MELVINS s/t (aka Lysol) (Boner) cd 13.98
Another fucked up Melvins classic, the one-track album of sheer heaviosity that pre-dates Sleep's Jerusalem...and visits both Flipper and Alice Cooper tuneage. Originally titled 'Lysol' then simply 'Melvins' due to legal reasons.

MELVINS Singles 1-12 (Amphetamine Reptile) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
2 cds for the price of one. Every track from those monthly 7"s that you couldn't get hold of cos they sold so quickly. Of course, this too is limited. Oh, AmRep.

MELVINS Sugar Daddy Live (Ipecac) cd 14.98
Well, if you're a Melvins fan you know that not only do these weirdos still make awesome albums (their most recent, The Bride Screamed Murder, we raved about when it came out a year ago) but they also still utterly slay live. With, what, almost 30 years of experience, they are as potent as ever. We just saw 'em live the other day, on the first evening of a two-night stand here in SF, doin' songs from Houdini, Lysol, and Eggnog, and boy their current 2 drummer line up sure packs a wallop. And guitarist/vocalist Buzz still looks striking in his mumu and outlandish 'fro. The Melvins are a heavy band of world-historical stature and we expect 'em to keep on rocking for at least as long as their forebears KISS!
So, as fans, of course we're curious about this new live album, and expectations are met, performance-wise they're on top of their game. The real question surely any fan has, is just what songs get the Melvins/Big Business treatment, there's 13 tracks here mostly showcasing the best of their more recent material but also digging into their massive discography for a few old faves. The first five tracks are Big Biz era stuff, from 2008's Nude With Boots (this recording comes from that tour) and 2006's Senile Animal, then they reach waaay back for an epic rendition of "Eye Flys" from 1986 opus Gluey Porch Treatments, followed by "Tipping The Lion" from 1996's Stag (a good choice, just 'cause we hardly ever pull that one out to listen to, but this makes us want to), and then it's back to Senile Animal stuff, four in a row, before, wha? a voice and drums version of "The Star Spangled Banner", that's right. They were feeling patriotic, apparently. Or just wanted to fuck with people, more likely. Then, for the grand finale, they offer up an anthem of their own, a crushing, extended version of "Boris" from Bullhead (1991), which will remind you why the band Boris chose that name!
If you're a Melvins fan from way back, but haven't acquainted yrself with their modern double drummer incarnation, this should convince you it was a good idea, and that they've still got songs to compete impressively with past "hits", a few a which you get to hear here as well. And if you're not a Melvins fan, well obviously live albums like this aren't intended for you anyway, so why are you still reading this review?
MPEG Stream: "Nude With Boots"
MPEG Stream: "Kicking Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Tipping The Lion"

MELVINS The Bootlicker (Ipecac) cd 17.98
#2 in the Melvin's 3-album summer plan. This is the self-proclaimed 'quiet' one, and, while not near-silent like a Bernard Gunter record or anything, it is quite restrained by the Melvin's usual loud-and-pummelling standards. Rather hypnotic post-rock is what you get, with strange almost-Gothic vocals from Buzz. The first 'wacky' Melvins album that Allan has liked, because the so-called wackiness is limited to a single (successful!) concept that they stick to throughout the record, instead of trying to surprise/annoy with each and every song like some other Melvins discs of which I could think. No, 'The Bootlicker' doesn't possess the classic heavy Melvins sound that previous disc 'The Maggot' recaptured, but is much better the sort of indie-rock/Mr. Bunglized sound of other recent full-lengths like 'Stag'. So, two down, both pretty good, and one to go. (The next one, 'The Crybaby', we'll admit to being a bit afraid of...seeing as it's the 'wacky guest star' album or something, with contributions from the likes of Leif Garrett and Hank Williams III!)

MELVINS The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac) cd 16.98
Has it really been two whole years already since the last Melvins long player, the supremely rockin' Nude With Boots? They've been around so long and yet remain so vital and prolific and reliable, it always seems like they just put something out the other day, yet each release is a marvelous surprise. This is their third album since they recruited bass/drums duo Big Business into the band, and this phase of the Melvins' storied career has been a fruitful one.
The first minute or two of the first track "The Water Glass" starts off sounding very much typically thunderous heavier than thou Melvins... but woah, hey, it then takes a MAJOR turn into, what, a rhythmic marching band drumline thing (why not, they've got two drummers), with call and response vocal chant, the Melvins as cheerleaders or drill sergeants gettin' pumped up and ready to go. We're smiling like fools, and confused, what IS this? It's somehow like the MC5 or Dictators meet the Boredoms or go-go music or, we dunno, it'd be awesome and hilarious to see this live. Wow. All right, fair warning, this is clearly the Melvins getting weird on us, something of course they've have always had a knack for. Nude With Boots had its experimental moments, as all Melvins records do, more than moments sometimes, to varying degrees of accessibility, and this one ups the ante, coming closer in WTF?-ness to their recent radical remix album Chicken Scratch... and this time in ways that we don't think we've heard from them before.
All the while keeping it damn catchy, and HEAVY too, at least some of the time. Right on cue, track two again kicks out the jams in old school Melvins style... but a percussive breakdown isn't far away. Neither are cinematic keys, herky jerky prog parts (Ruins-esque, even, or Nomeansno-ish), quirky POP, frenzied metal, and plenty more random what the fuck weirdness, as warned. Such as a ploddingly odd, semi-abstract cover of "My Generation", ferinstance, or the lonely harmonica and hymn-like a cappella of the album's final track, "PG X 3" (and that's not even what's weird about that one). As always, they're part Kiss and The Cars, heavied up and punk rocked, and now we're realizing that Sparks just might be another big fave of theirs.
So, go along for the ride, trust us. And them. Ok, maybe "Hospital Up" is a bit of a throw-away (random improv scatter there). But otherwise, we're sold. And maybe it's the frequent vocal holler, echoing with chorus effect, or the double drummer bombastic battery, but this album sounds particularly triumphant. As well it should. One of the best bands ever, once again deliver the goods. And it can't be easy, after, what, 30 albums??? All we know is, THE MELVINS RULE. End of story.
MPEG Stream: "The Water Glass"
MPEG Stream: "Evil New War God"
MPEG Stream: "Pig House"

MELVINS The Maggot (Ipecac) cd 17.98
The first in their three part summer album series recorded for Mike Patton's new Ipecac label. This one is their "metal" record. Supposedly album number two is "slow" and part three is "experimental". Includes a rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Green Manalishi With The Two-Pronged Crown" (a live favorite at Melvins shows for the past few years). Not as good as the Judas Priest version, but good. Anyway, The Maggot should satisfy those for whom the last couple of Melvins' records were too deliberately weird or "indie-rock".

MELVINS + LUSTMORD Pigs Of The Roman Empire (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Folks have been chomping at the bit for months since it was first announced that the kings of sludgy goofy heaviness were to team up with the master of creepy, sinister ambience. And we do mean 'team up' as in write and record together, not a split record or anything like that, a good ol' collaboration! So here it is. The first track is a creepy slithering dark snippet of sound, super minimal and slowly shifting. So much as we thought, the only way these two behemoths of the underground could cooperate and have it work would be for it to be a drone record. Well the second track blows that theory out of the water. A wickedly fierce, super dynamic barn burner, with a KILLER riff, and some spooky drone-y breakdowns complete with a haunting little melody played on the strings above the neck, and then some serious shredding leads. Maybe the best Melvins song in forever!! But what excatly is Lustmord doing while the Melvins rock? Maybe he strapped on a guitar and joined in the riffing. Or more likely, he supplied the track with all of its weird little sounds and murky background noises. Either way, who cares? It's an incredible track. The next track is a weird tribal workout done Melvins style, with exotic tribal percussion over rumbly drones and distorted guitars providing the melodies. Sounding not unlike a way heavier Muslimgauze! The centerpiece of the record though has to be the 20+ minute title track which sounds like the perfect hybridization of the two bands. Massive slow rolling drones slip and slide through clouds of machine like whirs and muffled outer space sounds, distant clatter and swirling sonic splatter. Eventually the guitars roll in like a huge crushing wave of sound, very Earth-like before it slowly develops into another killer riff, repeated over and over and over, bombarded on all sides by strange effects, swooping chunks of sound and strange, clipped 'almost-vocals' before trailing off into a slowly decaying barely there minimal hum. The rest of the record sort of seesaws back and forth between pounding and churning classic Melvins style sort-of-metal riffing, and really haunting otherworldly minimal dronescapes. VERY reminiscent of Old Man Gloom's drone / dirge combo. But hey, you can't argue with more drone or more dirge or more sludge or more Melvins or more Lustmord. Not at all. When all is said and done, Pigs Of The Roman Empire sounds like someone took a really great Melvins record, and a really great Lustmord record, and sort of chopped them up, and mixed and matched and made the perfect hybrid of the two. Which when you think about it is pretty awesome. We've thought of doing that all the time. Earth and George Winston, Bjork and Thuja, Squarepusher and Jandek, Motorhead and PJ Harvey, A Minor Forest and Keiji Haino (well that one's mainly to piss Andee off), and the list goes on and on and on.
MPEG Stream: "III"
MPEG Stream: "The Bloated Pope"
MPEG Stream: "toadi Acceleratio"

