RIVAL SCHOOLS Pedals (Photo Finish) lp 22.00
We may have missed out on legendary punk rock outfits Gorilla Biscuits, CIV and Youth Of Today (even though one of us is indeed straight edge), but holy shit did we love Quicksand, the connection being frontman Walter Schreifels, who played in all four, but for many of us, Quicksand was our introduction to Schreifels, and what an introduction, totally epic heaviness, huge riffs, killer songs, the band a crack team of crushers, Schreifels' voice so distinctive, raspy but emotional and intense.
After the dissolution of Quicksand, Schreifels went on to start various projects, one called Walking Concert, and this one, the long running Rival Schools, but unlike the heavy post punk crush of Quicksand, most of Schreifels's post Quicksand output was way more pop, a sound he was surprisingly well suited to (which was definitely hinted at in Quicksand), the first Rival Schools record, United By Fate, still kills, so we were super excited to find out about a brand new record, the first RS record in a decade, and very little has changed since United By Fate, big crunchy powerful pop songs, like a stripped down Quicksand in a way, another one of those bands that if there were any justice, these guys would be playing stadiums, and Letterman, the sound is aggressive, and heavy, but also jangly and hooky and way melodic, the vocals as distinctive as ever. Might be a bit too wimpy for punks and metalheads, but heavy pop fiends should definitely check this out (and United By Fate).
MPEG Stream: "Wring It Out"
MPEG Stream: "Choose Your Own Adventure"
MPEG Stream: "Racing To Red Lights"

RIVAL SCHOOLS / ONELINEDRAWING Rival Schools United By Onelinedrawing (Some) cd ep 10.98
I was so excited to find this record a few months back. I had been waiting like crazy (if one can wait like crazy) for the Rival Schools record (Walter from Quicksand's new band) and here it was. What a score! So I brought it home, threw it on, and it wasn't quite what I expected. Really jangly and poppy, but the voice was definitely Quicksand, and the songs did have sort of the same feel. It was just different. Then I remembered there were rumours about a post-Quicksand power pop band so it sort of made sense. Then we were informed that this was actually a split cd, 3 songs by Rival Schools and 3 by Onelinedrawing which made no sense because by this time I was LOVING this record, listening to it every day, playing it over and over, and had fully accepted that it was a Rival Schools Record. Well, it ends up that it's not a split exactly, but more like a collaboration, with Rival Schools and one man band Onelinedrawing. Either way, the results are fantastic. The record starts off in frustrating Guided By Voices style with a gorgeous song fragment, that was well on its way to being an unbelievable pop song, before it dissipates 30 seconds into it, only to explode into track two, which sounds like a supercharged Knack or like Quicksand doing a Romantics cover, only faster and meaner and with those soaring majestic Quicksand choruses. Track three has a dark and whispery minor chord refrain that is stuck in my head ALL THE TIME and rollicking almost-emo verses. Track four slows it down, with acoustic guitars, a lazy galloping drum beat, and a summery 'bop bop bop' refrain sounding all Uncle Tupelo or Whiskeytown with that slight twang and a wickedly catchy melody.
Track five is a languid, slow rolling moody epic, with rumbling slow strummed guitars, and chiming harmonics sounding like the Wipers or Nirvana's Lithium alllll sloooowed dooooown. The record closes with a bang. A huge crunching, sort of bouncy Quicksand style guitar attack. Crunchy stop-start riffs (ala Helmet's 'In The Meantime') but with Walter's scratchy sad boy wail and totally epic almost sing-along choruses. So so good. I love this record!
RealAudio clip: "Always"
RealAudio clip: "Where I'm From"
RealAudio clip: "Be Real"
RealAudio clip: "Take One For The Team"

RIVULETS s/t (Chair Kicker's Union) cd 13.98
Warm, intimate and gentle. Rivulets' slow, pretty songs are based primarily around the voice and acoustic guitar strumming of mainman Nathan Amundson, but with the delicate textural and melodic embellishments of humming optigan, chiming xylophone, droning bass and plucky ukelele. Will most definitely appeal to Low fans everywhere. And -surprise!- Alan Sparhawk of Low actually contributed a great deal to this album - releasing it on his own label, recording and mixing it at his 20 Below Studio, and adding his voice and baritone guitar to the ensemble. Special guests include: Mimi Parker also of Low who makes an appearance on vocals and percussion, and LD Beghtol of Magnetic Fields on shruti box as well as the aforementioned ukelele.
RealAudio clip: "Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There's No Tomorrow"

RIVULETS We're Fucked (Important) cd 17.98
It's been a while since we last heard from Rivulets, aka Nathan Amundson, whose sound is a delicate acoustic guitar driven slowcore folk, haunting, hushed and intimate, and whose career has seemed always tangentially connected to slowcore pioneers Low, due in no small part to Low's Alan Sparhawk having long championed Rivulets, taking them on tour, playing on their records, and even releasing one of their albums. For whatever reason we pretty much forgot about Rivulets entirely, even though they tour tirelessly and this is in fact full length number four, and when we discovered there was a new record, this one, for whatever reason, our first impulse was that we didn't really care, and weren't all that into the band. But within the first 90 seconds, we remembered exactly what we loved about Rivulets, so much emotion conveyed with so little, the arrangements spare and sparse, Amundson's vocals gorgeous and warm and intimate, and the opening song here, the aforementioned 90 seconds (or so) is darkly delicate, and sweetly melancholy, just vocals and guitar, until about a minute in, when the song gets just a little bit more lush, then shortly after, some of the dreamiest vocal harmonies ever, only the hardest of hearts could not be smitten. We were most taken by the second track though, "No Talking", which starts off all spidery guitar, barely there percussion, clouds of cymbal shimmer, Amundson's vocals, slipping into a lovely falsetto, a gorgeous bit of folky balladic creep, the sort of thing that could have gone on forever, but then it begins to ramp up, electric guitar, the drums hitting a little bit harder, eventually building to a full on psychedelic blow out, the guitars all tangled up in a wild sonic swirl, the cymbals emitting sheets of metallic shimmer, before fading out, leaving just that muted percussion, and that melancholy guitar melody. Might be one of our favorite new songs so far this year. And to be honest the record is full of 'em. A gorgeous collection of hushed softly psychedelic slow core folk, with some surprising dynamics, and some awesomely explosive moments. A new favorite for sure. Definitely recommended for fans of Palace, Songs: Ohia, Iron And Wine, Herman Dune, Mt Egypt, and the rest.
MPEG Stream: "No Talking"
MPEG Stream: "Interstate"
MPEG Stream: "The Road"

