buck gooter - witch molecules

sometimes you come across an album that's so strange / haunting / menacing / fucked up that you just
can't help but listen to it over and over again.....can't say i know much about BUCK GOOTER, or their new album, WITCH MOLECULES, other than you need this punch in the face.....

combining the thrash of black flag, the industrial noise of throbbing gristle, the psychedelic nightmare of chrome and the ear blistering feedback of wolf eyes, BUCK GOOTER create a dark musical corner all their own on WITCH MOLECULES..... a stripped down mess that somehow acts of as wall of frightening noise, their lp seems to be comprised of nothing but a duo strangling both a guitar and some drum machines and samplers.....  kinda like BLACK PUS covering the SWANS..... or SUICIDE, PERE UBU, CONTROLLED BLEEDING and SIGHTINGS all thrown into a blender and amplified til yer speakers catch on fire........

seriously not sure what to make BUCK GOOTER, yet their warped industrial meets noise meets early hardcore punk potion of pure evil / madness will for sure grab yer ears and send chills down yer spine.  not for the faint of heart, but those who like music challenging, abrasive and loud (like most of you readers of tiny grooves), will definitely find something rewarding in WITCH MOLECULES......  after all this may just be the soundtrack for the post apocalyptic / dystopian future that seems just around the corner....and what better way to prepare for the ensuing chaos, than BUCK GOOTER...............

LISTEN TO WITCH MOLECULES BELOW -
  and if you dare grab a copy from X MIST / BEAU TRAVAIL here.

fireworks - lit up

after the short stints in 68 COMEBACK and BLACKTOP, DARIN LIN WOOD formed FIREWORKS, one of the truly great yet underappreciated garage punk bands of the 90s...... 

combining the stripped down punk snarl of the CRAMPS and the GORIES, the spastic rockabilly of the GIBSON BROS, FLAT DUO JETS and HASIL ADKINS and all the noisy mayhem of garage punk contemporaries the OBLIVIANS, JOHN SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, ACTION SWINGERS and the HONEYMOON KILLERS, FIREWORKS were definitely ROWDY, UNHINGED, OVER-THE-TOP, IN-YER-FACE. RAW AND INFECTIOUS AS FUCK....and they gave their contemporaries a run for the money, not that anyone seems to remember that anymore...  always one of my favorites and a band that definitely stands out on those old CHEAPO CRYPT RECORDS SAMPLERS, FIREWORKS released only three lps during their short existence..... all of which are highly recommended.   and sadly all out of print until now.......

this spring, BANG! RECORDS decided to dig up FIREWORKS' third and final album, LIT UP, and give it the reissue treatment.  thank fucking christ, this was long overdue.........never released on vinyl before (after all it was released in 97 when most labels had given up on records all together), LIT UP stands the test of time......chock full of boisterous, feedback-bent, southern-fried garage stompers that will most certainly blow you away....... FIREWORK's last album is a repeat listen, so do yerself a favor and check it out now........

and if you buy one reissue this year, 
it most certainly should be LIT UP.
a fuckin' garage punk classic.........

LISTEN TO TWO SONGS FROM 
FIREWORKS' "LIT UP" LP BELOW -
  and click here to grab the record from BANG!

MY LOVE IS PETRIFIED


DON'T LET IT GO

double dagger - 333 (RSD, thrill jockey) lp + dvd

as if their last tour wasn't enough of a farewell (which it wasn't), THRILL JOCKEY RECORDS released DOUBLE DAGGER's final EP 333 for RECORD STORE DAY this year..... packaged with a dvd of the documentary IF WE SHOUT LOUD ENOUGH (on the band, their final shows and impact on their DIY punk scene), 333 is a more than necessary exclamation point to one of my favorite DIY hardcore / punk bands of all time.   sure i'm biased--being friends with the band, going on tour with them, and helping promote their shows, seeing them play multiple times--but ask anyone who's seen DOUBLE DAGGER live and they will all say the same thing, these guys are one of the fucking best bands ever / if not life changing.......in a world where we're inundated with music and it's hard to get excited about new bands, DOUBLE DAGGER went about things the old school unpretentious DIYway: playing loft shows, releasing their own records, touring cities they felt a kinship with, helping other bands out, and being part of a baltimore scene that's since taken the world by storm...... no trying to be the next hype band or making a career out of it, or aiming for the mainstream...... all DOUBLE DAGGER wanted to is have a fucking fun time and play some RIOTOUS LOUD PUNK ROCK....and we're all the better for it..........

to say these guys will be missed is an understatement.  their last two chicago shows were off the fucking chain and probably the most fun i've ever had at any shows.....   it's too bad there's no more DOUBLE DAGGER to look forward to, but at least we have this film documenting the band and one last killer ep.......

and sometimes it's best to stop while you're ahead.  no need to tarnish all the awesome memories.

everything DOUBLE DAGGER has released is HEAVILY RECOMMENDED
and 333 IS NO EXCEPTION.