MELVINS + LUSTMORD Pigs Of The Roman Empire (Alternative Tentacles) 2lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!! What we said about this great Melvins album when it came out on cd last year on Ipecac:
Folks have been chomping at the bit for months since it was first announced that the kings of sludgy goofy heaviness were to team up with the master of creepy, sinister ambience. And we do mean 'team up' as in write and record together, not a split record or anything like that, a good ol' collaboration! So here it is. The first track is a creepy slithering dark snippet of sound, super minimal and slowly shifting. So much as we thought, the only way these two behemoths of the underground could cooperate and have it work would be for it to be a drone record. Well the second track blows that theory out of the water. A wickedly fierce, super dynamic barn burner, with a KILLER riff, and some spooky drone-y breakdowns complete with a haunting little melody played on the strings above the neck, and then some serious shredding leads. Maybe the best Melvins song in forever!! But what excatly is Lustmord doing while the Melvins rock? Maybe he strapped on a guitar and joined in the riffing. Or more likely, he supplied the track with all of its weird little sounds and murky background noises. Either way, who cares? It's an incredible track. The next track is a weird tribal workout done Melvins style, with exotic tribal percussion over rumbly drones and distorted guitars providing the melodies. Sounding not unlike a way heavier Muslimgauze! The centerpiece of the record though has to be the 20+ minute title track which sounds like the perfect hybridization of the two bands. Massive slow rolling drones slip and slide through clouds of machine like whirs and muffled outer space sounds, distant clatter and swirling sonic splatter. Eventually the guitars roll in like a huge crushing wave of sound, very Earth-like before it slowly develops into another killer riff, repeated over and over and over, bombarded on all sides by strange effects, swooping chunks of sound and strange, clipped 'almost-vocals' before trailing off into a slowly decaying barely there minimal hum. The rest of the record sort of seesaws back and forth between pounding and churning classic Melvins style sort-of-metal riffing, and really haunting otherworldly minimal dronescapes. VERY reminiscent of Old Man Gloom's drone / dirge combo. But hey, you can't argue with more drone or more dirge or more sludge or more Melvins or more Lustmord. Not at all. When all is said and done, Pigs Of The Roman Empire sounds like someone took a really great Melvins record, and a really great Lustmord record, and sort of chopped them up, and mixed and matched and made the perfect hybrid of the two. Which when you think about it is pretty awesome. We've thought of doing that all the time. Earth and George Winston, Bjork and Thuja, Squarepusher and Jandek, Motorhead and PJ Harvey, A Minor Forest and Keiji Haino (well that one's mainly to piss Andee off), and the list goes on and on and on.
MPEG Stream: "III"
MPEG Stream: "The Bloated Pope"
MPEG Stream: "toadi Acceleratio"

MELVINS / BRIAN WALSBY Manchild 4 (Bifocal Media) comic book + cd 16.98
If you were going to create a comic book that would appeal equally to fans of Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) and punk metallers the Melvins, Brian Walsby's Manchild would be it. It IS it. Autobiographical, confessional comix about his life, love, and music. Lots and lots of music. Much of this is devoted to stuff about indie/punk/HC/metal, back in the day... Especially for anyone of a certain age, with nostalgia for the '80s and '90s underground rock scene, this is a must! Walsby is a good artist, and writer, and in fact almost each and every panel found on these many, many pages (this is thick!) is packed with text you'll need to squint a bit to read, but it's worth it.
We haven't read the whole thing yet, but we can tell you that in this issue, there's a bunch of stories about bands he's been in (ferinstance Walsby played drums for Snake Nation, with CoC's Woody Weatherman and Mike Dean, and he was also in Shiny Beast, wow, we had no idea) and stuff about his life now, like how he met his current girlfriend, who has a toddler, what what that's been like.... He illustrates some other folks' tales about quitting their jobs, there's a two-page piece about Jason Newsted, all sorts of random, cool shit, usually pretty funny or weird or interesting, sometimes really something to think about.
In addition to the longer stories, there's plenty of one-page and half-page bits, good laughs like the one about reformed '80s hardcore bands, renamed: 700 Seconds, Middle Aged Threat, Adult Brigade, Youth Of Yesterday, Post-Adolescents, Semi-Negative Approach... Or the one about Jimi Hendrix in Heaven, getting pissed that he's required to "jam" with every other rockstar who dies and goes there after him (he's like, "I finally get Janis and Jerry off of my back... and then I have to play with this...'Dimebag Darrell'?").
The comic book would be worth it by itself, but sweetening the deal, this is shrinkwrapped with a LIVE MELVINS CD! Entitled Pick Your Battles, it's about 50 minutes long, presenting 15 tracks taken from two shows, Berkeley back in 1989 and Boston 2008. True Melvins fans want this, even if they don't like comic books, but why wouldn't you like comic books, especially this one?
MPEG Stream: "Oven (live '89)"
MPEG Stream: "Boris (live '08)"

MELVINS / BRIAN WALSBY The Making Love Demos / Manchild 3 cd+book 14.98
It's a comic book! It's a Melvins cd! It's pretty darn cool is what it is. Cartoonist Brian Walsby spoofs and skewers various icons of old school punk/alt rock culture, and puts his own personal family history on the page too ("My Old Man!"). It's mostly subversively funny, sarcastic stuff. Lots of chuckles for those with a bit of nostalgia for the good ol' days of '80s punk rock for sure!! One of our favorite comix in here is "Whatever Happened To You Favorite Eighties Hardcore Mascots" which imagines the DRI "thrash guy" finding a new career as a school crossing guard, and the Black Flag bars being sold to Hank Williams III who "dropped one bar and used the rest for his new logo." Some of the other pieces in this fairly thick book include an illustrated article celebrating TV's SCTV, a Walsby/Melvins 2006 tour diary, a memoir entitled "How I Survived Grunge", "The Rules Of Young Rock Bands" (which include holding the microphone like a glass of wine, and combining two kinds of bad singing: whiny, nasal and hysterical screaming), several comic strips about The Dios (a la The Osbournes), a tribute to Cheap Trick, and much much more. If you like stuff like Peter Bagge's Hate or Chunklet magazine this is for you.
This book makes a perfect team up with Walsby's old pals, wise ass scene vets the Melvins, who contribute a 20+ minute cd to the package, entitled "The Making Love Demos". These eight songs are DIY four-track recordings from back in '87, from the Buzz/Dale/Matt lineup, several of which later wound up in re-recorded form on their classic Ozma album, and some you've never ever heard before. Wow. Melvins fans are gonna be stoked. Heavy grinding nastiness, perfectly filthily home-recorded, that's way more punk than grunge.
MPEG Stream: "Creepy Smell"
MPEG Stream: "Excess Pool"

MELVINS / FANTOMAS Millennium Monsterwork 2000 (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Here it is! Your opportunity to (re)experience the New Year's Eve 2000 festivities Fantomas-Melvins-tagteam-style. This live album captures their combined heavy eccentricities featuring the vocal acrobatics of one Mr. Mike Patton and the deep rumble-grumble and howl of one Mr. Buzz Osborne. There were even a few fine Melvins' classics in their repertoire that evening including "Hooch", "Night Goat", "Skin Horse" and "Mombius Hibachi". Go on, relive the magic!
RealAudio clip: MELVINS "Night Goat"

MELVINS / PATTON OSWALT split (Chunklet) 7" 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Boy, did we get lucky. We heard about this and at first wrongly assumed it was Mike Patton with the Melvins. And as much as we love Mike Patton, we were pretty tickled to discover that in was in fact, Patton Oswalt, one of our favorite comedians, sharing this split with the Melvins.
The thing is, this was never technically available to stores or distros. But we did manage to track a handful down for our AQ faithful. Unfortunately, because of the scarcity and the fact that technically they weren't available wholesale, the price ended up being a bit steep. But hey, $16 from us is is a whole heckuva lot better than $75 on eBay!
So act fast, these will disappear in a blink of an eye.
As with all Chunklet stuff, gorgeously packaged with killer (and hilarious) Jay Ryan cover art, screen printed onto thick cardstock sleeves.
And like with all ultra limited stuff, only one per customer please...