RIVULETS You Are My Home (Important) cd 14.98
The rainy season has poked its chilly overcast head into the sunny skies here in SF. And in timely fashion, the wonderfully downcast Rivulets has returned too. Primarily the work of one gent Nathan Amundson, Rivulets has been graced with some notable guest players over the years including Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of the likemindedly somber Low. On You Are My Home, Amundson is joined by the none too shabby musical guests Codeine's Chris Brokaw, Jessica Bailiff, Christian Frederickson of Rachel's, Boxhead Ensemble's Fred Lonberg-Holm and Bob Weston of Shellac and Mission Of Burma. Their combined guitars, keyboards, strings and horns work together with Amundson's heartbroken voice magically to create a deep dark melancholia.
MPEG Stream: "Glass Houses"
MPEG Stream: "You Are My Home"

RIZZO, RICK & TARA KEY Dark Edison Tiger (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Jim O'Rourke's "Bad Timing" seems to have become a seemingly influential album, oddly because at the time of its release it seemed to mostly notable as a John Fahey parody. Yet, it opened the ears of indie and alt.country fans not only to the works of Fahey and Souled American, but also the floodgates for a handful of interesting experimentations with folk & country aesthetics, such as Loftus, Tim Foljhan's Two Dollar Guitar albums, and now this collaboration between Rick Rizzo (from Eleventh Dream Day) and Tara Key (from Antietam). Interludes of farfisa and guitar distortion fit snugly in this sleepy album of delicately played instrumental folk. A strong showing.

RJD2 Colossus (RJ's Electrical Connection) cd 13.98

RJD2 The Third Hand (XL) cd 13.98
DJ RJD2 sampled his way to notoriety with 2002's Dead Ringer and garnered comparisons to Moby and DJ Shadow with his subsequent release Since We Last Spoke. Now it seems he's put all of that behind him in a display of versatility with the very different The Third Hand. The samples and synths that gained the aforementioned praise are present in his current work, but are much more subdued, perhaps to not overshadow another first for the artist - his own vocals. The album slips smoothly from electro pop to electro funk/hop on it's most noteworthy tracks "Beyond" and "Sweet Piece." The promo for this record boldly declares the works to be "genre transcending." We're not so sure the album transcends as much as gently combines and modernizes what we love most about particularly notable genres (Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder are also mentioned in the promo), but still pretty dang cool.
MPEG Stream: "Beyond"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Piece"

RJD2 The Third Hand (Instrumentals) (XL) cd 11.98
The Third Hand saw RJD2 (Ramble John Krohn) stray a bit from the samples and scratching that gained him notoriety as a DJ. Third Hand was the first record Krohn produced all on his lonesome and the first to feature his own vocals. The result was an album that slipped smoothly from electro pop to electro funk/hop and impressed many critics as a display of his versatility and songwriting abilities rather than his DJ skills.
Therefore, we were surprised to see an instrumental version. It makes sense that one might want instrumentals of songs from Deadringer or Since We Last Spoke to weed out the sampled vocals and rapping that lay atop some pretty impressive scratching and mixing, but none of that is present on The Third Hand and the result without vocals is alarmingly a lot like telephone hold music. Frankly, it's a bit boring. That said, we wondered why he didn't spice it up a bit and remix his own instrumental tracks? But after all, he's already produced and arranged the music over his own vocals to create a distinct sound, and maybe it's hard to go back when you've gone so far. Perhaps Krohn's intentions are to see what others can do with the record, because while the music is less than exciting on it's own, it might be a good sample for someone else to work into their own music...
MPEG Stream: "You Never Had It So Good"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Piece"

RJD2 The Third Hand (Instrumentals) (XL) 2lp 14.98
The Third Hand saw RJD2 (Ramble John Krohn) stray a bit from the samples and scratching that gained him notoriety as a DJ. Third Hand was the first record Krohn produced all on his lonesome and the first to feature his own vocals. The result was an album that slipped smoothly from electro pop to electro funk/hop and impressed many critics as a display of his versatility and songwriting abilities rather than his DJ skills.
Therefore, we were surprised to see an instrumental version. It makes sense that one might want instrumentals of songs from Deadringer or Since We Last Spoke to weed out the sampled vocals and rapping that lay atop some pretty impressive scratching and mixing, but none of that is present on The Third Hand and the result without vocals is alarmingly a lot like telephone hold music. Frankly, it's a bit boring. That said, we wondered why he didn't spice it up a bit and remix his own instrumental tracks? But after all, he's already produced and arranged the music over his own vocals to create a distinct sound, and maybe it's hard to go back when you've gone so far. Perhaps Krohn's intentions are to see what others can do with the record, because while the music is less than exciting on it's own, it might be a good sample for someone else to work into their own music...
MPEG Stream: "You Never Had It So Good"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Piece"

