drunk pixels - mind spiders // the novice

this past weekend, chicago got a double shot of MARKED MEN related punk rock side projects in one helluva show at the EMPTY BOTTLE......who could ask more than to see both MIND SPIDERS and THE NOVICE in one drunk riotous evening....?????

so just in case you weren't there, 
watch the loud rock n roll fury below......
(thanks to sei jin as always....)

MIND SPIDERS.......




THE NOVICE.......

cobwebbs - all around

The latest and greatest psych rumblings from down under are from a relatively new up-and-coming band from Brisbane, Australia called COBWEBBS..... a band that'll for sure knock you over with their fuzz soaked dark psych wall of noise.....

COBWEBBS has been making a name for themselves this year with a slew of hot no-fi psychedelic rock releases....singles on ANTI-FADE and SATURNO as well as a cassette split with HEIROPHANTS, an appearance on a tape comp for ANTI-FADE and a demos lp COMMUNION................and now to top of their stellar year, COBWEBBS have a new garage burning long player on LOST RACE records entitled ALL AROUND. 

dudes, this new album from COBWEBBS is one of the most entrancing slabs of droning space rocking psych I've heard all year.  An lp that just missed the deadline for inclusion as one of the best albums of the year, a list it certainly would've made......

COBWEBBS up the ante with their particularly dark shoegazed, feedback drenched and swampy psych rock n roll.  yes that perfect mixture of scientists, michael yonkers and spacemen 3 psych howl to get yer blood boiling and yer mind expanding......

for those looking for a new band to take you further into the fuzzed out eerie corners of your soul, look no further that ALL AROUND.  this lp is more than just highly recommended.  It's fucking necessary for fans of hazy psych rock.  (yes just as necessary as yer blue cheer, jesus & mary chain or loop albums, and ALL AROUND is what i might call a new classic.....)

Forget your UFO CLUB, NIGHT BEATS, COSMONAUTS and BLACK ANGELS lps that you've been hyping up....... this is the one lp you'll spin all year long.  i promise.  

Listen to ALL AROUND below. 
  And grab it from LOST RACE or PERMANENT RECORDS now.  100 copies is all that were pressed. So don't sleep on it. 


for further acid fried adventures 
listen to COMMUNION, their demos lp, here -

and watch COBWEBBS live below-

best albums of xx12....

I always find it difficult to trim the best lps of the year down to a few highlights....so much good music keeps getting released every year.....(yeah by the way, rock n roll will never die.......)

so as is the tradition, TINY GROOVES choose it's favorite 30 lps of the year........ all are essential and highly recommended releases....... some no doubt you will be familiar with, others you might've missed.    all you need to own now........

so without further ado.....

TINY GROOVES' BEST ALBUMS OF XX12......

1.    Ty Segall - Twins (Drag City)
2.    Chrome Cranks - Ain't No Lie In Blood (Bang!)
3.    Disappears - Pre Language (Kranky)
4.    Terry Malts - Killing Time (Slumberland)
5.    Cheap Time - Wallpaper Music (In The Red)
6.    Tyvek - On Triple Beams (In The Red)
7.    Slug Guts - Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat (Sacred Bones)
8.    Running - Asshole Savant (Captcha)
9.    Obnox - Rojo (Permanent)
10.  Puffy Areolas - 1982: Dishonorable Discharge (Hozac)

11.  The Oh Sees - Putrifiers II (In The Red)
12.  Spacin - Deep Thuds (Richie)
13.  Mmoss - Only Children (Trouble In Mind)
14.  The Legs - Aaaa The New Memphis Legs (Goner)
15.  Guilty Pleasures - Summer Strange (Dusty Medical)
16.  Ty Segall / White Fence - Hair (Drag City)
17.  Mallard - Yes On Blood (Castle Face)
18.  Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse (In The Red)
19.  Mind Spiders - Meltdown (Dirtnap)
20.  Glow Kit - S/T (P Trash / FDH)

21.  Ono - Albino (Moniker)
22.  Useless Eaters - C'est Bon! (Southpaw)
23.  Intelligence - Everyone's Got It Easy But Me (In The Red)
24.  White Fence - Family Perfume Vol. 1 & 2 (Woodsist)
25.  Paint Fumes - Uck Life (Slovenly)
26.  Woollen Kits - Four Girls (Trouble In Mind)
27.  Cosmonauts - If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die (Burger)
28.  Hellshovel - Hated By The Sun (Slovenly)
29.  Mean Jeans - On Mars (Dirtnap)
30.  Vincas - Blood Bleeds (Douchemaster)

best 7 inches / reissues / concerts / etc of xx12

i'll start you off with a handful of my favorites from 2012, then we'll get to the top albums......below are lists comprising everything from the best 7 inches to the most in yer face tapes of the year....... as well as TINY GROOVES' picks for best reissues and concerts from this rock n roll filled year....... there's been so much music to sift through in 2012, these lists can't include everything, but anything that gets mentioned below is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and should be sought after........   