MELVINS LITE, THE Freak Puke (Ipecac) cd 14.98
Melvins LITE? What? That makes no sense. We want our Melvins HEAVY.
Well don't worry, 'cause the godlike Melvins, despite their many many years and many many albums, never ever disappoint (unless perhaps deliberately, as with 'difficult' stuff like Prick and Colossus Of Destiny). So of course Freak Puke is heavy. 'Tis their usual (unusual) blend of rockin' heaviness and utter weirdness. They're just calling themselves Melvins Lite on this record because it's a trio this time, with Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover joined by bassist extraordinare Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, etc.), rather than being the four-piece unit that has constituted the Melvins as of late. However, their dual-drummer lineup, with Buzz and Dale and the two dudes from Big Business, is just on hiatus. Apparently Buzz and Dale thought it would be interesting to pull a temporary lineup switcheroo and record with their old pal Trevor, who plays a stand-up bass and thus brings in some 20th century avant-garde string-scrabble elements to the lurching, lumbering mix, particularly on track 2, "Inner Ear Rupture". Elsewhere, ingredients include gloom-doom atmospheres, mathrock dynamics, druggy grunge, AND uptempo noise pop catchiness, as you'd expect from these guys. Plus all the UNexpected stuff you'd also expect. With Trevor's upright bass getting in its licks all right.
Opener "Mr. Rip Off" has an oddly spaced out, loose '60s/'70s Floydian psych feel (in a way), with dreamy droney vox and distorted guitar. That vibe recurs, among plenty of 'Melvinsy' twists and turns throughout the disc. Oh, and they do a cover of "Let Me Roll It" by Paul McCartney and Wings!
For fans of any of these folks (possibly including Paul McCartney), Freak Puke by 'Melvins Lite' is an interesting detour / change of pace that's not so different, really.
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Rip Off"
MPEG Stream: "Baby, Won't You Weird Me Out"
MPEG Stream: "Tommy Goes Berserk"

MELVINS, THE Gluey Porch Treatments (Boner) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MEMORIES ATTACK, THE s/t (tUMULt / Noyes) cd 11.98
tUMULt seems to have been unfairly pegged as a purely black metal label lately. Easy mistake to make really. For sure BM is a big part of the tUMULt universe. Weakling, Leviathan, Crebain, Draugar, Diamatregon... But at the risk of committing heresy in the eyes of the black hordes, there's more to musical life than black metal alone. And by that we mean specifically, POP MUSIC. Before there was black metal, heck before there was even metal for us, our musical world was defined by pop music. And that pop side never went away, a list of all time favorite bands would still be packed with groups like Sloan, Redd Kross, the Posies, the Swirlies and a little group from Canada called Eric's Trip.
Anyway, the black metal hordes are just gonna have to move to the back of the bus and let the pop kids sit up front, as we're in for a little flurry of genius pure pop, branded with the tUMULt logo, the debut full length (actually THREE full lengths crammed onto one cd!) from SF's very own Ovens, coming soon, and this, record number two from The Memories Attack, which just so happens to feature Chris Thompson of the mighty Eric's Trip as well as long time aQ customer and indie rock luminary in his own right Ron Bates.
The Memories Attack are a duo, augmented by an occasional drummer, who sound like they were transported to 2008 directly from the early nineties, bringing with them all the jangle pop, lo-fi bedroom folk, crunchy distorted guitar, gorgeous vocal harmonies, busted effects pedals, old synths, incredible hooks, and catchy songs they could stuff into an old beat up suitcase. Bates plays in a band called Orange Glass, Thompson performs solo as Moon Socket, but it would be silly to not look back to Eric's Trip, one of THE Halifax pop bands who ruled the nineties indie rock world along with Sloan, Jale, Hardship Post, Superfriends, Thrush Hermit, and a bunch more, as the sound of Eric's Trip as well as other bands of the era (especially Sebadoh) totally inform the music of The Memories Attack.
And the thing is, they just don't make bands like TMA that much anymore, a couple guys, with a four track, a guitar, a beat up old drum set, and a head full of hooks. With Pro-Tools and laptops, home recording is a totally different process, and now pretty much everybody has some sort of drone record, or an abstract black ambient band, or a solo project of buzzing synthscapes, and don't get us wrong we love that stuff, but there's something to be said for songs, for POP songs, the kind that get stuck in your head, find their ways onto mix tapes, are forever stuck in the car stereo, the soundtrack to every roadtrip, whether it's across country or just to the 7-11. Take "Peaks & Valleys". It is THE jam of the summer, if it was in fact summer, and if it was actually 1995. Fuck it. This is the 2008 winter jam of the year, so there. All fuzzed out guitars, chiming melodies, blown out drums, gorgeous drawled vocals, and a chorus that KILLS. We literally have listend to this song about 100 times since we first got our hands on these recordings.
Or take "The Raft", beginning with a laid back lope, all spidery minor key guitars, falsetto vocals, distant shimmery drones, underwater bass, until the chorus kicks in, a massive churning chunk of heavy as fuck crunch, a killer riff, all wreathed in crumbling distortion and wrapped around an angular almost looped sounding countermelody, and tempered with gorgeous high high vocals, the sort of jam that you never ever ever want to end. "Collapso" is a minute long blast of scrabbly high end guitars, dueling vocals, splattery drums, all treble, a swirling glorious high end blowout. "Beautiful Sound" begins with a chugging metallic groove, pounding drums, very hypnotic and heavy, before slipping into a soft glimmering droney drift, vocals hovering above cymbal shimmer, and little flurries of clean guitar, before the heaviness kicks back in again. Record closer, "Exploding House II" is all folky and fluttery, a gorgeous steel string guitar workout, twangy pick and strum supporting dreamy world weary vocals, long streaks of fuzzy chordal whir drifting in like thick clouds in a bright blue sky, so so lovely.
Every track here is some glorious strain of perfect pop, whether it's a chunk of old school college rock jangle, a burst of synth infused almost metal crunch, wild wooly lo-fi garage-y stomp, or hushed intimate bedroom pop, it's all so catchy and rocking and irresistible. And it's all held together by some sort of mysterious pop music magic that few have mastered and even fewer understand, but which never fails to totally and utterly entrance us every time.
Needless to say WAY recommended. Most definitely another contender for pop record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Peaks & Valleys"
MPEG Stream: "Beautiful Sound"
MPEG Stream: "The Raft"
MPEG Stream: "Go!!"
MPEG Stream: "Collapso"

MEMORY BAND, THE Apron Strings (DiCristina) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Blackwaterside"
MPEG Stream: "Come Write Me Down"

MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT Bolides Over Basra (Load) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT The Very Best Of (5RC) cd 14.98

MEN, THE Immaculada (Deranged) cd 13.98
As much as we loved The Men's Leave Home album, which we made our Record Of the Week back in 2011, Immaculada, the 2010 debut from Brooklyn post punks / noise rockers The Men, released on cd for the first time (and vinyl again), might be even better. It's the same mix of experimental noise and twisted pop smarts, but here that hybrid is even more raw and feral, more blown out and urgent, more of a sort of home brewed basement-made mystery. The opener is the perfect teaser, a crumbling distorted layer of guitar buzz draped over a lilting organ melody, the combination reminding us of Tim Hecker, or maybe the Goslings, and then when the band kicks in proper, they simply add another layer, transforming that gauze-y drift into a sort of slow-mo shoegaze bliss-metal doom-drift that we sort of wish would have gone on forever.
Thankfully, the rest of the record is just as great. "Problems/Burning Up" unfurls a woozy sitar like drone, a sort of lo-fi raga, that is rudely interrupted by a squall of feedback and guitarnoise, those too settle into a sort of drone, before the sound splinters, and the song kicks in, all swaggery noise rock riffage and howled distorted vox, early AmRep is the vibe, but all washed out and sort of blissed out, and seriously catchy, and from there on out, the band sort of careen wildly from sound to sound, pretty and drifty one second, noisy and stomp the next, blurry and psychedelic the next, it's a glorious hodgepodge, as is evidenced by the jagged edits, and weird song structures, almost like this was a patchwork put together way after the fact, but that sort of schizophrenic arrangement suits the sound and the songs. "Grave Desecration" is The Men doing their best buzzing black metal, peppering that blackened noise-rock with parts way poppier, not to mention a dreamy acoustic guitar outro. "Madonna, Star Of The Sea" is another gem here, never fully forming into proper song form, but instead, unfurling as a glorious, super distorted, blissed out psychedelic guitar drone, the sound churning and undulating, chugging and drifting in equal measure, a bit of twang here and there, but ultimately, the sounds surface and then seem to ooze and bleed into one another, the result a sort of heady psychedelic drone-drift, that again, like the opener, could have filled up the rest of the record and we would have been just fine with that.
From there on out, the group continue to confound. "Lazarus" delivers a swirling squall of guitar noise and feedback drenched skree, very free form Sonic Youth style, but then when the song kicks in, it's CRAZY poppy, sounding like a stumblier, noise rockier version of the Swirlies, "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition" sounds like Polvo by way of the Meat Puppets, total classic noise pop, a little bit angular, a little bit twangy, but still plenty murky and lo-fi, "Oh Yoko" is a brief blast of pop flecked noisiness, a chaotic sonic swirl rife with shrieked vox and buried melodies, and finally the title track is a brooding groover, a classic slice of noise pop/rock, with chugging, churning bass heavy verses, soaring super distorted sort-of choruses, some killer psychedelic guitar freakouts, and somehow the whole thing manages to still be insanely catchy. Probably should have made this one Record Of The Week too, which of course means that this is absolutely and utterly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Stranger Song"
MPEG Stream: "Problems / Burning Up"
MPEG Stream: "Grave Desecration"
MPEG Stream: "Madonna; Star Of The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Lazarus"