SO CRANK THIS SHIT UP LOUD,
FEEL YOUNG
AND REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
THANKS DOUBLE DAGGER FOR EVERYTHING.

LISTEN TO TWO SONGS OFF 
DOUBLE DAGGER'S LAST EP, 333, BELOW - 

HERETIC'S HYMN

FOREIGN BODIES


WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE DOUBLE DAGGER DOCUMENTARY IF WE SHOUT LOUD ENOUGH BELOW -
If We Shout Loud Enough - Trailer (Double Dagger documentary) from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

and watch some crazy footage from DOUBLE DAGGER's last ever chicago show on their goodbye tour courtesy of GONZO CHICAGO.....  (and see if you spot me in the crowd) -
Double Dagger's final Chicago show from GONZO CHICAGO on Vimeo.

ty segall - ty rex 2 (RSD 7 inch, goner)

now that the dust has cleared from RECORD STORE DAY 2013, i'll highlight a few of my favorite releases from this year's vinyl / record shop celebrating holiday.  my apologies if this is a tease, cuz no one these releases were pressed in enough quantities to go around, but at least you can stream some of the excellent jams on TINY GROOVES (not that makes up for the exclusivity of it all)......

yes, TY SEGALL is one prolific stream of energy, so it's no surprise that he teamed up with his old label GONER for another gem in the form of a RSD single....this time around a follow up to 2011's RSD 12 inch T REX covers EP, aptly titled TY REX 2...... two more MARC BOLAN glam / psych bangers done up in that sweetly melodic / chaotic garage way that TY SEGALL has down in spades...... 

the A SIDE is CAT BLACK (THE WIZARD HAT'S) from Tyrannosaurus Rex's 1969 lp UNICORN and the B SIDE is MOTIVATOR from the epically classic T-REX album ELECTRIC WARRIOR.... both songs highlight TY's kinship / love for T REX and if you thought no one was up to the challenge of taking on such memorable songs and making them their own, you are wrong...... these two songs are some of the best / most fun covers i've heard in quite some time (and if you've been to a ty segall show, you know the guy has a way of making any cover song from sabbath to james gang killer).....

probably only the diehard ty segall fans got ahold of this one on record store day, but seriously everyone should have these two songs in their collection.....   repeat listens hands down. 


LISTEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF TY REX 2 BELOW,
    and scramble around the internet to grab a copy for yerself soon,
    this one's gonna be super collectible........

black pus - all my relations

BRIAN CHIPPENDALE of the legendary noise rock duo LIGHTNING BOLT has been recording solo as BLACK PUS for quite some time now-- a steady stream of feedback damaged CDRs beginning around 2005 and culminating with 2011's PRIMORDIAL PUS lp on LOAD RECORDS--but all those releases sat back seat to his main gig.  that is until now. BLACK PUS just released a new album out on THRILL JOCKEY entitled ALL MY RELATIONS and it takes his frenzied noise to a whole new transcendent / ear devastating level.....one that makes lightning bolt seem tame by comparison (and is sure to cement the album's place on my year end list)

all the key ingredients are here - distorto vocals / bass oscillations / free jazz meets punk thrash drum blasts / psychedelic walls of feedback / circuit bent electronics / all kinds of weird noises looped and fragmented.....ALL MY RELATIONS is brian chippendale's post modern / inner city, tribal / noise rock manifesto.....  it's as if everything we've learned from psych rock, hardcore, free jazz, krautrock, no wave and punk has been distilled down into one swirling epic eight song album........ hints of the masters of avant musical thinking are here; from coltrane to zorn, and glenn branca to throbbing gristle, not to mention faust, keiji haino and cluster.   maybe it seems like a bit to a stretch to put BLACK PUS next to such forward thinking visionaries, but that's exactly what this ALL MY RELATIONS is striving for, going way beyond the limitations of the loft show staple of the noise rock duo format......

BLACK PUS stretches outs the songs into very spiritual avant garde jazz / minimalist meets maximalist space......deconstructing all these sounds we've become comfortable with, making them sound fierce, ugly and mesmerizing again, and without so much as a guitar.  all you have to do is turn it up loud and let the music mutate and writhe around in yer ears........