RM74 Reflex (Utech) cd 14.98
The black and white photo on the cover, of a taxidermed but still quite alarming bat, wings spread, fangs bared, malevolent and mummified, looking like some decaying Victorian museum exhibit, perfectly heralds the organic, psychedelic, and somewhat disturbing dronology to be heard on the disc within. Sometimes creepy, but fascinating and atmospheric. And, in a way, beautiful, like the delicate membrane of the bat's wings.
Look, we don't rave about EVERYTHING on Utech. Just most things on Utech. In fact, we haven't even yet reviewed several the label's previous batch of releases (among them Architeuthis Rex, The Skull Defekts/The Sons Of God, and Ural Umbo), but had to rave about this one (and a couple other cool new titles as well, you'll find highlighted elsewhere on this list: Bassett/Graf and Arcn Templ). RM74 is the solo project of Swiss soundmeister Reto Mader, who also plays in Ural Umbo, Sum of R, and Pendulum Nisum (of which we've only heard the former). And while that Ural Umbo disc Utech recently released was interesting, this solo effort from Mader REALLY caught our ears. Not that it's easy to describe. Abstract and ominous soundscapery, "music" bathed in glowing shimmer and shuddering suspenseful drone. It's all instrumental electro-acoustic experimentation, Mader playing guitars, strings, percussion, piano, electronics, kalimba, organ, synthesizer, and effects... the disc divided up into 11 individual tracks that are different enough to really stand out as "pieces", each one its own mysterious transmission from Mader's outsider imagination, and the spirits that move him. For instance, the opener, appropriately titled "Early Morning Fog", begins with swelling, buzzing drone and hum, mesmerically undulating, eventually adorned with what sounds like the gentle plinking of a fragmented music-box melody... already we're entranced.
Most of the tracks operate upon a basis of electronics, effects, radio static, buzzes, and morse code clicks, the instrumentation not so easily recognizable, though for instance you can definitely hear steel strings of a guitar twanging reverberantly on track three, "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea", amidst creaking sounds suggestive of a wooden ship at sea, perhaps...
As well as being a great release for Utech, Reflex we think would sound equally at home on the Miasmah label, although it would fall on the "grinding-est" side of their catalog. Other "Recommended If You Like" comparison candidates for this might be the Guillaume Gargaud discs we've reviewed recently, or Gregory Mullen, or the murky microscopic textures of certain Jewelled Antler recordings... Recommended at any rate, regardless of whether we can find adequate analogies for it!
The packaging, unlike most Utech releases, this isn't in a slim sleeve, but in a thicker, all-cardboard digipack style package, with a pocket (a little tight, we must say) inside for the cd, another for a folded insert which depicts that bat in fuller detail. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, also!
MPEG Stream: "Early Morning Fog"
MPEG Stream: "Temporal Resolution"
MPEG Stream: "Garden Of The Lower Lights"

ROAD s/t (Relics) cd 17.98
The proto-metal lovin' legions who read the AQ list should be quite pleased with this reissue - take a trip down this particular Road and it's heavy riffing all the way, early '70s style! A power trio put together by former Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding in 1972, Road only made this one record for a rock-oriented Motown sub-label (the eco-friendly Natural Resources) before they broke up, and it quickly became lost to the mists of time, though we'd have thought Hendrix fans, if they'd heard it, would have been chuffed... anyone who likes stoned hard psych, with loads of wah wah wailing will dig this, it's total hippie heaviness (well, "I'm Going Down The Country" isn't so heavy, it's an acoustic jam, natch). There's some sixties sike-pop to it as well. But tracks like "Mushroom Man" and "Spaceship Earth" are spaced out and heavy all right, these three long hairs dishing out quite the din, with the 9+ minute album closer, title track "Road" gettin' almost DOOMY riff-wise.
Certainly deserving of recognition in the proto-metal realm, Road goes with Toad, Cactus, Moses, Tiger B. Smith, etc., and is probably the best thing that Redding did post-Hendrix, though we haven't heard his whole discography, to be sure. But it beats Fat Mattress, in volume and heft for sure, despite that earlier outfit's name (the drummer here was also in Fat Mattress, by the way, while the guitarist hailed from Rare Earth).
This is one of several new reissues from the new Relics label (Churchills, Aguaturbia are some other, more internationally-oriented titles that just came out, we'll be listing soon too). Nice to have, though the booklet's a bit skimpy, the cover reproduction looks kinda washed out and blurry. It does include something in the way of liner notes, though, from which we learn that Redding fell down some stairs at Frank Zappa's place prior to the formation of Road. Hmm, that almost sounds like the description of a band, but not this one! Thankfully he recovered from the accident and added Road to the list of awesome proto-metal obscurities.
MPEG Stream: "Road"
MPEG Stream: "Spaceship Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Man Dressed In Red"

ROB JO STAR BAND s/t (Pomme) lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ultra obscure, freaky French '70s underground psychedelic proto punk reissued, oui!! Crazy how there's still stuff like this out there ready to be (re)discovered. The Rob Jo Star band originally put this out in 1975, probably under the influence of the Velvets and the Stooges, kinda like cult Canadian contemporaries Simply Saucer. Like SS, the Rob Jo Star Band packs these tracks with all kinds of ridiculous synth blurt, electronics swooshing and bleeping and farting all throughout this album, other key elements of which include jangling distorted guitars and heavily accented vocals... Pretty darn cool if you ask us! There's moments that sound like a French version of The Cramps, inside a spaceship; others where the singer gets kinda Damo, and basically it's a healthy (or perhaps unhealthy) dose of throbbing fuzz, chugging rock n' roll rhythms, handclaps, wild vox, with song titles like "Acid Revolution" and "Blood Flower". File with the likes of Soggy, Angel Face, and Metal Urbain...
Limited edition, import.
MPEG Stream: "I Call On One's Muse"
MPEG Stream: "Stone Away"

ROBACK, MISSY Just Like Breathing (Hear Kitty) cd 15.98
With her clear, velvety voice steeped in emotion and yearning, Missy Roback easily draws comparisons to Aimee Mann or Margot Timmins of Cowboy Junkies. She sings with such enviable grace and ease. As well, there's quite a few things in common with the recent debut from fellow-SFer Snowy (aka Bonni Evensen). Apart from the striking vocal similarities, there's also the presence of Tim Mooney (ex-American Music Club), and Steve Roback (ex-Rain Parade) on her team - handling the engineering and production duties respectively as well as playing a number of the instruments - not to mention that this too is a polished, impressive debut. She blends the sounds of swirling chamber pop, ghostly psych-twang, and maybe even some '60s girl group balladry thrown in for good measure. The result? A lovely album that's refined, self-assured and composed. Hannah Marcus guests on the title track.
RealAudio clip: "Take It Back"
RealAudio clip: "Just Like Breathing"
RealAudio clip: "Sleep With The Mermaid"

ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET Fine Lines (New Line) cd ep 6.98
Here's a quandary for ya: What do you do when your absolute fave band (in this case, SPOON) hasn't put out a new record in ages, and up pops a new band that sounds JUST LIKE THEM?! Are you gonna give the new band a big ol' raspberry for bein' a copycat?! But Robbers On High Street aren't really just a copycat mimicking Britt Daniel's vocal style (which is of course a key element of Spoon's magic) atop pretty straight-up Spoon-eque guitar pop. No, we've gotta say the Robbers' songwriting is pretty darn sharp, and this album as a whole is really really great. Seems to be another one of those bands with a vocalist that can't really help the way he sings, and who therefore will be forever nagged by comparisons to the band their detractors claim they are ripping off, which will unfortunately always overshadow how good a band they really are (Muse vs. Radiohead anybody?). But c'mon, a good record is a good record, and Fine Lines is a really good record. Plus it -is- perfect to hold you over until the new Spoon record. And who knows, if Spoon aren't careful, and don't get a new record out soon, maybe they'll be the ones accused of being copycats next time around.
MPEG Stream: "Hot Sluts (Say I Love You)"
MPEG Stream: "A Night At Star Castle"

ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET Grand Animals (New Line) cd 14.98

ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET Tree City (New Line) cd 12.98
I swore we would try to review this record without mentioning it, but what can you do? It's so blatant and obvious and undeniable. This band sounds EXACTLY like Spoon. I mean exactly. Dark and moody, shuffly rhythms with brooding pianos and a voice that is uncanny its similarity to Spoon's Britt Daniel. But to that we say "so what?!?" This record is awesome. And for us at least, who can argue with a new Spoon record, whether it's by Spoon or not. Granted, there -are- differences. The Robbers are much less experimental. way more poppy and accessible. And when they rock they definitely slip into Strokes / Interpol territory, which again is not necessarily a bad thing. There's also a liberal sprinkling of horns which is a nice surprise too. I usually defend bands who have a singer that sounds like another singer (sounding like Ozzy is a common example) because you can't really help how you sing, your voice is your voice for the most part, but when the voice that sounds much like another singer, is then complimented by a band that just happens to sound like that other singer's band, well then you gotta wonder just a little, if the band thinks to themselves "Holy shit, we sound a lot like Spoon." So if you're a stickler for absolute originality, then The Robbers On High Street might be a bit to close to -that- other band. But if you're looking for some dark and intense, catchy and rocking experimental pop, you'd be hard pressed to do better than Tree City. At least until the new Spoon record.
MPEG Stream: "Spanish Teeth"
MPEG Stream: "Japanese Girls"
MPEG Stream: "Beneath The Trees"

ROBEDOOR Burners (Important) lp 19.98
Latest chuck of spaced out doom drone from these long time aQ faves, Burners finds the group getting seriously melodic, sort of. Where on past records, RD trafficked more in abstract drones and ambient doom, and psychedelic soundscapery, the three extended tracks here are more slowcore than doomdrone, more space rock that soundscape, a new direction for sure, but without losing the various drone and doom elements that made past records so compelling.
The record opens with a loooooong stretch of moaning ambience, heaving slabs of muted crumbling distortion, before the drums kick in, a simple, skeletal, almost krautrock beat, and then the rest of the band launch into a droney, fuzzed out space rock dirge, tons of reverb and echo and delay, distant tinkling melodies buried in the mix, the vocals processed to the point that they become just another layer of swirling sound, a plodding, hypnorock workout that builds to a blown out, seriously in-the-red finish. The second track dials it back a bit, all tribal drumming and warm whirring organs, more reverbed vox, washed out and ethereal, murky and muddy, a gorgeously blurred bit of slowcore lumber.
The second side is all one track, which begins with keening soft melodies over buzzing layered low end, and epic slowburning dirge, almost like White Hills or the Heads, at 16 rpm, a blown out space rock, slowed waaaaay down and wrapped in layer after layer of haze and grit and buzz. Majestic, melodic, melancholic, the bass thick and billowing and blackened, the guitars howling above it all, total, with a blurred tribal outro, garbled vox, chiming guitars, tons of effects, all drifting beneath a ever shifting layers of sonic murk, total space kraut doom dirge bliss!

ROBEDOOR Exorcist Blues (Monorail Trespassing) cassette 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seems like the LA based doooom dronelords Robedoor have slowed their endlessly prolific output lately, pretty sure these guys are in a bunch of other projects and are busy running record labels and stuff, but either way we're happy to have a few copies of their brand new cassette on Monorail Trespassing. Exorcism Blues delivers four brand new tracks of mind-melting, ground ripping heavy drone that falls somewhere between the synth sorcery of the recent secret abuse lps and the dark, doom drone stylings of earlier Robedoor recordings. Slow trudging glacial ambience that melts beneath the paralyzing summer heat. Super killer and super limited, we've only got a handful of these so act fast in you want one, they'll be gone before you know it!

ROBEDOOR Pacific Drift (Not Not Fun) 7" 6.98
Latest chunk of dirgey psychedelia from these aQ faves, and as we noticed on the past few records, Robedoor's sound has been growing consecutively more melodic, their songs sounding more like, well, songs, rather than extended freakout jams. These three tracks here offer more proof that Robedoor do in fact have a softer side, but fear not, they're still plenty distorted and dark and tripped out, the songs are just more restrained, they'd have to be to fit 3 on a 7". But the shift suits them, washes of keening high end drift above scrabbling bass suspended in the ether, guitars chime and ring off in the distance, each track is a slow build from spare spaceiness to tribal pummel, the rhythms minimal yet propulsive, vocals hazy with effects and woven into the fabric of these songs, another layer in an already thickly layered sound, the tracks grow more and more dense, usually culminating in spaced out droney drift, laced with delicate melodies, all psychedelic and fuzzy and murky and way psychedelic, and pretty dang kick ass!

ROBEDOOR Raiders (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98
Another sprawling drone space psychedelic doom bliss workout from these Southern California sonic explorers. Whereas past records were seriously dense and grim and droney, Raiders finds the band blossoming into some seriously lysergic space doom drift, vocals soaring through fields of reverb, the guitars thick slabs of burnished buzz, the drums skeletal, the whole vibe druggy and dreamy, and way more ethereal.
The band do get heavier, hauling out the fuzz bass, and letting the drums get all tribal, but even then the thick clouds of rumbling blur, are laced with spidery tendrils of glistening high end melodies, and a soft hazy gauze of smeared vocals and layered effects, trippy and buzzy, drifting into Loop / Spacemen 3 territory, albeit a bit more ferocious and feral. Throughout though, the band seem to keep the ambience anchored to songs, or at least almost-songs, everything melodic, subtly or otherwise, sometimes pretty and haunting, other times chaotic and crushing, and again at other times hushed and minimal.
Still plenty doomy and droney, but probably Robedoor's prettiest and songiest slab of sound to date.