MEN, THE Immaculada (Deranged Records) lp 17.98
As much as we loved The Men's Leave Home album, which we made our Record Of the Week back in 2011, Immaculada, the 2010 debut from Brooklyn post punks / noise rockers The Men, released on cd for the first time (and vinyl again), might be even better. It's the same mix of experimental noise and twisted pop smarts, but here that hybrid is even more raw and feral, more blown out and urgent, more of a sort of home brewed basement-made mystery. The opener is the perfect teaser, a crumbling distorted layer of guitar buzz draped over a lilting organ melody, the combination reminding us of Tim Hecker, or maybe the Goslings, and then when the band kicks in proper, they simply add another layer, transforming that gauze-y drift into a sort of slow-mo shoegaze bliss-metal doom-drift that we sort of wish would have gone on forever.
Thankfully, the rest of the record is just as great. "Problems/Burning Up" unfurls a woozy sitar like drone, a sort of lo-fi raga, that is rudely interrupted by a squall of feedback and guitarnoise, those too settle into a sort of drone, before the sound splinters, and the song kicks in, all swaggery noise rock riffage and howled distorted vox, early AmRep is the vibe, but all washed out and sort of blissed out, and seriously catchy, and from there on out, the band sort of careen wildly from sound to sound, pretty and drifty one second, noisy and stomp the next, blurry and psychedelic the next, it's a glorious hodgepodge, as is evidenced by the jagged edits, and weird song structures, almost like this was a patchwork put together way after the fact, but that sort of schizophrenic arrangement suits the sound and the songs. "Grave Desecration" is The Men doing their best buzzing black metal, peppering that blackened noise-rock with parts way poppier, not to mention a dreamy acoustic guitar outro. "Madonna, Star Of The Sea" is another gem here, never fully forming into proper song form, but instead, unfurling as a glorious, super distorted, blissed out psychedelic guitar drone, the sound churning and undulating, chugging and drifting in equal measure, a bit of twang here and there, but ultimately, the sounds surface and then seem to ooze and bleed into one another, the result a sort of heady psychedelic drone-drift, that again, like the opener, could have filled up the rest of the record and we would have been just fine with that.
From there on out, the group continue to confound. "Lazarus" delivers a swirling squall of guitar noise and feedback drenched skree, very free form Sonic Youth style, but then when the song kicks in, it's CRAZY poppy, sounding like a stumblier, noise rockier version of the Swirlies, "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition" sounds like Polvo by way of the Meat Puppets, total classic noise pop, a little bit angular, a little bit twangy, but still plenty murky and lo-fi, "Oh Yoko" is a brief blast of pop flecked noisiness, a chaotic sonic swirl rife with shrieked vox and buried melodies, and finally the title track is a brooding groover, a classic slice of noise pop/rock, with chugging, churning bass heavy verses, soaring super distorted sort-of choruses, some killer psychedelic guitar freakouts, and somehow the whole thing manages to still be insanely catchy. Probably should have made this one Record Of The Week too, which of course means that this is absolutely and utterly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Stranger Song"
MPEG Stream: "Problems / Burning Up"
MPEG Stream: "Grave Desecration"
MPEG Stream: "Madonna; Star Of The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Lazarus"

MEN, THE Leave Home (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
Brand new full length from this Brooklyn postpunk / noiserock quartet, who take the whole gloomy, gothicky dour eighties pop sound that is so popular with the kids these days, and twist it all up, supercharging it, dousing it in noise and transforming an overfamiliar sound into something super exciting and fresh, blown out and psychedelic, wild and chaotic, a collection of crashing, bombastic pop songs, tripped out droney instrumentals, and furious super saturated noiserock blowouts, that while in fact do occasionally hint at the aforementioned sound, seem to shed bits of that sound as the record progresses, and even moreso with every play, ultimately revealing the twisted, noisy, and wholly original sound at The Men's gloriously distorted core.
The opener starts with a misleadingly tranquil stretch of softly swirling psychedelic guitars, warbly ambience, and effects laced shimmer, it's over three minutes before the song proper kicks in, but when it does, holy shit, a blinding, head spinning kaleidoscopic blast of thick shoegazey guitars, super distorted drum pound, all tangled melodies and swirling harmonies, the main riff sounding strangely like Big Country, albeit more warped and woozy and noisy, and then the vocals swoop in and it's pure pop, all supercharged dreamy hazy multitracked vocals, everything wreathed in a crumbling almost Elephant Six style production, it's like a dirgey noiserock Neutral Milk Hotel record, melting in the sun, and blasted through some hood mounted loudspeakers as you do doughnuts in the middle of a busy intersection on a hundred degree summer afternoon, fantastically fuzzy and blissed out, but still crunchy and heavy and dreamily noisy.
The rest of the record follows suit, mixing in healthy heapings of pop soaked punkish pound, but even then the sounds are warm and in-the-red, and the sounds seem to ooze and warble, the riffs slippery and the songs laced with loads of subtle (and not so subtle) subtle harmonies. Much of the record is actually instrumental, which in the hands of most bands would bore big time, but these guys kitchen sink every song, often sounding like multiple Polvo's playing at once, thick and dense and gnarled and gloriously twisted, the songs constantly switching gears, whether it's feedback doused almost-sludge, wrapped in wild squiggly guitar leads, or dirgey near Brainbombs sounding cacophony, or even strummy psych pop blowouts that seem to explode into swirling squalls of free-psych shreddery, the sounds all merge into one glorious noise pop blur.
"Bataille" is the hit here, and it's obvious why, all of the above mentioned sonics, harnessed to a low slung chunk of Sonic Youth worthy post punk, all angular guitars, dense layered melodies, howled throat shredding vox, and dense propulsive drumming, the song rife with crazy hooks, droney-cyclical riffage but also some seriously killer gloomy new wave-isms. And while we love that track, our favorite (besides the opener), might just be "Shittin' With The Shah", a smoldering, sun baked, wide eyed bit of hazy psychedelia, all simple skeletal drumming, and chiming echo drenched guitars, woozy and dreamily druggy, a soft slow build to a final one minute blast of gloriously blown out in-the-red, sweetly melodic, but speaker shreddingly noisy shoegazekrautpopnoiserock swirl.
Needless to say, quite a surprise, even from a label we dearly love and who rarely disappoints. Most definitely a new noise pop / psych rock / post punk favorite, that we can't seem to stop listening to!
MPEG Stream: "If You Leave"
MPEG Stream: "Bataille"
MPEG Stream: "Shittin' With The Shah"

MEN, THE Leave Home (Sacred Bones) lp 14.98
Brand new full length from this Brooklyn postpunk / noiserock quartet, who take the whole gloomy, gothicky dour eighties pop sound that is so popular with the kids these days, and twist it all up, supercharging it, dousing it in noise and transforming an overfamiliar sound into something super exciting and fresh, blown out and psychedelic, wild and chaotic, a collection of crashing, bombastic pop songs, tripped out droney instrumentals, and furious super saturated noiserock blowouts, that while in fact do occasionally hint at the aforementioned sound, seem to shed bits of that sound as the record progresses, and even moreso with every play, ultimately revealing the twisted, noisy, and wholly original sound at The Men's gloriously distorted core.
The opener starts with a misleadingly tranquil stretch of softly swirling psychedelic guitars, warbly ambience, and effects laced shimmer, it's over three minutes before the song proper kicks in, but when it does, holy shit, a blinding, head spinning kaleidoscopic blast of thick shoegazey guitars, super distorted drum pound, all tangled melodies and swirling harmonies, the main riff sounding strangely like Big Country, albeit more warped and woozy and noisy, and then the vocals swoop in and it's pure pop, all supercharged dreamy hazy multitracked vocals, everything wreathed in a crumbling almost Elephant Six style production, it's like a dirgey noiserock Neutral Milk Hotel record, melting in the sun, and blasted through some hood mounted loudspeakers as you do doughnuts in the middle of a busy intersection on a hundred degree summer afternoon, fantastically fuzzy and blissed out, but still crunchy and heavy and dreamily noisy.
The rest of the record follows suit, mixing in healthy heapings of pop soaked punkish pound, but even then the sounds are warm and in-the-red, and the sounds seem to ooze and warble, the riffs slippery and the songs laced with loads of subtle (and not so subtle) subtle harmonies. Much of the record is actually instrumental, which in the hands of most bands would bore big time, but these guys kitchen sink every song, often sounding like multiple Polvo's playing at once, thick and dense and gnarled and gloriously twisted, the songs constantly switching gears, whether it's feedback doused almost-sludge, wrapped in wild squiggly guitar leads, or dirgey near Brainbombs sounding cacophony, or even strummy psych pop blowouts that seem to explode into swirling squalls of free-psych shreddery, the sounds all merge into one glorious noise pop blur.
"Bataille" is the hit here, and it's obvious why, all of the above mentioned sonics, harnessed to a low slung chunk of Sonic Youth worthy post punk, all angular guitars, dense layered melodies, howled throat shredding vox, and dense propulsive drumming, the song rife with crazy hooks, droney-cyclical riffage but also some seriously killer gloomy new wave-isms. And while we love that track, our favorite (besides the opener), might just be "Shittin' With The Shah", a smoldering, sun baked, wide eyed bit of hazy psychedelia, all simple skeletal drumming, and chiming echo drenched guitars, woozy and dreamily druggy, a soft slow build to a final one minute blast of gloriously blown out in-the-red, sweetly melodic, but speaker shreddingly noisy shoegazekrautpopnoiserock swirl.
Needless to say, quite a surprise, even from a label we dearly love and who rarely disappoints. Most definitely a new noise pop / psych rock / post punk favorite, that we can't seem to stop listening to!
MPEG Stream: "If You Leave"
MPEG Stream: "Bataille"
MPEG Stream: "Shittin' With The Shah"