so here we go..........  
  (stay tuned tomorrow for the best lps of xx12)


Best 7 inches -

1.  Lazy - Party City (Moniker)
2.  Fuzz - This Time I Got A Reason (Trouble In Mind)
3.  Nobunny - MaximumRocknRoll EP (Goner)
4.  Sonny Vincent and the Bad Reactions - Replica (Trend is Dead)
5.  Living Eyes - Ways to Make a Living (Anti Fade)
6.  Wymyn's Prysyn - Payday (Scavenger of Death)
7.  GG King - Joyless Masturbation (Total Punk)
8.  Nones - Shake Your Brain (Hozac)
9.  Obnox - Masonic Reducer (12XU)
10.  Unholy Two - Cut The Music (12XU)

Best Tapes (Cassette Only Releases) -

1.  Cops - Demo (Scavenger Of Death)
2.  Charles Albright - The First Four Years (Sacremento)
3.  Catacombz - Mother Tongue 2 (self released)
4.  Running - Change the World (Rotted Tooth)
5.  Strange Attractor - Unreleased Songs + Popular Favorites (Hosehead)

Best Concerts  -

1.  Hozac's Black Out Fest with Video / Roky Erickson / Spider Fever / and many more
2.  Ty Segall / White Fence / Strange Boys / Bitchin Bajas @ Lincoln Hall
3.  Sonny Vincent and the Bad Reactions @ Burlington
4.  The Oh Sees / Blind Shake / The Mallard / Terrible Twos @ Empty Bottle
5.  King Khan & BBQ / Paint Fumes / Bazooka @ Empty Bottle
6.  Cave / Tyvek / Running @ Hideout
7.  High Tension Wires / Apache Dropout / Yolks @ Burlington
8.  Royal Headache / OBN IIIs / Football @ Burlington
9.  Bad Sports @ Burlington
10.  Puffy Areolas @ Burlington
11.  Running @ Rainbo Club
12.  Mind Spiders @ Burlington
13.  Moniker Records Showcase with ONO / Lazy / Hecks / and more @ Empty Bottle
14.  Feedtime / Nones @ Empty Bottle
15.  Mean Jeans / Hollywood @ Crown Tap

Best Reissue LPs -

1.  Monoshock - Walk to the Fire (SS Records)
2.  FU 2 - Punk Rock (1-2-3-4 Go!)
3.  Consumers - All My Friends Are Dead (In The Red)
4.  ONO - Machines That Kill People (Priority Male / Galactic Archives)
5.  Bizarros - Complete Collection 76-80 (Windian)
6.  Pussy Galore - Exile On Main Street (Shove)
7.  Loop - Heaven's End (Fire)
8.  Feedtime - Aberrant Years (Sub Pop)
9.  Catholic Boys - Psychic Voodoo Mind Control (Dusty Medical)
10.  Royal Trux - Accelerator (Drag City)

Best Reissue Singles -

1.  Testors - Time Is Mine (Windian)
2.  Pussy Galore - Feel Good About Your Body EP (Shove)
3.  Link Wray - Big City After Dark (Sundazed)
4.  Captain Beefheart - Abba Zabba (Sundazed)
5.  Crime - Hotwire My Heart (Kitten Charmer)

Best Box Set -

Windian Subscription Series Volume 1
  with Heavy Times, Terry Malts and more

Record Label of the Year -

In The Red.......more than their fair share of stellar releases this year.
what can i say, but IN THE RED is a perennial favorite here at TINY GROOVES...... 

Best Tape Label -

Hosehead

Best Singles Label -

Total Punk

Best Record Store Day Release -

Trouble In Mind's 4 way covers split with
Mikal Cronin, Paperhead, Apache Dropout and Liminanas

Best Live Record -

Black Lips - Live At Third Man Records (Third Man)

Best Rock n Roll Venues -

Empty Bottle
and the Burlington

Best Reunited Band of 2012 -

Chrome Cranks

Best Chicago Band -

Running

Best Chicago Record Label -

Trouble in Mind

Best Record Store - 

Permanent Records..... of course

Best Rock n Roll Blog / Magazine (that's not Tiny Grooves ) -

GET BENT !