BLACK PUS has composed some of the most conscience-shattering noise you'll hear all year long.  and for a LOAD / SKIN GRAFT RECORDS fanatic like me, it feels good to have another release to blown out my speakers with......

fans of any of the following noise mongers ought to rush out to yer local record shop now to grab ALL MY RELATIONS - RUINS, HELLA, FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, BOREDOMS, PINK & BROWN, SIGHTINGS, ORTHRELM, HAIR POLICE, NAKED CITY and/or HARRY PUSSY

this lp is fucking sick.  thanks THRILL JOCKEY.
BLACK PUS comes with the highest recommendation.....

LISTEN TO A PREVIEW OF ALL MY RELATIONS BELOW - (the whole lp can be streamed on thrill jockey's site here)


AND WATCH THE VIDEO FOR 1000 YEARS HERE -

connections - private airplane

comprised of members from TIMES NEW VIKING, 84 NASH and EL JESUS DE MAGICO and taking their ohio rock heritage seriously, CONNECTIONS crafts some short, sweet, fuzzed up, lo-fi / power pop jams on their debut lp PRIVATE AIRPLANE.   falling somewhere between GUIDED BY VOICES, THE MICE, PRISONSHAKE and CHEATER SLICKS, CONNECTIONS bang out fifteen noise-coated janglers on their first long player in just under thirty minutes....taking the best of the flying nun catalog and combing it with a hearty slab of rowdy, drunken american indie rock straight from the heartland.  imagine the CLEAN mixing it up with SEBADOH or GAUNT, but with some pop hooks that would make ROBERT POLLARD, J MASCIS and ALEX CHILTON jealous.  yes this one sounds like a lost gem from the SCAT RECORDS back catalog, and that my friend is far from a bad thing..... 

recorded seemingly live and just shy of in-the-red, PRIVATE AIRPLANE grabs you with its immediacy and urgency, just like the best songs off ALIEN LANES.  not too noisy and not too pop oriented, it's just the right mix of power chords, feedback and fragmented melody and after just a few minutes, you'll know you're gonna be playing this album over and over again......

fans of EAT SKULL, MIKAL CRONIN, SIC ALPS, TERRY MALTS, NO AGE and any of the aforementioned bands (from ohio or otherwise) will absolutely need PRIVATE AIRPLANE.

it's just another highly recommended jam released on ANYWAY RECORDS.......

stream a few tracks off PRIVATE AIRPLANE below - 

watch the video for STUCK LUNG below -

can - the documentary

krautrock / psych / experimental rock legends CAN need no introduction from me.  but if you're looking for a little history on a band that nearly everyone cites as an influence, you need to watch the documentary below.  

CAN - THE DOCUMENTARY tracks the seminal german krautrock band from the early days with malcolm mooney all the way through their reunion album, and through out are tons of classic live performances and interviews that'll blow yer mind.......

so enjoy, and pick up every CAN lp you can get your hands on.  they are classic as it gets.  

catholic spray - earth slime

maybe i just missed (or ignored) the hype surrounding CATHOLIC SPRAY's debut album AMAZON HUNT, but at the time they just seemed like another garage band from france that people were excited about for no good reason (when vice highlights a band, it makes me wanna turn the other way)..... but perhaps i was wrong (and/or they've gotten better), cuz upon listening to CATHOLIC SPRAY's newly released second lp, EARTH SLIME, i found myself sucked deep down inside these reverbed infectious grooves, imagining myself getting drunk, having the time of my life at some dark smoky parisian dive bar watching CATHOLIC SPRAY's destructive mayhem live.  their new album out on BORN BAD is quite the statement, not just a collection of worn out cliches,  EARTH SLIME is an explosion of gluewave bent psychedelic garage punk, warped and twisted by a rambunctious band of french kids ready to set the world and their guitars on fire.....

CATHOLIC SPRAY start off somewhere in left field near FEELING OF LOVE, LE CHOMAGE, CHEVEU and MAGNETIX (all fellow scene cohorts) yet somehow seem more drugged up, more deranged and even more punk than their contemporaries there and over here.  fans of the oh sees / demon's claws, certainly ought to check EARTH SLIME out but only if they're willing to jump head first into the nightmare trip that is CATHOLIC SPRAY.  more off-center, unhinged and off-kilter than ty segall and co, the night beats and even the black lips, EARTH SLIME is psych rock in the vein of the GORIES covering PINK FLOYD, or the OBLIVIANS covering 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS...... yes it is that bonkers and totally addicting at the same time.........  certainly not safe for the unadventurous listeners out there, and not recommended for those you just wanna listen to some boring NUGGETS inspired bullshit garage.  CATHOLIC SPRAY are looking to unleash yer demons...... and EARTH SLIME certainly does the trick.  

so turn this shit up loud, 
and get ready to a night of wicked rock n roll..........
there's no going back.......

way fucking recommended.  

LISTEN TO EARTH SLIME BELOW.....
   and grab yr copy for BORD BAD RECORDS now.

