coachwhips - hands on the controls (reissue)

before THEE OH SEES, john dwyer was knocking peoples socks off with COACHWHIPS ... a band of noisy cavestompin' in-yer-face garage punks that nearly burned down many a loft spaces with their frantic, ear splitting rock n roll chaos.......  think the GORIES being covered by LIGHTNING BOLT, or CRYPT and LOAD RECORDS having a ADD addled bastard child....... YES THAT CRAZY LOUD AND KILLER!!!!  COACHWHIPS WERE UNHINGED DESTRUCTIVE BLUES-CAKED, MISANTHROPIC, WILD FEEDBACK PUNK AT ITS BEST!!!!!!

their first album, HANDS ON THE CONTROLS, came out in 2002 and never got pressed to wax, so after all these years, CASTLE FACE decided to rectify that situation by reissuing the album with some never before heard bonus material......  and thank god they did, cuz HANDS ON THE CONTROLS gets filed in the MOTHER FUCKING CLASSICS section of my record collection......right near the OBLIVIANS, FIREWORKS and THE CRAMPS....... too bad they broke up after only four lps (plus  an oddities collection), but then again we wouldn't have thee oh sees now?

do yerself a favor and introduce yerself to the COACHWHIPS !!!!!
seriously i've been waiting for this one on wax since the day it came out!!!!!!

LISTEN TO A COUPLE TRACKS OFF HANDS ON THE CONTROLS BELOW -
  and grab yer copy from castle face records now!!!!!!




BONUS LIVE FOOTAGE OF COACHWHIPS HERE -
   yep they were awesome to experience live and in person....

the oh sees - putrifiers ii

THE OH SEES have been kinda quiet this year.  their usual pace is two to three albums a year, but they've spent most of the spring and summer touring instead of recording--which is ok by me, i love seeing them live.... but guess what? they're set to release their new lp PUTRIFIERS II in early september on IN THE RED and it's nothing if not a killer new slab of fuzzed out garage psych......

whereas last year's CASTLEMANIA was more about songwriting and experimentation, and CARRION CRAWLER was a mesmerizing garage punk free for all jam, PUTRIFIERS II falls somewhere smack dab in the middle, culling elements from both extremes of the band.  john dwyer may be the leader and main songwriter behind the oh sees, but his backing band is as much part of the draw nowadays as he is.  early oh sees albums were quieter weirded outsider psych punk affairs and as we've bought lp after lp, the band has grown more important in the formula, especially after adding lars of the INTELLIGENCE....... with PUTRIFIERS it seems as if john has taken his rough sketches to the band and banged out the finished product with them and instead of just having them implement his ideas......  the new lp starts off with a bang, turns this way and that, slowing down to mellow eerie psych ballads before ratcheting back up to full blown garage pop fuzz......  every song on PUTRIFIERS is catchy and if we lived in an alternate world where radio was ruled by good taste, these songs might all by hits........  i love having three oh sees lps to buy a year, but having just focused on one release has payed off.  PUTRIFIERS is a concise fun yet wild ride you'll spin over and over again......... 

with many bands imitating their sound, the new lp reminds me why i've been a fan of john dwyer since his early days playing with the coachwhips.... no one blends psych, garage, punk, krautrock and 60s pop melodies like THE OH SEES effortless do.   even if you have no idea what i'm talking about, you'll dig PUTRIFIERS II.  it's that good......

super highly recommended.  
and almost sure to be my favorite record of the year.  

i know you can't wait to hear the whole new album, 
  so i'll share a few tracks to tide you over...




and watch THE OH SEES live at Pitchfork Fest below....