MEN, THE New Moon (Sacred Bones) cd 15.98
And now here's the cd version!
We love NYC noise rockers the Men, pretty much every one of their records ended up being a HUGE favorite around here, heck we even made Leave Home our Record Of The Week back in 2011. Review-wise we'd sort of been leapfrogging between records and sounds, having first reviewed, Open Your Heart, before reviewing their much noisier, WAY more chaotic debut Immaculada. And while we did love that record, it may have distracted folks from the fact that The Men had been growing steadily more poppy and less noisy with each record. And we'd been hearing rumblings recently about how this new one was crazy poppy, so much so that some folks just couldn't handle it. We were pretty skeptical, but listening to it now, we can definitely see what had people all worked up. Don't get us wrong, we still dig it, it's a pretty awesome record, but it IS crazy poppy, sounding way less like nineties noise rock, and way more like nineties indie/college rock, which might not seem like that much of a distinction, but in some ways it really is.
But if you're like us, and you love jangly pop as well, there's still some noise pop goodness to be had here, it's just now heavier on the pop than on the noise. Just check out the opening one-two punch of "Open The Dorr" and "Half Angel Half Light". The first of which is all acoustic guitar and piano, whirring organ, laconic laid back vocals, a little bit twangy, it reminds us a bit of the Woods, or for a nineties reference, a little bit like a less guitar heavy Dinosaur Jr, maybe Sebadoh? Might not be what we expected, but it's pretty great. And the follow up is definitely more rocking, but somehow it's even more nineties indie rock sounding, a la Replacements, Soul Asylum (when they were good, and when they were good, they were GREAT), Skunk... This could be some lost band on Minneapolis label TwinTone, with the heartfelt vox, the urgent jangle, the fuzzed out riffage, swirls of wah wah guitar and a big chorus. And that's pretty much how the whole record plays out, a killer throwback to the heyday of nineties indie rock, but these guys began life as a post punk / noise rock band, so they can't ditch that side of their sonic personality altogether, and when it pops up, it adds some awesomely noisy heft to the proceedings, like on "Without A Face", the stripped down verse give way to a wild squall of a bridge, complete with wild harmonica blowing (!!), or on "I Saw Her Face", the band unfurl a super blown out, crumbling distortion drenched dirge, wild and psychedelic, but underpinned by some serious poppiness. Elsewhere the band further confound with the stripped down jangle garage rock of "The Seeds", but return to melt faces with "The Brass", which could definitely have been plucked from one of their older records, and the sprawling 8 minute closer, which fuses dense drum pound with chugging, noisy distorted riffage, the whole thing tranced out and hypnotic, but laced with some stretches of pure poppiness, which are balanced by some fierce noise drenched psychedelic blowouts, sounding not only like an ideal final track, but probably a live set closer as well.
So yeah, don't believe the hype, odds are if you dug the other Men records, you'll likely dig this one too, unless you're extremely averse to pop, but in that case, what the heck is wrong with you?!?
MPEG Stream: "Open The Door"
MPEG Stream: "Half Angel Half Light"
MPEG Stream: "Without A Face"
MPEG Stream: "I Saw Her Face"
MPEG Stream: "The Brass"

MEN, THE New Moon (Sacred Bones) lp 17.98
We love NYC noise rockers the Men, pretty much every one of their records ended up being a HUGE favorite around here, heck we even made Leave Home our Record Of The Week back in 2011. Review-wise we'd sort of been leapfrogging between records and sounds, having first reviewed, Open Your Heart, before reviewing their much noisier, WAY more chaotic debut Immaculada. And while we did love that record, it may have distracted folks from the fact that The Men had been growing steadily more poppy and less noisy with each record. And we'd been hearing rumblings recently about how this new one was crazy poppy, so much so that some folks just couldn't handle it. We were pretty skeptical, but listening to it now, we can definitely see what had people all worked up. Don't get us wrong, we still dig it, it's a pretty awesome record, but it IS crazy poppy, sounding way less like nineties noise rock, and way more like nineties indie/college rock, which might not seem like that much of a distinction, but in some ways it really is.
But if you're like us, and you love jangly pop as well, there's still some noise pop goodness to be had here, it's just now heavier on the pop than on the noise. Just check out the opening one-two punch of "Open The Dorr" and "Half Angel Half Light". The first of which is all acoustic guitar and piano, whirring organ, laconic laid back vocals, a little bit twangy, it reminds us a bit of the Woods, or for a nineties reference, a little bit like a less guitar heavy Dinosaur Jr, maybe Sebadoh? Might not be what we expected, but it's pretty great. And the follow up is definitely more rocking, but somehow it's even more nineties indie rock sounding, a la Replacements, Soul Asylum (when they were good, and when they were good, they were GREAT), Skunk... This could be some lost band on Minneapolis label TwinTone, with the heartfelt vox, the urgent jangle, the fuzzed out riffage, swirls of wah wah guitar and a big chorus. And that's pretty much how the whole record plays out, a killer throwback to the heyday of nineties indie rock, but these guys began life as a post punk / noise rock band, so they can't ditch that side of their sonic personality altogether, and when it pops up, it adds some awesomely noisy heft to the proceedings, like on "Without A Face", the stripped down verse give way to a wild squall of a bridge, complete with wild harmonica blowing (!!), or on "I Saw Her Face", the band unfurl a super blown out, crumbling distortion drenched dirge, wild and psychedelic, but underpinned by some serious poppiness. Elsewhere the band further confound with the stripped down jangle garage rock of "The Seeds", but return to melt faces with "The Brass", which could definitely have been plucked from one of their older records, and the sprawling 8 minute closer, which fuses dense drum pound with chugging, noisy distorted riffage, the whole thing tranced out and hypnotic, but laced with some stretches of pure poppiness, which are balanced by some fierce noise drenched psychedelic blowouts, sounding not only like an ideal final track, but probably a live set closer as well.
So yeah, don't believe the hype, odds are if you dug the other Men records, you'll likely dig this one too, unless you're extremely averse to pop, but in that case, what the heck is wrong with you?!?
MPEG Stream: "Open The Door"
MPEG Stream: "Half Angel Half Light"
MPEG Stream: "Without A Face"
MPEG Stream: "I Saw Her Face"
MPEG Stream: "The Brass"

MEN, THE Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones) cd 13.98
We made the last record by The Men, Leave Home, our Record Of The Week, a kick ass collision of old school noise rock, hazy psychedelia, and super distorted Sonic Youth beholden shoegaze noisepop. And while that all still most definitely describes this latest record, the one difference we're noticing this time around is some serious poppiness. Not that the other record wasn't poppy, but the poppiness was often obscured by squalls of chaotic noise, or stretched out into droned out heaviness, or wreathed in cacophony, but here, it's fully on display, as if they were in fact a POP band, who just also happened to be noisy and psychedelic and fucked up and heavy. Every song here is shot through with hooks galore, irresistible melodies, pure pop centers no matter what sort of wildness surrounds it. And it suits them. As much as we played that other record to death, this one is fast catching up. Imagine a sort of Stooges-y stomp fused to something a bit more pop-punk, all dipped in distortion and sent careening into a sweaty wildly pogo-ing pit. Opener "Turn It Around" flits easily from garagey punker out crunch to soaring hook heavy indie pop jangle, and even throws in some wild psychedelic leads, not to mention some wild killer drumming. "Animal" takes that poppiness and wraps it in fuzzed out riffage, punkish pound and howled feral vox. And like Leave Home before it, the band definitely don't shy away from mixing it up. "Country Song" is all twangy and reverby and yeah, a little bit country, but a sort of sun baked psych country, all rife with slide guitar, and woozy interwoven melodies. Then there "Oscillation", which might be our favorite. Starting out all minimal and stripped down, motorik and krautrocky, super melodic, driving and catchy as hell, a tangle of melodies and guitars all somehow sculpted into a super crazy catchy chunk of washed out psychedelic indie rock bliss, it's not even until 5 minutes in before the vocals first come in, a weirdly dramatic deep croon, the music building to a serious frenzy, the sort of song you can almost imagine as a set closer, so rocking and weird and catchy and infectious.
"Please Don't Go Away" is total jangle flecked noise pop, with plenty of vocal oooh' and aaah's, not to mention some old-Flaming Lips worthy psychedelic guitar freakouts, in fact, early Flaming Lips is definitely a good comparison, if not for the songs, certainly the sound, that same sort of on the verge of total chaos, fusing loose druggy psych, with total classic hook filled pop. The title track is total seventies style classic power pop, just roughed up a little, and drenched in a bit of extra distortion. There are still moments of full on blown out speaker shredding noise rock freakouts, "Cube" is a two and a half minute sweat soaked bloody knuckled blowout, but then that leads right into "Presence" which is a slide guitar, swampy, bluesy dirge, that sounds more like Naked On The Vague or Crystal Stilts, until near the end when the song seems to splinter into a psych pop freakout all wild shredding leads, layered vox and octopoidal drumming. "Ex-Dreams" finishes things off with some new wave flecked noise pop crunch, another song that could also be one of our favorites, but then really, the more we listen to this record, the more we think that about pretty much all of the songs. Which is most definitely a good sign. And really the more and more we dig this, the more we think this could easily have been a Record Of The Week too, which obviously means this is WAY recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Turn It Around"
MPEG Stream: "Animal"
MPEG Stream: "Candy"
MPEG Stream: "Ex-Dreams"

