP I'M BLEEDING NOW (12xU/smog veil)......entitled ROJO and brought to you by the fine folks at PERMANENT RECORDS, this new long player is GONNA STRAIGHT UP DESTROY YR MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.......combining the thrash of hardcore, the pummeling stomp of garage rock, the drone of krautrock and the free jazz skronk of the impulse/esp records masters......OBNOX has constructed / deconstructed the best NOISE ROCK ALBUMS OF THE YEAR.......
fans of OUTRE MUSIC OF ANY TYPE NEED TO CHECK OUT ROJO NOW.....
.....especially those who love his other bands - BASSHOLES, THIS MOMENT IN BLACK HISTORY and PUFFY AREOLAS.....and/or fans of ALBERT AYLER, MONOSHOCK, WOLF EYES, BLUE CHEER, FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, SONIC YOUTH, HAWKWIND and ORNETTE COLEMAN........ OBNOX described his new LP as "noisy as fuck with some kind of African freakbeat, and with some sprinkles of Can!".... i agree, but i'd go even farther and say if that he seemingly melts all these disparate avant influences into one HELL OF A GIANT GLORIOUS MESS THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP SPINNING.........
AS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS THEY COME.........
LISTEN TO KRISTY GREENE AND MARCY MAYS FROM ROJO BELOW...
and go grab yr copy now... a 100 on bone white wax / 200 on blood red vinyl.... yes only 300 pressed.......so don't sleep on it.....
AND WATCH OBNOX IN ACTION AT THE BURLINGTON IN CHICAGO BELOW........
THE RIPPERS are back with another HIGH OCTANE DOSE OF GARAGE PUNK MADNESS.....and of course their new lp BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is brought to you by the one and only SLOVENLY RECORDS........
for those not in the know, THE RIPPERS are italy's answer to the MAKERS.......LOUD RAW SPEED ADDLED PUNK DAMAGED 60s FREAKBEAT / GARAGE ROCK N ROLL TO GET YOU APATHETIC KIDS DANCING AGAIN....... there hasn't been a band in quite a while that's filled this HEADCOATS / MILKSHAKES void in my soul....... too many contemporary garage rockers go down the psych path, and forget how to plain just ROCK N ROLL like BO DIDDLEY, the SONICS, early STONES and the PRETTY THINGS........ THE RIPPERS have been slaying us with their brash wild rock n roll for a while now, and there's no SIGN THAT THEY'LL GOING TO LET UP ANYTIME SOON......
fans of the MUMMIES, THE RIP OFFs, THE DRAGS, THE CYNICS, THE LYRES and/or anything BILLY CHILDISH, NEED TO OWN THIS LP NOW......IT'S SUPER RECOMMENDED.......
LISTEN TO ALL OF BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW BELOW...
and grab a vinyl copy for yerself from our friends at SLOVENLY.
you need to have this much rock n roll fun........
after putting their awesome garage rock band, COCOCOMA, on indefinite hiatus and focusing all their attention on their fantastic up-and-coming psych/garage label TROUBLE IN MIND, BILL AND LISA ROE still felt the urge to make music....and not just release other people's records.......
so they joined up with andrew of the HIPSHAKES and emma from the HOLLOWS to form a studio only project, THE MARBLE VANITY........
veering away from the dominant tendency of the psych/garage scene for heavy fuzz, primal cave stomping and wild guitar thrashing, they opted to seek the softer more folksy side of psych rock......with lush arrangements that include flutes, baroque vocal harmonies, harpsichords and plenty of flower power.....
Marble Vanity's self titled debut channels the lysergic melodies of LEFT BANKE, ZOMBIES, LOVE, PUBLIC NUISANCE, the HOLLIES, TYRANNOSAURUS REX and the later period warped pop era BEACH BOYS.....and all sorts of left field forgotten psych gems.......
MARBLE VANITY's soft psych might not exactly be what you'd expect after COCOCOMA but this all goes back to playing music based on records you love the most......and nobody loves bubblegum, 60s pop, avant folk and psych rock more than bill and lisa of MARBLE VANITY........
file them with the ELEPHANT 6 contingent of OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL, ELF POWER, CIRCULATORY SYSTEM and SUNSHINE FIX if you need to pin MARBLE VANITY down......
or think of them as part of a rising scene of neo psych folkers -- MMOSS, QUILT, WOODS, FRESH AND ONLYS and/or WHITE FENCE......