AND DON'T FORGET YOU'RE THE BEST TOO.....
THANKS FOR READING ALL THIS YEAR,
MORE ROCK N ROLL FUN IS IN STORE FOR 2013.........

without you loving TINY GROOVES,
this blog wouldn't have made it through the past four years.......

cheater slicks - reality is a grape

THE CHEATER SLICKS are back with another noisy slab of garage punk entitled REALITY IS A GRAPE, out now on COLUMBUS DISCOUNT RECORDS.....

these atonal / wall of feedback / guitar-crunching garage rockers from ohio have been destroying minds with their fierce brand of distorto punk for over 20 years and have never released a long player that's worth passing up...... (one of the few bands you can say that about)

the slicks just won't fucking calm down......or retire, which is fine by me, i hope they never do..... REALITY IS A GRAPE is just as blown out loud and raw as their classic IN THE RED albums from the 90s, DON'T LIKE YOU, FORGIVE THEE and REFRIED DREAMS to name a few.......(lps you ought to hunt down....) 

the formula has always been simple and powerful, TWO GUITARS, NO BASS AND ONE DRUMMER PUMMELING WITH AGGRO SPEAKER-BUSTING NO-FI GARAGE BENT RUST BELT PUNK PSYCHOSIS.....  always more low profile then THE GORIES and THE OBLIVIANS, but no less loved,  THE CHEATER SLICKS are recommended for those who need their punk TRASHY CONFRONTATIONAL AND DEMENTED AS FUCK, ie. those whose record collections include many CRYPT, IN THE RED, SYMPATHY, RIP OFF and ESTRUS lps.........

there's something mind altering about a band that both strips down and amplifies the basic structure of rock n roll at the same time......THE CHEATER SLICKS aren't for everyone, but anyone in search of rambunctious misanthropic and noisy rock n roll NEEDS to have their numerous albums stacked next to their turntable.   AS HIGHLY FUCKING RECOMMENDED AS THEY COME........    

SO LISTEN TO SOME CHOICE CUTS OF REALITY IS A GRAPE BELOW......and grab yer copy now, before it's gone for good. 





AND WATCH THE SLICKS ROCK PERMANENT RECORDS CHICAGO THIS FALL WITH SONGS OFF THEIR NEW LONG PLAYER......

gr - a reverse age

GR is the solo moniker of gregory raimo, guitarist of the fabulous french psych/noise outfit, GUNSLINGERS...... a band incidentally you ought to know about......

he just released a new album entitled A REVERSE AGE on MEXICAN SUMMER and it's killer slab of psych rock explosiveness......

mixing equal parts in MICHAEL YONKERS, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, LAST EXIT, CHROME, DNA, TELEVISION, FLOWER TRAVELIN BAND and BLUE CHEER, GR hits all cylinders with his angular noise bent psych rock mayhem..........  blues chords, garage rock riffage and free jazz drumming all stretched and distended into one noisy fray meant to both menace and enlighten..... you'll get lost in the aggression and guitar soloing and by the time the tone arm returns to its place after the b side, you might just be another person completely.......  

seriously one of the most heady psych jams of the year.......fans of LIGHTNING BOLT, BIRDS OF MAYA, SUN FLARE, PURLING HISS, KING BLOOD, HIGH RISE and MONOSHOCK will need to dig their teeth deep into the grooves of REVERSE AGE........

it's hands down recommended.....

STREAM SONG CLIPS FROM A REVERSE AGE BELOW.....



AND LISTEN TO LOW BORN FROM THE LP BELOW.......



WATCH THE VIDEO FOR GR's "THE INTERCESSOR SPEAKS" (off a previous lp) BELOW.......

mmoss - only children

Don't write your year end best of lists yet. At least not until you've heard the new album from , entitled Only Children.  In a year filled to the brim with creative and unique psych Lps, TROUBLE IN MIND pressed up one of the best mind altering lps of the year; a long player definitely worth forgetting your credit card debts to buy.
MMOSS

Most of the current wave of psych bands wear their influences on their sleeves (might as well have a jean jacket full of patches of their favorite bands) and end up sounding like rip offs.  But MMOSS somehow bring a whole new level of sonic alchemy to the game.  

They seamlessly meld the guitar tricks, the acid folk stylings and the druggy haze of variant strains of psychedelic rock as we historically know it into something current and mesmerizingly new.  By adding elements such as krautrock's drone, prog instrumentation (yes flute and crazed organ solos) and garage's forcefulness, Only Children is in a class all it's own.  