ROBEDOOR Shapeshifter Slave (Olde English Spelling Bee) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First Robedoor release we've listed in a while, but by no means have these guys been slacking. Nope, we just looked away for a few months and 3 or 4 lps slipped Êunder the radar, so we're gonna try to get all caught up, beginning with this, the newest (we think), from this drone-y duo.
We've always dug these guys, whether they were doing something muted and whispery, or kicking out the thick drone-y jams, this one is a little of both, probably leaning toward the former.
The first side begins with an almost tranquil landscape of processed rhythmic buzz, that soon becomes a cacophonous roar, warm, thick synthy drones lay atop pulsing subterranean rumbles, deep subtle percussion peppers loooooong drawn out tones, a burst of textured noise erupts, spewing thick buzzing crumbling guitars, barely audible chant like vocals are buried underneath, super noisy, but weirdly hypnotic and dreamlike.
The flip side is split into two extended tracks, the first is a super abstract doomy groove, wailing plaintive guitars and moaning wordless vocals, suspended in a massive expanse of black ambience and mysterious shimmer, which gives way to a loooong slow drone, with a strange Velvets-y melody buried way down under the surface, more creepy almost choral vocals, a super amorphous abstract drift, haunting and otherworldly.

ROBEDOOR Shrine To The Possessor (Music Fellowship) lp 19.98

ROBEDOOR Too Down To Die (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98
Another killer slab of tripped out dreaminess from this LA dirge / drone / avant / psychedelic trio, which of course features Not Not Fun head honcho Britt Brown, the three piece weaving lush smoldering psychscapes that drift and shimmer and remind us quite a bit of SF duo Barn Owl at times. The A side here is a 22 minute sprawl of haunting guitarbuzz ambience, that sounds a bit like a more Technicolor Barn Owl, trading some of that dark broodiness for shimmering soaring high end glimmer, and some of the twang for droned out chordal shimmer, infusing some space-y kraut-y new age into the proceedings, the result is a fairly fantastic stretch sun baked psych, but that's just the first 8 or 9 minutes. All of that buzz and swirl and soar is peeled back leaving a minimal dirgey creep, all detuned piano, murky ambience, almost surfy guitar twang, electronic buzz, like some sort of bastardized slo-mo Morricone, and then the vocals, a dizzying swirl of heavily effected crooning, the spare sound gathering momentum, the guitars swooping in again, adding buzz and rumble, building to a sort of final climax before the inevitable fade out.
The flipside starts with more psychedelic shimmer, mutated voices drifting in shimmering fields of soft noise, before blossoming into a sort of noise drenched gothic gloom pop, a lumbering minor key creep, that sounds almost witch house-y, before switching gears once again, and transforming into what sounds almost like a Robedoor take on classic rock, which is essentially a sort of warped and warble Neil Young mixed with No Neck Blues band, before finally slipping into an awesomely ominous low slung bass heavy dirge, buzzy and a little bit creepy, laced with spidery melodies, and deep bellowed, reverbed new wave vocals, soft swaths of melodic swirl, loads of effects, a sort of dirgey doom pop ballad, that again sounds fantastically twisted and warped.
LIMITED TO 600 COPIES.

ROBEDOOR / YELLOW SWANS split (Arbor) 7" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In our ongoing obsession with all things Robedoor, here's yet another awesome chunk of blissed out drone-noise, teamed up with their perfect sonic foils, AQ faves the Yellow Swans. Both bands dial down the brutality and intensity, offering up two gorgeous tracks of shimmering, buzzing ambience, each with their own vibe, and one still a bit brutal and intense.Ê
Robedoor are up first, and this is just about the loveliest thing we've heard from these guys. All gliding glimmer, warm effulgent swells of sound, distant moaning cellos that just sort of melt all over the top of the guitar, gorgeous and tranquil, a blissy drift through billowing clouds of soft focus blur, distorted and buzzy, but smeared into one slow burning easy on the ears whir.Ê
Yellow Swans counter with their own version of 'tranquil' and as you might imagine it's a bit different than RD's. Noisier and heavier, more fuzzed out and harsh, but no less lovely. A whirling wash of thick gritty grime, muted grinding rhythms, industrial whir, buzzing and rumbling. The whole thing thick and crumbling and corrosive, but still so pretty!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered.Ê

ROBERT JOHNSON & THE BROWNS Company No Company (Agog) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Dark, fucked, "rock" music from the duo of Robert Johnson and Todd Ritmann (guitarist for US Maple), who, according to Agog's press-sheet is not only "an intense rhythm technician on Drum Kit" but is also "controlling a *minimum* of 4 electric guitars/bass"! This, their second album, is a limited, 180 gram vinyl-only release in a handsome gatefold sleeve. NO cds on this one. Fans of US Maple, Storm & Stress, Iran, and similar counter-intuitive skreerock outfits should investigate seriously! German import (and it says right here on the sleeve: "U.S. State Department regulations prohibit this recording from being played in the U.S. or U.S. territories." C'mon, be a rebel!).

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR Farewell Sorrow (Drag City) cd 14.98
This is the second solo outing from Sir Alasdair of Appendix Out-ville. One dozen stark, achingly heartfelt folk songs.