WATCH THE NOISEY SEGMENT 

ON CATHOLIC SPRAY BELOW - 

energy gown - i watch the sun 7 inch

chicago's west side will never be mistaken for flowers-yer-hair late 60s san fran or lysergic london from the same time period, but one would certainly be very amiss to think that the creativity bubbling over in chicago's psych scene is second rate......there's some strange, adventurous and enticing sounds emanating from chicago's dive bars, loft shows and run down former warehouses.....  and every day there seems to be a new killer band that just lives down the street from TINY GROOVES HQ......

the newest being ENERGY GOWN...... an upstart drone meets psych band whose debut 7 inch I WATCH THE SUN is one of the most entrancing singles i've spun all year long...... 

time-warping fuzz-soaked hallucinogenic experimental rock that's cheaper and more powerful than yr next tab of acid, 

let's just say ENERGY GOWN are more than ready to blown yer mind.......  

forget all those bands getting hyped at Austin Psych Fest.....I WATCH THE SUN is the real deal...... garage thump washed in eastern tinged, krautrock-coated nightmare psych, ENERGY GOWN take cues from local compadres CAVE and PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND, but dive head first in the vortex of SOFT MACHINE, CAN, LES RALLIZES DENUDES, AMON DUUL II, HAWKWIND and ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE.... yes !!! this is not some second rate boring psych that panders to the mainstream or merely cops a move from spacemen 3...... I WATCH THE SUN is a full on journey to the darker corners of your mind...... and though a single seems like the wrong format for a band intent of droning on and stretching out the structures of psych rock, these three songs are succinct and avoid the excess jamming that traps many good experimental bands in their own conceit.......  

i certainly hope ENERGY GOWN has a long player on the way,

cause if this single is just a taste, i need more.....and soon........

STREAM I WATCH THE SUN BELOW -

FUCKING RECOMMENDED!  

WEAR THE GROOVES OUT LIKE I'M DOING.

and don't miss the chance to
CHECK ENERGY GOWN OUT IN A DIVE NEAR YOU - 

April 19~ Chicago @ BLUELAGOON-SendOffShow w/E.T. Habit, SpecialGuests
April 20~ Cincinnati @ The Drinkery w/ Children of the Emerald Fire 
April 21~ Louisville @ Magbar
April 22~ Bloomington, IN(recording)
April 23~ Bloomington @ RootCellar w/ BloodyMess
April 24~ Bloomington(recording)
April 25~ Indianapolis w/ PeoplesTemple
April 26~ Columbus, OH @ Bourbon St. Cafe
April 27~ Champaign, IL @ thee death tower
April 28~ Chicago @ CobraLounge w/ Peoples Temple/Moonrises

WATCH THEIR VIDEO 
FOR FREE DOSE (a non 7 inch track) BELOW - 

dead moon - stranded in the mystery zone / strange pray tell

MISSISSIPPI RECORDS continues their DEAD MOON reissue campaign with what are perhaps two of the most classic LPs from the cult rockers: their albums Strange Pray Tell (’92) and Stranded In the Mystery Zone (’91).  

Out-of-print for over a decade, these two killer records showcase Dead Moon’s DIY country-tinged, psych-washed blue collar punk in all its glory.  Those who haven’t picked up a Dead Moon album yet would do well to start with either of these fiery lo-fi rock n roll statements (though the other three LPs Mississippi reissued are stellar as well).

Ask anyone who knows Dead Moon and they’ll tell you hands-down you need to add them to your collection yesterday, and thanks to Mississippi Records you can.  Dead Moon more then own their place on the garage punk canon, and nobody’s more deserving of the reissue treatment than they are (after all they self released these LPs on their Tombstone label the first time around).

Listen to “Fire in the Western World” off Strange Pray Tell below, and order both lps through the Little Axe Distro......

blind shake - garbage on glue 7 inch

BLIND SHAKE return with a double shot of 100 proof art punk bangers via the ever reliable SWEET ROT RECORDS.... entitled GARBAGE ON GLUE and backed with GO GO 78, this is exactly the surf-damaged amrep-soaked explosive psych rock n roll i've come to depend on from the twin cities hardest working / vastly underappreciated band, BLIND SHAKE.  supposedly a teaser for a yet to come third full length rumored for later in the year, GARBAGE ON GLUE is that highly addicting first hit that'll spiral you into full on junkie mode desperate for yr next fix of Blind Shake......

so listen up below, this is one 7 inch you're not gonna wanna miss out on.  and 300 copies is never enough to go around.......

highly / vehemently recommended.
this is how rock n roll is done.


A SIDE - GARBAGE ON GLUE



B SIDE - GO GO 78 (performed live at SXSW)