Mmoss is somewhere out in left field near Cave, Olivia Tremor Control and The Oh Sees, but for sure blazing their own trail in hallucinogenic wilderness.  "War Sux" is an expansive motorik psych blaze of glory, space rocking on for a mind melting ten minutes.  While other songs like "Another Day" are short and sweet AM gold jangle meets acid casualty woozy garage anthems.  Mmoss stretch it out and explore the outer reaches of psych while not forgetting to give us quite a slew of haunting pop psych jams on Only Children. 

Few bands can mix West Coast hippie psych (think Love, Spirit and Public Nuisance) with the art damaged forays of the late 60s/early 70s UK avant rock scene (Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown, Hawkwind and Soft Machine) into such a eerie and potent elixir.  You're gonna wanna take this trip with Mmoss over and over again 'cause Only Children is the real thing, not some pretend psych rock for the trendy.

Listen MMOSS' ONLY CHILDREN below 

and don't wait for your man, hit up Trouble In Mind now.  

watch MMOSS at AUSTIN PSYCH FEST this year......

kraus - sumpreme commander

the back story of a band doesn't matter.  never really has.  even though the blogs / zines / the hype generating media saturated world we live in would suggest otherwise.......IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC........i could care less where an album came from or who made it.....it could drop from the sky......and onto my turntable and if it catches my attention and sucks me into it's little grooves, THAT'S WHAT MATTERS..........

who is KRAUS?  i've heard he was part of new zealand's finest space punks THE FUTURIANS, but that might just be a rumor.  he is a mysterious fringe musician for sure, and i'd rather let the question of back story remain vague.  i'm sure he's from the same musical corner of the universe as SUN RA, MOONDOG and BRUCE HAACK.....but that is as far into researching as i want to go with KRAUS......anymore context would just detract from this wonderfully obscuro rock record that just appeared one day on my turntable.......

MONIKER RECORDS might just wanna keep the secret to themselves anyway......after all KRAUS' new album SUMPREME COMMANDER is a BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST WAY OUT THERE PSYCH RECORDS OF 2012......and you wouldn't want some other indie label just stealing him away if you were MONIKER, right.....?

SUPREME COMMANDER starts off somewhere in the realm of KING BLOOD and PURLING HISS with it's crunchy blown out psych riffage, wondering to and fro, melting away anything that comes close to pop structure....... what KRAUS aims for is more of an experimental / electronic / analog sound collage that's part sci-fi b-movie soundtrack and part post krautrock mind expanding......and a whole lotta OUT THERE SOUNDS....... think TANGERINE DREAM covering FLOWER TRAVELIN BAND.....or CAN and KRAFTWERK playing NINTENDO together (or making a soundtrack for their epic video game battle)..........but probably more to the point, GOBLIN and THROBBING GRISTLE getting high and collaborating on SPACE ROCK album together...........   

yes KRAUS has made a wholly unique and interesting AVANT ROCK LP THAT BEGS YOU TO LISTEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN.   experimental music is not just for the knob twiddlers and feedback sculptors......KRAUS proves that with a guitar, a keyboard, some effects pedals and a drum machine (and occasional drums) that you can record something exceptional....with no pro-tools foolery......just the kind of analog tricks and tape manipulating that made all those ENO and RESIDENTS lps SO GROUNDBREAKING.........(both of which are also influences on KRAUS)

do yerself a favor and check out SUPREME COMMANDER below... 
        because it's another highly recommended platter from MONIKER......


and watch KRAUS' video for SUPREME COMMANDER here......

Kraus "Supreme Commander" LP from Kraus on Vimeo.

woollen kits - four girls

not only are the WOOLLEN KITS no slouches, but they're writing some of the best jangle pop tunes i've heard in quite some time.......

so if you didn't pick up or hear their s/t debut from last january on RIP SOCIETY, now is the time to introduce yourself to the WOOLLEN KITS....and their new banging lp FOUR GIRLS out now on TROUBLE IN MIND......

WOOLLEN KITS effortless concoct a blend of noisy lo-fi jangle pop that's both sugary sweet and rough around the edges in just the right proportion.   indie rock hasn't sounded this exciting since the mid 80s, when there were no rules.....  think THE CLEAN, MODERN LOVERS and BEAT HAPPENING all on one mixtape and you'll get what WOOLLEN KITS are aiming for on their new lp FOUR GIRLS....and you gotta love a band that boils rock music down to its core, both sonically and lyrically.  i mean aren't most songs about girls?  and FOUR GIRLS gives us, guess what, four anthemic songs about GIRLS.....what could be better......?

especially when its through the lens of their rollicking frenzied indie rock that's part K Records shamble, part noisy jangle of FLYING NUN's kiwi pop and a whole lotta garage beat...  Woollen Kits keep the spirit of guitar rock alive, outta the dusty dollar bins of neglected records stores and back into the spotlight.......  the kids need earnest catchy noisy rock n roll songs like this....... after all it's not like we can still go to a TELEVISION PERSONALITIES, VASELINES or HALO BENDERS show every time we need a fix like this.........