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR No Earthly Man (Drag City) cd 14.98
Alasdair Roberts' third solo album comes brimming with his moving renditions of eight traditional Scottish folk songs and sea shanties -- sounding not unlike a kindly Scotsman counterpart to English lass Shirley Collins. On No Earthly Man, the captain of the neo-folk band Appendix Out has certainly immersed himself even deeper into the musical heritage of his homeland. In the past we've commented about the uncanny resemblance between Roberts' voice and Will Oldham's, but this time it's much less so, as the nature of the material draws so much more of the Scottish lilt from his lips.
MPEG Stream: "Lord Ronald"
MPEG Stream: "A Lyke Wake Dirge"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR No Earthly Man (Drag City) lp 14.98
Alasdair Roberts' third solo album comes brimming with his moving renditions of eight traditional Scottish folk songs and sea shanties -- sounding not unlike a kindly Scless litsman counterpart to English lass Shirley Collins. On No Earthly Man, the captain of the neo-folk band Appendix Out has certainly immersed himself even deeper into the musical heritage of his homeland. In the past we've commented about the uncanny resemblance between Roberts' voice and Will Oldham's, but this time it's much less so, as the nature of the material draws so much more of the Scottish lilt from his lips.
MPEG Stream: "Lord Ronald"
MPEG Stream: "A Lyke Wake Dirge"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR Spoils (Drag City) cd 14.98
Another timeless folk beauty from Alasdair Roberts! Each of his albums is like a vivid trek across the country's Highlands and Lowlands - the mist of the ocean, the lush soft green and gold of the mosses and ferns, serene limpid lakes, the rugged mountain outcroppings. Spoils definitely carries on in that tradition Seriously though, if true British Isles folk is your bag, you really can't miss with any one of his full lengths! Roberts' lyrical tales are at once starkly intimate and cryptically poetic. Lilting, pure and indelibly Scottish!
MPEG Stream: " The Flying Of Grief And Joy"
MPEG Stream: "The Book Of Doves"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR Spoils (Drag City) lp 15.98
Another timeless folk beauty from Alasdair Roberts! Each of his albums is like a vivid trek across the country's Highlands and Lowlands - the mist of the ocean, the lush soft green and gold of the mosses and ferns, serene limpid lakes, the rugged mountain outcroppings. Spoils definitely carries on in that tradition Seriously though, if true British Isles folk is your bag, you really can't miss with any one of his full lengths! Roberts' lyrical tales are at once starkly intimate and cryptically poetic. Lilting, pure and indelibly Scottish!
MPEG Stream: " The Flying Of Grief And Joy"
MPEG Stream: "The Book Of Doves"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR The Amber Gatherers (Drag City) cd 14.98
On The Amber Gatherers, Scotsman Alasdair Roberts sounds much less like a (not so distant) cousin of Will Oldham and much more like one whose been taken under the wing of Sybille Baier or Vashti Bunyan. The renaissance folk found on this his fourth full length both lyrically and instrumentally conveys much more of a period piece evoking a time long past than his previous works. Songs such as "Let Me Lie And Bleed A While" and "I Had A Kiss Of The King's Hand" conjured visions of fair maidens and jesters in courtyards, armored knights on horseback or dapper fellows taking their paces in a gentlemen's duel. Enchanting and picturesque.
MPEG Stream: "I Had A Kiss Of The King's Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Let Me Lie And Bleed A While"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR The Amber Gatherers (Drag City) lp 14.98
On The Amber Gatherers, Scotsman Alasdair Roberts sounds much less like a (not so distant) cousin of Will Oldham and much more like one whose been taken under the wing of Sybille Baier or Vashti Bunyan. The renaissance folk found on this his fourth full length both lyrically and instrumentally conveys much more of a period piece evoking a time long past than his previous works. Songs such as "Let Me Lie And Bleed A While" and "I Had A Kiss Of The King's Hand" conjured visions of fair maidens and jesters in courtyards, armored knights on horseback or dapper fellows taking their paces in a gentlemen's duel. Enchanting and picturesque.
MPEG Stream: "I Had A Kiss Of The King's Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Let Me Lie And Bleed A While"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR The Crook of My Arm (Secretly Canadian) cd 13.98
The leader of the Scottish group Appendix Out releases a solo record at around the same time a new (wonderful) Appendix Out record arrives. I know I am constantly referring to Palace Bros' Will Oldham when speaking of Appendix Out, but really it's unavoidable -- Roberts sounds exactly like Oldham, only a teensy bit less backwoods twangy and a lot more British Isles folksy. And, somehow, a lot more serene and honest. Just Alasdair and an acoustic guitar, telling stories. Simply gorgeous.
RealAudio clip: "As I Came in By Huntly Town"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR The Crook of My Arm (Secretly Canadian) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The leader of the Scottish group Appendix Out releases a solo record at around the same time a new (wonderful) Appendix Out record arrives. I know I am constantly referring to Palace Bros' Will Oldham when speaking of Appendix Out, but really it's unavoidable -- Roberts sounds exactly like Oldham, only a teensy bit less backwoods twangy and a lot more British Isles folksy. And, somehow, a lot more serene and honest. Just Alasdair and an acoustic guitar, telling stories. Simply gorgeous.
RealAudio clip: "As I Came in By Huntly Town"

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR Wyrd Meme (Drag City) cd ep 12.98
Geez! Barely had we a chance to digest his last full length from earlier this year than Alasdair Roberts bestows another four tuneful tunes. He can't be stopped, and who'd want him to? Allow your ears within the gorgeous warming embrace of picked'n'plucked acoustic guitar, woozy droning harmonium and forlorn voice. On the surface, his Scottish folk numbers sound utterly traditional and slightly mystical, but delve a bit deeper and listen a bit longer and plenty of modern day sensibilities, details and instrumentation make their presence felt. Mind you, it's in the most tasteful and unassuming fashion. One thing though, the third track "The Royal Road At The World's End" is a bit of an oddity in this grouping, as well as in Roberts' body of work as a whole. It's unexpectedly energetic and fleshed out with a full band. It's a bit of a jolt, but dandy nevertheless. If you've never heard him, this is a fine place to start. Wyrd Meme truly is a wonderful standalone work, but it also makes a tasty appetizer for any and all of his previous full lengths. For the most part, hauntingly lovely!

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR Wyrd Meme (Drag City) 12" 12.98
Geez! Barely had we a chance to digest his last full length from earlier this year than Alasdair Roberts bestows another four tuneful tunes. He can't be stopped, and who'd want him to? Allow your ears within the gorgeous warming embrace of picked'n'plucked acoustic guitar, woozy droning harmonium and forlorn voice. On the surface, his Scottish folk numbers sound utterly traditional and slightly mystical, but delve a bit deeper and listen a bit longer and plenty of modern day sensibilities, details and instrumentation make their presence felt. Mind you, it's in the most tasteful and unassuming fashion. One thing though, the third track "The Royal Road At The World's End" is a bit of an oddity in this grouping, as well as in Roberts' body of work as a whole. It's unexpectedly energetic and fleshed out with a full band. It's a bit of a jolt, but dandy nevertheless. If you've never heard him, this is a fine place to start. Wyrd Meme truly is a wonderful standalone work, but it also makes a tasty appetizer for any and all of his previous full lengths. For the most part, hauntingly lovely!