MARBLE VANITY is very recommended for those with adventurous ears.... especially since their debut lp is chock full of hazy blissed out psych rock that i just can't get enough of.....
MT ST MTN is stoked to release what may be your next favorite record by new rockers on the west coast scene, G GREEN, entitled CRAP CULTURE........ fans of California's wild garage/psych/punk uprising (Ty Segall, The Oh Sees, Cosmonauts, Charles Albright, Blasted Canyons, No Age and Moonhearts to name a few) will totally never stop spinning this very limited debut release by G Green. Mt St. Mtn aptly described yr new favorite jam, so i'll let them take it from here -
"Sacramento scuzz rocking heirs to the Mayyors throne are releasing their debut LP on Mt.St.Mtn. G. GREEN is and has been the musical project of a one Mr. ANDREW HENDERSON and a rotating cast of players (the incarnation on this record includes ROD MEYER (EAT SKULL, HOSPITALS). A quick paced platter of party punk hits on the verge of careening wildly out of control, G.Green’s first long player lands somewhere between Tyvek, Born Innocent-era Redd Kross and No Pocky For Kitty-era Superchunk."
Noisy, melodic and fun just like the classic punk records we all grew up on, Crap Culture is very HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. You better pick this LP up now, cause Mt St. Mtn. doesn't repress their titles--once it's gone, it's gone, and it'd be a shame to miss out on these catchy garage rock anthems of G Green.
LISTEN TO A FEW TRACKS OFF CRAP CULTURE BELOW....
and watch G GREEN's video for YOUR HOUSE below.....
METZ are Toronto's answer to a world obsessed with electronic music and pop star drivel....THAT IS THEY WANNA SMASH THEIR GUITARS OVER ALL THOSE NOT READY TO ROCK THIS HARD.......METZ harken back to those innocent days of the 90s when all i listened to was MUDHONEY, NIRVANA, DRIVE LIKE JEHU, SONIC YOUTH. FUGAZI and SHELLAC tapes as i drove around town with my friends (hey we had nothing better to do)..... their post grunge guitar attack is chock full of aggro AM REP / TOUCH & GO sludgy vibes, noise rock dissonance, SST rambunctious post punk and DISHORD records style rule-breaking hardcore/post hardcore........ for fans of ANYTHING LOUD, RAW AND HEAVY, METZ's new S/T LP is FOR YOU. this ain't no emo / wimpy indie rock...... Steve Albini and David Yow might just get RATTLED listening to their oh so CACOPHANOUS SCRAPPY rock n roll CHAOS...... when SUB POP heard their demos, they JUMPED at the chance to release their debut LP. and they can't stop ranting about their new favorite canadian rock n roll destroyers -METZplay like one brutally heavy instrument with three heads, slashing heavy-gauge strings, bending guitar and bass necks in weird unison, along with what is probably the loudest drumming you’ve ever heard. It’s a return to everything that’s good about loud, ecstatic live music; a frantic nod to Nation of Ulysses, Shellac, The Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Public Image Ltd. at their most vicious, while still carving out some heavy new business. They play the instruments, the amps, and the room. maybe why SUB POP is so stoked is that they haven't released an LP this awesome since last year's OBITS album (or that it's been a long time since SUPER FUZZ BIG MUFF came out.....mudhoney's and sub pop's best album, maybe even one of the best lps ever.....) METZ s/t lp is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! one release that might just sneak onto many critics' year end lists...... (perhaps even the one here at TINY GROOVES......) LISTEN BELOW and GET READY FOR YR FACE TO MELT and YR SPEAKERS TO BLOW UP....... WATCH METZ LIVE ON UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA'S RADIO K HERE...............
today DRAG CITY is releasing TY SEGALL's third full length LP of 2012, "TWINS".....AND IT"S FUCKING KILLER!!!!!!... i wasn't sure he was going to be able to out do the psych jams of his collabo LP "HAIR" with WHITE FENCE or the barn burning 2x10in "SLAUGHTERHOUSE"......but he just out rocked even himself.......