MEN, THE Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones) lp 14.98
We made the last record by The Men, Leave Home, our Record Of The Week, a kick ass collision of old school noise rock, hazy psychedelia, and super distorted Sonic Youth beholden shoegaze noisepop. And while that all still most definitely describes this latest record, the one difference we're noticing this time around is some serious poppiness. Not that the other record wasn't poppy, but the poppiness was often obscured by squalls of chaotic noise, or stretched out into droned out heaviness, or wreathed in cacophony, but here, it's fully on display, as if they were in fact a POP band, who just also happened to be noisy and psychedelic and fucked up and heavy. Every song here is shot through with hooks galore, irresistible melodies, pure pop centers no matter what sort of wildness surrounds it. And it suits them. As much as we played that other record to death, this one is fast catching up. Imagine a sort of Stooges-y stomp fused to something a bit more pop-punk, all dipped in distortion and sent careening into a sweaty wildly pogo-ing pit. Opener "Turn It Around" flits easily from garagey punker out crunch to soaring hook heavy indie pop jangle, and even throws in some wild psychedelic leads, not to mention some wild killer drumming. "Animal" takes that poppiness and wraps it in fuzzed out riffage, punkish pound and howled feral vox. And like Leave Home before it, the band definitely don't shy away from mixing it up. "Country Song" is all twangy and reverby and yeah, a little bit country, but a sort of sun baked psych country, all rife with slide guitar, and woozy interwoven melodies. Then there "Oscillation", which might be our favorite. Starting out all minimal and stripped down, motorik and krautrocky, super melodic, driving and catchy as hell, a tangle of melodies and guitars all somehow sculpted into a super crazy catchy chunk of washed out psychedelic indie rock bliss, it's not even until 5 minutes in before the vocals first come in, a weirdly dramatic deep croon, the music building to a serious frenzy, the sort of song you can almost imagine as a set closer, so rocking and weird and catchy and infectious.
"Please Don't Go Away" is total jangle flecked noise pop, with plenty of vocal oooh' and aaah's, not to mention some old-Flaming Lips worthy psychedelic guitar freakouts, in fact, early Flaming Lips is definitely a good comparison, if not for the songs, certainly the sound, that same sort of on the verge of total chaos, fusing loose druggy psych, with total classic hook filled pop. The title track is total seventies style classic power pop, just roughed up a little, and drenched in a bit of extra distortion. There are still moments of full on blown out speaker shredding noise rock freakouts, "Cube" is a two and a half minute sweat soaked bloody knuckled blowout, but then that leads right into "Presence" which is a slide guitar, swampy, bluesy dirge, that sounds more like Naked On The Vague or Crystal Stilts, until near the end when the song seems to splinter into a psych pop freakout all wild shredding leads, layered vox and octopoidal drumming. "Ex-Dreams" finishes things off with some new wave flecked noise pop crunch, another song that could also be one of our favorites, but then really, the more we listen to this record, the more we think that about pretty much all of the songs. Which is most definitely a good sign. And really the more and more we dig this, the more we think this could easily have been a Record Of The Week too, which obviously means this is WAY recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Turn It Around"
MPEG Stream: "Animal"
MPEG Stream: "Candy"
MPEG Stream: "Ex-Dreams"

MENACE RUINE The Die Is Cast (Alien8) cd 15.98
For their sophomore full length, Canada's Menace Ruine return not exactly as the heavy noise inspired black metal band you know and love, but as a neo-folk, noise-rock powerhouse. You may be wondering like us: did we miss something? And what exactly is the link? Well, maybe it's the misanthropic, anti-humanist ethos shared by both neo-folk and black metal artists that somehow ties them together. Or maybe it's the fascination with all things medieval. Or maybe it's the general brooding and ever-present sense of darkness. Could it be written off as a shared love of sonic tension? Wait, wait ... there is a difference between them somewhere, right? As the label astutely points out, in the wake of both Leviathan and Nachtmystium covering Death in June, this sort of explicit crossover makes tons of sense. And really, it might be a tad reductive to simply say that this sounds like a black metal band that wrote songs for Der Blutharsch, but it's not too far off the mark. Menace Ruine probably couldn't escape their uber-noise tendencies even if they wanted to, but other than that, the comparison essentially holds true. It is also worth noting that the label mentions an upcoming Merzbow collaboration. Woah! Man, you know a record is good when it isn't simply good, but it leaves your head spinning trying to figure out what just fucking happened, and if you've read this far then you've seen all our questions. This is what you'd hear if Moss, The Dead C, and Douglas P were caught in the middle of some bizarre, church burning audial orgy. Potential fans of something that could convolutedly be described as tortured, grim, militaristic folk-noise will absolutely want this. And if that doesn't scream recommended, then we're not really sure what the hell does.
MPEG Stream: "One Too Many"
MPEG Stream: "This Place of Power"

MENACE RUINE Union Of Reconcilables (Aurora Borealis) cd 17.98
Not quite black metal, though doubtless Menace Ruine would happily bask in the smoldering embers of a charred church somewheres up north. Not exactly militaristic neo-folk either. Nor are they a noise band. Well, maybe noise. But that's only part of it. Their dark, distorted drone textures are also often adorned with witchy female vocals, a la Jex Thoth. So, three albums in, this Quebec girl-boy duo of Genevive and S. de la Moth are still quite hard to define, though we know we like 'em, and the Menace Ruine music they make (indeed a mix of noise, drone, folk, and black metal moves) is grim as well as sometimes quite gorgeous, that is if you're like us and can find the beauty in ten-minute long tracks of misanthropic sonic miasma. Perhaps it's the way the ceremonial lamentation of Genevive's gentle singing merges with the slowly churning electronic extremes of intense, dense distortion and feedback... Certainly this new release via Aurora Borealis (following previous efforts on Alien8 and Tour De Garde) is a fine continuation of their unique post-black metal noise-folk aesthetic. If you liked The Die Is Cast that came before this, you'll probably like this too. And fans of bands as diverse as Burial Hex, Dead Raven Choir, Velvet Cacoon, Current 93, Wolf Eyes, and Alcest, among others, ought to check out Menace Ruine if you haven't already.
MPEG Stream: "Collapse"
MPEG Stream: "The Upper Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Not Only A Break In The Clouds But A Permanent Clearing Of The Sky"

MENEGUAR Strangers In Our House (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Living In The White"
MPEG Stream: "Set A Line"
MPEG Stream: "Paint You"

MENEGUAR The In Hour (Woodsist) cd 13.98
One of the great things about working here at the aQ HQ is finding out how much shared musical history you have with your co-workers. Take, for example, a few months ago when our review for the new Dodos record referenced this totally obscure mid-'90s band from Western Mass called the Wicked Farleys. That one offhand mention got us all so amped up that it sparked a bunch of long, hyperactive, rambling conversations about our other favorite overlooked bands from that era. Even now, whenever someone comes into the store and asks about Vetiver, there are a few of us who will take the opportunity to reminisce loudly about how totally rad Andy Cabic's OLD band, The Raymond Brake, was (believe us, they were really rad). There's a whole host of fractured, whammy bar-worshipping rockers form the mid-'90s that we collectively wax nostalgic about here both in our reviews and our day-to-day conversations (The Swirlies, Pitchblende, Polvo, Erectus Monotone, as well as the aforementioned Wicked Farleys and Raymond Brake to name but a few!); we're crazy about these bands and their records still get plenty of play years later. So with all that in mind, take us seriously when we say that had we heard the first two records by Brooklyn-based indie rockers Meneguar (I Was Born At Night and Strangers In Our House, both on Troubleman Unlimited and both newly available at aQ) back in '95 that they would undoubtedly be included in aQ's hallowed pantheon of atonal pop bliss!
So, with all of that said, there was some serious trepidation on our part when we first gave The In Hour a spin as the record finds the band dipping into new, self-consciously 'experimental' waters. Generally, 'experimental' albums by rock bands are fraught with the potential for self-indulgent missteps, poor song choices, and a total disregard for the kind of intensive self-editing required of a fine pop record. Thankfully, Meneguar manage to avoid these pitfalls and make a record that, although different from its predecessors, is still a thoroughly enjoyable listen! The In Hour is definitely a scrappier affair, but there are still hooks and riffs a plenty. Maybe it's the fact that they've always had a bit of a fey touch to them that keeps the the melody-to-skronk ratio tipped to the tuneful side; or maybe the extended meanderings are kept to a bare minimum by the fact that several of the band's members are able to get their freakier ya-yas shaken out as part of Brooklyn drone-folkers, Woods Family Creeps (whose excellent self-titled debut we highlighted a list or two back).
Aside from the ghetto blaster meets trash can aesthetic of the recording, the most notable change from their earlier work is the subdued feel that permeates the record. The distortion and anthemic leanings are dialed down, making space for acoustic guitars that manage to both clang and chime, a healthy dose of crackle and hiss, and a whole lot of reverberating echoes bouncing hither and dither. Meneguar have managed a rare feat in the world of indie rock: stretching out and messing with their formula without completely losing sight of what makes them special in the first place. Despite the slightly more primitive approach to execution and production, the band hasn't forsaken melody or catchiness or chosen to dive headlong into the hissy, static, shitwave wash of which we've been hearing so much lately. This one is equally likely to appeal to fans of Woods Family Creeps, Barn Owl and the like as it is to fans of No Age and Eat Skull without sounding particularly like either tribe. At its core, The In Hour is a thoroughly enjoyable indie rock record that will give fans of bands like Les Savy Fav, Superchunk, GBV, Pavement and Archers of Loaf plenty to smile about. It's chock full of memorable, melodic gems that should provide ample mix tape fodder for the coming summer days. Hopefully, giving this one a listen will inspire some of y'all to check out their back catalog as well! Recommended for sure!
MPEG Stream: "We Own We Sell"
MPEG Stream: "Lynch The Swan Bar"
MPEG Stream: "Black Death"