ROBERTS, ALASDAIR / JACKIE OATES A Selection Of Marches, Quicksteps, Laments, Strathspeys Reels And Country Dances (Room 40) 7" 13.98
Beloved Scottish troubadour Alasdair Roberts teams up with fiddle playing English lass Jackie Oates for these four tunes - three instrumentals and one with vocals - all with a reverential nod towards British and Scottish folk traditions. The interplay between Roberts' deftly fingerpicked guitar and Oates' fiddle is light, graceful and utterly at ease. The rather coldly clinical title of this record really doesn't do the sprightly passionate music justice. Sure to please Roberts' followers and offers Oates a fine introduction to those on this side of the pond! We only got 3 copies btw...

ROBERTS, DEAN And The Black Moths Play The Grand Cinema (Staubgold) cd 15.98
This disc quickly became a favorite of ours when it was first released a few years back on Mille Plateaux' Ritornell label, and we were rather bummed when it went out of print. Now at last (and as a nice surprise) it's been reissued with new packaging by Staubgold! Yay. We've referenced and revered this in a couple of reviews, of glitchy-live-instruments-meet-drone projects like Radian and Robert's own recent Be Mine Tonight disc on Kranky. The latter was great but really made us wistful that this wasn't still available too. Now it is, so get it if you missed it before! Our review of the original noted that New Zealander Roberts had made quite a name for himself with a handful of freeform Sonic Youth-esque albums by his outfits Thela and White-Winged Moth. Eventually he shifted to the powerbook as his instrument of choice, turning guitars, piano, and viola into delicate crackling flows throughout And The Black Moths Play The Grand Cinema, an album that saw him transplanted to New York, working with percussionist Tim Barnes (Tower Recordings, Nagisa Ni Te, etc.). It's a fantastic disc of electro-acoustic abstraction not far from Fennesz or Oval, shimmering and chiming and alive with sparse drum hits, fragmented melody, and buried, drifting vocals (some of this perhaps coming across like the mellowest Richard Youngs gone glitch?). AND, this boasts a wonderfully abstracted interpretation of Brian Eno's "Cindy Tells Me" that we're sure Eno would love. So, thanks Staubgold (and Mr. Roberts) for this re-release!
MPEG Stream: "The Fake And Detached"
MPEG Stream: "Cindy Tells Me..."

ROBERTS, DEAN Be Mine Tonight (Kranky) cd 14.98
Dean Roberts, he's one of those 'regular name' guys, y'know, like David Grubbs, Alan Licht, Jim O'Rourke... Like them, his output is eclectic, you might hear him singing a song or doing out-guitar drone, as in his old band Thela. Experimental, electro-acoustic indie-rock I guess is his genre? Anyway, he's usually doing something cool, and this disc is no exception. Although Roberts hails from New Zealand (which always seems to be a good thing!), this was recorded in Italy, with several of his Italian friends joining on guitars and drums, while Roberts played acoustic and electric guitars, piano, bass, harmonium, glass harmonica and percussion. His hushed vocals are also present, but these tracks are soft and slow and sad and more about sound than songcraft. Be Mine Tonight is good driving through the woods at night music -- I know 'cause I did just that this past weekend on the way up to Mendocino. This low-key album is really less likely to spark a mood than it is to perhaps simply capture *your* mood, if listened to at the right time (like, driving through the woods in darkness). Roberts and his comrades 'rock out' for brief moments, but overall it's got a sleepy, fragile feel. Editing and processing are key to these results, along with the performances, with this having some of the same live-instruments-meet-glitchy-drone vibes as Roberts' amazing (and sadly out of print) Ritornelle release And The Black Moths Play The Grand Cinema from a few years back. Quite nice.
MPEG Stream: "Smash The Palace And What Nerves You've Got"
MPEG Stream: "Letter To Monday"

ROBINSON, MARK Canada's Green Highways (TeenBeat) cd 13.98
A man of numerous indie music hats over the past 16+ years, Mark Robinson has ventured into many a musical style under various guises (Unrest, Flin Flon, True Love Always, Air Miami). On this - only his second release using his own name - he drifts into the mellow, low-key clubhouse whose clever songster membership may be said to include the highly relaxed and relaxing Sea and Cake, American Analog Set and sometimes Momus, but Mr. Robinson's delivery is a much more spartan affair. Whereas his previous solo album 'Tiger Banana' rolled and pulsed along with low-fi drum programming and guitar jangle, here the music is mainly comprised of twinkling uneffected guitar with drums and additional voices only peeking in from time to time, leaving plenty of room for his always intensely personal and heartfelt lyrics to come wonderfully front and center. Actually this brings to mind the light, pretty 'Imperial f.f.r.r.' moments of his former band Unrest especially when guest vocalist Juliet Swango enters the scene. On his own label Teenbeat.

ROBINSON, MARK Tiger Banana (TeenBeat) cd 13.98
A very quiet and simple record from Mark Robinson, former leader of Unrest, Air Miami, and head of the Teenbeat label. The members of Versus help round out the sound on "Tiger Banana" (Robinson's first officially solo release), but it's still as sparse as can be, at times sounding more stark then even, say, Young Marble Giants, of whom we'll bet he's a big fan. Quietly strummed guitars, terse lyricism, less melodic than you'd expect. It doesn't rock our world, but perhaps it's not trying to. You be the judge; listen to the soundclips.
RealAudio clip: "Starfighter"
RealAudio clip: "Putting up good numbers"