WITH TWINS, TY SEGALL IS GONNA LEAD THE MASSES DOWN A TWISTING AND TURNING FUZZED OUT PSYCHEDELIC ROAD TO FULL ON GARAGE ROCK BLISS........ this is his best album to date, and much much more solid than last year's GOODBYE BREAD (though that's quite the stellar lp as well, i know some of you hated on that lp a little too much)....... WITH CHARLIE MOONHEART, EMILY ROSE and MIKAL CRONIN as his backing band, TY SEGALL raises the bar on GARAGE ROCK tenfold, merging lo-fi punk, classic rock riffage, psych weirdness and good ol' garage stompers into a SWIRL OF MADNESS YOU JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP SPINNING..... seriously TY SEGALL could just retire now, CAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW HE'S GONNA TOP THIS LP........TWINS is ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED TO EVERYONE........ few lps i've heard this year are this good start to finish........
but don't take my word for it, LISTEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF TWINS BELOW.......
and go buy it now from DRAG CITY.......
THIS IS FOR SURE ONE OF THE BEST LPS OF THE YEAR......
(and it's so fun you might be it on TAPE or CD as well.......)
Cleveland might not be the flower power psychedelic rock n roll capital of the country, but after spinning GAP DREAM's self-titled debut lp, you just might think it is. Sunshine pop harmonies cascade through mellow garage fuzz, sucking you deep into the world of transistor radios, hazy drug smoke, and lazy days at the beach. A strong vein of post Brit Invasion SoCal pop runs through this LP, reminding me of those much listened to and revered Byrds, Seeds, Love, and Strawberry Alarm Clock albums. Maybe you can even throw in a hint of T Rex or Syd Barrett when trying to pinpoint Gap Dreams' dreamy garage gems.......
at any rate, GAP DREAM is definitely recommended if you're into White Fence, Fresh and Onlys, Strange Boys, or Black Angels.....and this s/t debut is some of the most pleasant psych garage pop you'll hear all year long. Grab the LP from BURGER RECORDS now, 350 copies isn't enough to go around by a long shot...... (also available on tape for all you boombox kids....)
LISTEN TO THE WHOLE LP BELOW......
i bet you'll even listen to it more than once, i know i did.....
Another two songs from Cheap Time? HELL YESSSSSS!!!!! We can't get enough of these snotty glammed up garage punks around TINY GROOVES HQ. Their excellent LP, Wallpaper Music, from earlier this year on In The Red is FOR SURE gonna make many year end best of lists (including the mine), and they recently blasted the Chicago with a TWO super huge doses of their New York Dolls meets Jay Reatard meets Stooges rock n roll mayhem and it was oh so good (you can't beat seeing them play two different hour long sets in a night). Sweet Rot has always jumped at the chance to release anything by Jeffrey Novak and Co, so let's hear how excited they are about their newest single:
"Back in March 2007, Sweet Rot's second ever release was the debut 7" by Cheap Time. A couple of years later we released a single by front man Jeffrey Novak. Now Sweet Rot is pleased to continue the collaboration with a new two-song 7" which comes hot on the heels of the band's quite great "Wallpaper Music" LP on In the Red Records. These two new songs - "Other Stories" and "In This World" - are a prime example of what a 70s sounding glam punk single should be - short, well written and produced, and super catchy. We feel these songs perfectly complement each other and think fans of the band's previous work will too."
Even if you've never heard of Cheap Time before right now, you need to grab this new 7 inch. It's a perfect introduction to their punk damaged scuzzed up garage jams, and we all need a little loud raw rock n roll in our lives. Any band that gets a stamp of approval from both Sweet Rot and In the Red in the same year is a band that you NEED to check out. And you can put Cheap Time in the same new classics category with the DIrtbombs and the Black Lips. So it goes without saying, this single comes with the HIGHEST OF RECOMMENDATIONS!!!!!!!
LISTEN TO THE A SIDE OF THE SINGLE BELOW............
and watch them play PERMANENT RECORDS here in chicago below.....