MENEGUAR The In Hour (Woodsist) lp 14.98
One of the great things about working here at the aQ HQ is finding out how much shared musical history you have with your co-workers. Take, for example, a few months ago when our review for the new Dodos record referenced this totally obscure mid-'90s band from Western Mass called the Wicked Farleys. That one offhand mention got us all so amped up that it sparked a bunch of long, hyperactive, rambling conversations about our other favorite overlooked bands from that era. Even now, whenever someone comes into the store and asks about Vetiver, there are a few of us who will take the opportunity to reminisce loudly about how totally rad Andy Cabic's OLD band, The Raymond Brake, was (believe us, they were really rad). There's a whole host of fractured, whammy bar-worshipping rockers form the mid-'90s that we collectively wax nostalgic about here both in our reviews and our day-to-day conversations (The Swirlies, Pitchblende, Polvo, Erectus Monotone, as well as the aforementioned Wicked Farleys and Raymond Brake to name but a few!); we're crazy about these bands and their records still get plenty of play years later. So with all that in mind, take us seriously when we say that had we heard the first two records by Brooklyn-based indie rockers Meneguar (I Was Born At Night and Strangers In Our House, both on Troubleman Unlimited and both newly available at aQ) back in '95 that they would undoubtedly be included in aQ's hallowed pantheon of atonal pop bliss!
So, with all of that said, there was some serious trepidation on our part when we first gave The In Hour a spin as the record finds the band dipping into new, self-consciously 'experimental' waters. Generally, 'experimental' albums by rock bands are fraught with the potential for self-indulgent missteps, poor song choices, and a total disregard for the kind of intensive self-editing required of a fine pop record. Thankfully, Meneguar manage to avoid these pitfalls and make a record that, although different from its predecessors, is still a thoroughly enjoyable listen! The In Hour is definitely a scrappier affair, but there are still hooks and riffs a plenty. Maybe it's the fact that they've always had a bit of a fey touch to them that keeps the the melody-to-skronk ratio tipped to the tuneful side; or maybe the extended meanderings are kept to a bare minimum by the fact that several of the band's members are able to get their freakier ya-yas shaken out as part of Brooklyn drone-folkers, Woods Family Creeps (whose excellent self-titled debut we highlighted a list or two back).
Aside from the ghetto blaster meets trash can aesthetic of the recording, the most notable change from their earlier work is the subdued feel that permeates the record. The distortion and anthemic leanings are dialed down, making space for acoustic guitars that manage to both clang and chime, a healthy dose of crackle and hiss, and a whole lot of reverberating echoes bouncing hither and dither. Meneguar have managed a rare feat in the world of indie rock: stretching out and messing with their formula without completely losing sight of what makes them special in the first place. Despite the slightly more primitive approach to execution and production, the band hasn't forsaken melody or catchiness or chosen to dive headlong into the hissy, static, shitwave wash of which we've been hearing so much lately. This one is equally likely to appeal to fans of Woods Family Creeps, Barn Owl and the like as it is to fans of No Age and Eat Skull without sounding particularly like either tribe. At its core, The In Hour is a thoroughly enjoyable indie rock record that will give fans of bands like Les Savy Fav, Superchunk, GBV, Pavement and Archers of Loaf plenty to smile about. It's chock full of memorable, melodic gems that should provide ample mix tape fodder for the coming summer days. Hopefully, giving this one a listen will inspire some of y'all to check out their back catalog as well! Recommended for sure!
MPEG Stream: "We Own We Sell"
MPEG Stream: "Lynch The Swan Bar"
MPEG Stream: "Black Death"

MENOMENA Friend And Foe (Barsuk) cd 11.98
Whoa, now that Menomena are on Barsuk Records are they gettin' all suitably indie rock on us?! Sure seems to be the case. They make their move with what is their most straightforward album to date. Menomena fans may be slightly disappointed to find the new sound to be less distinctly or recognizably sprawlingly expansively 'Menomena', but the group might gain a new flourish of fans of their new dreamy wintry pop. Really, this fits quite perfectly alongside labelmates Death Cab, Mates Of State, Jim Noir et al. Fans of those bands please take note!
And by the way, this disc has some of the coolest jewel case packaging we have ever seen. Super elaborate, hyper detailed cartoon drawings, with little shapes cut out to reveal still more patterns on the disc face, while on the back, little circles are punched out to allow the silver cd face to shine though the tray card. WOW!
MPEG Stream: "The Pelican"
MPEG Stream: "Ghostship"

MENOMENA Under An Hour (Film Guerrero) cd 14.98
Every time this band's name gets brought up (and even though it's not spelled the same way) we have to fight like crazy to stop ourselves from breaking out into that Sesame Street song, but trust us Menomena's music is something completely different. Under An Hour is comprised of wonderfully dramatic and richly evocative passages in which piano and horns take centerstage! In fact, we'd imagine that this would make a fine soundtrack for a Jan Svankmajer animated film (a sequel to Institute Benjamenta, maybe?). Each of the three nearly twenty minute tracks is a beautiful brooding post chamber rock excursion, slow building, moving forward in smooth glides and unexpected lurches, dynamic but subtly so. The first track "Water" sounds like some strange Penguin Cafe Orchetra and Godspeed You Black Emperor. Dark and glistening, vast sweeping moodiness, very cinematic, haunting pointalist pianos paint melancholy melodies over a thick background of warm swells and clouds of dense overtones, so lush and grand sounding. Strange little effects add all sorts of unexpected character, subtle but very bizarre studio trickery, little swoops of backwards acoustic strum, affected insturments that almost sound like a female chorus at times. Wow. The second track, while nearly as dramatic and intense as the first track, manages to incorporate just a touch of irreverence, little playful flourishes here and there, mostly it's the horns that drive the song, with a jaunty, almost jazzy feel, but as the track progresses, they begin to change shape and sound more and more ominous, helps that the whole thing is underpinned by a thick wash of blown out BIG sounding drums a la the Flaming Lips. In fact, at times this almost sounds like a chamber music ensemble version of the Lips. Which is not a bad thing at all. The final track starts off with a warm buzzy drone, that slowly thickens and expands as more and more strings join in, the low moan of cellos, the warm slither of a bass, guitars drifting through the lower registers, all slowly twisting and flowing like one of those stop motion movies of plants growing or flowers blooming and then dying, whole months compressed into minutes. Soon little tendrils of melody begin to peek out from beneath the dense blanket of sounds, until the drums kick in, and then suddenly the track is very Circle like, streaks and smears of sound, twisting in the air beneath a propulsive krautrock beat, super simple and hypnotic. A brief stretch of ambience prepares you for the last few minutes, super distorted drums pound out an almost trip-hop rhythm, sort of blissed out and laid back, but strangely haunting and moody, with a creepy near-Burzum synthesizer melody drifting wraith like above the crunchy propulsive framework below. Like the soundtrack to some thriller, the moment the main character realizes their whole life was a lie, and everyone they trusted was dead, and there's no way out. So cool.
Packaged in a slipcover with some strange cover art (a woman wearing goggles, sitting on some weird geometric shape, holding an orange contraption, everything splattered with flour) and no actual booklet or tray card. Mysterious, just like the music within.
MPEG Stream: "Water"
MPEG Stream: "Flour"

MENOMENA Wet & Rusting (Film Guerrero) cd ep 9.98
Now this is more like what we were anticipating from Menomena's last full length Friend And Foe which came out a few months ago. On that album the Portland, OR band took an unexpected turn into a very well done but very 'middle of the road' indie pop sound. We dug it quite a bit, thank you very much. But while you know we love us some indie rock a-plenty, there's just so many bands of that ilk. Knowing that Menomena's earlier album Under An Hour stood apart from the pack in its darkly dramatic yet whimsical chamber pop grandeur, simply made us crave... more! Happy to report that with their Wet & Rusting EP they've ventured back into that far more peculiar and distinct territory. Although the title track is drawn from Friend And Foe (you get three versions of it -- one straight from the album, an E.R. Don remix and a live rendition), subtle eccentricities and warm pop fuzziness abound on the rest of the EP. We're just sad that it's only six songs long! [Sorry, no sound clips, this wouldn't play in our computers, dunno why.]