ANOTHER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED LP FROM TROUBLE IN MIND? 
YES! 
ANOTHER AWESOME AUSTRALIAN BAND YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT NOW?
YES! 
ANOTHER CONTENDER FOR YOUR YEAR END BEST OF LIST? 
YES!
ANOTHER LP FULL OF FUTURE MIXTAPE ROCKERS?
WHY YES!

DUDE FORGET YOUR XMAS SHOPPING LIST, JUST BUY EVERYONE A COPY OF WOOLLEN KITS' FOUR GIRLS AND CALL IT A DAY............!!!!

LISTEN TO SOME CHOICE CUTS OFF FOUR GIRLS BELOW........
   and hit up TROUBLE IN MIND for yer copy now........






AND WATCH WOOLLEN KITS LIVE BELOW.....
   (it's their whole set from a show earlier this year in seattle......)

hellshovel and acid baby jesus present VOYAGER 8

what if two of yer favorite bands got together in the studio to jam out and record new songs?  you'd be stoked of course........so hold onto yer hats man, and get ready for VOYAGER 8........  two of SLOVENLY RECORDS heaviest hitters, HELLSHOVEL and ACID BABY JESUS, have teamed up for a little 10 inch gem of an ep that they entitled VOYAGER 8.......

the satellite reference is more than apt, since this is a slab of some heavy mind blowing PSYCH ROCK N ROLL..... full of keyboard swirling, layers of reverb, acid fried jangly guitars and prog bent space rock sonic explorations........  VOYAGER 8 has two collaborative songs from ACID BABY JESUS AND HELLSHOVEL, and one new unreleased song from each band.......  making it one highly recommended dish that you'll wanna spin over and over again.........

fans of either band as well as those into king crimson, white fence, demon's claws, can, spacemen 3, hawkwind, the seeds, the oh sees and anything garage, psych or space rock oriented will DIG THIS 10 INCH, i promise........

this will tide us over over until we get new lps from HELLSHOVEL and ACID BABY JESUS for sure.......  so don't miss out..... this ep won't gather any dust at SLOVENLY HQ that's for sure.....

LISTEN UP BELOW........



AND WATCH VOYAGER 8 LIVE BELOW.....
thanks to april novak....

drunk pixels - king khan and bbq

THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE.  THEY SAID IT WOULDN'T EVER HAPPEN AGAIN.  BUT THEY WERE WRONG.  FUCK OFF ALL YOU HATERS............

KING KHAN AND BBQ ARE BACK......they absolutely destroyed the empty bottle last week, i mean fucking killed it...... one of the best shows of the year hands down.....

so it case you missed it.......watch below..... 
   (thanks to sei jin for the drunk pixels)  

HOLY SHIT, LET'S ROCK N ROLL MOTHER FUCKERS !!!!!!!!






WITH SURPRISE GUEST NOBUNNY !!!!!



ENCORE !!!!!!! LET'S GET SWEATY AND DRUNK !!!!!!!

dirtnap records 2012 sampler

hey kids just in case you forgot to get yr fix of dirty lo-fi punk this year, DIRTNAP RECORDS has dropped a sampler of greatest hits from their 2012 releases.........it's a great place to start out if you haven't heard some of these awesome punk bands......

included are killer jams from the new MIND SPIDERS, WHITE WIRES and MEAN JEANS lps......as well as some fucking banging chainsaw punk tunes from SOMETHING FIERCE, STEVE ADAMYK and SONIC AVENUES...... as well as songs from perenial faves of TINY GROOVES, HIGH TENSION WIRES and BAD SPORTS......

2012 has flooded TINY GROOVES with so so many good releases it's been hard to feature them all..... and everyone of these bands and their new lps and singles should've made it on the blog earlier this year if they didn't........  this shit is highly recommended high volume listening pleasure.

SO DO YERSELF A FAVOR AND GET TO KNOW ALL THESE BANDS NOW........  

and thanks DIRTNAP FOR MAKING SURE PUNK IS NOT DEAD.......

rock n roll below..................