D WATUSI are about to take the world by storm with their debut lp, DARK PARTY...... out on zine turned label, NASHVILLE'S DEAD.....this new album is a must have for fans of psych, garage and punk.....(ie readers of this blog, yes you most definitely you will love D WATUSI)..........
comprised of four music scenesters from nashville, tennessee who must have awesome record collections (two of them work at THIRD MAN records, one runs NASHVILLE'S DEAD)......D WATUSI brings the plenty of jangle, melody and drugs to their exuberant swirl of psyched out garage burning punk tinged rock n roll......... these kids are ready to blow up yr turntable and this sounds much more mature / put together than you'd expect from a debut from a young garage band.....i expect to hear more great jams from these guys down the road......
very recommended for those into PAPERHEAD, NATURAL CHILD, RADAR EYES, FUNGI GIRLS, KING TUFF, THE SUFIS and MIKAL CRONIN.....
you'll wanna grab this one before its gone for good......the rumor is that Nashville's Dead isn't pressing up many copies of DARK PARTY.... so don't miss out......
I wish Double Dagger hadn't called it quits, but then again if they were still a band, the drummer, Danny Bowen, wouldn't have started Roomrunner. No it's not quite the noise spattering post hardcore we all came to know and love in his former band, but Roomrunner's new EPSuper Vagueon Fan Death is just the kind of crunchy guitar rock we need to combat the auto-tuned disco pop world we now live in.
All four songs on this EP burst at the seams with chainsaw guitar buzz and manic rhythm from a bruised and beaten drum kit. You can hear lots of the shambling 90s indie rock in Roomrunner's all out six string attack, and I'd like to think that their home base in Baltimore's proximity to the fabled DC hardcore scene (yes I'm talking about DIschord) is there as a glaring influence as well. This is post punk, pre grunge guitar rock mayhem like I grew up on. I can imagine the band handing me a mixtape of their influences rather then answering some rote interview question, and that cassette would inevitably be filled with Dinosaur Jr, Yo La Tengo, Mudhoney, Green River, Shellac, Jesus Lizard and Fugazi songs.
But Super Vague is not simply reviving guitar rock (or "indie rock" as it used to be defined) since they try to take it a step further, e.g. loving the Coachwhips / Lightning Bolt noise mongering as much as those early Sub Pop 45s. Plus not enough bands are unpretentious with their aim to rock out--which is terrible because there are way too many indie bands that don't have unpolished edges anymore--and even fewer indie bands that don't have a synth, violin player or some other extra somewhat unnecessary musicians.
The EP and especially the title track is a fuzzy loud anthem of youthful angst, bursting at the seams with heavy riffs. I may have heard "Undo" before in some form or another, but I forgot who they're ripping off so it feels fresh and new to me anyway. "No Wait" and "Petrified" thrash you through the second side with more crunchy melodies, bruising churn and trebly waves of feedback. The EP gets rougher and sort of unwinds itself at the end, as if it was a miracle that these songs even came to be.
This explosive quality is what sucks me in the most about Roomrunner. They swallowed too many influences and might just choke, but in the process they spit out some great raw sounding distorto rock. Roomrunner makes me believe that some kids might still love rock n roll more than MTV pop drivel and that yes good ol' fashioned indie rock as I knew it might still have a chance.
Listen to the whole Super Vague EP below.
(And buy it digitally or as a 12 inch / tape / poster combo from Fan Death.)
SOLID ATTITUDE hails from the sleepy town of iowa city, iowa, but they play some of the most ferocious loud raw punk rock i've heard all year......and that says a lot since i live in chicago where NOISE ROCK is the defacto genre of the scenesters......
in fact their new album BB GUN PICNIC is such a riot that ROTTED TOOTH felt compelled to release it upon the world...... SOLID ATTITUDE doesn't have to be iowa's ear splitting mind melting secret anymore..........
fans of RUNNING, TYVEK, XBXRX, FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS and COACHWHIPS will absolutely NEED their BRASH UNHINGED NOISE DAMAGED PUNK ROCK in YR RECORD COLLECTION........ tiny grooves always recommends anything that gets released via ROTTED TOOTH, but SOLID ATTITUDE's new LP BB GUN PICNIC is the sleeper punk jam of the year........
just check it out for yrself........
STREAM THE WHOLE LP BELOW.....
and grab it from ROTTED TOOTH before it's limited pressing is gone for good.....