ROBOT ATE ME, THE Good World (5RC) cd 14.98
The latest album from this Anacortes art pop one-man band is quite a departure from his previous full length, last year's decidedly more conventional pop Carousel Waltz. You might say Good World is a very Deerhoofian affair, if perhaps less adventurous, more wistful and with the added ample squeaky quirk of woodwinds. Think: more of a docile merry-go-round than a loopy rollercoaster ride. Band leader Ryan Bouchard's high pitched twee vocals coo up close to the winky clarinet and wheezy accordion while slightly haphazard percussion and other found sounds loosely populate the rest of each mildly eccentric tune. This fleetingly short album (it's only 22 minutes!) may very well please the ears of those who luv the abovementioned Deerhoof and maybe Xiu Xiu and Frog Eyes too. Gentle, tweaked pop prettiness.
MPEG Stream: "Stone Giants"
MPEG Stream: "Celebration Time"

ROBOTNICK, ALEXANDER Ce N'est Q'un Debut (Medical Records) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of two amazing vinyl-only reissues on the brand new Medical Records label (the other is Record Of The Week Deutsche Wertarbeit). This one, a holy grail of sorts for all the cult disco seekers, a sexy, exuberant and at times wonderfully sleazy hybrid of Italo-disco, French electro, and Minimal Wave weirdness by the one and only Alexander Robotnick (aka Maurizio Dami).
Ce N'est Q'un Debut was released in 1984 after his first single, "Problemes D'amour" became a mega-cult hit in New York underground dance club circles a year earlier. The extended version of that track was prominently featured on the Strut label's Disco Not Disco 2 a few years back, and it fits right in with Giorgio Moroder, Bernard Fevre, Arthur Russell and other Mutant Disco aficionados as a defining dance staple of the era. This mini-lp features 6 killer tracks including the Moroderesque, "Dance Boy Dance", another popular cult single that was probably heard more in gay bathhouses than in mainstream discos due to its lurid minimal rhythms and suggestive whispered singing. Sooo good! Sweaty summer dancing begins here! Don't let this one slip away!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each 180 gram colored vinyl and hand-numbered. We're not sure how long we'll have these, so don't wait too long. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Problemes D'amour"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Boy Dance"

ROBOTOBIBOK Jogging (Vytvornia) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An odd, odd blend of jazz with drum'n'bass and a bit of post rock... from Poland! Shifting percussion, heavy doses of saxophone, spaced-out textures.

ROCK JACK Belly Bones (self-released) cd-r 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So, what if we tell you that there's this band called Rock Jack that does songs with titles like "Belly Bones", "Goblin Talk", "Toilet Master" and "Darth Vader Is Mean"? And sound like some exuberantly drunken bar band fronted by a vocalist with an unusually high, childish voice, unusual enunciation (and pronunciation) and a gift for seeming stream-of-consciousness babble? Sounds like it might be one of those weird AQ faves already? Well then let us add the crucial fact that the singer for Rock Jack, one Erza Lux, is all of three and a half years old. That's right, he's a little boy, and (we know, 'cause we've met him) an exceptionally precocious, adorable, cute little boy indeed. Ezra Lux's dad some of you SF locals know as Aesop, drummer for Ludicra (and formerly, Hickey). Aesop sure has one cool kid. Whenever he brings him into the store, Ezra entertains us with his banter... we know he's really into music, heavy metal especially, 'cause he's told us about the various bands he's supposedly formed, our favorite being "Iron Potato". So when Aesop told us that Ezra had recorded his first cd-r release, we had to hear it. And although it's not the Iron Potato debut we still want to hear, Rock Jack is pretty cool too. With his Fisher-Price karaoke machine, Erza sing-speaks his own weird and funny lyrics (the lone exception being a Van Halen cover) over backing from members of Ludicra (Aesop, John and Ross), who crank out some some punked up, trashy rawk n' roll vamping with metal riffs and blues licks a lot older but no less energetic than Ezra. I think the way it worked is that the Ludicra guys made up a bunch of songs in their rehearsal space, gave the tape to Erza and he picked the ones he wanted to sing on. The results have got a whiff of The Shaggs, Motorhead, Great White, Reynols, Van Halen, Wesley Willis and Hanoi Rocks... We've noticed an "alternative children's music" trend lately, but Rock Jack is one of the few examples of music BY a child. Certainly irresistably cute, and really very strange. 18 and a half minutes, 8 tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Toilet Master"
MPEG Stream: "Darth Vader Is Mean"

ROCK*A*TEENS Sweet Bird of Youth (Merge) cd 14.98
A new album full of rough-hewn songs of sunbaked pain and anguish from this Georgia quartet. Recorded in a storeroom in their homebase of Cabbagetown, GA, at times this reminded me of early Waterboys (a good thing in my book). With guest vocals from Shannon Wright.

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT All Systems Go 2 (Swami) cd 10.98
Collection numero dos of singles, compilation tracks, b-sides and other rarities from everyone's favorite sparkley-shirted, pompadoured, horn-section-havin', kick-ass San Diego party rock band!!

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT All Systems Go III (Vagrant) cd 14.98
Those of us who were huge RFTC fans (and there's quite of few of us at aQ) know that the band's output can be divided into two categories. There was the totally catchy, horn filled, hand clappers that should have really been all over the radio and MTV if there were any justice in the rock 'n' roll world. And then there was the way more raw, dirty, sleazy scorching garage punk side to the band that they usually reserved for their non-major label releases like Hot Charity and The State Of Art Is On Fire. It's this side of the band that always cuts right to our guts! No one could mix melody with blazing, sweat inducing soul inspired garage punk better than RFTC. This collection is that raw and undeniably charming side of RFTC. Pulled from demos they recorded on 8-track in their San Diego practice space from 1997-2000. Most of these songs have never been released before, and the few that were took a totally different more slick shape on the Interscope releases they appeared on, so it's so rad to get to hear those songs in a much more dirty and rocking form. And so many of these songs that were never released before blow away just about everything else rock bands of the time were putting out. A few years after these songs were recorded, bands like The Strokes and White Stripes would be hailed as "the return of rock" by the mainstream press and get all sorts of fame and fortune, but we always thought it was Rocket From The Crypt that really deserved to be the biggest rock band on the planet!
MPEG Stream: "Falling Down Stairs"
MPEG Stream: "When In Rome (Do The Jerk)"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Survivor"

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT Group Sounds (Vagrant) cd 14.98
The latest from San Diego's kings of shiny shirted, pomade haired, horn flecked, kick ass punk rock. Plus there's a big snake on the cover!