MENTORS, THE El Duce Vita (MVD Visual) dvd 14.98

MERCEDES HELL Kingdom Together (Full Contact / Ektro) 7" 7.98
Another 7" slab of New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal weirdness from our pals in Circle. We're pretty sure it's them, it must be, that's Jussi on the cover with his hair in his face, posing in front of a dilapidated barn, and it sounds just like all the other NWOFHM acts they've invented that we so enjoy, like Steel Mammoth and Krypt Axeripper and Tractor Pulling and Motorspandex! And also quite a bit like Circle's own Katapult album come to think of it.
Bright burbling yet somehow metallic guitar riffage churns forth, amidst a warm swarm of distortion and synthy sounding FX. It's a lofi, catchy quasi-metal pop music, head bobbing if not banging, perfect for the rasping vocals crooning cryptic stoner hippie/hessian poetry: "One way road / down from the hills / straight to the cave of skulls / computer of yesterday" Huh? Or: "Stay with the rainbow / eat the dreams / burn the talent / fight the spirit / listen to soul". Brilliant.
And although this isn't black metal by a long shot, despite its Scandinavian origins, they did come up with one of the truly grimmest song titles ever: "We're Getting Old"! There's four songs here, 2 per side, the other titles being "Let's Eat Fire", "Agitation Evil", and "Kingdom Together".
Wonder if this band will someday do a full-length or if, as with most of their NWOFHM comrades, one 7" is all we get. Based on this, we'd be happy to hear more. Or, just more from the next new "band" these guys come up with!

MERCH Crash Boom Bash (Sassafras) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Merch is the perfect name for this young DIY pop-punk outfit of local transplants from Fresno, California who have been rocking the all-ages scene with their infectiously hook-y lo-fi power anthems. Made even more off-kilter due to their unique use of cello and banjo as well as electric guitar as lead instruments, this reminds us at times of early Pavement, Camper Van Beethoven and Guided By Voices, but done in a way that feels like more of their own making rather than deliberately mining similar sonic influences. A fine debut that makes great use of its rough-around-the-edges production with fun catchy songs that stay with us long after they're over. Cool!
MPEG Stream: "Boxcar"
MPEG Stream: "Short Stint"
MPEG Stream: "What Business Is It of Yours?"

MERCH The Modern Hunter (Luck Song) (self-released) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two artfully infectious lo-fi power pop songs from local trio of guitar, drums, and one rockin' cello. Very catchy songs with quirky lyrics, hummable hooks and back-up vocals. Good stuff, but try to see them live if you can, we're guessing you'll find it pretty hard to keep from dancing.

MERCH This Betrayal Will Be Our End (Sassafras ) lp 14.98
Latest full length from this local cello driven indie rock outfit, and their most lush and accomplished outing yet, produced by Bay Area psychedelic guru Greg Ashley, the band have crafted a strangely catchy collection of driving, string laden indie rock, inspired by heartbreak, as all worthwhile rock records are, opening with a hauntingly cinematic intro, all soaring melodic swells, buzzing cello, wild psychedelic guitar, plink plonk piano, which leads directly into a heady slab of pounding fuzzed out jangle, that then splinters and transforms into something downright proggy, crooned vocals over busy swirling piano melodies and woozy cello, before the guitars swoop back in, the song seesawing back and forth between crunchy jangle and tense moody brood. The following track drapes softly distorted vocals over loping bass, spidery melodies and fuzz guitar, adding some cool slide, and wild little tangles of psych guitar, and that ever present cello, definitely giving the sound its own unique vibe.
The rest of the record unfurls darkly and dramatically, shifting constantly from sound to sound, each sound (and song) seemingly representative of a step in the grieving process, Merch mainman Joe Medina translating that grieving process into sound, minor key miserablist downer pop blurs into stripped down bluesy rock, fuzzed out indie rock blossoms into bombastic almost progginess, twang flecked drifts sprawl into propulsive hypnotic minimalism which in turn transforms into shimmery acoustic folk and back again, the sound rife with hints of Sparklehorse, Giant Sand, TV On The Radio, and other purveyors of dark indie pop and fuzzy psychedelic garage rock.
Special colored vinyl version just for aQ (marbled grey swirl), also includes a poster, and a download coupon for the whole record!
MPEG Stream: "My Best Friend"
MPEG Stream: "Condom In My Pocket"
MPEG Stream: "Infidelity"

MERCHANT, NATALIE Motherland (Elektra) cd 16.98
As advertised on National Public Radio. Really.

MERCHANTS OF THE NEW BIZARRE Do You Want To Go Steady? cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More local SF weirdness from a band that may be familiar to the early-'90s Bananafish readership.

MERCURIANS Are You Sleeping (Akashic) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had this lil' single for a short time sans festive green sleeve, but now you can get the complete package. The two sweet instrumental melodies here bring to mind a picnic in the park or a wintery sleigh ride. Features William Winant on marimba and glockenspiel. Limited pressing of 500 from nice local band.

MERCURY REV All Is Dream (V2) cd 18.98
The peculiar, exuberant band from Buffalo, NY bring forth their long-awaited follow-up to 1998's Deserter's Song. All Is Dream is their fifth album: an often sublime, ambitious orchestral pop assemblage that even in all of its grandeur and oddness still maintains an air of innocence, particularly on tracks such as "A Drop In Time". Please forgive me but an image of Mercury Rev performing "Puff The Magic Dragon" parading down the main street just flashed though my head. They'd surely do a damn fine job of it too, but I digress. Jonathan Donahue's tweaked boy voice easily draws comparisons to that of Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne. And the 'Lips comparisons - or shall we say connections - don't end there, Donahue and bassist Dave Fridmann have put in their fair share of time with that likeminded band from Oklahoma. The former as lead guitarist and the latter as producer extraordinaire - most notably for the supreme "Soft Bulletin". He does a splendid job on his own band's material here with all of its lush, complex instrumentation of woodwinds and strings and blown-out percussion. Pretty wonderful. Oh and a word of note: more recently Fridmann's unmistakable production touches may also be heard gracing the newest Sparklehorse album.
RealAudio clip: "The Dark Is Rising"
RealAudio clip: "A Drop In Time"

MERCURY REV Deserter's Songs (Modern Classics / Light In The Attic) lp 22.00

MERCURY REV Snowflake Midnight (YepRoc) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Snowflake In A Hot World"
MPEG Stream: "Runaway Raindrop"
MPEG Stream: "A Squirrel And I (Holding On... And Then Letting Go)"

MERCURY REV Snowflake Midnight (YepRoc) lp 21.00

MPEG Stream: "Snowflake In A Hot World"
MPEG Stream: "Runaway Raindrop"
MPEG Stream: "A Squirrel And I (Holding On... And Then Letting Go)"

MERCURY REV The Secret Migration (V2) 2cd 21.00
The Secret Migration reveals many different faces of Mercury Rev, and many of them seem even more remarkably Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin-y that previously so. That means they've still retained their trademark warbly vocals, lush arrangements and splendiferously grand Dave Fridmann productions. In fact, some of the songs are near deadringers for the 'Lips, such as the fifth and sixth ("Vermillion" and "In The Wilderness" respectively). That said, they also take an unexpected detour mid-album, treading in Jesus & Mary Chain boots for the song "In A Funny Way". And if you're Byram you might also think that the vocals sound like Marianne Faithfull (which he indeed does, but that perception seems to have eluded all of the rest of us!). The album's only marred by a handful of somewhat wince-worthy lyrics such as "If I were a white horse and offered you a ride...", "Lover lift me up!" and "Waves of emotion sending ships across the ocean"? Egads! And to make matters worse, the latter line is sung over and over again. It almost reaches Disney-style cliched cheesiness. As is suggested by the album's title, they lyrically keep with the themes of journey (of the physical kind and otherwise). They draw references and inspiration from a menagerie of wildlife critters (for instance, the aforementioned white horses), and deliver the listener from point A to point B in their ivy-draped, rose-festooned fantasy pop chariot drawn by dragonflies and seahorses. Note: the first pressing includes a bonus disc with eight live and previously unreleased tracks!
MPEG Stream: "Vermillion"
MPEG Stream: "In A Funny Way"

MERMEN Krill Slippin' (Beach) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The band has decided to reissue their first album, previously only available as a cassette.

MERMEN Songs of the Cows (Mesa) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MERMEN Songs of the Cows (Mesa) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.